Thailand is set to enhance regulation of digital marketplaces by introducing new rules for certain platform types, aiming to strengthen consumer protection and promote responsible e-commerce, according to the Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA).
The government plans to tighten supervision over “high impact” platforms with large user bases and significant consumer activity, in an effort to address issues related to substandard products and safeguard customer interests.
The proposed regulations focus on online marketplaces and social commerce platforms characterized by high transaction volumes or extensive user engagement.
ETDA officials convened on Wednesday with representatives from digital platform operators to discuss their roles under the existing Digital Platform Services (DPS) royal decree, which was published in the Royal Gazette on December 23, 2022.
The agency has also drafted an organic law based on the decree, which assigns additional responsibilities to digital marketplaces with specific features as outlined in Section 18(2) of the DPS decree. This draft law applies to platforms acting as intermediaries for sales, including online marketplaces and social commerce sites with an annual transaction value exceeding 100 million baht in Thailand.
It also covers platforms that are not registered as legal entities with the Department of Business Development and have more than 100 Thai business users or an average user base comprising 5-10% of the national population.
Other characteristics include inadequate oversight over user activities that could lead to illegal acts, human rights violations, or privacy breaches.
According to the draft, these platforms will have additional responsibilities, including registering as a legal entity under Thai law, submitting operational reports to authorities, and verifying merchant data.
They will be required to cooperate with government agencies in reporting merchant violations and need to implement product screening before listing or advertising goods to ensure compliance with standards.
Platforms must also display detailed product information and establish mechanisms for notifying and removing non-compliant products.
Currently, the DPS law mandates platforms operating in Thailand to provide certain operational information to ETDA prior to commencing business.
Over 2,000 platforms have submitted their business details, and ETDA estimates that about 10% of them fall under the scope of the additional duties outlined by the DPSC notification.
Chaichana Mitrpant, ETDA’s executive director, noted that the meeting with platform operators marks a significant step following nearly three years of enforcing the DPS law. The operators discussed business challenges, shared best practices, and clarified their roles and responsibilities.
ETDA is also working on developing guidelines related to platform operations, including rules for managing product advertising and non-standard goods. The agency’s next move is to finalize the list of high-impact platforms and determine the scope of services covered by the draft regulation.
Authorities have indicated that the draft legislation is expected to be enacted into law by August.
