Thailand Law Firm Awards

Led by founder and managing partner Pisut Rakwong, Pisut & Partners runs a robust and wide ranging corporate practice from full-service corporate legal solutions and M&A to corporate governance and compliance.

The firm has made advising clients on corporate governance and compliance a priority, helping companies introduce effective compliance programmes. By conducting comprehensive compliance assessments coupled with ongoing guidance, Pisut & Partners has been assisting clients in mitigating legal and reputational risks, while at the same time enhancing stakeholder confidence.

Warot Advisory Services is headed by managing partner Warot Wanakankowit, who specialises in advising on taxation, corporate and commercial, foreign business law, and labour and employment, as well as M&A transactions.

The Bangkok-based firm offers a wide range of corporate advisory services covering matters relating to company formation, licensing and permit requirements for specific business operations to commercial contract negotiations and licence agreements.

Jantanarak Tuekaew, managing director at Disrupt Technology Venture in Thailand, says: “Warot Advisory Services deserves to be nominated … because its founder is highly passionate, works diligently, and has a client-centric approach. They make a significant impact on the Thai startup ecosystem by leveraging their expertise to support and nurture startups, contributing to the overall growth of the ecosystem and the Thai economy.”

Founded in 2018 in Bangkok by partners John Formichella and Numlapyos Sritawat, Formichella & Sritawat has a team of privacy attorneys handling regulatory and cybersecurity compliance and privacy issues.

Formichella heads the firm’s privacy practice for the telecoms, media and technology (TMT) sector, and has more than 25 years’ experience advising on data privacy and cybersecurity, among other areas. Over the years, the Bangkok-based firm has advised foreign multinationals on navigating the data privacy laws in Thailand. This includes advising a Nasdaq-100 company on Thai cybersecurity law concerning data centres, and counselling a London-based multinational law firm on Thai regulations governing healthcare companies in utilising cloud services with respect to patient data.

With offices in Thailand, Myanmar and Vietnam, LawPlus is led by founding partners Prasantaya Bantadtan and Kowit Somwaiya, who have 55 years of combined legal experience. The Bangkok-based firm’s corporate and M&A practice also covers areas including data protection, trade competition, employment and real estate.

As the firm’s senior partner and former managing partner of Herbert Smith Freehills’ Bangkok office, Somwaiya has more than 30 years of experience advising on multiple practice areas, including data privacy. Under his leadership, LawPlus has been active in advising companies on data privacy and protection compliance, including helping Tong Thai Rubber to meet the requirements of Thailand’s Personal Data Protection Act.

The firm also advised a joint venture company affiliated with one of Thailand’s top three commercial banks, carrying out a review of its data privacy compliance documents and providing relevant legal advice.

Since 1997, Hunton Andrews Kurth has been operating in Bangkok, from where it runs its Southeast Asian practice. The office’s more than 30 local and international attorneys have years of experience representing clients in a wide range of areas, from M&A and project development to structured finance and restructuring.

Hunton Andrews has a long history of advising on energy projects, dating back to when it acted for Virginia’s first electric power company in 1901. In Thailand, the firm boasts a team of experienced energy lawyers including US-trained Thai partner Chumbhot Plangtrakul, who has acted for some of the largest domestic and international players in the field. Plangtrakul advised a Delaware unit of Thailand-listed coal mining and natural resources company Banpu on the corporatisation of a multimillion-dollar portfolio of upstream and midstream oil and gas assets in North America.

Plangtrakul works alongside Bangkok-based energy partners James Bradley and Edward Koehler. Bradley focuses on electric power projects in Southeast Asia, while Koehler specialises in energy and infrastructure project development and finance across Asia.

Bangkok-based LEXEL is a full-service firm that focuses not only on intellectual property, in which it has particular expertise, but also a wide range of practice areas including healthcare and life sciences.

The firm is headed by managing partner Tanakrit (Chansin) Tangburanakij, a former principal of the intellectual property and technology group at Baker McKenzie in Thailand, and a former president of the Intellectual Property Association of Thailand.

Radeemada Mungkarndee, a partner and head of the firm’s patent and life sciences team, has been a key figure leading the firm’s engagement in the life sciences sector. As a former patent attorney at Baker McKenzie and Tilleke & Gibbins, Mungkarndee has, for example, been advising research institutions on transitioning their innovations into commercial ventures by treating intellectual property as a valuable asset.

Southeast Asia-based law firm DFDL was launched in Bangkok in 2005, building a strong track record advising on projects related to energy, infrastructure, transport, real estate and finance, among other areas.

Besides its well-known tax expertise, DFDL has a team of attorneys in Thailand advising on restructuring cases. Jonathan Blaine, tax director and co-head of the restructuring and insolvency practice, focuses on assisting the firm’s clients in regional restructuring and insolvency resolutions and projects. Senior advisers Panida Agkavikai and Noppadon Treephetchara, a bankruptcy specialist, are also among team members spearheading the restructuring and insolvency practice.

