Senior director – legal and compliance | Ek-Chai Distribution (Lotus)
Regional legal director, legal and compliance | Dole Food and Beverage Asia
Senior legal and compliance manager, data protection officer | Kredivo
Head of legal compliance strategic initiatives, legal, compliance and risk | Token X
Executive vice president of legal and international projects | Thoresen Group
Head of business laws counselling | Asset World Corp
Vice president, corporate and operations, legal division | PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP)
Senior vice president and group general counsel | Amadeus IT Group
Director of legal and external affairs, Asia | Linfox International Group
Executive vice president, general counsel and company secretary | Intouch Holdings
Executive Vice President- Group Legal & Compliance | Berli Jucker
Senior vice president, corporate legal development, business development -North Asia plus | B.Grimm
Assistant vice president of group compliance and company secretariat | Thai Beverage
Senior executive vice president, corporate legal and North Asia plus | B.Grimm Power
Head of legal and licensing operations – SAS Thailand | SAS Software
Vice president, legal and compliance, company secretary | Major Development
Company secretary and head of legal, compliance and tax | Thai Union Group
Head of investment and international transaction | SCG Legal Counsel
Executive vice president, head of legal affairs division and company secretary | The Stock Exchange of Thailand
Head of legal, Southeast Asia and Japan | CNH Industrial Group
President, corporate general counsel, program director of global ERP and digital transformation | Indorama Ventures
Senior legal counsel | Schneider Electric Thailand
Vice president – legal and compliance | Boutique Corporation
Head of legal – Asia | Travelier (formerly Bookaway Group)
Executive vice president – group legal | Gulf Energy Development
First vice president, legal | Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC)
Executive director, country head of legal & secretariat | United Overseas Bank (UOB)
Vice president, business and investment legal department | PTT Oil and Retail Business
The Legal 500 is utterly delighted to present to you our first ever Thailand-exclusive GC Powerlist, an endeavour which was long overdue considering the immense legal talent present in the Thailand in-house legal ecosystem.
Having researched the Southeast Asia Powerlist for many years, our team has known of the capabilities and huge personalities of the GCs in Thailand, and when we received the go-ahead to begin working on this edition we were more than confident that we could produce a list of GCs that would rival any other country in the region. With the help of our supporting law firms and the newly-minted Thai Corporate Counsel Association (spearheaded by the tireless dedication of Sahachai Wibuloutai), we were able to do this.
As well as compiling the best in-house lawyers for a given jurisdiction, the other key aspect of our GC Powerlist editions which sets them apart is the effort that we go to in interviewing the included GCs to ask them about their challenges, strengths and opportunities, and their predictions for the future. In this way, we can highlight the achievements of the general counsel in our pages, give them a chance to share their opinions on the profession at large and, in combination with other Powerlist editions, gauge the mood of the in-house community around the world to identify common pain-points.
The GCs we speak to rarely disappoint, and as you will see by reading the interviews within, the Thai GC Powerlist is no exception. Consider Dr. Vincent Siaw of Thoresen Group’s thoughts on the future of the GC role in Thailand, which were interesting to say the least:
‘The general counsel of the future will be working remotely, deploying digital tools to support legal operations management, using data analytics to conclude transactions, and focus more on legal strategy and client experience. Teams will be smaller with an optimal maximum size of four to six personnel, working in separate teams in two opposite time zones to double the response time. All cases will be administrated by an AI system over the next five years that will continue to learn and eventually take over and become the company’s perpetual general counsel after ten years.’
The potentially transformative effects of AI was an issue that many commented on. This is in stark contrast to the many previous years our research team has worked on GC Powerlists, when a majority of the GCs we spoke to were somewhat skeptical of the effects of technology. Sahachai Wibuloutai of PwC Mekong had this to say:
‘The rise of generative artificial intelligence and large language models has the potential to completely revolutionise how we, as lawyers, do legal work. If the AI could review, summarise, draft, and analyse contracts in a matter of seconds, it would unleash productivity for legal teams which has never been seen before.’
