【境外律师专访·泰国篇】中企出海泰国的法律与文化指南

01.

洞见:泰国商机

「Insight｜Business Opportunities in Thailand」

泰国是东盟的战略枢纽，也是中国"一带一路"倡议的关键目的地。其充满活力的经济、优惠的投资政策以及与中国深厚的文化和经济联系，为中国企业提供了重大机遇。然而，驾驭当地法律环境、理解监管细微差别以及适应泰国商业习俗，对于成功进入市场至关重要。

Thailand stands as a strategic hub within the ASEAN region and a key destination for China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Its dynamic economy, favorable investment policies, and deep cultural and economic ties with China present significant opportunities for Chinese enterprises. However, navigating the local legal landscape, understanding regulatory nuances, and adapting to Thai business customs are critical for a successful market entry.

根据我们的经验，公司倾向于信任与其有关系的商业伙伴/官员对某些法律要求的解读。因此，公司可能过于依赖当地长期形成的惯例。然而，很多时候，这些惯例可能与实际的法律要求存在偏差。

In our experience, there is a tendency to trust business partners/officials whom the company has relationship with on interpretation of certain legal requirements. Because of this, the companies may rely too much on the long-term practice on the ground. However, many times the practice may be deviated from the actual legal requirements. 

因此，始终有必要进行定期合规审计，以确保公司拥有尽可能最新的合规要求依据，同时确保合规行动和实践得到妥善执行，以建立稳健的合规计划。我们多次了解到，中国高管（甚至泰国高管）常常过于依赖与当地有影响力人士的关系强度，并遵循这些人群关于事情应如何处理的建议。然而，我们始终建议，与有影响力人士（如当地政客）或政府官员的网络和关系对于业务顺利运营是有用的，但客户必须始终确保所有合规行动严格遵循法律的明文规定。

Therefore, there always be the need to conduct periodic compliance audit to ensure that the company has the bibliography of compliance requirements as updated as possible, and at the same time, the actual implementation of the compliance actions and practice would duly be made to ensure robust compliance program. We learn many times that the Chinese executives (or even Thai executives) many times rely too much on the strength of their relationship with influential persons in the area and follow suggestions of how things should be done from such group of people. However, we would always recommend that the network and relationship with the influential persons (e.g. local politicians) or government officials would be useful for the smooth business operation. However, the client must always ensure that all compliance actions must strictly follow the black letters of the laws.

与泰国人合作时，关键的文化特征体现在人力资源管理方面。泰国人通常非常礼貌，因此可能难以适应沟通方式不同的高管。

General key cultural feature when working with the Thai should be on human resource management. The Thais tend to be very polite, and therefore, may have some difficulties adjusting themselves with executives which may have different styles of communications.

由于泰国对外国投资/参与开放已久，因此其商业/合同谈判方式更与国际惯例接轨。无论如何，我们认为在谈判中有用的潜规则是：

As Thai businesses are open for foreign investment/participation for a long time; therefore, the business/contract negotiation approach is much more align to international practice. In any case, the unspoken rules we feel would be helpful in negotiation is that:

向对方提出不同意见时，应谨慎且有礼貌。

The different opinion to be raised to the other party should be raised with care and politeness. 

此外，也应考虑"留面子"的做法。也就是说，当与对方某个人打交道时，如果客户想要绕过此人，直接找对方组织中更高层级的人，可能会被视为绕过层级制度，并引发很大的对立情绪。在谈判室中，当着下级员工的面，严厉/直接地攻击对方的高级人物，也可能会引起非常负面的反应，并造成充满敌意的环境，从而给谈判带来不必要的阻碍。

Further, saving-face approach should also be taken into account. That is to say, when dealing with one person from the other party, and then, if the client wants to bypass this person and go to the upper level of seniority in the other party's organization could be viewed as bypassing the hierarchy and could raise a lot of adversity. The harsh/blunt attack in the negotiation room against the superior figure of the other party while having lower ranks of employees in the same meeting room, could also be received very adversely and could create a lot of hostility environment which would cause unnecessary blockage to negotiation.

