Dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic has taken top priority for almost every country in the world. In Thailand, even though the strength of the country’s health security measures has been ranked sixth-best globally, COVID-19 has hit hard, and the number of confirmed cases is steadily increasing each day.

COVID-19: Companies in Thailand Granted Limited Relief from Statutory Annual Meeting RequirementsThe Department of Business Development (DBD) of Thailand’s Ministry of Commerce has given companies more flexibility regarding the deadline for holding their mandatory annual general meeting of shareholders (AGM) for this year, in light of the disruption caused by the COVID-19 crisis.

In an effort to help stem the COVID 19 virus outbreak in Thailand, the nation’s chief judicial authorities have ordered the postponement of most court hearings until the end of May 2020. In a resolution issued by the Judicial Administrative Commission (JAC) and an announcement by the President of the Supreme Court (the “Announcement”), all courts of first instance (i.e. trial-level courts) must set new dates for hearings that are currently scheduled between March 24 and May 31. Exceptions 

The Ministry of Energy has issued an order to delay the 23rd round of bidding for petroleum exploration and production, as reported on the official website of the Department of Mineral Fuels (DMF). The 23rd round of bidding involved three exploration blocks in the Gulf of Thailand, and was previously expected to open in early April 2020, with the DMF set to return their final decision regarding concessions within the end of 2020. The delayed round of bidding would have reportedly been the first round in 13 years.

As Thailand, and the world, face the growing COVID-19 crisis, the impact has begun to spread beyond people’s health and into the economy as a whole. While some businesses may be able to move to remote working practices to minimize economic distress, others may require a physical presence that becomes difficult or impossible to maintain, or may face substantial changes to their operations, resulting in hardship or emergency measures.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an unavoidable impact on the economy of Vietnam. While the country’s infection numbers remain commendably low thanks to timely and strict containment and mitigation efforts, everyday life and business have still been turned upside-down as buildings have been closed and neighborhoods have been quarantined, and consumers have dramatically changed their spending patterns.

The concept of corporate criminal liability was introduced into Vietnamese law under the Penal Code of 2015, which took effect in 2018. Under the 2015 Penal Code, for the first time, corporate entities (companies) could be held criminally liable for a variety of offenses, including certain intellectual property crimes under Articles 225 and 226.