On May 21, 2025, the Trade Competition Commission of Thailand (TCCT) published a press release signaling heightened regulation of digital platforms in response to the influx of products from foreign countries being sold in Thailand via e-commerce platforms. In recent years, the rapid expansion of cross-border multi-sided e-commerce platforms has unlocked unprecedented growth, but it has also flooded Thailand’s digital marketplaces with low-cost imports sold by unregulated foreign vendors via these platforms, unfairly undercutting local merchants’ market share and exposing consumers to uneven product quality. According to the press release, the TCCT announced progress on drafting new guidelines on unfair trade practices, monopolistic conduct, and competition restraint by multi-sided e-commerce platforms at a recent meeting of the Management Committee for Addressing Issues of Foreign Goods and Businesses Violating Laws. This regulatory push is part of a broader governmental effort to tackle issues stemming from the foregoing that create uneven playing fields and undermine consumer welfare. The draft guidelines are designed to regulate platform operators and their complex and multidimensional trade relations that cause network effects and distort competition. The forthcoming guidelines, to be issued under the Trade Competition Act B.E. 2560 (2017), will undergo public consultation to ensure platform operators, the public, and other stakeholders will have an opportunity to provide input before they are finalized and enforced. The guidelines are seen as an important priority, with the minister of commerce urging swift implementation of the measures to achieve the government’s objectives. In addition to the legislative advancement, one of the TCCT commissioners has been appointed to advise a subcommittee on preventing nominee arrangements by foreign investors and a subcommittee dedicated to promoting Thai SMEs and eliminating poor-quality imports. The appointee will also support the nationwide task force against illegal foreign products in overseeing proactive field operations and comprehensive enforcement, in line with

While digital technologies have significantly enhanced communication and information sharing, they have also created new opportunities for misuse, particularly for children, who are especially vulnerable to online abuse and exploitation. These risks are often difficult for parents and guardians to detect or prevent in a timely manner. To address these concerns, Thailand has drafted an amendment to the Criminal Code to introduce new provisions targeting offenses against children committed via online platforms. The objective is to close existing legal gaps and to provide more robust protections for children in the digital environment. The draft amendment focuses primarily on addressing online offenses against children and enhancing legal protections for children. The draft amendment proposed changes regarding the following issues: Jurisdiction and media misuse Expanding Thailand’s jurisdiction to cover sexual and liberty-related offenses committed against children outside the country. Adding offenses for misuse of media, including recording, publishing, or transmitting text, images, or sounds for unlawful or exploitative purposes. Offenses involving child exploitation Adding penalties for persuading, luring, or enticing children to engage in sexual or indecent conduct. Imposing harsher penalties for aggravated cases relating to child exploitation that result in serious harm or death. Adding penalties for sending or forwarding inappropriate sexual content to children with exploitative intent. Adding penalties for using threats involving sexual conduct to pressure or coerce victims. Removing ignorance of a child’s age as a possible defense for certain offenses (e.g., luring children or sending inappropriate content) when the child is under 13 years old. Special protections for vulnerable individuals Imposing harsher penalties for offenses committed against parents, persons under legal guardianship or parental authority, or individuals unable to protect themselves. Adding penalties to offenses such as luring children, sending inappropriate content, and cases involving serious harm or death. Child pornography Increasing liability for possession and distribution of child pornography through online platforms. Harassment and cyberbullying Adding a new offense for harassment causing unreasonable

