Based on research conducted by Asia Business Law Journal, the following are Thailand’s Top 100 Lawyers. Biographies and contact details, where provided, were written by the lawyers themselves and have not been independently verified.
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Click here to read the editorial report that accompanies the A-List.
Stephen Bennett Hunton Andrews Kurth |
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Tel: +66 2 645 88 11 Email: bennetts@huntonak.com Key practice areas: Corporate/M&A; capital markets; fintech; energy and infrastructure; technology media & telecommunication |
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Resident in Thailand since 1994, Stephen Bennett is head of the Asia corporate team at Hunton Andrews Kurth. He has more than 25 years of practice experience in Thailand in M&As, fintech, foreign investment, corporate finance and telecommunications. Before joining Hunton Andrews Kurth, Stephen was a partner of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. He has served as counsel for both private and public entities and has completed some of the largest M&A transactions in Thailand.
In the past 12 months, he has represented International Finance Corporation (IFC) in providing a three-year loan of up to USD100 million to Ngern Tid Lor; advised IFC as sole subscriber to USD150 million of green bonds and blue bonds (Thailand’s first blue bond issue) by TMBThanachart Bank; advised TikTok on the roll-out of its new Thai content providers’ monetisation features; advised China Mobile International, as a major shareholder of True Corporation, Thailand’s second-largest mobile operator, on True’s proposed merger with DTAC, Thailand’s third largest mobile operator; represented JPMorgan Securities (Thailand) on its ongoing Thai derivative warrant program; assisted China Literature, as a major shareholder of Ookbee, one of Thailand’s largest social medial platform operations for user-generated content, on its IP licensing joint venture, and advising Italian-Thai in respect of the elevated high-speed rail link to U-Tapao Airport. |
James Bradley Hunton Andrews Kurth |
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Tel: +66 2 645 88 33 Email: jbradley@HuntonAK.com Key practice areas: Energy & infrastructure; real estate; commercial contracts; financing; M&A |
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Jim Bradley is a partner at Hunton Andrews Kurth. He focuses on cross-border power projects in multiple countries in Southeast Asia and also has worked on commercial and hospitality-related real estate projects in Thailand. He has supported all aspects of negotiating, risk evaluation and advising, and documenting agreements for or relating to the development, sponsor and equity participation, financing, engineering, procurement, and construction, operation and maintenance, management services, procurement and supply, dispute resolution, claims enforcement, workouts, divestitures, and acquisitions. Starting his practice with Hunton & Williams in 1994 in the US, he has been based in Asia since 2000 with Hunton & Williams and after its 2018 merger with Andrews Kurth Kenyon, Hunton Andrews Kurth. Recent or ongoing work involves:
He has been involved for decades with the 500MW Quezon Power project and more recently the 500MW San Buenaventura supercritical project, supported the 100MW Cambodian Energy Limited project and more recent 150 MW Cambodian Energy Limited II project, supported both phases of the 78MW Natural Energy Development project, and supported the Theppana wind project and the Bowin project, among many others. He has had significant involvement with projects and parties in or relating to Thailand, the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Myanmar, Vietnam, and the US and dealt with contractors from those countries, the People’s Republic of China, and European industrial centres. He has assisted sponsors, owners, and managers with major complex agreements and their administration through all phases of their projects and has a good working knowledge of historical transactions and transaction issues, and has worked with many local lawyers licensed in these jurisdictions. |
Palawi Bunnag ILCT |
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Key practice areas: Capital markets; corporate & commercial; e-commerce, fintech, blockchain & cryptos; joint ventures; M&A |
Jason Corbett Silk Legal |
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Tel: +66 86 304 4707 Email: jason@silklegal.com Key practice areas: Cross-border insolvency, restructuring, M&A, commercial, fintech & blockchain |
