Background Thailand’s Personal Data Protection Act 2019 (‘PDPA’) is the country’s first unified data privacy legislation for personal data protection. Coming at a time when people around the world are increasingly aware of the risks and negative consequences of their personal data being compromised, the PDPA seeks to align with international standards, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) (‘GDPR’). Prior to the enactment of the PDPA, privacy rights were recognised in the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand. Beyond this, the handling of personal data was governed by specific regulations for a handful of sectors, such as telecommunications, financial institutions, securities, and life sciences. The PDPA was announced in the Royal Gazette of the Kingdom of Thailand on 27 May 2019, with an exemption for the enforcement of its requirements in relation to the collection, use, disclosure, and transfer (‘process’ or ‘processing’) of personal data, as well as its provisions on data subjects rights. After some delays caused by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic over the past two years, the PDPA finally came fully into force on 1 June 2022. Unlike most legislation in Thailand, the PDPA has an extraterritorial aspect whereby data controllers and data processors outside Thailand may be subject to the PDPA if the processing activities they undertake fall under the criteria prescribed in the PDPA. The basics The PDPA defines personal data as any data pertaining to a living natural person that enables the identification of that person, whether directly or indirectly, such as phone number, address, email address, or anything else that might enable the data subject’s identification. The PDPA applies to personal data in any form, whether digital or otherwise. The PDPA introduces two main roles relating to the handling of others’ personal data: the data controller and the

On September 21, 2022, the Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA) held another public hearing on the draft Royal Decree on Digital Platforms and its sub-regulations. This updated draft Royal Decree on Digital Platforms (which is subsequent to a previous round of updates last year) is anticipated to be the final draft before it is proposed to the king for endorsement. Thereafter, it will be published in the Government Gazette and will become effective 240 days after the publication date. The key issues under the latest draft royal decree are as follows: Exemption for certain regulated businesses. The current draft royal decree exempts business operators that are regulated by the Bank of Thailand or the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as digital platforms operated by government agencies for noncommercial purposes, from the application of the royal decree. Nevertheless, these business operators must ensure that their digital platform has transparency, fairness, and standards which are not less than those required under the Royal Decree. Definition of digital platform. According to the public hearing, the definition of a digital platform has been amended to exclude digital platforms that are used to offer the goods or services of a digital platform provider or its affiliate acting on its behalf, regardless of whether the offering of such goods or services is made to a third party or the affiliate. Appointment of a local contact. Instead of appointing a local representative with no limit of liability, the current draft royal decree only requires offshore digital platform providers to appoint a local contact to coordinate with the ETDA. The local contact must not operate any business in Thailand under the Foreign Business Act. Notification of the ETDA. Digital platforms as defined under the royal decree must notify the ETDA of certain information—such as the name

On October 1, 2022, the Vietnamese government promulgated Decree No. 71/2022/ND-CP (“Decree 71”) amending and supplementing Decree No. 06/2016/ND-CP (“Decree 06”) on the Management, Provision, and Use of Radio and Television Services. Decree 71 will take effect on January 1, 2023, at the same time as the new Cinema Law. Decree 71 is the result of the government’s long-time attempt to regulate the cross-border provision of “over-the-top” (OTT) television services, which deliver TV content to viewers over the internet, bypassing the traditional broadcast, cable, and satellite platforms, as well as to reinforce the requirements for content on demand. The key issues of Decree 71 are set out below. 1. Expanded Scope of Application Decree 71 expands the scope of Decree 06 to clearly cover OTT video-on-demand (VOD) services by amending some definitions: “Radio and TV services” is redefined to mean “services which provide intact domestic program channels and foreign program channels, on-demand radio and TV content [newly added], and value-added service content to users over radio and TV transmission and broadcasting infrastructure. Radio and TV services can be provided directly to service users without the use of storage or delay devices (online radio and TV services), or upon the specific request of subscribers (on-demand radio and TV services).” “On-demand radio and TV content” is newly defined to include “films, domestic programs, and foreign programs.” Films (phim in Vietnamese) follow the definition under the Cinema Law, and in this context include movies/feature films as well as what would be considered “TV shows” or “TV series” (e.g., scripted comedies and dramas) in other countries. Domestic and foreign “programs,” on the other hand, follow the definition of radio and TV programs under Article 3.10 of the Press Law: “a collection of news and articles in spoken or visual press about a topic

Thailand’s Office of the Personal Data Protection Committee (PDPC) has opened a public hearing period on its draft notification regarding cross-border transfer of personal data. The public hearing is open through October 24. The notification, once issued, will supplement the principle of cross-border transfer of personal data outside of Thailand set out in the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA). The notification sets out the following key matters: Definitions “Transfer of personal data” means any sending or transferring of personal data by a transferor of personal data, either by way of a physical transfer or a remote transfer through a computer system or an internet network to the recipient of the personal data. It does not include sending personal data through an intermediary by transiting between computer systems or internet networks, or any storing or retaining of personal data, either permanently or temporarily, by a cloud computing service provider, whereby the personal data transferor and the personal data recipient (1) are not making the order, (2) are not involved with any data selection or the content of the personal data sent and received through the computer systems or internet networks, or (3) have the purpose of entering into an agreement or any juristic act. “Binding corporate rules” means the agreed terms or policy on personal data protection made between the personal data transferor and the personal data recipient to establish appropriate measures for safeguarding personal data within a group of corporations or companies. “Standard contractual clauses” means the contractual terms made between the personal data transferor and the personal data recipient to establish appropriate measures for safeguarding personal data. “Code of conduct” means a code that sets out the obligations of a personal data transferor and a personal data recipient outside of Thailand. “Certification” means an undertaking in relation to