Munin Pongsapan
Associate Professor Dr.
Munin Pongsapan
Associate Professor Dr.
Profile
Dr Munin Pongsapan is Associate Professor of the Faculty of Law, Thammasat University. He is currently Chairman of the Council of Legal Education, an association of leading Thai law schools, and a member of Thailand’s regulatory impact assessment board. He obtained his LLB (First-Class Honours) from the Faculty of Law, Thammasat University, and received King Bhumibol’s Award as top graduate of his class. He went to the University of Cambridge for his LLM and the University of Edinburgh for his PhD, where he wrote his thesis on comparative private law and legal history. In January 2021, he was appointed as Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore, and invited to teach an intensive course “Comparative Civil Law: Thai Contract Law” for LLB and LLM students. It is the first Thai law course ever taught at National University of Singapore.
He has taught, researched, and published extensively in the areas of private law, especially contract and obligations law, comparative law, Thai legal history, and research methodology. In 2013, he joined a book project entitled “Studies in the Contract Laws of Asia”, which aims at publishing 6 volumes on various topics of contract laws in major Asian jurisdictions, including Thailand. The books were edited by Professor Mindy Shen-Wishart, Professor Stefan Vogenauer and other prominent scholars and published by Oxford University Press. He contributed to Volume I on remedies for breach of contract, Volume III on contract interpretation, Volume IV on defects in consent and Volume V on changing and ending contracts, the latter being the most recent. He has edited some of Thailand’s most authoritative texts on contracts and obligations, including two gigantic volumes on juristic acts and obligations written by Professor Seni Pramoj. He has recently co-edited with Professor Andrew Harding the book “Thai Legal History: From Traditional to Modern Law” to be published by Cambridge University Press. He is Co-Editor in Chief of the Thai Legal Studies, the first English- language law journal focusing on Thai law. He is also a subject editor of the internationally accredited Asian Journal of Comparative Law. Between 2013 and 2019, he was the founding Director of the International LLB Programme in Business Law at Thammasat University, which is Thailand’s first and only undergraduate programme in law entirely taught in English.
He conducted arbitrations both as a sole arbitrator, a co-arbitrator, an expert witness under ICC and TAI arbitration rules. He also has experience of providing expert opinions in foreign court proceedings related to Thai contract and tort law and Thai legal principles in general. He is an instructor for the Thai Arbitration Institute’s training program for new arbitrators and Committee Member of the Beihai Asia International Arbitration Centre (BAIAC).
Education
- 2013 PhD in Law, University of Edinburgh
- 2007 LLM, University of Cambridge
- 2002 LLB (First Class Honours), Thammasat University (King Bhumibol’s Award for top law graduate)
Work Experience
Current Appointments
- 2003 – present Thammasat University, Faculty of Law
Full-time Member (Currently Associate Professor) - 2020 – present Office of the Council of State
Member of the Regulatory Impact Assessment Board - 2019 – present President of the Council of Legal Education
- 2019 – present Thammasat University, Faculty of Law
Chairman of the Board of Governors - 2019 – present Thammasat University, Faculty of Commerce and Accountancy
Member of the Board of Governors - 2016 – present Mahidol University, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital
Member of the Ethics Committee - 2018 – present National University of Singapore, Faculty of Law
Asian Journal of Comparative Law
Subject Editor - 2020 – present Thammasat University Faculty of Law
Thai Legal Studies (English-language Journal)
