THAILAND Law and Practice Contributed by: John Frangos, Nuanchun Somboonvinij, Santhapat Periera and Niti Muangkote, Tilleke & Gibbins
rent is due monthly and the notice period specified is less than 15 days, it is recommended that the lessor provide 15 days’ notice before termination, which is the notice period specified under Thai law. 2.6.11 Lessees’ Entitlement to Claim Immunity A lessee is generally not entitled to claim sovereign or other immunity in a lease enforcement action. 2.6.12 Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Decisions Thailand is a party to the New York Convention. For - eign arbitral awards are generally recognised and enforced by the Thai courts as long as the award does not contravene public policy or public order in Thailand. 2.6.13 Other Relevant Issues Lessors should be aware of CAAT Regulation No 44, which was announced in the Royal Thai Government Gazette on 15 December 2023. Under Clause 12 of the Regulation, the Director-General of the CAAT has the authority to deregister an aircraft without the les - see’s consent on any of the following grounds. • If the registration certificate is invalid in line with Section 32 of the Air Navigation Act. • If the aircraft is registered by the lessee and the possessory right to the aircraft in line with the lease agreement has expired because: (a) the lease agreement has expired due to the lease term; (b) the lease agreement has been terminated by the lessor or the lessee as specified in the lease agreement; (c) the lessor and lessee agree to terminate the lease agreement; or (d) the lessor notifies the termination of the lease agreement and submits an irrevocable dereg - istration power of attorney together with an application requesting the exportation of the aircraft. • If a final court judgment orders cancellation or revocation of the registration certificate. After receiving the deregistration certificate, appli - cants must: • remove the Thai registration mark from the aircraft;
• reprogramme the Emergency Locator Transmitter; and • return the registration certificate, airworthiness cer - tificate and noise certificate within 30 days of the date of receipt of the deregistration certificate. 2.7 Lease Assignment/Novation 2.7.1 Recognition of the Concepts of Contractual Assignment and Novation Thailand recognises the concepts of contractual assignment and novation. 2.7.2 Assignment/Novation of Leases Under Foreign Laws Thailand is a freedom of contract jurisdiction and the assignment or novation of rights pursuant to a New York or English law-governed assignment and assumption agreement or novation/deed will be con - sidered valid by a Thai court, to the extent that the provisions are not contrary to public order in Thai - land, or good morals and are also not unfair. In any event, in addition to complying with these foreign law requirements, the assignment and assumption agree - ment or novation/deed and the creation or perfection thereof should also be carried out in line with, and, in the forms prescribed by Thai law. Accordingly, under Thai law, the consent of, or notice to, the debtor with respect to the assignment/novation in writing will also be required. Assigning or Transferring Claims Under Thai law, with respect to assignment (or transfer of claims), a claim may generally be assigned or trans - ferred, unless its nature does not admit of it or it is not subject to judicial attachment, or if the parties have declared a contrary intention. However, this declara - tion of intention, cannot be set up against a third party acting in good faith. An assignment/transfer of the rights or obligations performable to a specific creditor will be valid only if made in writing. The assignment/ transfer cannot be set up against the debtor or any third persons, unless notice of this has been given in writing to the debtor, or the debtor has consented to the assignment/transfer in writing. If the debtor has only received a notice of assignment/ transfer, they may set up against the assignee/trans - feree any defence that the debtor has had against the
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