Category: News

Blumenthal Richter & Sumet (BRS) is thrilled to announce that we have achieved an unprecedented five recognitions in the International Tax Review (ITR) World Tax 2025 Rankings. This marks the firm’s highest achievement in the prestigious rankings to date.

The ITR World Tax guide is widely recognized as the most comprehensive resource for identifying leading tax firms and practitioners globally. Covering over 155 jurisdictions across every continent, it provided invaluable insights based on feedback from more than 29,000 clients and 5,400 practitioners in this year.

In this year’s rankings, Blumenthal Richter & Sumet has been awarded a Tier 2 Ranking for General Corporate Tax marking our 4th year being included in this practice area, as well as a Tier 3 Ranking for Customs marking our first year being included in the Customs area. These distinctions underscore the firm’s continued leadership in the field of tax and customs law as a trusted partner to high-net-worth individuals, investors and corporations both domiciled within Thailand and engaging in business in the country.

On an individual level, two of the firm’s lawyers have been recognized for their exceptional contributions. Sumet Mingmongkolmitr, Head of Tax & Customs Practice, has been acknowledged as a Highly Regarded Individual in General Corporate Tax for several years and in Customs for the first year. This accolade highlights his sustained impact and leadership in the industry.

Moreover, Senior Associate Sudarat Jirakietwattana has earned her first recognition as a Rising Star in General Corporate Tax. This honor marks a significant milestone in her career, distinguishing her as one of the youngest lawyers to be celebrated by the directory as an up & coming talent in the field.

Under the guidance of Sumet Mingmongkolmitr and the support of his team, Blumenthal Richter & Sumet’s Tax & Customs Practice has experienced remarkable growth.

Ride the global trends with Blumenthal Richter & Sumet.

Join us at Asean Legal Alliance & Warwick Legal Network World Business Forum: Riding Global Trends.

Enhance your knowledge of leveraging Thailand as a springboard to global markets, business under the ESG era and technology & world revolution at this exciting conference with executives, decision-makers and lawyers across the public and private sectors across South East Asia.

In conjunction with Thailand Board of Investment, Global Trade & Technology Council (India) and Prompt Legal, we are delighted to support this event, featuring prominent speakers and distinguished guests.

Speakers from the public sector will include Mr. Danucha Pichayanan, Secretary – General, Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council; Mr. Narit Therdteerasukdi, Secretary – General, Thailand Board of Investment and Dr. Chula Sukmanop, Secretary – General, Eastern Economic Corridor. Speakers from the private sector will include Mr. Jirayut Srusisopa, Bitkub Capital Group Holdings Co; Ltd.

A gala dinner will follow the conference.

Mark your calendars for Friday, 27 September 2024 at the Pullman Bangkok King Power, Thailand.

Please email [email protected] for reservation and further information.

Blumenthal Richter & Sumet (BRS) proudly announces the addition of Partner Ms. Promboon Sookatup and her team to the firm’s Tax & Customs and Mergers & Acquisitions Practice. With several recent senior attorney hirings across various practices, BRS now boasts over 40 fee-earners and eight partners.

 Promboon, with over a decade of experience, specializes in tax disputes, M&A transaction related tax structures, and complex corporate setups across a variety of  industries. Her active role in shaping Thailand’s tax policies through positions on key governmental and private sector committees further bolsters her impressive profile. Promboon holds an LL.B. from Thammasat University, an LL.M. in International Commercial Law from Queen Mary University of London, and an MBA from Chulalongkorn University.

Sumet Mingmongkolmitr, Senior Partner and Head of BRS’s Tax & Customs Practice, expressed enthusiasm: “Promboon and her team’s arrival is a significant addition to our firm’s continued growth within the Tax & Customs sector.” Returning to BRS, where she began her legal career, Promboon shared her excitement: “BRS’s commitment to diversity and its global approach to delivering legal services align perfectly with my client needs. I am very excited to rejoin and contribute to strengthening the firm’s Tax and M&A portfolios.”

