On May 14, 2019, Thailand’s Cabinet approved the exemption of three categories of service business from Foreign Business License (FBL) requirements. The exemptions, which are expected to be enacted soon by Ministry of Commerce regulations, will permit foreigners to freely engage in the previously restricted activities. The categories of service business to be exempted are:

Amendments to the Non-life Insurance Act B.E. 2535 (1992) and Life Insurance Act B.E. 2535 (1992) were published in the Government Gazette  on May 25, 2019. They will come into force 180 days after publication—i.e. November 21, 2019. These amendments are the first in a series of updates that the Office of Insurance Commission (OIC) intends to introduce to modernize and improve Thailand’s insurance laws.The amendments mainly focus on insurance intermediaries, i.e., agents and brokers. The key changes introduced by the amendments are as follows:

On April 16, 2019, the Drug Act (No. 6) B.E. 2562 was published in the Government Gazette, amending the previous drug registration processes, clinical research processes, and fee schedules. The changes will apply to all pending applications and those filed from October 13, 2019 onward.New Requirements for RegistrationAn additional requirement has been added to the registration process for new drugs. Along with the drug registration dossier, the following documents must now be submitted for each drug classification:

The Factory Act (No. 2) B.E. 2562 (2019) and Factory Act (No. 3) B.E. 2562 (2019) were published in Thailand’s Government Gazette  on April 30, 2019. These will amend the Factory Act B.E. 2535 (1992). The Factory Act (No. 2) will become effective 180 days after publication—that is, on October 27, 2019—while The Factory Act (No. 3) became effective on May 1, 2019. 

The 11th edition of World Trademark Review’s Anti-counterfeiting: A Global Guide  was recently published, allowing trademark and brand protection professionals to gain quick and easy-to-digest information on anti-counterfeiting laws, procedures, and strategies from key strategic jurisdictions around the world.

Three intellectual property (IP) practitioners from Tilleke & Gibbins in Vietnam— Loc Xuan Le, principal; Linh Duy Mai, attorney-at-law; and Diep Thi Bich Le, attorney-at-law—have contributed their expertise to author the Vietnam chapter of World Trademark Review’s Anti-counterfeiting: A Global Guide 2019 . This in-depth publication gives trademark and brand protection professionals a local perspective on anti-counterfeiting laws, procedures, and strategies in 22 jurisdictions worldwide.

World Trademark Review  (WTR) recently published the 2019 version of their annual, global anti-counterfeiting guide, a publication that takes an in-depth look at anti-counterfeiting laws, procedures, and strategies in important jurisdictions from around the world. The latest guide is comprised of 22 country-specific chapters, each of which covers a number of pre-determined anti-counterfeiting topics including, among others, legal framework, border measures, criminal prosecution, civil enforcement, and preventative measures.

On April 29, 2019, the Bank of Thailand issued Notification 4/2562 Re: The Determination of Rules, Procedures, and Conditions for Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Lending Businesses and Platforms. The notification took effect the following day.