Many foreign parent companies of Thai subsidiaries offer securities of the parent company (e.g., ESOPs, ESPPs, etc.) to the  employees of its subsidiaries in Thailand. Often employers are not aware that their foreign employee stock plans are subject to regulation by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand (SEC) and that the SEC requires regular filings in Thailand.  Recently the SEC changed the form for making the required filings. 

A violation of these reporting obligations may be subject to a fine not exceeding 300,000 Baht and a daily fine at the rate of 10,000 per day throughout the violation period. Although in practice, the SEC generally does not impose fines on first-time offenders when a reasonable excuse is provided for a violation, companies should strictly adhere to the rules in order to avoid the costs and potential liability associated with a violation.  For many companies, these filings must be made in the first part of January, and because this is a very busy part of the year, we suggest that companies plan ahead and have arrangements in place to meet the SEC's filing deadlines.