Global law firm DLA Piper launched in Bangkok in 2004 and is currently led by country managing partner Waranon Vanichprapa.

Vanichprapa was appointed as head of the firm’s finance, projects and restructuring practice in Asia in 2023, and has more than 20 years of experience advising financial institutions and multinational corporations on complex financing and restructuring transitions as well as bankruptcy issues.

As a firm, DLA Piper has expertise in acting for corporate entities and individuals on complex business reorganisations, troubled company M&A, and debt restructurings, among other things.

The Bangkok office of Clyde & Co, which forms a key part of the UK firm’s regional network of around 350 legal professionals, provides insurance advice to local and international insurers and reinsurers, along with litigation and arbitration services.

Among those on the ground is legal director Sorawat Wongkaweepairot, who specialises in insurance and reinsurance, as well as arbitration and commercial litigation. Partner Ian Johnston, admitted as a solicitor in Hong Kong and the UK, specialises in providing insurance advice to local and international insurers and reinsurers and major hospitality and construction companies, as well as in arbitration.

KPMG launched end-to-end legal services arm KPMG Law in Thailand in early 2020 as an addition to its audit, tax and advisory services. In 2022, some law firms and teams from the ZICO network joined KPMG’s network of firms under an agreement that saw a team of lawyers joining more than 50 legal professionals at KPMG Law in Thailand.

KPMG Law regularly advises insurers on supervisory law and, in the area of insurance contract law, the firm assists both policyholders and insurers in examining complex cases.

Established in 1990, Siam Premier is an independent Thai law firm founded by Phisud Dejakaisaya and Surakiart Sathirathai. Led by managing partner Chatchavej Chitvarakorn, who has more than 20 years of experience advising on areas including corporate M&A, antitrust and competition, the firm runs a robust insurance practice regularly acting for global and major local general insurers and reinsurers, life insurers, brokers and agents.

The insurance team has extensive experience advising global insurers on Thai market entry and exit, and has developed close working relationships with the Office of the Insurance Commission. Chitvarakorn has advised foreign insurers and subsidiaries of global insurance companies operating in Thailand on their investment strategies, corporate restructuring and other legal matters.

Ananda Intellectual Property is an intellectual property law firm managed by European, US and Thai partners with a strong reputation for its expertise in intellectual property litigation.

The firm’s intellectual property litigation team regularly represents clients in trademark, copyright and patent infringement cases heard at various levels of the Thai court system, including the supreme court. The team, led by managing partner Franck Fougere, also handles cases against the Department of Intellectual Property, with assistance from senior intellectual property litigator Nuttakorn Sorakun, who is a partner of Ananda Intellectual Property’s associate corporate partner firm, Orbis.

Herrera & Partners is a Bangkok-based law firm that specialises in corporate and litigation. Led by managing partner Jose Herrera, the firm has a team of Thai and international lawyers who advise a clientele of small startups, foreign governments and large Forbes 100 companies operating in Thailand or Southeast Asia.

Herrera has a team of patent and trademark lawyers as well as litigators with expertise in enforcing intellectual property rights in Thailand covering trademarks, patents, design and copyright.

Based in Bangkok, Satyapon & Partners has a team of more than 25 attorneys specialising in all aspects of intellectual property and headed by managing partner Satyapon Sachdecha. The Bangkok-based intellectual property firm runs a litigation team that has a long history of defending clients in Thai courts, including the country’s supreme court.

Consisting of lawyers including Sachdecha and partner Kritsana Mingtongkhum, the firm’s litigation team represented a Japanese Fortune 500 company in 2019 against one of the biggest local manufacturers of competing products in the largest patent seizure in the country to date.

With a pedigree dating back to 1947, Domnern Somgiat & Boonma specialises in patents, trademarks, intellectual property enforcement and copyright, among other areas.

Based in Bangkok, the firm’s team of partners specialising in intellectual property litigation includes Rutorn Nopakun, who has advised both foreign and domestic clients on intellectual property litigation both in civil and criminal cases. Senior lawyer Chalermphong Jitkuntivong is regarded as one of Thailand’s leading intellectual property litigators. During his more than three decades of experience, Jitkuntivong has acted in many landmark lawsuits that have since become established precedents in the intellectual property field.

Dej-Udom & Associates, headed by managing director Dej-Udom Krairit, offers a wide range of legal services covering corporate law, immigration and employment, intellectual property, litigation, investment and taxation, among other areas.

The firm runs an intellectual property department that offers a full suite of services covering all aspects of intellectual property rights in Thailand, including prosecution ranging from copyright, trademarks, domain names, trade secrets, geographical indicators and patents.

ILCT is a full-service Thai firm led by managing director and senior partner, Jayavadh Bunnag, who specialises in advising on commercial and natural resources laws including minerals, oil and gas, and energy. He also acts as an arbitrator and counsel in both domestic and international arbitrations.

