Thailand’s Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA) held a briefing session on July 20, 2023, laying out the changes and new requirements in draft sublaws under the Royal Decree on Digital Platform Services. These sublaws are expected to be announced in August 2023.

The key changes and new requirements are listed below.

• The ETDA has drafted guidelines on the methods for identifying active users to give digital platform service operators a better understanding of the calculation methods.
• The definition of “users” for calculating annual monthly active users (AMAUs) has been reduced in scope to cover only users in Thailand.
• E-marketplace digital platform services that will suspend or terminate operations for specific users must inform the affected users and provide a period for them to challenge the suspension or termination.
• Digital platform service operators cannot use the requirements to identify their active users as a legal basis for processing users’ personal data, especially for profiling and tracking activities.
• The sublaws on announcement of terms and conditions (T&Cs) and changes to T&Cs, once issued, will take effect on January 3, 2024, while the other sublaws will take effect immediately (i.e., August 21, 2023). This shows that the ETDA has acknowledged the private sector’s feedback that the requirements on T&Cs will take more time for operators to comply with.
• The requirements for changing T&Cs have been adjusted. Under the current draft, the required advance notification period can be exempted if a change in the T&Cs is for the purpose of, for example, rolling out new products or services and improving the platform.
• Required submissions under the Royal Decree for Digital Platform Services and its sublaws will be made through the ETDA’s online portal.

There will likely be no extensions granted for compliance with the Royal Decree for Digital Platform Services and its sublaws (other than those that relate to T&Cs as mentioned above). Overseas platforms are still expected to register with the ETDA. For certain types of digital platform services, the ETDA has the authority under the royal decree to announce which platforms will be designated as falling within the scope of the royal decree’s requirements.

For more information on the royal decree or its draft sublaws, or on any aspect of the requirements for digital platform services in Thailand, please contact our specialists at [email protected], [email protected], or [email protected].