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Piyawat Vitooraporn

Senior Associate

Biography

Piyawat Vitooraporn is a senior associate in Tilleke & Gibbins’ dispute resolution group. He advises clients on a wide range of legal services related to civil and criminal disputes, including all stages of litigation and pre-litigation. His major areas of practice include white-collar crime, administrative and governmental disputes, computer and technology law, director and officer liability (civil and criminal), commercial litigation, and employment law. He has particular experience with high-value fraud and theft cases, advising on asset recovery and diplomatic issues relating to criminal prosecution in Thailand. He also has experience working with regulators and advising on compliance with Thai law with respect to online platform operations and online innovation.

Piyawat has completed the constitutional and administrative law training program organized by Tilleke & Gibbins and led by esteemed academics, former judges, and other accomplished legal practitioners in Thailand. He also regularly contributes to cyber law and employment law publications, among others, and is a regular speaker at Tilleke & Gibbins’ Annual Employment Law Forum.

Piyawat holds an LLB and an LLM from Chulalongkorn University. He has completed the barrister-at-law requirements of the Thai Institute of Legal Education, is a member of the Lawyers Council of Thailand, and is a licensed notarial services attorney.

Experience

  • Advised a well-known social media platform on compliance and regulatory matters relating to Thailand’s Computer Crime Act B.E. 2550 (2007) and other legal issues applicable to online service providers.
  • Successfully argued for the revocation of a court order to take down online content for a major international online petition platform.
  • Represented a European multinational company in asset recovery and criminal prosecution against perpetrators and a former employee who committed fraud against the company’s property, causing over USD 200 million in damages.
  • Successfully defended directors and employees of multinational companies against false allegations arising from a director dispute, and advised on counterclaims against submission of false complaints.
  • Advised a client on legal actions relating to wrongful acts involving cryptocurrency and digital assets.
  • Represented a major international client in a successful complex claim for compensation relating to wrongful acts and false certification.
  • Acted as part of team that successfully represented a major commercial client in criminal and civil labor cases, both at pre-litigation stages and in court. The outcome prevented a major disruption to the client’s business that would have had extremely costly repercussions.
  • Successfully defended a client at the Court of Appeal against an attempt to unlawfully execute a foreign judgement in Thailand.
  • Successfully advocated on behalf of a client in a complex cross-border family dispute at the Court of Appeal. Thanks to the zealous representation of the client, the order of the lower court was reversed.
  • Successfully advised clients in the pre-litigation stage of a high-value embezzlement and defamation case, leading to a satisfactory outcome.
ABOUT Piyawat

Practices

Compliance and Investigations

Dispute Resolution and Litigation

Employment

Location

Languages

    Thai

    English

Education

    LLM, Chulalongkorn University

    LLB, Chulalongkorn University

Insights

December 4, 2024
Thailand Legal Basics, a valuable primer for foreign investors, explores all aspects of living and doing business in Thailand. Written by specialists at Tilleke & Gibbins in Bangkok, it is the only comprehensive English-language guide to the Thai legal system with a focus on the concerns of foreign business and investment.
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April 4, 2024
On March 18, 2024, the president of the Supreme Court of Thailand announced the establishment of a specialized Technology Crime Division within the Criminal Court of Thailand. This represents a significant commitment to cybercrime within the Thai judiciary and a step forward in Thailand’s ability to investigate cybercrime. The rise in cybercrime investigations in recent years has made it increasingly difficult for Thailand’s traditional criminal courts to consider and issue enforcement orders in support of ongoing investigations in a timely manner. The new Technology Crime Division addresses this challenge. This new division has jurisdiction over cybercrime and technology-related crime, fraud or extortion using computers, and criminal offenses relating to personal data protection laws. In addition, this new division has jurisdiction over all requests from competent law enforcement officers seeking court orders under the Computer Crimes Act B.E. 2550, the Personal Data Protection Act B.E. 2562, and the Cybersecurity Act B.E. 2562. The Technology Crime Division will have trainees and judges with expertise in technology and cybercrime—not only to facilitate expert prosecution of cybercrime but also to offer critical and time-sensitive support to law enforcement investigations of alleged cybercrime. The Technology Crime Division is not yet operational. The president of the Supreme Court is expected to announce the division’s opening date in the coming months. For more details on Thailand’s measures for dealing with cybercrime, please contact Michael Ramirez at [email protected] or Piyawat Vitooraporn at [email protected].
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December 15, 2023
As part of its membership in Lex Mundi, Tilleke & Gibbins has published an updated edition of its Guide to Doing Business in Thailand for 2023. This guide outlines the key factors for starting and operating a business in the Thai market. Issues covered include: Investment incentives Financial facilities Exchange controls Import and export regulations Structures for doing business Requirements for the Establishment of a Business Operation of the Business Cessation or Termination of the Business Labor legislation, relations, and supply Tax Immigration requirements This publication is part of Lex Mundi’s Country Guides series prepared by member firms in more than 100 jurisdictions worldwide. The guides serve as a useful resource for planning international business strategy and researching new markets. The full Guide to Doing Business in Thailand is available through the button below.
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August 23, 2023
Introduction The idea of the metaverse rose to prominence in the public discourse in 2021, most notably when Facebook renamed itself Meta and announced a new focus on launching a virtual, immersive world. The initial excitement around the metaverse has since faded, with worsening economic conditions having a particularly acute effect on companies in the technology sector. When Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced in March 2023 that artificial intelligence (AI) was the company’s “single largest investment,” many took this as a sign of the company shifting focus away from the metaverse. However, there remains significant interest in the metaverse from both businesses and consumers. Zuckerberg himself reaffirmed Meta’s focus on the metaverse, highlighting how developments in AI will improve virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technology. Meanwhile, Roblox, a metaverse gaming platform, announced that in Q1 2023, its number of daily active users had increased to 66 million. Most recently, the announcement by Apple of its new ‘Vision Pro’ AR headset is reported to have renewed interest in the metaverse among developers. A particular area of interest in the developing metaverse is digital fashion and retail. In its Metaverse Fashion Trends Report 2022, Roblox found that nearly three in four users aged 14 to 24 spend money on digital fashion items. Roblox itself has partnered with fashion brands Burberry, Gucci, Tommy Hilfiger, and others, to offer experiences and items for use on the platform. In March 2023, Decentraland, a metaverse platform with a decentralized governance structure, hosted the Metaverse Fashion Week, featuring brands such as Adidas, Coach, and DKNY. As businesses continue to invest and look for opportunities to expand into the metaverse, whether through traditional e-commerce or more innovative digital asset offerings, it is important that they consider the ways in which new and existing laws apply
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Awards & Rankings

