Types of Digital Platform Services that are to notify the Electronic Transactions Development Agency

The EU’s Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act aim to regulate large digital platforms and online services in the EU setting out obligations for gatekeeper platforms to ensure fair and open digital markets. This includes requirements around interoperability, data access, user choice, and many others. As for Thailand, the Royal Decree on Supervision of Digital Platform Operation Requiring a Notification B.E. 2565 (2022) (“Royal Decree”), which was published in the Royal Gazette on 23 December 2022 requires large digital platform service providers to notify the Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA) and comply with certain obligations.

Under the Royal Decree, a large digital platform or specific digital platform is a platform that may cause a risk to financial and commercial stability, credibility, and acceptance in electronic information systems, or damage to the public. As a result, EDTA is considering this matter and drafting an Announcement of the Electronic Transaction Commission Concerning Criteria for Assessing the Level of Impact for the Business Operation of Digital Platform Services (“Announcement“) by virtue of Section 18 (2) of the Royal Decree on Supervision of Digital Platform Services Operation Requiring a Notification, so that digital platform operators can recognize whether their platforms are classified as a specific digital platform. 

The criteria for assessing the impact level of the specific digital platform services according to the Announcement are as follows:

• Digital platform service, whose transaction value on the platform exceeds one hundred million baht per year.
• Digital platform service, which its business operator is not applied for commercial registration by the Department of Business Development (“DBD”) and the number of sellers or service providers on that platform who conduct its business in Thailand exceeds one-third of all sellers or service provider on that platform.
• Digital platform service, which its business operator is not applied for commercial registration by DBD, and the number of users in Thailand (customers, sellers, and service providers in the digital platform are collectively referred to as “Users”) is more than five percent, but not exceed ten percent of the number of people in Thailand.
• Digital platform service, in which the user can independently perform any act that may cause e ffect the public in the form of the following statements or actions:
• Illegal statements or acts
• Any statement or action that may cause negative effects on fundamental human rights, human dignity, respect for privacy and family life, personal data protection, freedom of speech, media independence, discrimination, and consumer protection.
• Any statement or action that causes negative effects on the rights of the child causing mental illness, impairing the reputation, and unlawful exploit for the user or others.
• Any statement or action that may cause negative effects on gender or sexual violence includes statements or actions for provoking, violence, hatred, prejudice, and contumely.