Promboon’s move underscores BRS’s strategy to enhance corporate, M&A, and tax services for Thai and foreign clients in Thailand and the region. Leveraging BRS’s extensive resources and global reach through Interlaw, IR Global, and the firm’s  well-established Japan and China Desks, will enable Promboon to better serve her existing clients and contribute to BRS’s continued growth as one of Thailand’s premier corporate law firms. Joining Promboon are Senior Associate Chawin Luangpattarawong and Associates Thitisuda Katanyuphada, Chatchawan Phocharoen, and Prachaya Thongpradap.

Blumenthal Richter & Sumet (BRS)’s Corporate / Mergers & Acquisitions practice, under the leadership of Senior Partner Andreas Richter, has been acknowledged for the 11th consecutive year by The Legal 500.

The Corporate / Mergers & Acquisitions team, which has a strong focus on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) advisory work, is led by Andreas Richter, a Germany trained lawyer with over 30 years of expertise in guiding multinational companies conducting business in Thailand. With his team, Andreas positions clients for success in the Thai market, by efficiently navigating Thailand’s foreign investment and corporate law framework, assisting  clients of various sizes and industries.

Andreas is supported by Partner Stefan Riedl, the team’s veteran in contract drafting and negotiations, who celebrated 10 years with Blumenthal Richter & Sumet in 2023.

Moreover, Andreas recently established BRS’ Japan Desk and China Desk that provide specialized legal assistance to corporate clients from Japan and China in connection with their inbound activities in Thailand. The Japan Desk, a cooperation with leading Japanese law firm Momo-O Matsuo & Namba, is led by Mr. Ryo Sakata, a Corporate and Mergers & Acquisitions attorney based in Tokyo. The China Desk is led by foreign legal experts Ms. Shuang Huang and Ms. Akemi Xie, the latter is a partner at Shanghai-based law firm Zhonglun W&D.

Contributing to the team’s success was also Ekkarat Ritthiplang who was promoted to partner and co-leader of the team in the fall of 2023. In his new role, Ekkarat manages the team’s project-based activities, and also plays a critical role in advising clients on the nuances of Thai law.

With his team of Austrian, Thai, Chinese, and Japanese attorneys, Andreas has acted on a variety of significant corporate matters over the past year, including:

• Providing one of the world’s leading specialty chemicals companies with comprehensive legal and strategic advice in connection with  establishing a chemical production facility in Thailand.
• Advising China’s largest automobile producer by sales on entering the Thai market and obtaining investment promotion.
• Assisting a European food producer with revenue of EUR 7 billion in acquiring a leading Thai premium food ingredients wholesaler.

Andreas Richter commented, “2023 was a year of growth for our practice, particularly with the addition of Ekkarat and Akemi to our team’s leadership. I sincerely thank our clients for placing their continued trust in our dynamic team as their trusted partner in Thailand. I also thank the Legal 500 for, again, recognizing the success of our last year’s hard work.”

The Legal 500 recognition results from rigorous research conducted by The Legalese, a leading directory for the highest caliber of legal services globally. This involves analysis of corporate, general commercial, mergers & acquisitions, and related matters, as well as interviews with clients and competitors.

Blumenthal Richter & Sumet’s Tax & Customs practice under the leadership of Senior Partner Sumet Mingmongkolmitr, has excelled in the Legal 500 (2024) rankings with both the practice and individual lawyers receiving lead recognition.

Legal 500 recognition results from rigorous research conducted by The Legalese, a leading directory for the caliber of legal services globally, involving analysis of tax, customs, and related matters and interviews with clients.

Our Tax & Customs practice has received a tier 2 ranking, marking its 10th consecutive year of being highlighted in the Legal 500.

Practice-head Sumet, has also received recognition as a Leading Individual, a distinction earned for 10 years running and cementing his reputation as one of Thailand’s foremost experts in both corporate and personal tax.

Moreover, Senior Associate Sudarat Jirakietwattana, was highlighted as a Rising Star in Tax in her inaugural acknowledgement by the publication. Rising stars are associate-level lawyers who appear frequently in significant matters and are widely cited by peers and clients as having made major contributions to their practices.

