Thayananthan Baskaran

Thayananthan Baskaran ‘is one of the leading arbitrators in Malaysia’ and ‘has extensive experience and knowledge in arbitration of construction contract disputes’ (Who’s Who Legal). Thaya is ‘a “leading practitioner” in Malaysia, who is particularly sought after for construction disputes … “Thaya is the best example of the new wave of Asian practitioners who offer great talent and fresh ideas. He is incredibly smart, agile, and resourceful” (Global Arbitration Review).

Thaya is an arbitrator, advocate and barrister based in Kuala Lumpur and London. Thaya is on the panel of arbitrators of several international arbitration centres, including the AIAC, BANI, HKIAC, KCAB, RAC and SIAC. Thaya has been appointed as an arbitrator in a variety of commercial disputes, including those arising from building and engineering contracts, development agreements, hotel management agreements, and joint venture agreements. He is particularly sought after as an arbitrator in building and engineering contract disputes.

Thaya is the author of Arbitration in Malaysia: A Commentary on the Malaysian Arbitration Act (Wolters Kluwer, 2019). The reviews say ‘This book is outstanding, and I would recommend it to all in the arbitration community’ Dr Cyril Chern in Dispute Board Federation (2020), ‘There can be little doubt that this work will become one of the leadings texts on the subject…a solid first edition’ Gordon Blanke in Arbitration: The International Journal of Arbitration, Mediation and Dispute Management (2020), and ‘This book is both a valuable addition to the existing corpus of leading works on arbitration law and practice in Malaysia and an essential reference tool for arbitrators and practitioners alike’ Robert Morgan in Asian Dispute Review (2020). Thaya is an editor of Construction Law International, the magazine of the International Bar Association’s International Construction Projects Committee.

Thaya was the Chair of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators Malaysia Branch (2017-2019) and the President of the Society of Construction Law Malaysia (2016-2017).

Thaya is on the faculty of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and regularly lectures at the Diploma in International Commercial Arbitration course.

• LL B (Hons), King’s College, London;
• Diploma in Investment Analysis, Research Institute of Investment Analysts Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur; and
• Diploma in International Arbitration, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, London.

• Barrister, Gray’s Inn, London;
• Advocate & Solicitor, High Court of Malaya;
• Fellow, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, London;
• Fellow, Dispute Board Federation, Geneva;
• Fellow, Malaysian Institute of Arbitrators, Kuala Lumpur;
• Fellow, Malaysian Society of Adjudicators, Kuala Lumpur;
• Certified Adjudicator, Asian International Arbitration Centre, Kuala Lumpur;
• International Accredited Professional Mediator, Mainland-Hong Kong Joint Mediation Centre; and
• SIMI Accredited Mediator Level 1, Singapore International Mediation Institute.