An amendment to the bankruptcy law to shorten case procedures and make it easier for creditors to get payment was passed in the final reading by the National Legislative Assembly on Thursday.
A total of 167 members of the NLA voted to support the amendment to the Bankruptcy Act BE 2483 (1940), with four abstentions.
The amendment empowers official receivers from the Legal Execution Department, instead of the court, to consider and issue orders about debt payment in bankruptcy cases.
It also allows creditors who did not petition to be in the pool of creditors within two months to still seek payment, if they can show proof that an unexpected cause made it impossible to file their petition before the deadline.
Debtors will also be allowed to seek a compromise on debt repayment with official receivers within seven days, after they deliberate information on the business and properties involved in a case. Punishment clauses are clearer too.
Assemblyman Vorapol Socatiyanurak, who chaired the subcommittee vetting the amendment, said the new bankruptcy law would help improve Thailand’s ranking in the "difficulty of doing business" assessment by the World Bank for the period June 1, 2014 to June 1, 2015.
He said the subcommittee had thoroughly considered all aspects of the amendment to ensure it would be useful in solving problems in bankruptcy cases.
The Legal Execution Department should advise the Justice Ministry to issue a letter to the World Bank before June 1 informing it of the changes to the bankruptcy law, and also outline relevant laws that would be proposed in the future, Mr Vorapol said.