Voyageur Magazine - November 2013

NOVEMBER 2013 A publication of the Thai-Canadian Chamber of Commerce

Corporate

11 / 2013

Partnership

Premier Sponsors

Executive Sponsors

ISB Grade 2 - 1966

International School Bangkok Bringing out the passion in each of us since 1951. www.isb.ac.th

Calendar

Calendar of events: 2013/2014 TCCC Executives Patron:

His Excellence Ambassador of Canada

Officers: President – Peter van Haren Vice President – Derek van Pelt Vice President – John Stevens Treasurer – Michael Howard Secretary – Dean Outerson Executive Board: John Casella Surachit Chanovan Neil Chiu Kobsak Duangdee Nelson Hilton Michael Howard Ron Livingston Dean Outerson Jim Patterson John Stevens Peter van Haren Derek van Pelt

WHEN: WHAT: WHERE: PRICE: WHEN: WHAT:

Wednesday, November 20, 2013; 6:30pm to 8:30pm Canuck Connections Networking Night Eastin Grand Hotel, 33/1 South Sathorn Rd. [Use sky-bridge from Surasak BTS Station] 250 baht – Members & 300 baht Non Members; snacks compliments of Eastin Grand

WHERE: PRICE:

Tuesday, December 3, 2013; 7:30am to 9:30am Breakfast Seminar – “Canadian tax for expats and investors. What do I need to know but was afraid to ask?” with Wayne Bewick, CPA CA, CFP, CPA (Illinois), Trowbridge Professional Corporation Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit 800 baht – Members & 900 baht – Non Members

WHEN: WHAT: WHERE: PRICE:

Wednesday. December 4, 2013; 7:00pm to 10:30pm Canuck Christmas Fest Bistro 33, 22 Sukhumvit Soi 33 Please see below for further details

Upcoming events in the region:

Advisors:

Vietnam: http://www.canchamvietnam.org/ WHEN: December 2, 2013 WHAT: Business Seminar - The Impact of Charismatic Leadership: Driving Productivity and Profitability WHERE: Mövenpick Hotel Saigon PRICE: Members VND 350,000 / Non-Members VND 450,000

Executive Director:

Hong Kong: http://www.cancham.org/ WHEN: December 3, 2013 WHAT: The Tech Committee Presents: The Big Data Series Part II – It’s Your Business to Know About Big Data WHERE: CanCham Boardroom PRICE: Members $200 / Non-Members $300

Embassy Representative: Ping Kitnikone

Sean Brady Sam Cohen Ali Fancy Don Lavoie Dusanee Promtan Picharn Sukparangsee Alexandra Morrow

Thai-Canadian Chamber of Commerce 139 Pan Road, Sethiwan Tower 9th floor, Bangkok 10500 Tel: +66(0) 2266-6085-6 Fax: +66(0) 2266-6087 Email: info@tccc.or.th Website: www.tccc.or.th

The Voyageur is the monthly magazine of the Thai-Canadian Chamber of Commerce, covering all Thai-Canadian business, legal and social news of interest to the members and others who are active in expanding Thai-Canadian bilateral trade.

Editor: Alexandra Morrow, Executive Director, Thai-Canadian Chamber of Commerce Publisher: Scandinavian Publishing Co., Ltd. 211 Soi Prasert-Manukitch 29, Prasert-Manukitch Rd., Chorakeabua, Ladprao Bangkok 10230 Tel: +66(0) 2943-7166-8 Fax: +66(0) 2943-7169 Design: Disraporn Yatprom Email: disraporn@scandmedia.com Advertising Contact: Mr. Finn Balslev, Marketing Director Scandinavian Publishing Co., Ltd. Tel: +66(0) 2943-7166 ext.116 or 08-1866-2577 Email: finn@scandmedia.com

TCCC

CCBA

Japan: http://www.cccj.or.jp/ WHEN: December 5, 2013 WHAT: Chicken and Egg: Which Comes First, Business or Marketing?