Sudarat’s noteworthy client work is defending our client on grounds of good faith regarding import tariff declarations and reached a settlement agreement for the disputed products. Also, she successfully defended our client on grounds of legal regarding the principle of the share transfer and argue the Bangkok Area Revenue office tax assessment.

Clients interviewed by The Legal 500 have noted that BRS’ Tax & Customs attorneys, which also includes Associates Warumporn Chaosanguan, Yanisa Rujirawat and Sataporn Samanyaporn, display “great negotiation skills,” exhibited when they negotiate passionately with officials from The Revenue Department and Customs Department on issues and reached a settlement agreement.

Other clients have remarked that “Sumet Mingmongkolmitr and Sudarat Jirakietwattana have exceptional knowledge….[and] in depth knowledge and principles of law in various fields, especially in taxation”.

Sumet and his team has represented clients in some of the highest impact tax cases over the past years including the following example types of completed tax and customs issues, among others: successfully defending our client on grounds of good faith regarding import tariff declarations and reaching a settlement agreement for the disputed products and succsessfully obtaining a refund on corporate income tax and VAT from the Revenue Department in representing our client, valued exceeding THB 200 million. On being the first Associate from Blumenthal Richter & Sumet to receive the Rising Star accolade, Sudarat said “I want to thank my team member for their hard work and dedication and most importantly, I can’t thank our clients enough for the continued trust they placed in us. It has been incredibly rewarding to see them grow with me and with us over the past six years that I have been here.”

Moreover, Sumet remarks “It has been an honor to serve our all clients over the past years, but has been especially rewarding to receive a tier 2 ranking for our Tax practice in this year, where both our clients and our partners have significantly grown alongside each other.”

Blumenthal Richter & Sumet is pleased to announce our outstanding achievements in the latest Legal 500 (2024) rankings.

The firm’s Real Estate team, under the leadership of Senior Partner Robert Schuler and newly promoted Partner Weerasa Makepongtorn, has once again secured recognition for the 11^th consecutive year. The practice has been designated as one of Thailand’s top-ranked Real Estate practices, as a testament to our experience in providing specialist advice that is succinct and comprehensive, and which also takes into account the latest industry developments and our clients’ business objectives.

Robert himself has received his 11^th individual ranking as a Leading Individual, cementing his standing as one of Thailand’s real estate experts and one of the few foreign real estate veterans in the country.

Weerasa, who has been an integral part of the Real Estate team for 9 years and was promoted to partnership in 2023,  has been instrumental in broadening areas of expertise particularly related to secondary and tertiary market acquisitions and developers and unique challenges.

In addition to the promotion of Weerasa’s to the firm’s partnership and the practice’s leadership, 2023 was another successful year for BRS’ real estate practice as the year brought about many landmark deals including:

-Assisting a Thai private equity fund with strategy development, management, mechanics, and deployment of liquidity financing principally in the resort real estate market.

-Assisting one of the most prestigious universities globally with respect to their land acquisition lease agreement as part of the client’s joint venture to establish a foundation for the development of a tropical medicine research center with Borderland Health Foundation.

-Advising on the acquisition of a hotel and additional land source for the expansion of a leading real estate developer in Thailand

-Performing acquisition due diligence for preliminary deal structuring including multiple hotel, residential and retail units in southern Thailand

The Legal 500 is a prominent international directory that annually assesses law firms worldwide, offering a comprehensive overview of the global legal market. With a history of over three decades, the organization continually updates its research program to provide the most current insights into the capabilities of law firms across more than 150 jurisdictions. Rankings are determined through a meticulous evaluation process considering various criteria. The focus is on identifying practice area teams that deliver cutting-edge and innovative advice to corporate counsel. This evaluation utilizes feedback from 250,000 clients globally, submissions from law firms, interviews with leading private practice lawyers, and the expertise of a research team deeply familiar with the legal market.

Regarding his recognition by the directory, Robert remarks, “Weerasa and I are dedicated to providing our esteemed clients with top-tier advisory services from a business-oriented perspective. We are incredibly grateful to clients and look forward to continuing to grow with them.”