The Thai National Cybersecurity Committee (NCSC), as required by the Cybersecurity Act, reported to the cabinet in mid-August on trends and developments regarding cyber incidents in Thailand. According to the NCSC, the top five most common cyber incidents involve website phishing, website defacement, data leakage, data security vulnerabilities, and ransomware. Reported incidents of cyberattacks have increased in recent years. The report stated that affected organizations primarily responded to cyber incidents and attacks by notifying the NCSC about the incident and the remedial actions planned or taken, and conducting internal training to increase awareness of cyber threats. Only two organizations chose to conduct IT risk assessments and vulnerability tests as preventive measures against future cyber threats. The NCSC report also showed that aside from telecom infrastructure, energy and utilities, and education operators falling victim to cyberattacks, healthcare, webhosting, and data center operators have also become “more common victims” of cyber incidents. The NCSC recommended that all organizations prepare for inevitable future cyber incidents. This includes ensuring that businesses and organizations comply with international standards, which includes measures that are recognized and incorporated in Thailand’s Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) and Cybersecurity Act. Conducting internal training for employees as well as directors and officers is also recommended by the NCSC, as this can help prevent cyber incidents and ensure that businesses comply with the minimum required security standards issued by the Personal Data Protection Committee (PDPC) in their Notification Re: Security Measures of the Data Controller B.E. 2565 (2022), which came into effect on June 21, 2022. Industry-specific minimum required security standards (e.g., those regulated by the Bank of Thailand, Office of Insurance Commission, etc.) should also be considered in conjunction with those in this PDPC notification—particularly when sectoral requirements are more stringent than the PDPC’s recommended measures. PDPA statutory penalties

Thailand’s Board of Investment (BOI) has extended its previously announced period for reduction of import duty on imported raw and essential materials for battery manufacturing for electric vehicles and other applications. The BOI’s announcement No. 5/2565 dated August 8, 2022, extended the reduction period to a maximum of five years. The BOI’s promoted activities list includes two battery-manufacturing business activities: Activity 4.8.3.1 – Battery manufacturing Activity 5.2.6.1 – High energy density battery manufacturing Qualifying battery manufacturers who have cell or module manufacturing processes are eligible for 90% import duty reductions on raw and essential materials that cannot be produced in Thailand. These reductions will be available on an annual basis, and are renewable for five years in total—up from the original two years. Existing projects (i.e., those which have the original two-year duration in their BOI certificate) can also benefit from the extension by preparing a project amendment form, along with a clarification letter and supporting documents, for submission to the BOI office. For more details on these customs duty reductions, or on any aspect of investment promotion in Thailand, please contact Charuwan Charoonchitsathian at [email protected] or +66 2056 5657, or Napassorn Lertussavavivat at [email protected] or +66 2056 5662.

During the first quarter of 2022, Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced a series of notifications aiming to strengthen the regulatory regime for digital assets while safeguarding investors’ interests. The updated rules and conditions apply to digital asset business operators licensed by the SEC. The key features of the new notifications, which took effect in March and April 2022, are summarized below. Custody of customers’ assets (effective March 1, 2022) As custodians of their customers’ assets, digital asset business operators must: Segregate customers’ assets in their custody so that the operators can clearly identify which assets belong to which investors. If customers’ digital assets are to be deposited with a third party, the operators must inform the customers accordingly. Refrain from seeking benefits from customers’ assets in any manner other than the purpose for which the assets are held. This includes refraining from using customers’ assets to provide benefits to others or to the customers themselves, and from depositing customers’ digital assets with a custodian that intends to lend out the digital assets (but does not include giving the customer’s assets to a licensed digital asset fund manager for investment in digital assets). Reconcile customers’ assets and keep evidentiary documentation for a period of at least five years. Privacy coin services (effective April 1, 2022) Digital asset business operators are prohibited from providing privacy coin services that can conceal (or allow the concealing of) specific transactional information, such as data about the transferor, the transferee, and the transfer amount. Digital asset business operators that provided privacy coin services to customers before the effective date of these new regulations may continue to provide such services, but they must arrange for their customers to disclose at least the required transactional information or agree not to engage in information concealment. Digital