Why Marketing Means Business, Now More than Ever WHERE: TMI Associates, 23F Mori Tower Roppongi Hills Club PRICE: Seminar & Reception: Members ¥7,000/ Non-Members ¥8,000 Seminar Only: Members & Non-Members ¥2,000

I’m Dreaming of

A White Christmas Please join us for our annual Cancuck Christmas Party!!

Spend a “very cool” Bangkok evening in the beautiful Bistro 33’s garden and enjoy an “All you can eat” Christmas buffet and free flowing Bloody Caesars, beer, wine, margaritas, Mojitos and house-poring drinks!

Price with free flow drinks:

1,950 baht (early bird) 2,200 baht (standard price) Price without free flow drinks: 1,650 baht (early bird) 2,000 baht (standard price) Kids 12 & under: 450 baht Early bird prices valid until November 30 Tickets can be purchased from the TCCC Office –contact us today!

Tel: 0-2266-6085-6 | Fax: 0-2266-6087 | Email: info@tccc.or.th

Community News

Remembrance Day Ceremony On the morning of Monday November 11th, the Canadian community led by Ambassador Philip Calvert, met at the Ambassador’s residence to honor our war veterans. Canadian Forces Lt. Colonel Stephen Lemieux was the Master of Ceremonies for the event, which started at 11am sharp.

On Guard

A

fter a few opening remarks, Lt. Col. Lemieux introduced Ambassador Calvert to do the invocation. The group then sang “O Canada” before the embassy’s Allison Catmur read In Flanders Fields. Next, two minutes of silence was observed before reveille and the reading of the Act of Remembrance by Caleb StDenis. Then came the lament and the laying of the wreaths by the Ambassador, TCCC President Peter van Haren and Canadian Forces Warrant Officer Peter Thompson and Sergeant Marc Brouillette. Patrice Cousineau, the

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embassy’s political counsellor, did the final reading (We Will Remember) and the ceremony finished with the group singing “God Save the Queen”. After the ceremony guests were invited into the residence for refreshments and a light lunch.

The focus of this particular Remembrance Day was the Canadian soldiers who were killed or wounded in the Korean War as described below. And during the ceremony we all indeed did “Turn to Busan” to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Turn to Busan In 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea and the United Nations responded to stop the invasion. The Korean War that ended in 1953 was known asthe Forgotten War in Canada and elsewhere because it was politically recognized as a UN police action rather than a war by most of the participant governments.

Canada did not recognize these soldiers as war veterans. Because of this, the 26,000 Canadians who volunteered and served in Korea received no recognition, support or benefits for many years.

Community News

Canadian Forces with Ambassador Phil Calvert

516 men died, another 1500 were injured for life. It was not until much later that the Canadian Government acted to recognize the needs for support and benefits for Korean War veterans.

No formal recognition of these men and their service occurred until Prime Minister Jean Chretien personally unveiled the Official Korean War National Monument, known as the Monument to Canadian Fallen in the Korean War, in downtown Ottawa on September 28, 2003. CBC television covered the heartfelt ceremony live in a 2-hour special broadcast na-

tionwide and in the presence of over 3,000 veterans, their families, and other Canadians.

The Ottawa Monument to Canadian Fallen is an echo copy of the Monument to Canadian Fallen in the United Nations Cemetery in Busan, South Korea, and stands overlooking Confederation Park. It is aligned along the great circle initial bearing towards the UN Cemetery in Busan Korea, forever showing the linkage to the Canadian soldiers buried there.

Vincent Courtenay PPCLI, a Korea Veteran designed and brought both monuments to reality. Korean War veterans themselves donated most of the funds to pay for the monuments.

