Ekapon Songprakhon

Ekapon Songprakhon, as a Thai Government Scholarship Student, obtained his first degree in Law (LL.B) from Kobe University in Japan and second degree (LL.M – International Economic Law (WTO Law)) from the Graduate School for Laws and Politics, at the University of Tokyo in Japan. His master’s thesis is chiefly concerned with Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement) of the World Trade Organization. 

He began his career as a government officer at the Thailand Department of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Commerce, in 2008, where he had been mostly assigned to participate in several trade negotiations relating to trade remedies such as anti-dumping measure, safeguard measure and subsidy issues and to defend Thai exporter’s interests from unfair trade measures adopted by foreign countries. He started teaching as a full-time lecturer in law at the Burapha University Department of Law, Faculty of Political Science and Law in 2012. 

He is currently assigned to lecture on Intellectual Property Law, International Trade Law and Environmental Law. He conducted research on the Protection of Plant Patent, Farmer’s Right and Food Security around 5 years ago. Currently, his research concerns State’s sovereign rights to adopt tobacco control under the WTO Agreements in order to protect public health. Further, he is working on an article relating to the protection of non-conventional trademark under the modern trademark law. His particular subject of interest in the field of environmental law is economic instruments for pollution control and prevention and dispute resolution in environmental cases including the potential use of alternative dispute resolutions. He is currently in fact focusing on several laws aimed to strike the balance between economic values and non-economic values such as public health, environment, or human rights.

Papers/Publications Published

• Legal Measures for the Fair Use of Intellectual Property Rights in Agricultural Biotechnology in Thailand
• Problems on application of safeguard measures under WTO agreement on safeguards (Part I)
• Problems on application of safeguard measures under WTO agreement on safeguards (Part II)
• WTO's Panel and Appellate Body Decisions on the application of anti-dumping measures : focusing on legal effects on the United States of America