Theeranit Pongpanarat

Theeranit Pongpanarat

Partner
Baker & McKenzie Limited Attorneys at Law

Biography

Theeranit joined Baker & McKenzie in 2013 and is now one of the key partners in the Corporate and M&A and Employment & Compensation 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 expertise in the Thai employment laws and regulations in particular, and for his proactive and responsive approach in handling clients' matters.

Theeranit was mentioned as one of experienced associates for Labour and Employment in Thailand by Legal 500 in 2019 and "Rising Star in Labour and Employment" by Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2022 and again 2023, in 2024 Theeranit was recognized as "Next Generation Partner" in 2024 and "Up and Coming for Employment" in Thailand by Chambers Asia-Pacific 2023.

Practice Focus

With a solid grounding in the Thai employment laws and corporate and general commercial laws, and understanding of the global employment trends, Theeranit combines his in-depth knowledge of local regulatory regime with global perspective for the benefit of the clients across all sectors including the manufacturing, healthcare, consumer goods and retail, electronics, automotive, retail and banking 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

  • "Rising Star" in Labour and Employment, Legal 500 Asia Pacific (2022-2023) 
  • "Up and Coming for Employment" in Thailand by Chambers Asia-Pacific (2023-2024)
  • "Next Generation Partner" for Labour and Employment by Legal 500 Asia Pacific (2024)

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
  • Co-author, "Mandatory vaccination: What employers should know", Baker McKenzie, June 2022
  • Co-author, "Improving equality in the workplace: Gender pay gap", Baker McKenzie, May 2022
  • Co-author, "Metaverse and the future of work" Baker McKenzie, May 2022
  • Co-author, "Riding the Waves: what the workplace post-pandemic might look like?" Baker McKenzie, October 2021
  • Co-author, "The gender gap in retirement" Bangkok Post, September 2021
  • Co-author, "Balancing work obligations during an outbreak", Bangkok Post, February 2020