Thawat Damsa-ard

Position:  Partner

Department:   Dispute Resolution

Nationality:  Thai

Languages:  Thai and English

• 2000, Graduate Diploma in International Trade Law, Thai Bar Association, Bangkok, Thailand
• 1995, Barrister-at-Law, Bar Institute of Legal Education, Bangkok, Thailand
• 1993, LL.B., Thammasat University, Bangkok, Thailand
• 1985, B.B.A. Accounting, Thammasat University, Bangkok, Thailand

Other Training:

• The 21st LawAsia Conference 2008, Kuala Lumpur, October 29-November 1, 2008.
  
• ICC Amicable Dispute Resolution Training, Singapore, April 2-4, 2008.
• "The Art of Negotiating", a 2-day professional training course organized by Marcus Evans, Bangkok, March 8-9, 2007.
• "Resolving Cross Border Commercial Disputes in Asia", organized by LexisNexis, Singapore, January 29, 2007.
• Certificate, ICC International Commercial Arbitration Workshop - Bangkok, organized by the ICC International Court of Arbitration and ICC Thailand, Bangkok, December 2-3, 2005.
• Negotiation Workshop, Harvard Law School Program of Instruction for Lawyers, Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A., June 2005.
• Smart Negotiation and Deal-Making, conducted by Nation Educational Services, Nation Multimedia Group Public Company Limited, August 6-7, 2004.
• Notary Public Training Course (Class 1) administered by the Registry Office of Signature and Document Attestation, The Law Society of Thailand, May 24-25, 2003.
• Certificate, "Minimizing Risk in Construction Projects and Resolving Construction Disputes" Program, organized by The Nielsen-Wurster Group, Inc., Clayton Utz, and Hinds Blunden, Hong Kong, September 28-29, 1998.

Professional Qualifications:

• 1994, received license to practice in Thailand

Employment:

• January 2004-present, Regular Partner and Chief Litigator, Tilleke & Gibbins International Ltd., Bangkok, Thailand
• November 2002-December 2003, Special Partner and Chief Litigator, Tilleke & Gibbins International Ltd., Bangkok, Thailand
• October 2001-October 2002, Chief Litigator, Tilleke & Gibbins International Ltd., Bangkok, Thailand
• December 1999-September 2000, Litigator, Herbert Smith (Thailand) Ltd., Bangkok, Thailand
• 1997-Nov. 1999, Litigator, Tilleke & Gibbins R.O.P., Bangkok, Thailand
• 1994-1997, Lawyer, Boonlert and Associates Law Office, Bangkok, Thailand
• 1988-1994, Finance & Accounting Manager, C.P. Group of Companies, Bangkok, Thailand
• 1986-1987, Chief Accountant, Saha Farms Ltd., Bangkok, Thailand

Description of Major Areas of Work Handled:

• Criminal Court Cases
• Civil Court Cases (Construction, Debt Collection, Taxation, Intellectual Property, International Trade)
• Administrative Court Cases
• Constitutional Court Cases
• Bankruptcy and Debt Restructuring

Membership in Professional Organizations:

• Thai Bar Association
• Lawyers Council of Thailand (formerly The Law Society of Thailand)
• Lawyers Association of Thailand
• Law Association for Asia and the Pacific (LAWASIA)
• Representative to Thai-Korean Chamber of Commerce
• Product Liability Forum

Honors/Recognition:

• Featured as a leading lawyer in dispute resolution in Chambers Asia 2009
• Appointed to Board of Consultants, Economic and Cyber-Crime Division, The Royal Thai Police Department, February 2006
• Listed in The Asia Pacific Legal 500 as a leading individual in the area of Dispute Resolution in Thailand, 2003/2004, 2004/2005, 2005/2006, 2006/2007, 2007/2008, 2008/2009 editions
• Presented with an award on August 8, 2005 by The Court of Appeal for his contribution to the law journal, Extradition: Theory and Procedure, July 2005
• Nominated as a candidate for inclusion in the 2005-2006 edition of WHO'S WHO

Publications/Presentations:

• (With Michael Ramirez), "Product Liability" and "Consumer Protection Procedure", presentations at the seminar organized by Tetra Pak (Thai) Ltd. for clients and employees, Bangkok, November 18, 2008.
  
