German Court Authorizes Seizure of Thai Prince’s Plane in Pursuit of Arbitral Award: <i>Walter Bau AG v. Kingdom of Thailand</i>

Abstract

German courts authorized the crown prince of Thailand’s airplane to be impounded in pursuit of compensation from a case decided by an international arbitral tribunal in 2009. The arbitral tribunal decided in favor of an insolvent German construction firm, Walter Bau AG, which was contracted as part of a group of companies in the Kingdom of Thailand to build and operate a tollway in Bangkok starting in the late 1980s. The business deal quickly went bad, and by the end of arbitration nearly €30 million was awarded to Walter Bau AG, by then in liquidation. Thailand temporarily defaulted on payment. Violations of international law and business custom had occurred, though some crafty politics and diplomacy solved the problem quickly after the Crown was involved. In view of the difficulties that the Claimant encountered while collecting its award, it is clear that some resolutions are necessary to protect the integrity of the international system and some additions to the enforcement mechanism would be favorable.