The firm’s intellectual property practice group, which was established in 1966, is supported by a team of 23 intellectual property practitioners comprising patent specialists and attorneys. Together, the team advises on matters from prosecution and litigation to due diligence and portfolio management.

ILAWASIA is a new-generation, full-service Thai law firm based in central Bangkok, which has expanded to include offices in Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos since it was established in 2011. The firm has also been continuously expanding at home, having hired experienced M&A partner Tanadee Pantumkomon from Tilleke & Gibbins. To strengthen its corporate and commercial practice, the firm also introduced legal services for M&A, major projects and energy in November 2023.

As a full-service commercial law firm, SCL Nishimura & Asahi has been providing legal services in a wide range of fields, in collaboration with its Tokyo office and other Japan and overseas outfits. Such services range from client expansion, development and withdrawal to companies investing in Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries.

Besides advising on corporate expansion and withdrawal, the firm has been investing in its labour practice and provides services related to the review and revision of work regulations to ensure compliance with the Labour Protection Act and its amendment.

Hideshi Obara, a partner and Bangkok office co-representative, has been widely involved in labour issues in addition to other corporate areas including joint ventures and acquisitions in Southeast Asian countries, with a focus on Thailand.

Since opening its doors in 2023, IAS Advisory has doubled the size of its office space and added eight lawyers to a team that has already begun to be recognised as go-to counsel for real estate, corporate and M&A work.

One area in which the firm has been very active is litigation, successfully landing mandates from domestic, regional and global companies in cases involving litigation of construction, logistics and digital currency matters, among others. In one, the firm assisted the subsidiary of a delisted company with a claim for THB250 million in compensation from a major oil explorer in Thailand for unfairly terminating contracts.

Lexpertise Law Firm was established in July 2023, and is led by managing partner Nandana Indananda, a former Tilleke & Gibbins partner. Since then, the Bangkok-based firm has expanded to cover a broader range of areas, including arbitration, data compliance, cybersecurity and intellectual property litigation.

It has a team of experienced lawyers specialising in dispute resolution through litigation, arbitration and mediation, covering commercial, construction, intellectual property, labour and employment disputes.

Pramuanchai Law Office, led by senior partner and managing director Pramual Chancheewa, has developed expertise in advising on a wide range of shipping and maritime-related cases. These matters cover various commercial laws, marine and non-marine insurance, and shipping and aviation claims, including those related to collusion and oil pollution.

As the founder, Chancheewa has participated in the drafting of shipping, maritime, transport and insurance laws in Thailand, as well as many local insurance policies including fire insurance, inland cargo and a carrier’s liability.

Founded in 2002, LawAlliance comprises a team of Thai tax specialists headed by Piphob Veraphong, a former partner at Linklaters and Baker McKenzie, and an honorary professor at Chulalongkorn University. The Bangkok-based firm’s practice covers multiple aspects of tax law including tax-driven corporate reorganisation, tax audits and dispute resolution, and excise and customs.

Oil and gas is another of the firm’s practice areas, representing major oil and gas concessionaires in Thailand, and advising on transactions involving the industry as well as related disputes involving petroleum income tax, for example.

LawAlliance’s team also advises on taxation legal issues involving a variety of industries, including trade, power, automobiles, health, telecoms and transportation. The firm provides tax advice to companies in different industries on structured finance, securitisation, transfer pricing, and domestic and international securities offerings, among others.

Singapore-based Rajah & Tann, one of Southeast Asia’s largest law firms, has a team of about 60 lawyers covering a wide range of Thai legal matters, including civil, criminal and administrative proceedings, international and domestic arbitration, government investigations and compliance.

The Thai office is highly rated for representing clients in regulated industries such as telecoms – an area in which Rajah & Tann excels, together with technology and media. Thailand-based partner Supawat Srirungruang, for example, specialises in advising telecoms and tech companies on traditional and emerging areas including fintech, crypto-currencies, e-commerce and e-payments.

Working alongside Srirungruang, Melisa Uremovic is deputy managing partner for Rajah & Tann in Thailand. With more than 20 years’ experience in the country, her practice focuses on highly regulated sectors including telecoms and e-commerce.

Silk Legal, led by founder and managing partner Jason Corbett, has been expanding rapidly, having successfully launched offices in New York and Dubai, and with plans for new outfits within Thailand. Most recently, the Bangkok-based law firm set up an office in the Dubai International Financial Centre to expand its digital asset practice. The firm aims to extend its legal services to clients in key jurisdictions, particularly in areas of strength that include fintech, banking and finance, and restructuring and insolvency.

Silk Legal has been building more capacity in the blockchain and tech space, advising clients on compliance, licensing and other matters on distributed ledger technology, cryptocurrencies and fintech.

One of the firm’s services is helping companies comply with the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission’s licensing requirements for establishing a cryptocurrency exchange, brokerage or dealership.