PRACTICE OVERVIEW
Corporate/M&A
Analytics’ lawyers have handled scores of transactions in Thailand, including:
- IBM in the sale of its PC business in Thailand to Lenovo.
- Valvoline in a buy-out of its local Thai party’s shareholding in Valvoline (Thailand) Limited.
- Bain Capital in its acquisition of a majority stake in a Thai public company.
- ITOCHU, in among others, acquisition of Dole’s operations in Thailand.
- Matsushita (Panasonic).
- Shell in its acquisition of a local company that had approximately 50 branches throughout Thailand.
Analytics wrote the book on international joint ventures in Thailand, authoring the Thai chapter of the American Bar Association’s International Joint Ventures: A Guide for U.S. Lawyers. Analytics has drafted scores of legalese-free share purchase agreements and related agreements. We regularly advise foreign clients on the requirements of Thai corporate law.
Related Articles
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- Foreign Ownership of Land Under Consideration (Again)The Bangkok Post is reporting that the Thai government is again considering opening up land ownership to foreigners in Thailand. Foreigners are generally prohibited from owning land in Thailand, and this often comes as a surprise to foreigners from more open and developed jurisdictions where there are no such restrictions. Not surprisingly, this is generating ...Read more
- Four Announcements about Thailand’s PDPA in the Royal GazetteOn 21 June 2022, just a few weeks after Thailand’s Personal Data Protection Act (“PDPA”) came into full force, the Data Protection Committee published four announcements in the Royal Gazette about the PDPA. These announcements provide more detail about the PDPA and are intended to provide holders of personal data with more information about their ...Read more
- Update on Thailand’s Long Term Resident VisaOn 2 June 20022, the Ministry of Interior – the ministry responsible for the implementation of immigration laws – published an announcement concerning regulations for long term resident visas (“LTR”) in the Royal Gazette (the “Announcement”). In summary, those regulations provide: The following types of foreigners (non-Thais) are eligible for an LTR visa: (a) Wealthy persons ...Read more
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- Thailand’s New Credit Term RegulationBy Douglas Mancill and Nat Uawithya The Policy Rationale Behind Thailand’s Credit Regulation Negotiated terms between commercial parties of equal bargaining power are generally considered better than dictated terms. But regulatory authorities don’t always agree. Last year Thailand’s Trade Competition Commission (“TCC”) promulgated a credit terms regulation (the “Regulation”) intended to protect small-to-medium size enterprises (“SME”) from what it ...Read more
- Predications for Thailand – 2022Random thoughts and musings about what we can expect in 2022. Not scientific in any sense of the word; entirely tongue-in-cheek. 1.Thailand’s Economic Growth: 3.3% Not terribly robust, but not as bad as it could be. Siam Commercial Bank’s research house recently downgraded its economic forecast for Thailand’s economic growth from 3.4% to 3.2% because of the ...Read more
- Franchising Law in Thailand
When someone mentions franchises, fast food burger joints are probably the first thing that comes to mind. But franchising can and is used for many other businesses. Franchising relationships include fitness clubs, food delivery services, cleaning services, property management services, financial and bookkeeping services, private schools, assisted living facilities, management consulting services and medical service providers. Almost ...Read more - Cross Examination in International Arbitration – ThailandConducting a cross examination in an international arbitration proceeding is like conducting a cross examination in a domestic arbitration or trial, but there are some differences. International arbitrations, by definition, involve witnesses, arbitrators, and parties from different countries. Adopting a more civil and polite tone is almost always the best approach when you are representing ...Read more
- Real Estate Scams in ParadiseYears ago I saw an English language posting on Linked-In advertising the “sale” of land on Koh Chang (a Thai island) through the use of three consecutive 30 year “registered” leases for a total of 90 years. The advertisement went so far as to highlight the land’s location in a national park. When I posted ...Read more
- Toyota Reports “Possible” Corrupt Activity in ThailandMultiple media resources are reporting that Toyota “alerted the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission to possible antibribery violations involving a subsidiary in Thailand”. Those media sources include, among others, the Wall Street Journal (the quoted language is from the Wall Street Journal), Nikki Asia, Bloomberg, and Bangkok’s English newspaper, the Bangkok Post. The Bangkok Post cites Reuters ...Read more
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- Thailand Falls Another Three Places on Transparency International’s Corruption IndexThailand ranked 104th among 180 countries surveyed, down from 101st a year earlier, with an overall score of 36 out of 100. The higher the ranking the greater the perception of corruption, and the lower the score, the higher the perception of corruption. Although there have been minor changes, Thailand’s ratings on Transparency International’s Corruptions ...Read more
