In response to the Covid-19 crisis, many courts around the world and specifically in Southeast Asia are strengthening their electronic filing systems and shifting to virtual hearings. Vietnam is following this trend and has committed to apply technological solutions to adopt an e-court system. While the Supreme Court of Vietnam established this objective before the outbreak of the pandemic in Directive No. 01/2020/CT-CA dated January 9, 2020, it has just proposed and submitted draft rules on online trials to the National Assembly in late September 2021. The Chairman of the National Assembly of Vietnam is now seeking the opinion and approval of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam before presenting the draft rules to the National Assembly for voting in their second meeting of the year in October 2021. If approved, it is expected that it will take some time for the rules on online trials to be adopted and implemented by the Vietnamese court system due to the need to upgrade the technology of the different court levels from the Supreme Court to lower-level courts. Training will also be required, so that judges, secretaries, and individuals working in the judiciary are equipped with sufficient IT knowledge in order to manage the system and hold the virtual court hearings effectively. Amid the pandemic, the need has arisen to proceed with temporarily suspended cases and to resume receiving petitions and other documents, especially in hard-hit areas that have been forced to refrain from opening any court meetings and hearings due to the Covid-19 outbreak. The situation needs to be resolved as soon as possible to effectively bring the cases to trial within the prescribed time limit, protect human rights and the legitimate rights and interests of the parties, stabilize social order and safety, and ensure safe measures for disease prevention and control.

On September 15, 2021, Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced a prospective new scheme that will enable small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and startups in Thailand to raise funds through public offerings. The SEC regulations to implement this new scheme are expected by the first quarter of 2022. Since 2019, the SEC has allowed SMEs and startups in Thailand to raise funds via private placements or crowdfunding. The new SEC scheme will allow SMEs and startups to raise funds on a larger scale via a new type of public offering (the so-called SME-PO). The SEC also plans to establish the “SME Board,” a secondary market for trading the stocks of SMEs. Under the new SEC scheme, SMEs and startups that wish to proceed with an SME-PO must be structured as public companies with investor protection mechanisms in accordance with the Public Company Act B.E. 2535 (1992). Although SEC representatives have previously indicated that SME-POs would be subject to an information-based approach instead of the normal approval process for public offerings, the September 15 announcement does not detail this further, beyond noting that the SEC may deem it appropriate in future to relax certain requirements such as filing for approval, appointment of an independent financial advisor, and fees. Investors in public offerings for SMEs and startups must be sophisticated investors who are risk-tolerant and well capitalized, such as institutional investors, private equity or venture capital firms, angel investors, or an SMEs’ own directors, employees, or affiliates. Tilleke & Gibbins will continue to follow the development of regulations for SME-POs, as the rules and criteria described here are still subject to change. For more information on fundraising alternatives for SMEs and startups, or on any aspect of capital markets regulations in Thailand, please contact Onunya Chanpen at [email protected] or Kobkit Thienpreecha at [email protected]

As the Covid-19 situation in Vietnam has not improved since the beginning of August 2021, the Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam (IP Office) has issued Notice No. 8181/TB-SHTT dated September 9, 2021 (Notice 8181), providing a further two-month extension for IP deadlines. The contents of Notice 8181 are similar to those found in notices issued in March 2020 and August 2021. One notable difference is the addition of the term “such as” (“như”  in Vietnamese) to the list of IP procedures eligible for the extension, implying that this is now an open list: All procedures related to the establishment of industrial property rights (such as priority claims, supplementation of documents, responses to the IP Office’s decisions/notifications, annuities, renewal of the validity of protection titles, payment of fees and charges, and filing of appeal petitions) falling due during the period from June 30, 2021, to the end of October 31, 2021, will automatically be extended to the end of November 30, 2021. For other cases, if an applicant is still affected by the Covid-19 epidemic with regard to the implementation of its rights and obligations in the procedures for establishing rights to industrial property objects at the IP Office, such applicant may request [the IP Office] to apply the clauses on objective obstacles and force majeure as set out in Points 9.4 and 9.5 of Circular No. 01/2007/TT-BKHCN, as amended and supplemented by Circular No. 16/2016/TT-BKHCN. It is our interpretation from Notice 8181 that procedures related to the establishment of industrial property rights that are not specifically listed in the notice, such as IP filings and substantive examination requests, will also benefit from the new extension. However, there has not been any official explanation from the IP Office.

Businesses in Vietnam recognize the need to vaccinate their workers in order to keep their factories and workplaces open. In this article, we explore whether employers may require their employees to be vaccinated, as well as associated disclosure and privacy issues under Vietnamese law.