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Jason Corbett is the founder and managing partner of Silk Legal, a Bangkok-based law firm that advises both foreign and domestic clients on matters pertaining to blockchain, fintech, decentralised finance, and corporate matters. With five years of experience in blockchain regulations, Jason has provided legal counsel to some of blockchain’s leading players that have disrupted several industries, ranging from fintech, e-commerce, gaming, and banking. He has likewise worked with prominent launchpads, protocols, exchanges, virtual asset service providers (VASPs), decentralised applications (dApps), and digital wealth management platforms. Jason is also the founder and managing partner of Silk Advisory Asia, a licensed planner and administrator based in Bangkok that advises insolvent clients on matters pertaining to restructuring, insolvency, and distressed M&A. Throughout his career, Jason has been involved in several cross-border insolvency cases and has advised numerous creditors, both big and small, in various sectors and jurisdictions. He also provides counsel on corporate matters and has a keen interest in third-party litigation funding. He is likewise a member of the International Insolvency Institute and has been involved in several international cases. Moreover, Jason is an entrepreneur that has been involved in several startups and small and medium-sized enterprises participating in banking, finance, e-commerce, blockchain, cryptocurrency, and technology. This entrepreneurial spirit, along with his robust understanding of corporate law, blockchain, as well as insolvency and restructuring, has inspired him to expand his practice to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Here, he hopes to establish Silk MENA Management Consultancy, a management consulting and advisory firm that focuses on the technology, blockchain, and restructuring spaces. Education:
Qualifications:
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Jirapong Sriwat Nishimura & Asahi |
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Tel: +66 2 168 8224 Email: j.sriwat@nishimura.com Key practice areas: Capital markets; joint ventures; M&A; power & energy; private equity, venture capital & funds |
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Jirapong Sriwat has been recognised as one of Asia’s top 40 outstanding lawyers under the age of 40 by Thomson Reuters (Asian Legal Business) and one of Thailand’s top 100 lawyers by Asia Business Law Journal, based on independent research and nominations from in-house counsel and international firms.
He advises on a wide range of M&A transactions, joint ventures, foreign direct investments, general corporate, international corporate finance, and restructurings. His expertise is advising, structuring and leading complex transactions both within and outside of Thailand. He regularly represents, among others, Japanese, Thai and international investors, international investment banks, international private equity investors, hedge funds and international corporations and financial institutions. His main areas of practice include public and private M&As (takeover rules), legal due diligence, joint ventures, fundraising, listings, block trades, stock exchange and securities exchange-related laws, restructuring of shareholdings and general corporate advice. His additional areas of practice also cover banking and finance, renewable energy in Japan and Thailand, exchange control law, labour law, and debt restructurings. Before setting up the Bangkok office of Nishimura & Asahi in 2013, he worked with Linklaters for nine years. Jirapong Sriwat obtained LLB with honours from Thammasat University in 2004 and obtained LLM in corporate and securities laws with high merits from the London School of Economics in 2009. He is also admitted as an arbitrator of the Thai Arbitration Institute (TAI) and Thailand Arbitration Center (THAC) with areas of expertise in corporate M&A, joint venture, banking and finance, capital markets, debt restructurings, and energy. |
Warot Wanakankowit Warot Advisory Services and Wingman Business Consultants |
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Tel: +66 8 1802 5698 Email: warot@warotbusinessconsultant.com Key practice areas: M&A; corporate & commercial transactions; foreign direct investment; tax labour & employment |
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Warot Wanakankowit is a founding partner at Warot Advisory Services and Wingman Business Consultants. He has substantial experience with taxation, corporate and commercial transactions, foreign direct investment and foreign business law, labour and employment and merger and acquisition transactions. Warot has also taken director roles in various companies in order to help set up operations and manage those companies.
Warot Advisory Services has worked with several corporations for commercial transactions and joint venture matters and assisted multinational companies in setting up business in Thailand either by establishing wholly owned subsidiaries or partnering with Thai companies. On the other hand, Wingman Business Consultants is one of the best-known law firms in the startup scene in Thailand. It has actively helped and represented both venture capitals and startups in Thailand for a few years. Warot’s recent cases include representation of the most well-known company in providing safety and security-related equipment and service in Thailand in negotiating the share purchase agreement with a Japanese company and representation of an investment arm of a listed company in conducting legal due diligence and negotiating the shareholders agreement with portfolio companies. Warot has been invited to be a speaker in many startup events such as Techsauce Global Summit and Thailand Startup Week. Prior to founding his own firm, Warot worked at Weerawong, Chinnavat & Peangpanor, one of leading law firms in Thailand. Before that, he worked at KPMG Phoomchai Tax, as well as with PricewaterhouseCoopers Legal and Tax Consultants in Thailand. Warot obtained an LLB degree from Thammasat University, and an LLM degree from King’s College University, in the UK. |