Department head - international legal and intellectual property | Boon Rawd Brewery Company
Director in Legal Affairs, Company Secretary and Director | Tao Kae Noi Food and Marketing
Senior director – legal, compliance and quality | Ek-Chai Distribution Systems (Lotus)
Assistant general counsel APAC | McKinsey & Company
General counsel Thailand and general counsel for homecare Southeast Asia | Unilever Thai Trading
Vice president, legal affairs and compliance | Berli Jucker
Senior specialist counsel | Agoda
Rising Star
Head of legal compliance strategic initiatives, legal, compliance and risk | Token X
Executive vice president, head of compliance | Siam Commercial Bank
Vice president and head of legal | TCC Assets Thailand
Executive vice president, legal and international projects | Thoresen Group
Head of business laws counselling | Asset World Corporation
General counsel | HSBC Thailand
Currently serving as HSBC’s country general counsel for Thailand, John Cordova is passionate about serving HSBC’s clients. He brings them a breadth of banking and financial solutions, helping them connect...
Regional legal manager | Dole Food and Beverages Group
Head of legal compliance and risk management APAC | Limagrain
Senior Legal Director | Bitkub Capital Group Holdings
Director, global legal and compliance | Pandora Productions
Senior Legal Counsel, South East Asia | Align Technology Thailand
Rising Star
Deputy head of legal and compliance group | Kiatnakin Phatra Financial Group
General manager, legal department | CG Corporation
Rising Star
General manager compliance management and legal | Mercedes-Benz
Legal Lead of Corporate and Content | LINE Company
Rising Star
Legal and compliance deputy division manager, company secretary | AGC Vinythai
Senior Executive Vice President, Office of General Counsel | PTT Public Company
Chief legal compliance and financial crime officer | KrungThai Bank
Vice president, legal and compliance, company secretary | Major Development
Company secretary and head of legal, compliance and international tax | Thai Union Group
Group head of legal and corporate affairs and company secretary | aCommerce Group
Executive vice president, head of legal affairs division and company secretary | The Stock Exchange of Thailand
General counsel, Thailand and Mekong region | PwC
Chief commercial officer and general counsel | Minor International
Vice president – legal and compliance | Country Group Development
Counsel – utilities, infrastructure, technology contract, labour, general procurement law division | Siam Commercial Bank
Rising Star
Chief Legal Officer and company secretary | Bangkok Glass
Assistant vice president, legal and compliance | Shera
Senior vice president , legal department | The Erawan Group
First vice president, legal | Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC)
Country Head of Legal & Secretariat Data Protection Officer | UOB United Overseas Bank (Thai)
Legal director, head of litigation and regulation department | True Corporation
Company secretary and legal director | Carabao Group
Legal senior manager, dispute resolution and litigation legal department | Delta Electronics (Thailand)
Senior vice president – general counsel and data protection officer | Thai Group Holdings
Vice president, senior lawyer, utilities and infrastructure law division | Siam Commercial Bank
Rising Star
It is with the warmest of congratulations to all the successful GCs featured from everyone at The Legal 500 that I welcome you to the second edition of The Thailand GC Powerlist: 2024.
This year, we have built on the success of 2023’s opening publication by creating an even more exclusive grouping of top GCs in Thailand, with the absolute cream of the crop featured within the 2024 edition. Some lucky people are featured for a second time, but there are plenty of new faces this year too. We have also added some particularly precocious rising stars into the mix, people who will be the business leaders of the future and help steer the Thai economy as it continues to grow.
As always, the interviews we did were particularly illuminating. One of the topics we consistently see as being important for the GCs we speak to around the world is getting the most out of the other members of the legal team; in short, how to motivate each individual in the team in order to foster excellent team work. Akarin Aganidad of Boon Rawd Brewery gave a particularly well thought out answer to this question which bears highlighting:
“I keep my legal team motivated and manage their morale in many ways.
Share as much information as possible: during times of disruption and transition, as has been the case recently, communication is king. Hold virtual meetings or send email updates more frequently, share useful information as much as you can about what is happening and what will happen next.
Set clear goals and expectations: legal team members are less likely to feel unsettled by disruption if they have tangible goals to work towards. Set these goals carefully — they should be challenging but realistic. Escalating workloads can place considerable strain on team members, so meet regularly with your team to evaluate workloads, set priorities and rebalance responsibilities. Encourage teamwork, as change or challenge is less intimidating when teams confront it together. By giving individuals opportunities to contribute their skills and ideas in a positive way, you can encourage team members to feel a sense of accomplishment in everyday tasks.
