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ResourcesCorporate and Tax AdvisoryUS Corporate Law"National Treatment" Issues Under the US-Thai Treaty of Amity

"National Treatment" Issues Under the US-Thai Treaty of Amity

Transcript of the above video:

As the title to this video suggests we are going to be discussing in detail some issues pertaining to the US-Thai Treaty of Amity, most notably a concept that I have found has been most notably mistaken or somewhat misunderstood by folks, especially laypeople, within the provisions of the US-Thai Treaty of Amity; that notion is “National Treatment”. And basically pursuant to the provisions of the treaty itself, if a Thai company is certified to be an American company, i.e. American owned and operated, meaning that the shareholders and directors are American, that  Company once certified is then granted what is called “National Treatment” meaning that it is going to affectively be treated the same way as a Thai enterprise, it’s Thai counterpart would be treated, so if you have got an all American company, and it receives Amity certification, it is going to receive “National Treatment” and thereby be treated much the same way as if it was a Thai company; as if all the directors and shareholders were just Thai, so just treated with “National Treatment”; essentially equal in the eyes of the law to a company that was owned entirely by Thais.

This is extremely important with respect to the provisions of the Foreign Business Act because once certification goes through, the “National Treatment” effectively abrogates if you will or nullifies the provisions of the Foreign Business Act because it is no longer treated as “foreign”; it is treated as a national, it is given national treatment. It is treated as if it was a Thai company. It is a legal fiction that then triggers certain mechanisms that nullify the provisions of the FBA. So it is an important concept to note but it’s a concept that basically is going to have significant and substantial ramifications for those wishing to do business in the Kingdom of Thailand.