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Community News

Pandoo Nation captures Land of Smiles tourney Photos by Tadamasa Nagayama

P

andoo Nation, a team made up of primarily ex-NCAA players, won the 19th Land of Smiles tourney, recently held at The Rink located on seventh floor of the Central Grand Rama IX shopping plaza. In the final, they defeated the Siberian Bears 6-2. To get there, they defeated the Kreuz Subsea Sharks, a team made up of primarily Junior A players from Canada, in the semi-final. Those two teams fought it out for the Hong Kong championship earlier in the year, with Kreuz prevailing though they were bolstered by ex-NHLers Wayne Primeau and Todd Warriner. In Bangkok, Subsea did have ex-NHLer Tyler Sloan, but he wasn’t enough to cope with Pandoo’s speed.

Battle - Pandoo & Siberia

The defending champions, Bangkok’s Flying Farangs were eliminated b y Pandoo in the quarter-finals. Last year, they were fortunate to have Chicago Black Hawk Johnny Oduya patrolling the blueline for them as he spent time in Bangkok during the NHL strike. This year they weren’t so lucky.

The Flying Farangs actually had three teams in the tourney and their B team, lost to Slovenia in the semi-final of the Rec division, the undermanned but skilled Slovenian squad lost to defending-champion HK "Pit Stop" Liepaja Latvia in the Rec final 3-1. Ironically, the Latvian team had defeated the Flying Farang B squad in a shoot-out in a semi-final game the year before.

Thirty-eight teams competed in the tourney, which ran for 5 days and culminated with a closing party at the Amari Boulevard, where the Flying Farang rock band, 5 Hole, played to rousing applause. Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Kazakhstan, Macau, Jakarta, Kuwait, Switzerland, Finland and Canada also sent teams to compete in the tournament.

Pandoo trying to break through Siberia defence

In the Asian Division the Hong Kong Hitmen, bolstered by Thai star Tewin Chartsuwan defeated the Abu Dhabi Storms Men’s team. In the Women’s Division, the Dubai Gazelles beat the Abu Dhabi Storms Women’s team.

Ex-NHLer Francistek Kucera who played for the Chicago Black Hawks in the 1992 Stanley Cup final played for the Old Boys Pilsen Indians in the Rec divison, while another ex-NHLer, recently retired defenseman Jaroslav Spacek, showed up for the closing party. Spacek was captain of the Buffalo Sabres for awhile while Kucera won gold with the Czech team at the Nagano Olympics in 1998 and was involved in the Jaromir Jagr to Washington deal. www.jogsports.com Champions Pandoo Nation

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TCCC News

Canadian school takes on Berkeley

By Lloyd Wilson, Berkeley International School

B

erkeley International School hosted its first annual invitational futsal tournament- the Friendship Cup- on Saturday, November 9th featuring British Columbia, Garden, and New Sathorn international schools. Over 200 people showed up to watch as the Friendship Cup featured both boys and girls teams of varying ages. Competition was fierce, but sportsmanship and fair play led the day. New Sathorn finished winners in the boy’s cup games and the Berkeley girls won the girls final with a stunning display against British Columbia. Berkeley’s Parent Teacher Organization did a fabulous job catering the event. Berkeley hopes to encourage other smaller international schools to join with them in their expanding sports program covering futsal, basketball and swimming. Any interested parties who want to get involved should contact Berkeley’s Athletics Director Michael Strunk at mistrunk@berkeley.ac.th for more information. Overall, the day was a celebration of athletics, sportsmanship, and fun!

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Member Profile

Opus fills your recruitment needs

G

ary Woollacott prides himself on doing it right and getting it right; you see he’s a headhunter, the CEO of Opus Executive Search, one of Thailand’s premier recruitment firms. His aim is to make sure you get the best possible person for the upperend management position you need filled.

Gary has come a long way since being raised on a farm in Devon, England. Gary says “he had the good fortune to be born in the UK and the good sense to move to Australia”.

He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the University of Westminster (formerly the Polytechnic of Central London) in 1986 and then plunged full on into the London financial world, working in corporate finance, just before Big Bang in October 1986. He says it was a very exciting time with all the goings-on in the stock market and investment banking world back then.

