Theeranit Pongpanarat
Biography
Theeranit is a key partner in the Employment & Compensation, Corporate and M&A and Compliance and Investigation Practice Groups in Bangkok. Theeranit has been involved in servicing a wide range of clients across industry sectors, recently focusing on the Healthcare & Life Sciences, Consumer Goods & Retail and Industrial Manufacturing and Transportation industry groups. He has been handling a number of high profile clients across a wide spectrum of corporate and commercial, with a particular focus on employment, immigration, work safety as well as merger and acquisition and post-acquisition integration advice. He has steadily earned trust and recognitions from a number of Baker McKenzie key clients on his experience in the Thai employment laws and regulations in particular, and for his proactive and responsive approach in handling clients' matters.
Practice Focus
With a solid grounding in the Thai employment laws, and his understanding of the global and local employment trends (e.g. immigration, modern workforce, social aspect of sustainability/ ESG, workforce redesign, discrimination and harassment) Theeranit's client base includes major corporations and companies across sectors, notably manufacturing, healthcare and life sciences, electronics, automotive, consumer goods, retail and luxury sectors.
He has acted for clients on a whole range of issues such as business restructuring, commercial contracts, hiring and terminating senior executives and directors, industrial disputes, post-termination restrictions enforcements, work permit and immigration complexities, employee’s benefits and welfare planning.
Theeranit also advises and assists the client extensively in the area on fraud and discrimination and harassment investigations, including the high-profile fraud.
Work safety is one of the areas where Theeranit has established experience. It is the area that requires regulatory and practical experience that has not yet generally been offered by other international law firms and requires regulatory expertise. Theeranit has assisted a number of high profile cases in Thailand over the past four to five on similar compliance matter of the work safety laws that are also related to the general labour laws, criminal and civil laws.
Representative Legal Matters
- Advising the nation’s flagship carrier, on all employment-related aspects in light of and following their debt restructuring process.
- Assisted a multinational luxury jewelry company in light of the first major restructuring plan to close down one of the departments in its organization.
- Advised various clients on the investigation following factory incidents and provided general legal and compliance advice on work safety laws under the Work Safety Act and Labour Protection Act.
- Assisted one of the largest multinational pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies on the global restructuring to spin off their businesses.
- Assisted a multinational healthcare company on various employment issues as part of the strategic partial business transfer to the client's another entity.
- Advised a global pharmaceutical and healthcare company on their restructuring process, involving consolidation of functions, as part of their global strategy to change their business model.
- Advised clients on their investigation of their personnel, and advising steps and procedures to gather relevant facts and evidences as part of the investigation, providing the legal analysis and implications on labour, civil and criminal laws.
- Advised clients on the internal investigations following incidents in the workplace, the legal obligations on Thailand's work safety requirements, the legal position of clients and representing the clients in the work safety investigation conducted by the authorities.
- Advised and assisted clients in restructuring its workforce and its implementation and legal procedures.
- Advised clients on labour-related litigations, including planning strategies against former employees.
- Represented a subsidiary of a multinational technology company in court on an unfair termination case.
- Advised and represented a global pharmaceutical company on the possible sanctions against an employee holding top senior management position for breaching client's policies on gifts.
- Advised multiple multinational companies on the fraud investigations on the employees and the implications under Thai employment laws.
- Advised on labour law issues relevant to the welfare and benefits for each level of employees within the business.
- Advised multinational companies on global mobility issues, including the hiring, and transferring foreign executives to work and stay in Thailand.
- Advised on and preparing the employment-related documents, commercial contracts, service agreements, hire-of-work contracts, employment contracts, outsourcing agreements including work regulations and employee handbook; assisting in filing them with relevant officials.
Professional Honors
- Band 2 for Labour and Employment, Chambers Asia-Pacific 2025
- "Asia 40 under 40" Asian Legal Business 2024
- “Next Generation Partner,” Legal 500 2024
- "Up and Coming for Employment” in Thailand by Chambers Asia-Pacific 2023-2024
- "Rising Star" in Labour and Employment, Legal 500 Asia Pacific, 2022-2023
Professional Associations and Memberships
- Institute of Legal Education of the Thai Bar (Thai Barrister-at-Law)
- The Lawyers Council of Thailand
Admissions
- Thailand (2009)
Education
- University of Melbourne (LL.M., Merit) (2012)
- University College London (LL.M., Merit) (2011)
- Chulalongkorn University (LL.B., 2nd Honors) (2008)
Languages
- English
- Thai