Siam Firm Inter Laws was established by Khun Somsak Chopaka an Attorney at Law with 30 years of working experience in domestic and international law, for individuals both foreign and local, domestic entities and in-house legal counsel for numerous established international companies. Khun Somsak will be giving legal advice about the ever changing situation in regards to Thai Law and keeping readers up to date with the constant changing business and social environment here in Thailand. What it means to be a shareholder of a company; though many people think that other positions are more important, such as Managing Director. The share holders are the real owners of the company itself, a Managing Director is an important position in the company but in the end they are just another employee who is acting for the company. The real owners who control everything from company directions to major decisions are the shareholders whoever they may be. When there is a problem with the company the company will solve it by organizing a shareholders’ meeting where they resolve the problem by way of voting. The process of voting is not always one vote per share but depends on the companies set up and regulations, such as whether they have preference shareholder’s and how many votes are allocate per share; such as ten votes per share, or five votes per share. If you are the majority shareholder of the company you are in your rights to do as you please with the company, as you are in control of the company with the majority vote. Don’t let a Managing Director who is maybe your wife/partner or an employee control the company, as you are the one who sets up the company strategy and the Managing Director’s job is just to follow up on that policy and execute it successfully. If the Managing Director does not act in the best interests of the company or negates to fulfill serious job responsibilities, they are committing an act of offence regarding the company limited or partnership of which the penalty can be a fine or jail time. Such as: - Not announcing a shareholders’ meeting equals a twenty thousand baht fine. - Not fulfilling responsibilities regarding balance sheet and/or booking equals a fifty thousand baht fine. - Stealing shares by changing the names of shareholders on the shareholders list is a serious offence with a jail sentence not exceeding seven years. Our comment: Managing Directors even if they are in a big company or public company are still employees, they are there to serve the needs of the shareholders and should go about their work with transparency and efficiency as it is their responsibility to facilitate the shareholders aims and direction. There are quite a lot of cases in Thailand where foreigners will come to set up the company here and they put their wives or family in this job position. Because they falsely think that they are in the highest position in the company, many who are given this responsibility abuse their power and don’t fulfill the tasks required of them. There are a lot of big cases like this in the Thai courts, also please understand that an offence committed at this level is not just a civil offense but a criminal one as well which can lead to jail time. If you have your own case or any questions regarding law in Thailand please feel free to write in to us and we will answer any questions or concerns in this column. By Somsak Chopaka of Siam Firm Inter Laws English Hotline: 081 808 9175, 089 774 6001, 084 979 4714 Pattaya Office: +66 (0) 38 906 721-3 Asie) et de leur representant Regional Ce fut l occasion de remettre de la nourriture et jouets à l orphelinat, de partager nos expériences et de rencontrer des enfants adoptabls. Nous vous transmettons ci-joint une fiche technique en vue d adoption rédigée par l AFA - La constitution et l’envoi du pré-dossier Avant toute Bangkok Office: + 66 (0) 2 260 3025 – 7 Hua Hin Office: +66 (0) 32 531 508 somsak@siamfirm.co.th For more information see www.siamfirm.co.th