From 1986-1990, he worked his way up to Assistant Manager of Corporate Finance for Citicorp Investment Bank from where he

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moved on to become Manager in the Corporate Finance Department of Sheppards Stockbroking from 1990-1992.

But Gary eventually felt like he needed a change of scenery. “As you get older you realize there is probably more to life, so I investigated going to live in Australia and was lucky enough to get accepted as a skilled migrant.”

In 1992 he arrived in Sydney, soon finding work as Executive Officer of the Companies Department with the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX); Gary describes the transition as being “poacher turned gamekeeper”.

Whereas in London he had been going on bended knee to the London Stock Exchange (LSE), putting together deals and transactions, in Australia he became a regulator.

Gary says he was hired because he came as a practitioner from a more developed market. The ASX hired him because they wanted someone who understood all of the complexities – and tricks, at times – of the

capital markets along with a clear appreciation of how those markets work in channelling investment funds to companies that seek them. This matters to companies both at the listing (or IPO) stage as much as companies seeking to issue shares for other reasons – and Gary had the technical knowledge to be able to assist and advise, as well as the power to regulate them. He added that it was one of the best jobs he has ever had: challenging and rewarding at the same time.

In 1995, life changed again when Gary came to Bangkok as a trailing spouse, a self-styled “pool pet”. He started looking for work right away and after a few months he became very bored – there wasn’t a lot to do in Bangkok back then. He would have loved to work at the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) and help upgrade the quality of the Thai market, but all the regulators are Thai, so it was not to be.

Through happenstance, he was offered a job with a headhunting firm, a career he

Member Profile

never previously considered. From 1996 to 2000 he worked for what is now Transearch as a consultant before moving to KPMG Thailand in 2000 as the Director of its Executive Search business unit until mid 2003.

In 2002, in response to the Enron/Arthur Anderson debacle, to prevent conflicts of interest within audit firms the US enacted the Sarbanes-Oxley Act making it much harder for audit firms to do non-audit work for audit clients: KPMG Thailand regretfully decided to withdraw from executive search.

As a result in August of 2003, with KPMG Thailand’s blessing, Gary established Opus in order to carry on the executive search business. Very fortunately for him, he was able to take most of the executive search unit’s clients and all of the existing staff with him.

Getting back to Gary, why was headhunting a good fit? He’s always been service-minded, he paid his way through university working as a waiter during the summer holidays, and he has also driven a delivery van, always feeling proud to be of service. Then when he went to work in the City of London he was again performing a service – as an investment banker making deals in the field of mergers and acquisitions, and he gained a lot of pleasure from that.

But what’s different about what he does now, compared to what he did back in London?

“Spreadsheets don’t lie, they don’t change from one day to the next; people do, headhunters need good judgment, though that can be learned and it’s learned through exposure.”

Opus has six full-time employees in its Bangkok office and three in its satellite branch in Ho Chi Minh City, which Gary opened in 2005.

Opus is a partner of Horton International, active in 26 countries; all of its partners are independently owned and they operate in the major economies of the world. Horton’s slogan “is small enough to care, big enough to deliver” and Gary is also the regional director of the organization’s Asia-Pacific branch.

The idea is that by coming together under one brand – Horton International – each partner is then in a position to refer work to other countries, and to accept work in return, for multinational companies seeking solutions in more than one market. There is a certain cachet in being part of an international network and it also means that clients can expect consistently high standards from

such networks – in the same vein as the accounting, or legal practices perhaps.

Ninety percent of Opus’ work is placing Thai nationals with foreign companies. It checks every possible candidate from those who are content with their present-day jobs (the passive candidates, ie most people) to even those hawking their resumes looking for immediate work (or active candidates, just a few, and the quality is variable). They may look at 100 people, and then they whittle that list down to ten, and call them in for an interview. Opus then provides a short-list of, say, three or four candidates whom the client will interview and decide with Opus’ advice who they think will be the best fit for their position.

