For aircraft leasing companies, having to repossess an aircraft from an airline that misses its rental payments is usually an option of last resort. The repossession process in Thailand can be time-consuming and costly, and often precludes future earnings. However, as a number of Thai airlines have defaulted on their payments over recent years, lessors have been left with no choice but to seek recovery of their valuable assets. This article provides an overview of the practical and legal considerations of aircraft repossession in Thailand.
During the COVID-19 crisis, with the exception of ensuring the health of their employees, business operators will be primarily concerned with their overall financial condition. Lock down policies and social distancing campaigns may minimize possibilities of the deadly virus to spread more widely; at the same time, however, these policies can also cause various businesses to encounter substantial decline of their revenues due to their inability to operate as usual, which unavoidably leads to illiquidity of internal cash flow, and in the worst case, insolvency.
In order to repay debts, many flailing companies allocate additional resources to uncover new sources of income. In turn, these companies incur more debt, and this often leads to a vicious downward spiral ending in bankruptcy.
Despite this bleak outlook, these companies still have the potential to recover and become profitable. One way is through reorganization, which provides relief to debtors that allows them to survive the crisis while ensuring that their creditors receive fair repayment.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have grown rapidly in Thailand over the past ten years, creating millions of jobs and contributing to the Kingdom’s steady economic growth. According to the 2015 annual report of the Office of SMEs Promotion (OSMEP), there were approximately 2.7 million SMEs at the end of 2015, employing around 10 million people, particularly in the tourism, construction, and wholesale sectors.
Thailand introduced reforms to its bankruptcy laws in 1998 in the aftermath of the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Those reforms introduced business reorganisation provisions similar to the Chapter 11 provisions of the US Bankruptcy Code. Further amendments have been made to the Thai bankruptcy laws, which are now governed by the Bankruptcy Act BE 2483 (1940) as amended by the Bankruptcy Act (No. 7) BE 2547 (2004).
A partnership begins with a splash of optimism—a toast to the future and a plan for capitalizing on business opportunities. But what happens when it all goes wrong? Aggressive creditors may force a partnership into bankruptcy and certain individual partners may be required to follow. This article is a primer on the bankruptcy liability of partners.
A person’s debts do not come to an end just because he or she has died. After the debtor has passed away, the creditor is entitled to seek repayment of the debt from the debtor’s estate. Some debtors have life insurance under which the insurer will pay compensation to the beneficiaries stated in the policy, the debtor’s heirs where no beneficiaries are specified in the policy and, in certain cases, the debtor’s creditors. Under the Civil and Commercial Code of Thailand, creditors are entitled to be repaid from insurance benefits in three specific circumstances, as detailed below.
Death is not always final, at least not for juristic persons under Thai law. Under certain circumstances, companies can be revived after being legally declared defunct or dissolved. This article will discuss how and when such companies can be restored.
Dissolved vs. Defunct
New amendments to Thailand’s Bankruptcy Act aim to: (1) streamline the procedures which require court approval in reviewing claims for repayment of debt; (2) allow creditors additional time to file a claim for debt repayment if the cause of late filing was a force majeure event; and (3) increase the current penalties to match present economic and social conditions.
Thailand is no stranger to tumultuous events, be it unrest in the Deep South, widespread flooding, economic slowdowns in trading partners, domestic protests, exchange rate instability, global economic crises, or flailing tourism.