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- Overview of Thai Bankruptcy Reorganization Law
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- Higher Returns for Property, Tourism, Entertainment, etc. Sectors After Pandemic EndsHigher Returns in Tourism, Property, etc., after the Pandemic Ends The Bangkok Post reported on 20 November 2020 that “Thailand’s biggest manager of distressed assets is bracing for another difficult year in 2021, as the economy faces more headwinds from the pandemic”. This article goes on to quote Bungyong Visatemongkolchai, the chairman of Bangkok Commercial Asset ...Read more
- Top 12 Things to Keep in Mind When Planning on Doing Business in ThailandThe top 12 things to keep in mind when planning to do business in Thailand: 1. Foreign Ownership of Companies and Land: This is often a surprise for business people and lawyers operating in more open economies, but foreigners are prohibited from owning land (absent narrow exceptions) and foreign majority owned businesses are prohibited from engaging in a ...Read more
- International Arbitration in Thailand – A Work in ProgressThailand has made some progress on international arbitration, but it’s still a work in progress. Thailand has, for example, made it possible for foreign representatives and arbitrators to conduct and participate in arbitration proceedings in Thailand, but some restrictions on foreign representatives and arbitrators remain. Judicial hostility towards arbitration awards against governmental bodies and other local parties ...Read more
- Facing the Foreign Business ActTo legally engage in activities restricted under the FBA, an alien company must obtain a Foreign Business License (“FBL”) or a Foreign Business Certificate (“FBC”) from the DBD. This is often easier said than done, but there are some exceptions.Read more
- Serious and Real Reform of the Thai FBA is Overdue.The Bangkok Post reported on 21 May 2018 that the foreign business community is (again) pressing for reform of the Foreign Business Operations Act (FBA). We are seeing that again now. Reform is absolutely necessary, but the foreign business community needs to look carefully at reform proposals, because many past proposals, if they had been enacted, would have made ...Read more
- Compliance in the Time of CovidCovid-19 has created a perfect storm for regulatory lapses and failures: an unprecedented combination of business and regulatory disruption in a condensed time of period. Compliance requirements and safeguards are ignored, and compliance investigations hindered, delayed, or canceled. But do not expect the Department of Justice or the Securities and the Exchange Commission(“SEC”) to relax enforcement ...Read more
- Compliance Investigations in Thailand: Caste and CandorThere is one word that should start any real discussion about corruption in Thailand, and that word is Sakdina (ศักดินา). Sakdina is a historical system of social hierarchy that went so far as to assign a specific numerical rank to every person in Thailand depending on their status. Although officially abolished, it persists, in a less recognizable ...Read more
- A Perfect Storm For Thailand’s Tourism SectorPfizer and BioNTech have announced the development of a vaccine that is over 90% successful in preventing Covid-19. This should open investment opportunities in Thailand, particularly in Thailand’s tourism sector. Thailand’s tourism sector and much of its economy has been in a slump since the Thai government took stringent measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in Thailand. Thailand’s ...Read more
- TAT Sentence Upheld on AppealThe Bangkok Post is reporting that the convictions of the former Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Ms. Juthamas Siriwan, and her daughter, Jittisopa Siriwan, have been held up on appeal to the Thai Supreme Court. This presumably brings an end to the long saga of the Bangkok Film festival corruption case.Read more
- Corruption & Defamation: The Recent TripAdvisor ControversyThe press reports about the American jailed for allegedly posting a defamatory review on TripAdvisor about the Seaview hotel in Koh Chang have cast a spotlight on Thailand’s strict defamation laws. Reports about the jailing of the American appeared on the BBC website, the New York Times and the Bangkok Post.Read more
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- The Not So Simple Amity Treaty Exception to the Foreign Business ActThailand’s Foreign Business Act, B.E. 2542 (FBA), which repealed and replaced a decree issued by the Thai government in 1972 known as NEC 281 (often also referred as the “Alien Business Law”), provides that “alien companies” – defined solely in terms of foreign share ownership – are not permitted to engage in a wide range ...Read more
- International Anti-Corruption LawsEven before Barrack Obama became the 44th President of the U.S, a sea change in the enforcement of international anticorruption laws had started. The extent of that sea change became evident in December 2008 when Siemens AG and three of its subsidiaries agreed to pay a record U.S. $1.6 billion in fines to U.S. and ...Read more
- The Controversy Over Proposed Changes to the Foreign Business ActOver the last several months the local and international press have carried articles about foreign chambers of commerce and embassies appealing to the Thai government to rethink the draft changes to the Foreign Business Act, B.E. 2542 (FBA), arguing these proposed changes to Thai law will hurt future and existing foreign investors and violate Thailand’s ...Read more