Opus doesn’t post positions on job boards; it tries to match the best possible candidate with the job that needs to be filled. Many of its clients have been with Opus for some time so the company knows their needs and through the valuable network of contacts it has developed it knows the strengths and weaknesses of potential candidates. The clients pay for the process, candidates don’t, so Opus works to fulfil the client’s needs, not the candidates’.

And it usually takes between four to six weeks to do a proper executive search.

The placements that Opus typically makes are those people who are going to shape the company and take it forward, e.g. country managers, senior executives, heads of departments.

ing out Opus will replace them with a similarvalue candidate. In a calendar year, Opus will place approximately 25 candidates, so it has placed about 250 people since starting work a decade ago, and guess what? Many, many happy returns.

Opus’ fees aren’t cheap but if a company does the hiring itself and factored in the true management cost for the search, the HR cost in sifting through resumes, the sheer cost of processing and interviewing the candidates by senior management – it can be a tremendous drain on company resources, and financially actually cost much more in the long run.

Merriam-Webster defines opus as a “piece of music written by a major composer, or an important work done by a writer, painter, etc.” Gary sees his company’s work as such, Opus creates a body of work designed to find clients the best possible fit for their company.

And Gary describes himself as a “rounded professional with strong business origination, negotiation and execution skills gained in a world-class management consulting and corporate finance environments.”

So the next time you are looking to fill a highend position in your firm, why not let Gary and his experienced team at Opus do the work for you? Gary will stake his reputation that Opus will find you a good fit, and his reputation means everything to him.

Gary says, “When it all works, the candidate gets a great new position, the client gets a fabulous new employee and we get paid for it – everyone’s happy.”

So how does it work? Opus has a database, its uses its own referral network and word of mouth knowledge is also invaluable. Gary noted that “we kiss a lot of frogs to find our prince” – this is what is required for a thorough search. Opus believes in treating all its candidates with respect, so it tries to get back to them in timely fashion when they are seriously being considered for a job, or not — it doesn’t like to leave them hanging (and we’ve all been in that situation).

Opus has an 80% “stick rate”, which means two years after their placement the candidate is still there and has usually been promoted.

And most clients would agree that it takes two years to get a return on their investment.

There’s a guarantee period, typically four months, whereby if the candidate isn’t work-

Contact Info gary@opusasia.net +66 2 636 2323 www.opusasia.net Note: Gary was elected president of the Australian-Thai Chamber of Commerce for three terms (2005 – 2008), and while working at KPMG, he somehow found the time to complete a Master’s degree in Financial Management from the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), graduating in 2003.

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Member Profile

All you need to know about the Voyageur recently conducted a Q & A with Jean François Harvey, the Managing Partner of the Harvey Law Group. Below are excerpts from that interview.

1) Please tell us where and when the firm was founded and how it has grown and expanded.

I founded Harvey Law Group (HLG) in 1992 as a Montreal-based office. More than twenty years later, I am particularly proud to say that HLG has established a unique presence throughout Asia and the Middle East.

HLG’s immigration legal services were initially oriented towards Canada but it is no longer the case. Of course, Canada is still a desired destination among investor and entrepreneur immigrants, but HLG, being a pioneer law firm in investment immigration, advices for over ten immigration programs across the world.

Today, HLG has evolved into not only a leading international immigration firm but also a respected business law firm with fifteen offices worldwide, including Montreal, Miami, Hong Kong, Beijing, Ho Chi Minh City and Bangkok.

2) You say you specialize in Immigration, please tell us how you could help Thais immigrate to Canada. Are you active in facilitating immigration in all provinces, or just Manitoba, Quebec and BC? HLG is not only active with respect to facilitating its clients’ immigration to Canada. Indeed, HLG now offers tailormade services to its clients for over ten immigration programs/destinations across the world, including countries such as the United States, St. Kitts and Nevis, Greece, France, UK, and Hong Kong, just to name a few.

