subject: Top 4 Thai Law Updates For April And May 2010 [print this page] Thailand is a very diverse country, and laws and regulations are constantly being updated to try and balance the needs of one group against another as well as helping the country move forward from our very traditional roots. This month we've seen huge numbers of people exercising their right to gather and their right to protest.
We have also heard of fears that small Thailand-based business will suffer under the new China ASEAN agreement, and there have been attempts to compensate for that with an exploration of US-Thai trade once more. Property taxes, migrant workers, business registrations and Constitutional challenges have made for an interesting month for Thailand law firms. Here are the major Thai law updates for April and May 2010.
Draft Property Tax up for Review
The new property tax bill is said to be among the most significant changes to Thai laws on taxes in the past decade. The draft tax bill was approved by Cabinet, but they also requested that public consultation be held on the matter.
Thailand corporate legal services are recommending that anyone who'll be significantly affected by the changes should get in contact with their lawyer to assist with recording their thoughts. Owners of large tracts of land and people with idle plots will be affected, however farmers are said to be exempt. Members of the public will have until the bill has passed through the Council of State and Parliament before it is written into Thai law.
No new round of migrant worker registrations
The Thai labor law requiring migrant workers to register by the 2nd of March has not been reopened, despite protests over the safety of the requirement for migrant workers to return to their home country to undergo a verification process.
The projected labour shortage (which is roughly equal to the number of unregistered migrant workers still in the country.
The fact that Thai labor law experts had every expectation that the deadline would be extended. The shortage is expected to be filled by new workers from Thailand, and the workers already in the country will not be considered.
Politically-related Thai law updates
There have been three major updates related to the ongoing political protests.
Firstly, a concern that the laws passed in October last year (aiming to prevent people gathering peacefully in public) is unconstitutional has been raised. Law firms in Thailand are expecting amendments to follow, which would ensure the peacefulness of the gathering, but not actually prevent them.
There have also been fears raised that the protests will stifle new business registrations, and new avenues for stimulating SME activity are being explored. SME owners should consult with their Thai legal service, there is a potential for investment concessions and tax breaks. Businesses who have been affected by the protests have also been granted a month's extension on the due date for balance sheets
Thailand to remain as Priority Watch List country
Officials have kept up hope that barriers to trade with the US would start to be lifted; Thailand lawyers have seen these dashed recently with a report out of the US stating that Thailand will remain as a Priority Watch List country, due to ongoing problems with intellectual property rights.
New draft Thai law on surrogacy passed
Currently, law firms in Thailand have neither legal precedent nor official legislation to lean on when representing either children or the mothers of babies born using Assisted Reproductive Technologies. Under the bill only married couples could access surrogacy services, and the surrogate mother should also be married. The Thai law would require that her husband also consent to the procedure.
