Whilst it is not clear at this time how the draft Act will be applied in practice or when the draft Act will be implemented the draft Act is seen as a positive indicator of the Thai government’s desire to improve the arbitration environment in Thailand. Once enacted the draft Act will no doubt be welcomed by foreign investors and those involved in international arbitration proceedings in Thailand and encourage more foreign parties to hold international arbitrations in Thailand. The draft Act clearly shows the Thai government’s support for arbitration. This should encourage Thai parties to include arbitration agreements in their contracts for both domestic and international arbitration transactions. Other international arbitration hubs in the region such as Singapore and Hong Kong benefit from “arbitration tourism”. Thailand will also benefit from arbitration tourism when more international arbitrations are held in Thailand. The revenue from arbitration tourism can be substantial as the foreign arbitrators, foreign parties, foreign lawyers and witnesses will all need to come to Thailand and use local services such as hotels, restaurants and travel services. By holding more international arbitrations in Thailand both Thai arbitrators and Thai lawyers should also benefit from the experience of being exposed to more international arbitration proceedings resulting in the services they provide both in domestic and international arbitrations being improved. Whilst the draft Act will considerably improve the arbitration environment in Thailand there remains some other issues that will need to be addressed to bring the standard of arbitration in Thailand up to an international standard. These issues include: o Greater judicial support for arbitration by the Thai courts, o Improving Thai court procedures for enforcement of awards, o Improving the arbitration rules of the local Thai arbitration institutions, o Increasing the limited pool of Thai arbitrators that can deal with international arbitrations in terms of procedures and language, o Increasing the level of fees paid to arbitrators by the local Thai arbitration institutions. Both the TAI and Thailand Arbitration Center (THAC) have a goal to become international arbitration centers. To achieve this goal they will need to ensure their arbitration rules are of an international standard. Additionally they will need to provide more education and training for Thai nationals wishing to become arbitrators and increase the level of fees they pay arbitrators to encourage Thai nationals to become arbitrators.