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Concerning Canada specifically, HLG is able to provide Thais with immigration services for every province. Of course, Quebec’s programs have been really popular lately, particularly the Quebec Investor Immigration Program (QIIP), but HLG has extensive resources and experience with regards to facilitating immigration all over Canada working with the different provinces’ PNPs, the provincial and federal Skilled-Worker programs, the Quebec Entrepreneur and self-employed programs, etc.

3) What can you do for Canadians seeking to set up a company here in Thailand, or for Canadians seeking to married here or looking for permanent resident status?

HLG offers an end-to-end process starting from advising on the regulatory issues of your business until the completion of the company registration.

HLG’s assistance consists of gathering and translating all required documents, filling in all necessary applications, drafting affidavits and obtaining licenses for regulated businesses. HLG also offers related corporate services such as VAT registration, labor contract and protection of your intellectual property rights.

For Canadians nationals seeking to get married in Thailand, HLG will help them to manage all legal issues related to the marriage from the visa to Thailand, the prenuptial agreement and the registration of the wedding certificate, such services include documents preparation and the change of status to a permanent residen\ of Thailand (if applicable). HLG also offers advice to persons applying for a permanent residence in Thailand for investment, employment, or expertise purposes.

4) Please tell us about the areas you specialize when it comes to business law?

HLG’s practice covers various aspects of business law, but four of them are definitely more prominent. The first one is the creation and/or establishment of

companies in jurisdictions all around the world. Our firm can provide clients with assistance in starting or re-settling a company in almost every country.

Another area of business law where HLG has a great expertise is in assisting companies with their cross-border transaction issues. HLG has navigated for many years through foreign laws and regulations, customs, tariffs and bureaucracy to make sure that its clients will never be left with the challenges of conflicting advice from different entities on different sides of the border.

HLG also advises on a large range of real estate-related transactions, representing vendors and purchasers, landlords and tenants, lenders and developers, and other parties in various manners regarding major commercial acquisitions and developments.

The fourth and last main area of HLG’s business law practice is its expertise with regards to partnerships and jointventure agreements, share purchase agreements and other strategic alliances.

5) What are your firm’s strengths, what gives you a competitive edge over other law firms?

HLG’s international presence along with its immigration and business law’s vast experience gained from over twenty years of experience, are the backbone of its successful and praised legal practice.

HLG strongly believes that the world is now a smaller place; that people, goods and ideas’ mobility should now be facilitated with the proper assistance.

HLG considers it a mission to ease that mobility and to avoid its clients being confronted by painful situations. We are recognized as mobility and business facilitators and that is why clients not only keep knocking at our door but also come back to us once the immigration process is complete.

Member Profile

Harvey Law Group

HLG’s small team size also assures the clients receive direct and efficient communication combined with personalized and thorough legal services. Simply said, building the strongest relationship is a priority for HLG. 6) How many lawyers do you have working for, how are they spread out across the globe and where are your managing partners based?

HLG’s team is composed of twenty-five talented and hardworking lawyers, who are spread out in seven different countries across the world. Among these lawyers, five are managing partners of the firm, respectively stationed in Hong Kong, Beijing, Ho Chi Minh, Bangkok and Miami.

7) Please tell us about your associations and memberships.

HLG takes great pride in being, not only represented in various countries, but duly registered as an official law firm in quite a few countries around the globe as well, notably in Canada, Hong Kong, China, Vietnam and Florida.

HLG’s expertise has also been endorsed and recognized at several occasions by foreign governments or governmental agencies on mobility and cross-border investment issues. HLG is, for instance, the only foreign licensed law firm in St. Kitts and Nevis.

HLG (Thailand) Co., Ltd. 195 Tower 2, Unit 2904, South Sathorn Road, Yannawa, Sathorn, Bangkok 10120 Thailand www.harveylawcorporation.com

Moreover, HLG is also a member of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in a number of Asian countries.