Thailand’s Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA) held an explanatory session on the draft principles and regulatory approaches of the country’s planned artificial intelligence (AI) law on May 2, 2025. This came after a lull of two years following the initial release of draft legislation on AI. In the session, the ETDA explained that the earlier drafts were modeled after the EU’s legal framework for AI, but given the evolving Thai legal and technological landscape, it is now necessary to revisit and refine the drafts to ensure they remain relevant and effective in the local context. To aid in this process, the ETDA will accept public comments on the draft principles of the AI law until June 9, 2025. Based on gap analysis and a comparative study of how different countries have addressed AI issues, the ETDA’s draft AI law principles are structured into five key areas. These are described below. 1. Risk-Based Requirements The draft principles outline a set of approaches that the legislation will take toward mitigating risk: Delegation of powers to enforcement agency or sectoral regulators The primary legislation will not directly specify a list of prohibited risks or high-risk types of AI. Instead, it will empower an enforcement agency or relevant sectoral regulators to determine and issue such lists. This approach allows regulators in each specific industry to assess the necessity of risk classifications within their respective sectors, based on the principle that sectoral regulators are best positioned to understand the specific risks in their domains. These regulators are expected to issue subordinate legislation in alignment with the overall framework. Meanwhile, the central enforcement agency will coordinate oversight across sectors and cover areas not under the jurisdiction of any specific regulator. Duties of high-risk AI providers Providers of AI deemed by the enforcement agency or sectoral regulators to be high-risk will have certain additional

Vietnam’s Ministry of Health (MOH) has published for public consultation a draft amendment of the Law on Donation, Recovery, and Transplantation of Human Tissues and Organs and Donation and Retrieval of Cadavers, a law which has been in effect since 2007. Among its changes, the draft amendment notably includes new provisions on stem cells, a hot-button topic with social, legal, and ethical ramifications extending beyond the medical field. There are currently no specific regulations on stem cells under Vietnamese law—only the MOH’s technical guidance—leaving many controversial issues unsettled. Key points related to stem cells that may impact the activities of researchers and institutions in Vietnam and abroad are highlighted below. Requirements for Stem Cells Under the draft amendment, stem cells are defined as cells naturally occurring in the body, having the ability to divide and differentiate into various types of cells. The draft amendment outlines conditions for stem cell donation, establishes requirements for medical facilities authorized to receive stem cell donations, and specifies the rights of stem cell donors. Under the draft amendment, it is prohibited to receive, screen, or produce stem cells at facilities that do not satisfy conditions. Establishment of Private Stem Cell Banks In addition to state-owned stem cell banks, the draft amendment also addresses independent stem cell banks established by private investors. In general, the stem cell banks (whether public or private) must obtain an operation license by meeting various conditions on personnel, equipment, facilities, and management systems to be further guided by the government. Notably, stem cell banks will have the right to cooperate with foreign entities in exchanging stem cells for treatment, education, and research purposes. Prohibition on Creating Embryos for Stem Cell Research or Therapy Considering the ethical concerns over the use and destruction of embryos, the draft amendment expressly prohibits the creation of embryos for the purpose of generating

Following the amendment to the Emergency Decree on Measures for the Prevention and Suppression of Technological Crimes in mid-April 2025, new measures were introduced by the Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA) in a hearing session held on May 13, 2025, to establish shared liability between online social media platform operators and other in-scope operators for damages arising from technological crimes. Stakeholders are being invited to submit their comments on the proposed new provisions directly to the ETDA by May 20, 2025. The concept of the new measures for social media platform operators is that to be released from liability for damages arising from technological crimes, social media platform operators must demonstrate compliance with the relevant technological crime prevention standards and measures prescribed by their respective regulators (“safe harbor rules”). Safe Harbor Rules Under the principles of the proposed safe harbor rules, social media platform operators and the relevant service providers would be required to comply with the following obligations: Immediate takedown and suspension of dissemination: Disable access, remove the content from the system, or suspend the relevant service within 24 hours of receiving an official notification from the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau’s Anti-Online Scam Operation Center (AOC) that a service or social media platform is disseminating content that is or may be used to commit or support technological crimes. Establishment of notification channels: Establish a system or channel to receive notifications from the AOC. User registration and identity verification: Require user registration (including identity verification and authentication) before allowing content to be posted, with sufficient information to identify the user. Suspending dissemination of suspect advertisements: Disable access to advertisements reasonably suspected of involving or potentially involving the commission of technology-related crimes. Reporting: Report on actions taken, including details like account owner information, IP address, email, or phone number used for account opening, and identity verification related to any incidents. Account

Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has recently amended its regulation on the definition of professional investors, which aids in the issuance of notes to broader private funds by not requiring looking through to the qualifications of the actual investors. However, issuers of notes will still need to take care to comply with existing regulations. Notes under the Thai Regulatory Framework The topic of promissory notes was recently in the Thai news after being raised in a no-confidence debate against the government, so this is a fitting time to review the use of notes (in particular bills of exchange and promissory notes) as commonly used financial tools for lending in commercial transactions. These instruments serve as a means of debt settlement and can also be used for fundraising purposes. When using notes, issuers must consider not only tax laws but also fundraising regulations under the Securities and Exchange Act B.E. 2535 (1992). The SEC has classified notes issued to raise funds from more than 10 persons as securities requiring approval from the SEC and an effective filing of a prospectus, with certain exemptions. These exemptions include instances that are not considered “public fundraising,” such as notes issued: For debt settlement, For management of cash flow, which is common in commercial transactions, As evidence for lending within group companies (intragroup issuance), or For lending from financial institutions. In addition, private placement of notes is another route considered as having been deemed approved (i.e., not requiring an approval process if the required criteria have been met) and may be exempt from filing requirements, depending on the types of investors being offered notes. Private placement includes offering notes with a minimum face value of THB 10 million for each and maturity not exceeding 270 days from the issue date to professional investors, which will be considered as having been deemed approved,

2025年2月20日，越南国会公布了已通过的第170/2024/QH15号决议，旨在针对岘港市、胡志明市及庆和省的重要房地产项目及土地问题，制定特别机制与政策以解决相关困难与障碍。该决议将于2025年4月1日生效，主要目标是解决此前在监察结论、审计报告及法院判决中发现的问题，包括岘港市涉及1,313宗土地使用期限违规案件。 解决方案 第170号决议提出了一系列机制和政策，以扫除障碍，推动项目顺利实施。根据具体地区的不同，可能适用以下解决措施： 对于岘港市商业生产用地土地使用年限存在违规情形的已发放土地使用权证（LURC）：对于已实际投入使用及开发的项目，可将土地使用权证中的土地使用年限调整为自土地划拨、租赁、用途变更决定或实际交付之日起计算的50年。 关于岘港市、胡志明市及庆和省列入清单的项目继续使用土地、确定地价及计算土地使用费和土地租金的事项：各市/省人民委员会将在其权限范围内，依据现行法律，对相关项目的土地、投资、建设、环境及林业手续进行审核并完善。 经全面审查并确认符合法律法规要求的项目，且符合城市规划、环境标准及国家安全要求的，将获准继续实施。投资者亦须履行相应的财务义务，包括缴纳土地使用费及土地租金，且该等费用将根据土地划拨或租赁决定时适用的岘港市、胡志明市及庆和省土地价格表进行重新评估及征收。 若作出土地划拨或租赁决定时适用的地价未能反映实际市场价值，各省人民委员会有权确定具体地价。 对于不符合条件的项目，将依法收回其土地使用权。 展望 第170号决议体现了越南国会在解决项目及土地管理长期存在问题方面所作出的重要努力。相关利益方应仔细研读该决议内容，并确保严格遵循所列解决方案，以避免潜在的法律及财务风险。