• "Product Liability Law: Overview, Impact on the Healthcare Product Industry, and How to Cope with It", presentation at the seminar on Product Liability Law & Pharmacovigilance for Pacific Healthcare staff, Tilleke & Gibbins Auditorium, Bangkok, November 12, 2008.
• "Case study: Effectually conducting fraud litigation once fraud has been detected in an organization", presentation at the conference, Detecting & Preventing Corporate Fraud, organized by Asia Business Forum, Bangkok, June 20, 2008.
• "An Introduction to Competition Law in Thailand", presentation at the T&G Seminar on Competition Law and IP 2008 for the Pharmaceutical Industry IP Executive Training Course, Bangkok, February 11, 2008.
• "Product Liability and Pharmaceutical Law", presentation at conference organized by Unique Seminar & Training Co., Ltd., Bangkok, June 27, 2007.
  
• (With C. Addy Punsan and Tiziana Sucharitkul), "AMLA and the war on terror", Corporate Counsellor Column, Bangkok Post, June 1, 2007. Also published in Thailand: Legal Developments (T&G client newsletter), November 2007.
• "The role of lawyers and professional ethics", presentation to students from the Judicial Training Institute on an educational tour to Tilleke & Gibbins, Bangkok, March 30, 2007.
• "Mediation: Lawyers' Perspective", presentation at Valaya Alongkorn Rajabhat University, Bangkok, February 25, 2007.
• (With John E. King and Sally Wrapson), Dispute Resolution Handbook Volume 1 2007/08 (Thailand Chapter), Sixth Edition, Practical Law Company Cross-border Handbooks, 2007.
• (With John E. King), "Thai and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: Compliance with Standards of Business Conduct in Public Sector", presentation to Microsoft (Thailand) Ltd., August 7, 2006.
• "Conducting Fraud Litigation: Real Experiences from a Court", presentation at the conference, Corporate Fraud Risk Management & Fraud Control Strategies, organized by The Asia Business Forum, Bangkok, May 16, 2006.
• (With Michael Ramirez), "Product liability law: impact and practice", Corporate Counsellor Column, Bangkok Post, Business Section, April 21, 2006.
• (With Michael Ramirez), "Product Liability Act changes consumer-protection focus", Corporate Counsellor Column, Bangkok Post, Business Section, April 7, 2006.
• "Examining Alternate Dispute Resolution Methods Successful in Avoiding Costly Litigation", presentation at the conference, Avoiding Disputes & Managing Risks in Construction Contracts, organized by The Asia Business Forum, Bangkok, April 4, 2006.
• (With John E. King), Dispute Resolution Handbook 2006/07 (Thailand Chapter), Fifth Edition, Practical Law Company Cross-border Handbooks, January 2006.
• (With Michael Ramirez), "Criminal defamation of character: the Thai regime", Corporate Counsellor Column, Bangkok Post, Business Section, December 23, 2005.
• (With Wutipong Vechayanon), TV presentation on topic "Product Liability ", Nhee Phan Din - Business Digest Program, UBC Channel 7, December 20, 2005.
• (With Michael Ramirez), "Defamation and Thai law", Corporate Counsellor Column, Bangkok Post, Business Section, December 9, 2005.
• (With Noppramart Prasitmonthon), TV presentation on topic "Environmental Law: Impact on Business", Nhee Phan Din - Business Digest Program, UBC Channel 7, November 8, 2005.
• (With Sasirusm B. Chunhakasikarn), TV presentation on topic "Is Agreement Not to Join Competitor Enforceable", Nhee Phan Din - Business Digest Program, UBC Channel 7, October 25, 2005.
• (With Tiziana Sucharitkul), presentation on the "Thai Criminal Procedure" to the Ambassador and Staff of the Norwegian Embassy in Thailand, September 19, 2005.
  
