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

The highlights of my legal team’s involvement were mainly in investment and M&A related activities, involving a capital expenditure of approximately THB 8 bn, targeted towards achieving the company’s vision of “Empowering All toward inclusive Growth” through the following:

Seamless mobility – A review of investments on gas station and EV station network expansion was carried out, in line with my functions as a member of the strategic investment committee. Additionally, a mobile application was newly established and developed to introduce vehicle maintenance service for customer experiences. My team heavily influenced the design and structure of the application.

All Lifestyles – Main activities were extensive transactions on joint venture, partnership and acquisition on food and beverage, convenience store, rent space, and health and tourism businesses in Thailand and nearby regions. Key transactions include joint venture with Boonrawd Trading and investments in Dusit Food, KNEX, GoWabi and Traveloka.

Global Market – I assumed management roles as a chairman and director in subsidiaries in the Philippines and Laos to ensure proper business direction and governance as well as business contingency against legal related risks. The establishment of a joint venture with China National Aviation Fuel International holding and Total to expand business capability in aviation fuel services in Cambodia was another key event.

Innovation – Various investments in venture capital were undertaken. For example, we invested in ORZON Ventures

What technological advancements do you feel will impact the role of in-house legal teams in the future the most? Which have you found most useful in your legal team?

We believe in reliable operations through digitalisation and aim to be a data-driven organisation. My team introduced a plan for the establishment of a legal and compliance management system based on an enterprise content management platform.

The legal and compliance management system design includes:

A database mainly on various laws applicable to the business and operations of the company with the extended functions to govern and monitor permit and license application and renewal,

Contract template and drafting processes that includes workflow and quasi-AI contract drafting assistance,

Contract administration after signing that serves as a monitoring tool to ensure the agreed terms and conditions have been appropriately observed for the best interest of the parties, and as evidence for preventive measures and preparation for pre-litigation management, when needed.

This project is expected to be established after the company completes its SAP HANA implementation in early 2025.