November 26, 2024
Tilleke & Gibbins has been named to the Asian Legal Business (ALB) Fast 30: Asia’s Fastest Growing Firms 2024. The ranking highlights law firms across Asia that have demonstrated significant growth and leadership in a competitive and evolving legal landscape. Selection for the ALB Fast 30 is based on metrics such as growth in fee-earners, new office openings, the addition of key partners and clients, revenue increases, and other measures of expansion. This is the second time Tilleke & Gibbins has been included on the list, having previously earned recognition in 2022. The Fast 30 ranking complements ALB’s annual Top 50 Largest Law Firms feature, which evaluates firms by total lawyer headcount. While not included among the region’s largest firms, Tilleke & Gibbins continues to be prominently ranked by ALB for its presence in Thailand and Vietnam. For more about the ALB Fast 30 and to see a full list of the Asia’s fastest growing law firms, please see the November 2024 issue of ALB.
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November 11, 2024
Tilleke & Gibbins is pleased to announce that the firm has been honored with the Thailand Country Award at the 2024 Lexology Index Awards in London. This marks the ninth consecutive year that the firm has received this prestigious recognition, underscoring its consistent excellence and leadership in the Thai legal market.
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September 13, 2024
The 2024 edition of the IFLR1000 Asia-Pacific rankings, released by International Financial Law Review (IFLR), highlights Tilleke & Gibbins’ continued excellence in financial and corporate transactional work. The firm has retained its strong rankings across multiple jurisdictions and practice areas, reaffirming its position as a leading firm in the Asia-Pacific region. This year, Tilleke & Gibbins received firmwide rankings in key jurisdictions, including: Thailand Banking & Finance – Tier 3 Capital Markets: Debt – Tier 3 Capital Markets: Equity – Tier 3 M&A – Tier 2 Project Development – Tier 2 Restructuring & Insolvency – Tier 3 Vietnam Banking & Finance – Other Notable M&A – Tier 3 Project Development – Tier 3 Cambodia Financial & Corporate – Tier 2 Project Development – Tier 2 Laos Financial & Corporate – Tier 2 In addition to these firmwide rankings, Tilleke & Gibbins had several standout individual recognitions, with 10 lawyers honored in the 2024 individual rankings, including new entries for John Frangos, Niti Muangkote, Santhapat Periera, and Tram Ngoc Bich Nguyen. The full list is as follows: Charunun Sathitsuksomboon – Highly Regarded, M&A, Thailand Charuwan Charoonchitsathian – Rising Star, M&A, Thailand David Mol – Rising Star, Corporate and M&A, Cambodia Jay Cohen – Highly Regarded, Banking, Cambodia John Frangos – Notable Practitioner, Restructuring & Insolvency, Thailand (new ranking) Niti Muangkote – Rising Star, Financial & Corporate, Laos; Highly Regarded, Banking & Finance, Thailand (new ranking) Saithong Rattana – Notable Practitioner, Project Development and M&A, Laos Santhapat Periera – Highly Regarded, Banking, M&A, Laos; Highly Regarded, Banking & Finance, Thailand (new ranking) Supasit Boonsanong – Highly Regarded, Project Development, Thailand Tram Ngoc Bich Nguyen – Highly Regarded, M&A, Vietnam (new ranking) To see the full set of IFLR1000 rankings for Tilleke & Gibbins’ jurisdictions, please see the Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and
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