On September 15, 2021, Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced a prospective new scheme that will enable small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and startups in Thailand to raise funds through public offerings. The SEC regulations to implement this new scheme are expected by the first quarter of 2022. Since 2019, the SEC has allowed SMEs and startups in Thailand to raise funds via private placements or crowdfunding. The new SEC scheme will allow SMEs and startups to raise funds on a larger scale via a new type of public offering (the so-called SME-PO). The SEC also plans to establish the “SME Board,” a secondary market for trading the stocks of SMEs. Under the new SEC scheme, SMEs and startups that wish to proceed with an SME-PO must be structured as public companies with investor protection mechanisms in accordance with the Public Company Act B.E. 2535 (1992). Although SEC representatives have previously indicated that SME-POs would be subject to an information-based approach instead of the normal approval process for public offerings, the September 15 announcement does not detail this further, beyond noting that the SEC may deem it appropriate in future to relax certain requirements such as filing for approval, appointment of an independent financial advisor, and fees. Investors in public offerings for SMEs and startups must be sophisticated investors who are risk-tolerant and well capitalized, such as institutional investors, private equity or venture capital firms, angel investors, or an SMEs’ own directors, employees, or affiliates. Tilleke & Gibbins will continue to follow the development of regulations for SME-POs, as the rules and criteria described here are still subject to change. For more information on fundraising alternatives for SMEs and startups, or on any aspect of capital markets regulations in Thailand, please contact Onunya Chanpen at [email protected] or Kobkit Thienpreecha

With the wide availability of vaccines in Cambodia, some employers are considering whether to mandate workers to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, prompting the question: What are the legal risks and implications of such a mandate in Cambodia?

Background In Thailand, bad-faith domain name registrations can present a unique challenge to brand owners. According to the current domain registration policy, Thai domain names can be based on the registered name of a company or organization, or on a registered trademark, depending on the domain name category. When Thailand’s domain name registrar, the Thai Network Information Centre Foundation (THNIC), considers applications for new domain names, it examines only whether the applicant meets these criteria – and not whether the application has been led in bad faith, such as when a registered company uses someone else’s registered trademark without authorization. Domain name registration in Thailand is a first-to-file system, so if all criteria are met, THNIC must allow registration. There are no opposition or cancellation proceedings, making it impossible for an interested person, as well as THNIC itself, to invalidate a Thai-registered domain name. Disputes between two legitimate owners Disputes sometimes arise between trademark owners and Thai-registered companies, such as third-party companies, local distributors, or even authorized trademark licensees who exploit the policy gap identified above. For instance, in a recent case a brand owner found that its Thailand distributor had been able to register a company name containing its registered trademark, and subsequently register such name as a domain name, without the trademark owner’s consent. Fortunately, the two parties had a strong existing business relationship as supplier and distributor; through amicable negotiation, the local distributor agreed to withdraw the disputed domain name. However, if both parties had insisted on their legitimate rights over the disputed name, the case would have had to proceed to court, as THNIC does not get involved in such disputes and offers no dispute resolution mechanisms. Navigating the options Trademark owners facing such a dispute have two options: initiating proceedings with the Intellectual Property

On July 15, 2021, Thailand’s Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA) announced a public hearing for their draft royal decree to regulate digital platforms (particularly e-commerce and e-service platforms) that provide services to people in Thailand. The draft royal decree is to be issued under the country’s Electronic Transactions Act B.E. 2544 (2001) and will be of particular concern to digital platform operators, which are defined as operators of intermediary digital platforms that provide a connection space for platform users to offer goods, services, or intangible property via a computer network, regardless of whether a contract is made on the digital platform. The key elements of the current draft royal decree are as follows: Extraterritorial scope. Operators of digital platforms located outside Thailand may be subject to the royal decree if the platform is intended to provide services to people in Thailand (evidenced by actions such as inclusion of Thai language, Thai currency, Thai domain names, and so on). Appointment of a local representative. A foreign digital platform operator that falls under the extraterritorial scope of the royal decree must appoint a local representative in Thailand, without limitation of liability. Notification requirements. Regulated digital platform operators must notify the ETDA of their operations via an online submission channel. The ETDA will also develop an online channel for consumers to check or verify the list of regulated digital platform operators. Further notification requirements and procedures are to be prescribed by the ETDA later. Platform-related requirements. The draft royal decree also sets various platform-related requirements, depending on the size of the digital platform operator (to be specified later). These requirements relate to the following: Terms and conditions; Content display; Content rating; Feedback mechanisms; Dispute settlement; Access and use of data; Control of advertisements; Notice and takedown measures; User verification processes; Suspension of