What an adviser should carry, and what nobody should promise you

01Three things nobody should promise

• A guaranteed outcome. Tier and approval rest on the authority's assessment against current rules, and comparable projects land differently depending on the file, the timing and the quality of the argument. Anything that could be guaranteed would not need approving.
• Connections in place of conditions. That sentence cannot be written into a contract and cannot carry responsibility when something goes wrong. What genuinely shortens the elapsed time is a complete file, same-day responses to queries and an interview that is answered well — all of which can be written into scope.
• Speed bought by crossing a line. Nominee shareholding to solve an ownership limit, sending someone in first and converting later, being "flexible" with the file — the common feature is that it looks faster now and the exposure stays on your company, while the adviser bears nothing when it surfaces.

A counter-intuitive test: an adviser who volunteers "that one I cannot do" or "that outcome I cannot guarantee" is usually the more reliable one. Being able to say no requires knowing where the boundary is.

02Four things that should be carried

These four are not favours; they are what a professional engagement is for, and each of them can be written down.

• Traceable sources: an official reference for every position, so you can check it yourself. An adviser who gives no reference and says "that is simply how it is done" is asking you to underwrite their memory.
• Deadlines watched: what is due when, and what follows from missing it — these are definite actions that belong in scope.
• Responsibility for errors: how rework or loss caused by the adviser's own mistake is handled, written down rather than promised.
• Red lines refused: an explicit refusal of non-compliant routes, together with the compliant alternative.

03How to read "no win, no fee"

Contingent or success-based fees are reasonable where the amount is determinable and the result verifiable — refund work is the usual example. Two things must still be written down: how success is defined (approval obtained, or money received) and how work already performed is treated if it does not succeed. Left vague, these produce disputes later.

Where the outcome itself turns on discretion, however, a "no win, no fee" framing usually means the provider will take the easy matters, talk you out of the hard ones, or take chances with the file.

04Three sentences that put it on paper

No elaborate drafting is needed. Before signing, make sure these three are clear: what the deliverables are (named documents, not "assistance"); how rework or loss caused by the provider is dealt with; and which matters are outside scope and how they would be agreed if they arise.

The effect of specific clauses is a matter of the contract and of Thai law, and this page is not legal advice or a substitute for reviewing your own agreement. If your engagement letter does not contain those three, it is worth having our advisers read it against them before signature — adding them beforehand is one sentence; adding them afterwards often cannot be done at all.