• "Some Considerations on Detention of the Accused Pending Trial under the Extradition Act", Thai article in the law journal, Extradition: Theory and Procedure, published by The Court of Appeals, July 2005.
• (With John King), "Compliance with Standards of Business Conduct in the Public Sector", presentation to marketing staff of Microsoft (Thailand), Bangkok, February 28, 2005.
• (With David Lyman, John Fotiadis, Cynthia Pornavalai, Noppramart Prasitmonthon, Pascale Prud'homme, Piyanuj Ratprasatporn, Anongporn Thanachaiary and Pimvimol Vipamaneerut), contributed to "Doing Business in 2005: Removing Obstacles to Growth", a co-publication of the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation and Oxford University Press, September 2004.
• (With John King and John Fotiadis), "Obtaining Evidence for Use in a Foreign Jurisdiction", August 2003.
• "Sherry Ann Duncan Case: Another O. J. Simpson?", article in the Thai language published in Krungthep Business newspaper, August 13, 1999.
• "Principal Issues of the Royal Proclamation on Year 2000 Computer Problems and Considerations in Handling Disputes Related to the Y2K Problem", article in the Thai language with abstract in English, published in the Law Journal of the Central IP&IT Court (2nd Anniversary).

Interviews:

• By Sriwipa Siripunyawit for article, "Thinking the unthinkable: A living will has nothing to do with your assets but could save a lot of grief", Bangkok Post, December 17, 2007.
• By Sriwipa Siripunyawit for article, "Popular financing option should not be confused with leasing", Bangkok Post - Your Money, July 9, 2007.
• By Sriwipa Siripunyawit for article, "Spell out responsibilities clearly", Bangkok Post - Your Money, July 2, 2007.
• By Sriwipa Siripunyawit for article, "Beware of bogus land deals", Bangkok Post - Your Money, May 28, 2007.
• By Sriwipa Siripunyawit and Chadamas Chinmaneevong for article, "Market Forces", Bangkok Post - Your Money, April 30, 2007.
• By Sriwipa Siripunyawit for article, "Self-preservation when a spouse goes astray", Bangkok Post, March 26, 2007.
• By Sriwipa Siripunyawit for article, "What's your time worth?", Bangkok Post, July 17, 2006.
• By Supan Wiboonma on the topic "Product Liability", "Nhee Phan Din - Business Digest" Program, UBC Channel 7, March 21, 2006.
• By Mark Stephens of the International Bar Association regarding defamation in Thailand, December 19, 2005.
• By Krungthepturakij Newspaper for article, "Lawyer confirms asset confiscation could be immediate", published on January 22, 2005.
• By Sriwipa Siripunyawit for article, "Trade secrets require careful treatment", Bangkok Post, January 17, 2005.
• By Krungthep Thurakij (BizWeek) for front-page article, "Hunt for billions of baht owed by Rakesh Saxena to BBC", September 3-9, 2004 issue.
• By Sriwipa Siripunyawit for article, "Working with AIDS", Bangkok Post, July 19, 2004.
• By Sriwipa Siripunyawit for article, "Class actions could spur change", Bangkok Post, March 1, 2004.
• By Sriwipa Siripunyawit for article, "Government offers a new lifeline for the jobless", Bangkok Post, January 26, 2004.
• By Sriwipa Siripunyawit for article, "Get it in writing", Bangkok Post, September 1, 2003.
• By Sriwipa Siripunyawit for article, "Where there's a will . . .", Bangkok Post, April 28, 2003.
• By Matichon newspaper and UBC Cable TV related to the Money Laundering Act in August 2001. Quoted in the Far Eastern Economic Review, October 11, 2001 issue.

Practice Areas:  Litigation, Taxation, Mediation and Arbitration, Anti-Dumping, Trade Competition

E-mail:

• thawat.d@tillekeandgibbins.com

Telephone: +66 2653 5550

Facsimile:  +66 2653 5678

(November 2008)