What are the most significant cases, projects and/or transactions that you and/or your legal team have recently been involved in?

It has been a steep learning curve for my team in the past two years: we are fairly new to the company, joining toward the end of Covid-19 pandemic. Our first priority was to support a rapid restart of operation; this involved an assortment of agreements for ground handling, fuel, and aircraft maintenance, etc. which needed to be reviewed, negotiated, and finalised in a relatively short period of time. Despite having experience in the aviation industry, the different landscape after the pandemic resulted in different practices, and often time precedents can no longer be relied upon. In parallel, AirAsia Group is undergoing a restructuring, which means massive due diligence undertakings across the group that required support from my team and our counterparts in other countries.

How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crisis to ensure the organisation’s resilience?

Being in an industry that took the hardest hit from the pandemic makes you become a bit of an extremist in how you approach legal aspects. The scenarios being contemplated need to broaden, and extra vigilance becomes necessary. However, since the legal aspect is meaningless without context, it is vital to ensure our understanding on how each stakeholder reacts to instability or crisis, so that we can provide appropriate support.

Have you had any experiences during your career as a lawyer that stand out as particularly unique or interesting?

During the pandemic, I worked for a defense contractor. While the government procurement aspect of the work may not be particularly interesting, exposure to International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), and other “drone laws” is definitely unique in Thailand’s context.

What is a cause, business or otherwise, that you are passionate about? Why is this?

I always believe in human mobility – moving is living. I believe mobility allows people to see more, do more, and learn more. So, I started out my in-house career in a ride hailing company with a slogan “Move Southeast Asia Forward”, and now I am working at an airline where “Now Everyone Can Fly”.