与泰国团队成员合作时，最重要的一点是，泰国团队成员非常礼貌，有时可能不会公开表达他们对事情的看法。因此，应对此有清晰的认识。外籍高管应设法引导团队成员直接说出想法。

One of the most important things in working with the Thai team members is that the Thai team members would be very polite and sometimes may not speak openly their thoughts on matters. Therefore, this should be proceeded with clear awareness of this. Foreign executives should manage how to extract direct thoughts from the team members. 

此外，我们看到的跨国公司法律团队组织结构，通常是在泰国设有一名首席法律顾问，负责监督泰国的所有法律事务。总部会制定明确的国际政策指南，首席法律顾问则确保当地的执行和合规。

Further, organizational structure that we have seen for the legal team structure of international companies, tend to be that there would be one lead general counsel in country who would oversee all legal issues in Thailand. The headquarter would set clear policies and guidance on international policies and the GC would ensure the local implementation and local compliance. 

国际团队与本地团队之间清晰的权限边界也有助于提高工作效率。最后，本地总法律顾问与第三方律师事务所的合作有助于形成制衡，并为组织的法律工作带来互补特性（例如，中立性和业务理解）。

The clear boundary of authority between the international team and the local team would also help creating strong efficiency of the works. Lastly, work combination between the local general counsel and a third-party law firm would help to run check and balance and also bring complimentary characteristics (e.g., neutrality and business understanding) for the legal works for the organization.

我们普遍认为，外国公司在泰国非常受欢迎，尤其是在制造业方面。中国投资者被视为极具影响力的投资者，将在泰国经济中扮演越来越重要的角色。因此，我们并未看到针对中国投资者的任何负面看法。

We have general understanding that foreign companies are very welcome in Thailand, especially on manufacturing side. Chinese investors are viewed as very influential investors which more and more would play important roles in the Thai economy. Therefore, we do not see any adverse thoughts against the Chinese investors. 

然而，我们当然也听说过，一些从事零售/服务等贴近普通消费者业务的中小型中国公司，这些经营者可能会被泰国公众负面看待，因为他们似乎激进地进入泰国市场，并且其中许多使用非法的泰国代持人安排。这类经营者是执法机构调查非法代持人安排的目标。

However, we of course have heard about the Chinese companies which may have small/medium size businesses engaging in the retails/services which are close to the general consumers. These operators may be viewed negatively by the Thai public as they appear to aggressively enter into the Thai market and many of them use illegal Thai nominee arrangement. These types of operators are the targets of the enforcement agencies in conduct investigation on the illegal nominee arrangement.

我们曾协助一家中国公司收购一家泰国制造公司的股份，该公司由一个拥有数百名股东的泰国大家族所有。我们与客户广泛合作，解释文化差异、泰国家族企业可能与国际标准不同的实际商业做法，并识别交易中的潜在风险（例如，企业存在两套账簿，一套用于正式报税，一套供所有者使用）。

We have assisted one Chinese company acquiring shares in a Thai manufacturing company which is owned by a big Thai family having over hundreds of shareholders. We worked extensively with the client to explain the cultural difference, the actual business practice of the Thai family business which may be different from the international standard and identified potential risk in the transaction (e.g. having two accounting books in the business one for formal tax filing and one for the owners). 

这笔交易需要与家族关键人物进行大量谈判，同时还要应对涉及数百名股东的法律障碍/风险。我们为自己能够与客户（以及一家知名的中国律师事务所）合作成功完成这笔交易而感到非常自豪。

This transaction requires a lot of works in negotiating the deal with the key persons of the family and at the same time, navigate a lot of legal obstacles/risks relating to hundreds of shareholders. We are very proud of ourselves to successfully close this deal by working with the client. a reputable Chinese law firm.