Lawyers from Tilleke & Gibbins’ Bangkok office have authored the Thailand chapter of the 2021 edition of Chambers & Partners Aviation Finance & Leasing Guide. John Frangos, partner and deputy director of Tilleke & Gibbins’ dispute resolution practice; Santhapat Periera, partner in the firm’s corporate and commercial department; and Nuanchun Somboonvinij, senior associate in the firm’s dispute resolution group, provided the Thailand update for the publication, which covers the most important legal developments affecting aircraft lessors, lessees, and financiers in 32 jurisdictions worldwide. The guide provides in-depth details on the legal regimes affecting all aspects of aircraft sale and purchase, aircraft and engine leasing, and aircraft debt finance, including sale and lease agreement terms; taxation; lease registration and enforcement; lease assignment/novation; insurance and reinsurance; debt structuring; securities; liens; and many others that affect the day-to-day operations of leading players in the aviation industry. Chambers and Partners’ Global Practice Guides provide in-house counsel with expert legal commentary focusing on practical legal issues affecting business, and enable readers to compare legislation and relevant procedures across a range of key jurisdictions. The full Chambers & Partners Aviation Finance & Leasing Guide—including the Thailand chapter—is available for free on the Chambers and Partners website, and the Thailand chapter be downloaded as a stand-alone PDF through the button below.

As a result of the decree, provisions relating to personal data protection, data subject rights, complaints, civil liabilities, penalties, and grandfather provisions, will now take effect on June 1, 2022.

Thailand has made significant changes to its statutory interest rate framework for the first time in almost a century. Since 1925, the statutory interest rate codified in Thailand’s Civil and Commercial Code (the CCC) has remained at 7.5% per year. But with Covid-19 having an unprecedented impact on the Thai economy, the Thai Government, via emergency decree, has reduced the statutory rate. While the decree is largely aimed at providing relief to hard-hit SMEs and individual debtors, the amendments have broader implications for doing business in Thailand. Main Changes The new interest rate revisions are contained within the Emergency Decree Amending the Civil and Commercial Code B.E. 2564 (2021) (the Emergency Decree), which was published in the Government Gazette on April 10, 2021 and came into effect on April 11, 2021. The Emergency Decree amends Sections 7 and 224 of the CCC, which stated the previous statutory interest rate of 7.5% per year. The Emergency Decree makes three major changes. The first involves a reduction of the statutory interest rate from 7.5% per year to 3% per year in Section 7. The new 3% annual rate is subject to review every three years by the Ministry of Finance. The interest rate is subject to further change later by a royal decree. The second change concerns money debts under Section 224 of the CCC. The previous version of Section 224 stated, among other things, that a money debt based on a default bears interest of 7.5% per year. Under the Emergency Decree, the new actual statutory default interest rate is the statutory interest rate stated in Section 7 with an additional rate of 2% per year. The result is a 5% annual statutory default interest rate. Since the statutory default interest rate is based in part on the Section 7

The Office of Insurance Commission (OIC) is seeking public comments on their recently released draft guidelines on Thailand’s insurance regulatory sandbox. Once enacted, the draft notification will replace the existing OIC insurance regulatory sandbox notification, aiming to broaden the OIC’s authority in order to erase difficulties in the project approval process that have arisen under the current notification. One major change included in this draft notification is that business operators are no longer allowed to conduct “own sandbox” testing. Unlike the notification currently in effect, the new draft notification also does not specify the criteria and procedures for a business operator to apply for a temporary allowance of non-compliance with non-material, test-obstructing requirements in a notification or order from the OIC or the registrar. Participants Eligible participants in the insurance regulatory sandbox—which include life and non-life insurance companies, life and non-life brokers, and other types of business operators with expertise in technology—must have appropriate capital, systems, personnel, and experience for the planned provision of service. Participants in the sandbox must establish measures to ensure that insured parties will receive sufficient information in relation to the project, and a remedial plan must be in place in case of damage arising from errors connected to the project. These measures are similar to those in the existing OIC notification, which requires that such measures must at least cover consumer protection, risk management, reporting obligations, and compliance with applicable laws. Project Requirements The draft notification reduces the number of eligible sandbox project types allowed under the existing OIC notification. When the draft notification is enacted, projects that risk regulatory incompliance, and projects that may adversely affect consumers, financial stability, or trust in an insurance company or the industry as a whole, will no longer be allowed to participate in the insurance regulatory sandbox.