Suthatip Sridetprasart of Purple Ventures (Robinhood) concurred:
‘AI-powered tools can automate repetitive legal tasks, such as legal research and contract review. This allows me to address more complex legal issue at hand, and the team can focus on higher-level work and become more productive. Cloud computing is another breakthrough. Legal work could be done remotely during lockdowns; cloud computing allowed my team and I to access necessary data and collaborate with other team members from anywhere in the world. To me, time is the most valuable asset in life. Utilising AI has helped my team and I to be more productive and effective. When time is of the essence, things can get stressful, but this addition has enhanced my way of working. For many NDAs or other standard contracts, AI will be a great assistant tool for my team.’
This is just a small snapshot of the illuminating and educational interviews we conducted in this edition, and I welcome you to read more.
Thank you to all the in-house lawyers who spoke to us as part of our research into this first ever Thailand edition of the GC Powerlist, and congratulations to all of those who made the final cut. Thank you also to the Thai-CCA for partnering with us on this project; I am certain that this new institution will prove to be a valuable and effective resource for all Thailand-based corporate counsel for many years. Finally, thank you to our law firm partners: Chandler MHM, Herbert Smith Freehills, Kudun & Partners and Tilleke & Gibbins, and to the support we received from Robert Walters for the launch event.
Joe Boswell
Global Editor: The Legal 500 Powerlist Series
The Legal 500
The Legal 500’s inaugural GC Powerlist: Thailand took place on 22nd June 2023, and proved to be a huge success; a fitting end to the months and years our research team has spent building relationships with the in-house community in Thailand which is undoubtedly one of the best in the region.
In association with long-term Legal 500 partners Chandler MHM, Herbert Smith Freehills, Kudun & Partners, Tilleke & Gibbins and Robert Walters, the event welcomed over 140 people to the beautiful Sindhorn Kempinski Hotel in Central Bangkok and we were also pleased to play a part in the joint launch of the new Thai Corporate Counsel Association.
We were delighted to invite some unbelievably qualified keynote speakers to the stage next, among the most well-respected in-house lawyers in the country and wider region. First up was the legendary Khun Peangpanor Boonklum of PTT, a legend in the worldwide in-house legal community and perhaps one of the most highly regardeda GCs in the whole of Asia. She spoke about the burning issues faced by general counsel and urged those in the audience to have the confidence to speak up and stay true to their core principles when communicating with business partners.
Next was Khun Siriporn Chaiyasuta of Chevron, perhaps the most influential Thai GC given the trailblazing role she played by taking a senior in-house legal role with Chevron many years ago, long before it was common for talented Thai lawyers to take the in-house route. Khun Siriporn spoke about some of the challenges she faced in breaking these barriers, and how rewarding it has been to see the Thai in-house legal community grow and prosper since.
As well as The Legal 500 GC Powerlist, the event also marked the launch of the brand-new Thai Corporate Counsel Association (Thai CCA for short), an institution by Thai corporate counsel, for corporate counsel. One of the key personalities pushing this initiative forward, Khun Sahachai (Jack) Wiboulotai of PwC, then took the stage now to say a few words about the organization, its goals and concept.
We then moved on to the main event, as successful candidates we invited on stage in turn to collect their award certificate from Khun Siriporn Chaiyasuta; you can see some of these being presented below.
Heartfelt congratulations from The Legal 500 to everyone who made it on the list this year for their fantastic achievement and thank you to everyone involved for making this such a successful and pleasant evening for all our guests. Thank you especially to our wonderful keynote speakers Siriporn Chaiyasuta, Peangpanor Boonklum and Jack Wiboulotai and to our event partners Chandler MHM, Herbert Smith Freehills, Kudun & Partners, Tilleke & Gibbins and Robert Walters.
We hope to make the Thailand GC Powerlist an annual event, so we look forward to putting on another wonderful evening celebrating the best GCs in Thailand in 2024. Our Thailand GC Summit will also be taking place later this year, so watch this space!
