Non-disclosure Agreements In Thailand?

[mac.wheeler]

Hi folks.

I will soon be needing to employ somebody on a freelance basis to do a little work for me with regards to a new business venture.

It is highly critical that the details of this venture are kept out of the public eye until the launch.

Towards this end I wish to have my hired help sign a non-disclosure agreement, but I am concerned that it would not be worth the paper it is printed on here in Thailand.

Opinions please?

Thanks in advance.

Edited April 6, 2007 by mac.wheeler

[cclub75]

Towards this end I wish to have my hired help sign a non-disclosure agreement, but I am concerned that it would not be worth the paper it is printed on here in Thailand.

Opinions please ?

You have answered yourself...

Let's face it : you are dealing with an individual. You can be sure, that for him or her, a NDA has absolutly ... no meaning.

Sure, you'll get a nice signature. And probably, nothing bad will happen. Probably.

But if the guy has bad intentions... then your paper will be worthless.

You'll not start a procedure. Basically, you'll be screwed.

My point is : in Thailand a NDA has a less "deterrence" value than in US for instance (where NDA's are like a religion).

We could extend the discussion to... non competition agreements for instance.

It's exactly the same. Ah, that's one of my favorite...

The simple idea of a "contract" on paper, between one individual and a company, that prevent the individual from doing something.. has extreme poor meaning in Thailand.

Again, I might sound harsh. But this is my experience.

[mac.wheeler]

No I don't think you are being harsh at all.

The very reason I posted this question was due to the fact I doubt that any NDA would fly in a Thai court of law.

You have voiced my own opinion that any contract would be completely worthless should the worst happen.

Thanks for the input. Always nice to have somebody confirm your own thoughts.

[lannarebirth]

Even if the signor has good intentions, they'll not be able to keep your secrets. They just seem constitutionally incapable to do so here.

[singa-traz]

Towards this end I wish to have my hired help sign a non-disclosure agreement, but I am concerned that it would not be worth the paper it is printed on here in Thailand.

Opinions please ?

You have answered yourself...

Let's face it : you are dealing with an individual. You can be sure, that for him or her, a NDA has absolutly ... no meaning.

...

The simple idea of a "contract" on paper, between one individual and a company, that prevent the individual from doing something.. has extreme poor meaning in Thailand.

Again, I might sound harsh. But this is my experience.

Did your experience involved a Lawyer?

Please share the details.

[cclub75]

Did your experience involved a Lawyer?

Please share the details.

Indeed. A lawyer to write our non competition agreement...

After that... "bon courage" as we say.

Employees (with education, good salary) sign.

At that point, 2 solutions :

-they don't understand what they sign

-they perfectly understand, but one day... "mai pen rai".

They'll tell you some enormous lies. Resign. And a few weeks later, you discover them working with your... competitor.

But, "mai pen rai" of course.

Because I'm an uggly western colonialist and pain in the arse... of course... i'm very happy to go to justice. Just for the principle. And to show to the others that we mean it. As for the result... well we'll see.

But eventually, and whatever the outcome can be, the damages were done.

NDA, NCA, NSA, NVA, NTA... The same crap.

[Crash999]

As other folks have said, it's not workable. I'm sure a lawyer could draft something up, and given enough time and money one could get a favorable ruling. But in the end the net benefit would be little.

Depending on what exactly the concern is (business concept, competitors, sensitive customer info, legality, etc) I suggest you think laterally about how to minimize what you need to disclose to the freelancer.