2024年11月，泰国总理佩通坦·诗琳通（Paethongtarn Shinawatra）在洛杉矶举行的一场交流招待会上宣布了加强外国影视制作税收激励措施的宏大计划，该活动恰逢其出席在秘鲁利马举行的亚太经合组织（APEC）领导人会议期间。此次活动聚集了美国电影协会（Motion Picture Association）高管及多家美国顶级影视公司的负责人，标志着泰国政府在推动外国投资进入泰国影视产业方面的重要承诺。 为进一步将泰国打造为大型国际影视制作的首选地，泰国旅游厅（DOT）已将此项计划列为优先事项，并于2024年12月更新了《在泰国外国影视制作激励措施下申请优惠的指引、程序及条件公告》。 2024年公告中影视激励措施的主要修订内容 2024年公告引入了重大变更，包括：（1）取消了此前每个项目设定为1.5亿泰铢（约450万美元）的回扣上限，允许根据总合格支出金额计算回扣；（2）提高了现金回扣率，将最高现金回扣率从原先的20%上调至30%。基础回扣率仍维持在15%。 根据2024年公告，主要的激励措施是在泰国合格支出达到至少5,000万泰铢（约150万美元）时，可获得15%的现金回扣。 在主要激励措施之外，另有额外激励可供申请；不过，总现金回扣上限为30%，且额外激励部分最高只能增加15%。此外，对于制作预算低于1亿泰铢（约300万美元）的影片，其总回扣（包括主要及额外激励）上限为25%。 若希望获得更高的回扣比例，制作方可申请以下额外激励措施： 额外回扣 资格标准 10% 在泰国的支出超过1.5亿泰铢（约450万美元）。 5% 在泰国的支出介于1亿泰铢至1.5亿泰铢之间（约300万美元至450万美元）。 5% 在关键岗位（如导演、编剧、作曲家、特技指导、首席化妆师及其他根据积分制系统规定的岗位）雇佣达到一定数量的泰国国民。 5% 在影片中至少30%的播放时长内推广泰国旅游、“软实力”或泰国及其文化的正面形象，并通过以下方面获得积分：展示泰国节日、传统和习俗的独特性与文化相关性；突出泰国美食、甜点及其制作过程；描绘泰国武术、服饰及泰国人民的热情好客；在影片情节或对话中体现泰国旅游景点；以及影片在其本国的市场反响（例如票房表现或流媒体平台排名）。 3% 在泰国旅游厅（DOT）指定的旅游地点拍摄的天数占影片总拍摄天数至少25%，并须在影片上映后三个月内（且不得迟于影片在泰国制作完成后三年内）提交所需文件。 3% 在泰国发生的后期制作支出至少占合格总支出的15%。 合规要求 希望享受泰国增强版影视激励措施的外国制作公司，必须遵循一套有序的申请及合规程序。2024年公告根据支出门槛设定了不同的申请处理期限。如未遵守相关程序性要求，即便在泰国实际支出金额达标，亦可能失去获得回扣的资格。 获得激励措施的其中一项关键标准是，拍摄活动不得造成或导致环境破坏或自然资源损害；否则，已批准的激励措施将被撤销。 鉴于近期一宗环境争议案件的判决，此项政策的出台尤为引人注目。该案件中，泰国自然资源与环境部起诉一家大型制作公司，索赔逾1亿泰铢（约300万美元），指控其在拍摄期间造成生态破坏。诉讼指称，该制作公司改变了海湾景观，且未遵守与主管机关达成的法律要求与协议，导致大规模环境破坏，包括森林砍伐及珊瑚礁破坏。经过20年的法律程序，泰国最高法院于2022年裁定该制作公司需赔偿1,000万泰铢（约30万美元），即原索赔金额的10%。此案凸显了未遵守法律要求所带来的风险，包括负面公众舆论、经济赔偿责任及失去享受激励措施资格的后果。 税务影响与文件要求 返现机制涉及若干泰国税务事项，外国制作公司应予以审慎评估。根据2024年公告，返现金额本身需根据泰国税法缴纳1%的预提所得税。此外，向泰国服务供应商和租赁供应商支付的费用，通常分别适用3%和5%的预提所得税率；而大部分在泰国提供的商品及服务则需缴纳7%的增值税（VAT），对整体制作预算产生重大影响。返现申请流程亦要求提交详尽的财务资料，具体要求以申请表格所列内容为准，且所有支出均须依据泰国税务局标准进行妥善验证。 了解哪些前期制作、制作及后期制作费用可被认定为合格支出（尤其是泰国境内实际制作支出需占合格总支出的至少50%的要求）需经过审慎规划。专业的税务及法律咨询可协助公司优化结构，在确保合规的同时，最大限度地提升可申报的合格支出金额。 结语 根据泰国旅游厅（DOT）2024年公告修订的影视激励措施，为外国电影及电视制作项目提供了极具吸引力的机会。通过提升财政激励力度，泰国旨在吸引更多国际项目，进而促进经济增长并推动文化交流。随着全球影视行业不断发展演变，泰国的积极政策使其在国际市场上成为一个具有竞争力和吸引力的拍摄目的地。计划利用上述激励措施的制作公司建议咨询本地专业人士，以有效应对相关法规要求。