What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

We, as a team, conducted legal and business development in policy-related issues and propose strategic decision on new corporate opportunities, recently in one of the largest telco mergers in Southeast Asia. Subsequently, a newly established telecom-tech entity is envisioned to bridge the digital divide and enable the digital transformation of local business. The impact of such major transition leads to the new challenges in the Thai telecom industry.

As we enter the next decade, what skills will a corporate legal team need to succeed in the modern in-house industry?

Qualifications for a corporate legal team should extend far beyond legal expertise to broader industry knowledge. A modern in-house team needs to be agile and resilient enough to provide the most sustainable solution for a company. They should keep themselves up to date with any developments in complex context and understand public policy trends which may impact the industry such as ESG, SDGs, digital and technology transformation.

Since Thailand has been under the law reform for outdated regulations, the corporate legal team should also participate in the regulatory impact assessment process and be able to help enhance the most business-friendly regulations and improve the ease of doing business. This effort is a challenging task to shape a better legal landscape.

What are some of the main trends impacting the industry sector you work in in Thailand?

Thailand is aiming to diversify its economy and puts a lot of effort to be a leading digital innovation hub in the region. Laws regarding cyber security, data protection, digital currency, e-commerce and e-government continue to play a significant role in numerous industries. Following EU standards for tech companies, Thailand aims to set good practice for an online platform to create market efficiency and protecting consumers. Inevitably, we will see a lot of these trends as a mechanism to achieve the national strategy in years to come.