A Boeing 737 (BA.N) used by the Thai crown has been impounded by insolvency administrators in Germany seeking payment of an old debt owed by the Thai government to a collapsed German firm.
Described by the administrators as a "spectacular coup", the jet, was on Tuesday slapped with forms and stickers from the bailiffs, photographs provided by the administrating firm show.
"We have been seeking payment of more than 30 million euros for years and this drastic measure is virtually the last resort," administrator Werner Schneider said.
The debt goes back more than 20 years to when German firm Dywidag helped build a 26-km toll road between Bangkok and Don Muang airport. Dywidag merged in 2001 with Walter Bau AG, which later became insolvent.
The administrators said the legality of the demand had been confirmed by a court of arbitration.
Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Thani Thongpakdi said Bangkok had relayed its concern to the German government over the incident and asked it to step in to rectify Walter Bau's "highly inappropriate action".
The competent German Regional Court in Landshut ruled on 20 July 2011 that the Thai Boeing 737 impounded at Munich airport on 12 July 2011 following a court decision be released against the payment of a bank bond of 20 million euro. The Thai Government has since declared that it does not intend to secure the release of the aircraft by paying the bond.
The proceedings at Landshut Regional Court are expected to continue in the second half of August. It is not clear how long they will last.
The aircraft was impounded after an international arbitration panel ruled in summer 2009 that the Thai state should pay compensation to the company Walter Bau AG. The judgement is final. In line with the Investment Protection Treaty between Germany and Thailand, the German Government expects the Thai Government to fulfil its obligation under the judgement as soon as possible.
Reports in the Thai media about ongoing proceedings in New York in this connection are misleading. The proceedings in New York merely concern the question as to whether a compulsory enforcement is also possible in the US. This will do nothing to alter Thailand’s obligation to pay compensation.
An early resolution of this case would restore the confidence of German and other foreign investors in Thailand and would send out a positive message about the further development of German-Thai relations.
Background:
The German construction company Walter Bau AG was a shareholder in the consortium which constructed the Don Muang Tollway in Bangkok in the 1980s. Due to the repeated intervention of the Royal Thai Government regarding the contractual conditions for the investment, the consortium was not able to run the project profitably.
The German Government repeatedly called on the Royal Thai Government to resolve the issue amicably by paying adequate compensation to the company. However, no mutual agreement could be reached. In 2005, the insolvency administrator of Walter Bau initiated an arbitration procedure in accordance with the Thai-German bilateral treaty concerning the encouragement and reciprocal protection of investments.
On 1 July 2009 an international arbitration panel in Geneva issued a final judgement in favour of Walter Bau. The Royal Thai Government was ordered to pay 36 million euro in damages to the company for breaching its obligations set out in the contract. An appeal against this ruling is no longer possible.
The Royal Thai Government was asked repeatedly to comply with the judgement and pay the compensation. However, no payment has been made.
As a preliminary measure to enforce the international arbitration ruling, the insolvency administrator of Walter Bau successfully called on a German court to impound a Boeing 737 airplane in Munich on 12 July 2011.
Shortly thereafter, the Thailand Government paid 20 millions in securities.
Whoever says "education does not matter" can try ignorance
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A decision must be made in the life of every nation at the very moment when the grasp of the enemy is at its throat. Then, it seems that the only way to survive is to use the means of the enemy, to rest survival upon what is expedient, to look the other way. Well, the answer to that is 'survival as what'? A country isn't a rock. It's not an extension of one's self. It's what it stands for. It's what it stands for when standing for something is the most difficult! - Chief Judge Haywood
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The Thailanders should've sent a no-nonsense female general to tell Germany that it is relieved of its duties and should report to HQ for reassignment.
On a more serious note, good on Germany. I wonder how this will impact relations between both countries, seeing as the Thais put their royalty up on a pedestal.
"DO YOU WORSHIP HOMOSEXUALS?" - Curtis Saxton (source) shroom is a lovely boy and i wont hear a bad word against him - LUSY-CHAN! Shit! Man, I didn't think of that! It took Shroom to properly interpret the screams of dying people - PeZook Shroom, I read out the stuff you write about us. You are an endless supply of morale down here. :p - an OWS street medic Pink Sugar Heart Attack!
They should have done what the Russians did; send the planes flying off.
STGOD: Byzantine Empire Your spirit, diseased as it is, refuses to allow you to give up, no matter what threats you face... and whatever wreckage you leave behind you.
Kreia
"Aid, trade, green technology and peace." - Hans Rosling.
"Welcome to SDN, where we can't see the forest because walking into trees repeatedly feels good, bro." - Mr Coffee
Reports in the Thai media about ongoing proceedings in New York in this connection are misleading. The proceedings in New York merely concern the question as to whether a compulsory enforcement is also possible in the US. This will do nothing to alter Thailand’s obligation to pay compensation.
I would think compulsory enforcement in the US would be a no-brainer - here, we don't just impound planes for debt, they get repossessed. Meaning, the entity owed money hires a qualified pilot to go to the plane, present relevant documents to local security, enter the plane, and fly it somewhere else, where it will be sold at auction to recoup such money as possible, which will be applied towards the debt. Then the person holding the debt can go after the debtor for the balance owed if they chose to do so, though they don't always bother.
One of the local pilots in my area makes a living repossessing airplanes. He says he's flown repossessions on every continent except Antarctica and Australia.
A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory.Leonard Nimoy.
Now I did a job. I got nothing but trouble since I did it, not to mention more than a few unkind words as regard to my character so let me make this abundantly clear. I do the job. And then I get paid.- Malcolm Reynolds, Captain of Serenity, which sums up my feelings regarding the lawsuit discussed here.
If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich. - John F. Kennedy
Shroom Man 777 wrote:The Thailanders should've sent a no-nonsense female general to tell Germany that it is relieved of its duties and should report to HQ for reassignment.
On a more serious note, good on Germany. I wonder how this will impact relations between both countries, seeing as the Thais put their royalty up on a pedestal.
Ya know there's another board I frequent that has 'karma' (sorta a + 1) and goddamn shroom sometimes I think you would be well into the negative, and other times (like now) you'd be well into the stratosphere.
"The rifle itself has no moral stature, since it has no will of its own. Naturally, it may be used by evil men for evil purposes, but there are more good men than evil, and while the latter cannot be persuaded to the path of righteousness by propaganda, they can certainly be corrected by good men with rifles."
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