With COVID-19 cases continuing to pose a significant threat throughout Thailand, many employers have ordered their employees to work exclusively from home in order to minimize their chances of contracting the virus. However, this luxury is not afforded to all employees—some are unable to work from home due to the nature of their work, and consequently they are placed in the precarious position of being exposed to possible infection. Thailand’s Social Security Office (SSO) understood these risks early in the pandemic and, in March 2020, issued guidelines through the Workmen’s Compensation Fund Office on employees’ entitlement to claim benefits from the workers’ compensation fund (WCF) if they contract the virus as a result of their work. The WCF provides medical-related assistance and compensation to employees who directly suffer from a work-related injury or sickness (subject to certain conditions). Falling ill with COVID-19 during the performance of work duties may constitute suffering work-related sickness, thereby allowing employees to claim compensation from the WCF by submitting the Kor Thor 16 form, a medical certificate, treatment records, records of the employee’s working hours, and other relevant documentation. Upon receiving a claim, the SSO will investigate by collecting facts and evidence from the employer, the infected employee and his or her colleagues, and any witnesses. The official will examine the employee’s duties and working conditions in detail, taking into consideration any relevant information, such as evidence regarding the employee’s travel or movements prior to falling sick. Once all the facts and evidence are gathered, the matter will be submitted to a medical subcommittee responsible for determining whether the employee’s onset of COVID-19 is due to his or her work. If the subcommittee finds that the employee’s contraction of the virus did indeed result from the performance of his or her work duties, the employee will be entitled to compensation in accordance with the Workmen’s Compensation Act (No. 2) B.E. 2561 (2018). An employee who needs treatment before this determination (i.e., while the workers’ compensation claim is pending) can first seek medical care under the Social Security Fund from the hospital at which he or she is registered. If the subcommittee subsequently rules that the COVID-19 case was in fact work-related, the employee will be able to claim compensation from the WCF. It can be challenging to collect the evidence necessary to determine the source of an employee’s infection—especially when the employee has also frequented non-work locations or lives with other family members who may have been exposed to the virus. Nevertheless, the ability to receive compensation from the WCF for work-related cases of COVID-19 helps to ensure that employees—especially those working on the front lines—have adequate protection against the financial impact of falling sick with COVID-19.

The financial year will now run from April 1 to March 31, from the 2022–2023 financial year onward, and October 2021 to March 2022 will be considered an interim budget period.

Thailand’s Ministry of Interior has issued new regulations requiring owners, occupants, and operators of certain types of buildings to obtain third-party life, body, and property liability insurance. The Ministerial Regulations Prescribing the Type or Category of Buildings Which Must Apply for Legal Liability Insurance B.E. 2564 (2021) were announced in the Government Gazette on September 6, 2021, and will come into effect on November 5, 2021. The new regulations, which repeal and replace similarly titled regulations from 2005, detail third-party liability insurance rules, procedures, conditions, and minimum insurance amounts for specific building types and activities. The new regulations clearly distinguish the building use phase from the construction, modification, relocation, and demolition phases. They also add a new requirement for the owner, occupant, or operator of large buildings to apply for third party liability insurance during the construction, modification, relocation, and demolition phases. Building Construction, Modification, Relocation, and Demolition When a permit for construction, modification, relocation, or demolition is granted for a building classified as a high-rise, large, or extra-large building, the owner, occupant, or operator who obtained the permit must apply for third-party liability insurance before work begins. If work is already in progress when the regulations come into effect, the permit holders will have 30 days to apply for third party liability insurance covering the remainder of the period specified in the permit. Building Usage Owners or occupiers of public assembly buildings, hotels with more than 80 rooms, entertainment venues of 200 square meters or more, and large freestanding or building-attached signboards and support structures must also apply for third party liability insurance covering accidents related to the condition or use of the structures. Owners or occupiers have 30 days from the completion of the construction, modification, relocation, or change of use of the buildings, as the case may be, to apply for third-party liability insurance. Owners or occupiers of existing structures must apply for the required coverage within 30 days from the effective date of the new regulations. Insurance Minimums The regulations set the following minimum coverage amounts for third-party liability insurance: Bodily injury or loss of life – THB 100,000 per person Medical expenses – THB 100,000 per person Property damage – THB 500,000 per incident Bodily injury/loss of life coverage and medical expense coverage must have a combined total of at least THB 5 million per incident. The policyholder must retain proof of insurance coverage (in hard copy or electronic format) and provide it to the relevant authorities on request. Failure to do so could result in imprisonment for up to three months, a fine of up to THB 60,000, or both—as well as a penalty of up to THB 10,000 per day until compliance is achieved. If a juristic person’s violation is caused by the order, action, or neglect of a director, manager, or person responsible for the juristic person’s operations, that person will also be liable to the above punishments.

With the wide availability of vaccines in Cambodia, some employers are considering whether to mandate workers to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, prompting the question: What are the legal risks and implications of such a mandate in Cambodia?