Chinawat has been working as a legal adviser in the areas of customs, tax and general commercial law for over 15 years, advising clients in a variety of industries, including logistics, telecommunications, trading, aviation, petroleum, information technology and e-commerce.

Relevant Experience

• Representation of various companies regarding the corporate restructuring prior-to IPO.
• Representation of a reputable company regarding the excise tax dispute in the Tax Court on open–cab pick-up trucks whether the vehicle was considered pick-up trucks or passenger cars for excise tax purposes.
• Representation of reputable automaker companies regarding the investigation of Department of Special Investigation ("DSI") on customs issue.

• Representation of Asian Honda in a Tax Court Case with respect to the tax issues arising from the Entire Business Transfer Structure advised by an accounting firm (500 million Baht).
• Representation of a beverage company in various customs investigations on the classification issues and rule of origin issues (200 million Baht).
• Representation of Yum in various customs investigations on the classification issues.
• Representation of The Federation of Thai Industries and its members in the Administrative Court to assist the clients in a landmark accusation on the importation of sulfur without obtaining import license (Billions Baht). This case is an example to use the Administrative Court to cope with customs investigation.
• Representation of Samsung Engineering (Thailand) dealing with Custom Department, DSI and public prosecutes on several customs cases (i.e. engineering fees, hazardous substances, and BOI issues) (Billion Baht).
• Representation of Minebea and its affiliates and Bangkok Airways in landmark court cases with respect to the calculation of tax loss carried over after tax holiday (BOI has a different view from Revenue Department) (Billions Baht).
• Representation of Bangkok Airways in several court cases regarding the House and Land Tax. The dispute arose because Bangkok Airways set up a property fund and undertook a lease-and-lease back structure. This same assessment could happen with other funds.
• Representations of Nike (Thailand) in a landmark case on Royalty-uplift issue. This case is the only case the court ruled using GATT valuation method.
• Representation of liquor company in dealing with customs investigation. It was 20 Billion Baht accusation but settled at 1.6 Billion Baht
• Representation of HP, Lenovo, and other companies to deal with their customs investigation with respect to the imported printers and HDMI Monitors.
• Advising many Thai Wealthy families with respect tax planning structure.
• Representation of PTT Public Company regarding tax planning structure in the merger between its subsidiaries.
• Advising many foreign financial institutions regarding tax issues on FATCA, ISDA and other tax related issues.
• Acting as one of the legal counsels for a Thai bank in the merger of GE to Auto Leasing Col, Ltd.
• Acting as one of the legal counsels for Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) in the acquisition of shares in Thanachart Bank Public Company Limited (TBank).
• Acting as one of the legal counsels for a Thai bank and major shareholders in the sale of shares to GE Capital.
• Acting as a legal adviser to the Government Provident Fund (GPF) and Brunei investment Agency (BIA), which is responsible for investment under the supervision of the Ministry of Finance of Brunei, in the co-investment for the establishment of Thailand Prosperity Fund BIA and GPF jointly invested USD 500 million in the Stock Exchange of Thailand.
• Providing legal advice and representing companies in customs disputes for several multinational companies.
• Providing advice on tax planning with respect to project financing in Thailand for foreign financial institutions.

Education
LLM, Taxation, University of Washington, 1999LLB, Thammasat University, 1995