Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing, well we are discussing Thai Contract Law, specifically we are discussing controlling language.

So for those who are unaware, when dealing with contract drafting, especially where parties have two different mother tongues or they may have no understanding of the other party's language, there ends up being a clause we sometimes refer to as the Controlling Language Clause where it is stated in a contract okay, "for purposes of this contract, English or French or Portuguese will be the language that will control" for purposes of interpretation. Now this comes up a little bit in the context of Thailand because people ask me frequently, they are like "Oh, what do you use for controlling language in Thai contracts?" My response, well not really my response but the response of the firm because the Thai Attorneys often draft contracts here in Thailand, I don't really do a ton of contract drafting myself, but the response of the firm and kind of mine as well is look at the end of the day the controlling language of a Thai contract, especially one that is going to be adjudicated through the Thai Courts, the controlling language of that is going to be Thai, effectively. Even if it says something otherwise, look if you are dealing with Thai Court System, the Courts are going to end up wanting to see whatever documentation it is translated over into Thai for their better ability to interpret. So as a practical matter, if you are trying to sort of gain some advantage in drafting your contract so as to like exclude Thai as the controlling language and it is a contract to be used in Thailand, that tactic ain't going to work by a long shot. It's really not very advisable. It is better to presume that Thai will end up being the controlling language for purposes of interpretation in a Thai Court. We usually do dual language, you know Thai and English operating simultaneously within the agreement with the understanding that at the end of the day if it goes into a Thai Court, again that Thai language is going to be more compelling to the Court likely than the English language component.

So the thing to take away from this video, if you are trying to sort of game people by writing contracts and then having a Controlling Language Clause that stipulates something other than Thai, it is probably not going to be a great tactic here in the Kingdom of Thailand.