Show appreciation: adapting to change is never easy, so it’s important to give kudos to teams who rise to the challenge. Show appreciation for outstanding work during the most crucial weeks and months by recognizing achievements or providing appropriate rewards — thank-you notes, gift cards, or public recognition during meetings or company events, for example.
Set clear performance standards: hold regular staff meetings to discuss what went right and what went wrong in specific instances, stressing that these meetings are not about assigning blame but resolving problems. Approaching these instances in a positive, proactive, and collaborative manner can leave the team feeling involved in the process. Having a role in establishing these performance standards will leave them feeling invested in meeting them.”
None of the research for this year’s edition could have been possible without the four excellent Law Firms who sponsored the 2024 edition. Thank you to Chandler MHM, Herbert Smith Freehills, Kudun & Partners and Tilleke & Gibbins for all their hard work in helping to put the GC Powerlist Thailand together – many of those featured here have them to thank for the accolade. Thank you also to the Thai-CCA for providing a number of key names and support along the way too.
Finally, a huge congratulations once again to everyone featured, and we look forward to the next edition!
Joe Boswell
Global Editor: The Legal 500 GC Powerlist
On Thursday 20th March, Legal 500 returned to Frankfurt for the 2025 edition of the GC Summit: Germany. The event brought together some of the leading legal minds in the country for an afternoon of engaging panel discussions and interactive sessions. The agenda spanned a range of topics, current in today’s dynamic market and tailored to in-house counsel.
Vanessa Westphal, Head of legal services group at Merck, opened the programme with a keynote speech, in which she touched upon the importance of embracing uncertainty. In a market where the ways in which in-house counsel operate is rapidly changing, from the resources available to transactions themselves, Westphal advised how the legal industry can strengthen both its legal and non-legal ‘backbone’: in-house teams should focus not only on legal prowess, but also improve cultural and management expertise to ensure smooth operations across the organisation.
The first panel of the day, sponsored by Seitz, discussed the crucial role that labour law can play in times of crisis. Dr. Kathrin Bürger and Dr. Stephan Pötters of Seitz were joined on stage by Prof. Dr. Marlene Schmidt, partner at Apitzsch Schmidt Klebe Rechtsanwälte, Ralph Wangemann, managing director of human resources and labour director at Opel Automobile, Dr. Tom Gellrich, partner and managing director at AlixPartners, and Olaf Möllenkamp, chairman, Conciliation boards. In light of the election process in Germany, the panel discussed the ever-relevant topic of labour law and examined how the current environment does not make for a classic crisis: various different factors, from digitalisation to ESG aspects, come together to create a complex type of crisis that requires a more nuanced approach to labour regulations.
Ashurst took to the stage for the second panel, considering the influence that environmental, social and governance (ESG) measures and artificial intelligence (AI) can have on joint ventures. Dr. Alexander Duisberg, Marina Arntzen and Dr. Stephan Hennrich, partners at the firm, discussed the hot topic with Maler James, head of the centre of competence for strategic business units and finance at compliance at Volkswagen, Philip Nicolai, general counsel commercial and technology at Schaeffler Group, and Thilo M. Tern, managing partner at Silvester Group. The experts analysed how these elements can be utilised to make joint ventures successful and more sustainable – and ultimately act as dealbreakers or dealmakers.
Following a short break for coffee and networking, experts returned to the stage to discuss how to navigate today’s challenging M&A market. Dr. Christian Traichel and Dr Marco Hartmann-Rüppel, partners at Taylor Wessing, were joined on stage for the firm’s panel by
Carsten Burger, managing director at DC Advisory, Viktor Strauch, partner at Borromin, and Alexander Deicke of Körber. The panel considered how to manage transactions, taking into account risk, uncertainty and regulation.
The final panel of the day brought fresh perspectives on the age-old question: to litigate or to arbitrate? Nicole Boehler, Director of legal operations Europe at Autoliv, engaged in lively debate with Horst Daniel and Dr. Eveli Lume of Squire Patton Boggs, weighing up the pros and cons of litigation and arbitration. The panellists discussed factors such as bias, confidentiality, costs and recoverability. The interactive panel saw plenty of involvement from the audience, with questions from attendees touching on international mediation and third-party funding.
In a true show of the relevance and significance of the panel topics, delegates continued their animated conversations and debates over final networking drinks.
On behalf of Legal 500, we extend our gratitude to our expert panellists, sponsors, and all attendees for coming together for such a productive, engaging and successful event.