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Business News

Selected Thoughts about the Governing Law Issue in Thailand Using a law other than Thai law as the governing law of a contract performed in Thailand is an issue often asked about by clients and potential investors.

This article demonstrates that the issue is in practice complex, and expert legal advice should be sought having regard to the particular circumstances of the matter at hand.

What the Law Says

In practice a judgment obtained in a foreign court cannot be enforced directly in Thailand. A matter litigated in a foreign court will need to be re-litigated on the merits in a Thai court, with the foreign judgment having merely evidentiary value. Thus choosing, for example, Singapore law as the governing law of a contract, with disputes to be resolved by the Singapore courts, may not be appropriate if in fact the contract is to be performed in Thailand and/or a related judgment would need to be enforced against a party (or their assets) in Thailand.

The basic provisions pertaining to the adoption of a foreign governing law in Thailand are established by the Conflict of Laws Act (1938) which states that the applicable law of a contract is determined by the intention of the parties. If the intention is not explicit, the governing law should be either the law of the parties’ nationality or, in case parties are of different nationality, the law of the place where

the contract is deemed to have been made.

If it is not possible to identify the place where the contract was made, the contract should be ultimately governed by the laws where the contract is to be performed.

However, the general principle that applies is that a foreign law may be the governing law in a Thai-related contract only if it is not in conflict with the “public order and good morals” of Thailand. Furthermore, the content of the foreign law must be proved to the satisfaction of the Thai court, through the use of experts. This means that the adoption of a foreign governing law may not be practicable.

Ensuring that laws from another jurisdiction do not conflict with “public order” and “good morals” is a challenging task, because the terms “public order” and “good morals” remain largely undefined by law or judicial reasoning, but have in practice been interpreted broadly by Thai courts.

Practicalities

There are thus risks in adopting a foreign governing law in a Thai related contract. If the contract is to be enforced in Thailand, the Thai courts will: • need to be provided with evidence of the meaning of the foreign law, failing which they may apply Thai law, (with potentially unintended consequences); and • determine that there is no conflict with “the public order and good morals” (failing which the relevant portion of the contract may be unenforceable).

than Thai law often choose dispute resolution by arbitration in a foreign country. As Thailand is a party to the NY Convention on the Recognition of Foreign Arbitral Awards, the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in Thailand does not give the Thai courts the same level of latitude to look into the merits of the case as they can with foreign court judgments, though they will refuse to enforce the award if to do so would be against public policy.

Irrespective of the selected governing law, Thai law will in any event apply to matters requiring compliance with certain regulatory requirements such as in relation to local registration requirements for the purpose of completion of the contract’s performance.

This would be the case with any transaction involving immovable assets or with corporate formalities in respect of a company incorporated in Thailand.

Considering all the risks mentioned in this article, innovative drafting of the governing law clause may be necessary if a foreign law is adopted as the governing law of a contract related to Thailand.

Audray Souche, Senior Adviser, Deputy Managing Director, Thailand – audray. souche@dfdl.com Angus Mitchell, Partner, Managing Director, Thailand – angus.mitchell@dfdl.com

For this reason, foreign parties wanting to have their contract governed by a law other

Farewell to Randy Shockley Randy Shockley spent five years as the TCCC’s Executive Director, succeeding Suzanne Thibault in the post. Randy came to the Chamber after spending many years with Ford, including a few difficult postings in the Middle East.

With the TCCC, Randy was responsible for organizing all the Chamber’s functions and events and was the editor of the TCCC’s magazine Voyageur and the Chamber’s membership directory. He also played a huge role in organizing Canada Day and the Beaver golf tournament.

Randy worked tirelessly, often taking his work home with him, or working in the office late into the night. His dedication and attention to detail will be missed. Randy made a lot of good friends in the Chamber, who will miss his camaraderie and sense of humour; they all wish him well in his retirement life in Florida.

Randy was the first non-Canadian to run the TCCC and was succeeded by another non-Canadian German-born Kiwized Alexandra Morrow.

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