By recommendation of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), Thailand is preparing to amend the Anti-Money Laundering Act B.E. 2542 (1999) (AMLA) and the Counter Terrorism and Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction Financing Act B.E. 2559 (2016) in order to be consistent with international standards. The public hearing on the draft acts was completed on June 15, 2020, and the laws will now continue through the cabinet and parliament. Key Draft Amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering Act

On July 31, 2020, Thailand’s Office of Insurance Commission (OIC) imposed a host of new measures aimed at regulating the issuance of insurance policies and the conduct and duties of insurance agents and brokers.These measures are contained in two new notifications: the Notification re: Conditions Relating to the Issuing and Offering of Insurance Policies of Insurance Companies; and the Notification re: Duties of Life and Non-life Insurance Agents, Brokers, and Banks. The key provisions to note are identified below.General Duties of Insurance Companies

Several Thai government agencies have acted in concert to provide many taxpayers with an additional extension to the deadline for paying the 2020 land and building tax (LBT), and to clarify procedural matters for collecting the new tax, which is being instituted for the first time in 2020.

With interest in renewable and sustainable energy sources rapidly increasing worldwide, the nations of the Mekong region are beginning to incorporate innovative power generation options into their electrical grids and, more significantly, into their growth plans for the future. As a result, wind energy, formerly one of the least-utilized options in the hydro and solar dominated region, is beginning to see a considerable uptick in interest from investors and governments in the region alike.

In today’s fast-moving and highly competitive commercial environment, brand owners must ensure that their advertisements, while fulfilling their roles of promoting brands and increasing public recognition of products and services, do not violate any relevant laws or regulations. While this might seem straightforward and simple, advertising today can be a challenging task, and with advertisements instantly transmitted countrywide, failure to operate within the law can have consequences on a huge scale.

While we’ve all seen how quickly life has changed during the pandemic, from a business and HR angle the possibility of intellectual property misappropriation and theft occasioned by work-from-home policies may not yet be clear to many. With many employees working outside their company’s normal IT security fence, their increased use of their own computers and devices, instead of those in their offices with standard or enhanced security mechanisms, has made it more challenging for employers to control access to key business information.

The Thai government’s various COVID-19-related tax relief measures—most of which were approved by the cabinet in March of this year—have been formally promulgated and clarified in a series of royal decrees and notifications.