Co-Editor in Chief - 2020 – present Ministry of Justice
Member of the Sub-committee on proposing legal measures to
tackle the economic impact of the Covid-19
Formerly
- 2019-2022 Thammasat University, Faculty of Law
Dean - 2015-2018 Thammasat University, Faculty of Law
Editor in Chief of Thammasat Business Law Journal
(English-language journal) - 2013 – 2019 Founding Director of the International LLB Program in Business Law (Thailand’s first and only undergraduate program in law entirely taught in English)
- 2002-2003 Clifford Chance (Thailand), Litigation & Dispute Resolution
Associate
Visiting Fellowships
- 2021 National University of Singapore, Faculty of Law
Visiting Professor (To teach an intensive course “Comparative Civil Law: Thai Contract Law for LLB & LLM in January 2021) - 2018 Keio University, School of Law
Guest Lecturer (giving lectures on Thai contract law and consumer protection law) - 2017 Ritsumeikan University, School of Law
Guest Lecturer (giving lectures on Thai consumer protection law) - 2015 National University of Singapore, Faculty of Law
Guest Lecturer (giving lectures on Thai private law to undergraduate and postgraduate students) - 2012 Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law
Visiting Researcher
Publications
Selected Publications
English
- Munin Pongsapan and Andrew Harding (eds), Thai Legal History: From Traditional to
Modern Law (Cambridge University Press, 2021) - Munin Pongsapan, ‘Identifying and Interpreting Contractual Terms in Thai Law’ in
Mindy Chen-Wishart and Stefan Vogenauer (eds), Studies in The Contract Laws of Asia: Interpretation of Contract, vol 3 (Oxford University Press, 2020) - Munin Pongsapan, “The Roles of Good Faith and Good Commercial Practice in
Interpreting a Contract in Thailand” (2018) 8 Thammasat Business Law Journal 272 - Munin Pongsapan, ‘Legal Studies at Thammasat University: A Microcosm of the
Development of Thai Legal Education’ in Andrew Harding and Jiaxiang Hu, Legal Education in Asia: From Limitation to Innovation (Brill 2017) - Munin Pongsapan, ‘Remedies for Breach of Contract in Thai Law’ in Mindy Chen-
Wishart, Alexander Loke, and Burton Ong (eds), Studies in The Contract Laws of
Asia: Remedies for Breach of Contract, vol 1 (Oxford University Press 2016) - Munin Pongsapan, ‘Ending and Changing Performance in Thai Law’ in Mindy Chen-
Wishart, Stefan Vogenauer, and Tan Cheng Han (eds), Studies in The
Contract Laws of Asia: Ending and Changing Performance, vol 5 (Oxford University
Press, forthcoming) - Munin Pongsapan, ‘Defects in Consent in Thai Law’ in Mindy Chen-Wishart, Stefan
Vogenauer, and Hiroo Sono (eds), Studies in The Contract Laws of Asia: Invalidity, vol 4 (Oxford University Press, forthcoming) - Munin Pongsapan, Thai Contract Law (Thammasat University Press, forthcoming)
- Munin Pongsapan, ‘The Reception of Foreign Private Law in Thailand in 1925’ (PhD
Thesis, University of Edinburgh 2013)
Thai
- Munin Pongsapan, How to Write Law Essays and Exams (18th edn, Winyouchon 2021)
- Munin Pongsapan, The Civil Law Systems: From the Twelve Tables to the Thai Civil and
Commercial Code (4nd edn, Winyouchon 2021) - Munin Pongsapan (editor), Seni Pramoj’s Civil and Commercial Code on Juridical Acts
and Obligations II (4th edn, Winyouchon 2019) - Munin Pongsapan (editor), Seni Pramoj’s Civil and Commercial Code on Juridical Acts
and Obligations I (4th edn, Winyouchon 2018) - Munin Pongsapan, ‘The Making of the Tourism Authority Act…’ (2018) 47: 1
Thammasat Law Journal 818 - Munin Pongsapan, ‘Damages in lieu of Performance: Problems Concerning the
Interpretation of Section 215 of the Thai Civil and Commercial Code (2015) 44:
1 Thammasat Law Journal 250 - Munin Pongsapan, ‘Principle of Fault in Thai Contract Law’ (2014) 43: 2 Thammasat
Law Journal 289 - Munin Pognsapan, ‘Fundamental Misconception in the Making of the Thai Civil and
Commercial Code of 1925’ (2013) 42: 4 Thammasat Law Journal 738