Brief Notification for the Digital Platform Services
The Notification of the Electronic Transactions Commission regarding the Nature of the Digital Platform Services Requiring a Notification of the Brief List (“Notification”) was published in the Royal Gazette on 18 August 2023 by virtue of Section 8 of the Royal Decree on the Operation of Digital Platform Service Business that are Subject to Prior Notification B.E. 2565 (2022) (“Royal Decree”) and it will be enforced on 21 August 2023 onwards.
This Notification is aimed to prescribe details of the qualification of the digital platform service providers under Section 8 of the Royal Decree which is (1) earning a yearly gross income in Thailand of not more than 1,800,000 Baht as a natural person, or not more than50,000,000 Baht as a juristic person, and (2) Digital platform service providers with no more than 5,000 monthly average users (“Digital Platform Service Providers”) to notify information listed below (a brief list) to ETDA prior to operating their platforms:
- Platform operator’s information, i.e., natural person’s name-surname or juristic person’s name, national identification number or juristic person registration number, address, juristic person’s accounting period, and contact channel which can be URL or application.
- Digital Platform Service Providers’ information, i.e., name, type, and channel of the Digital Platform Service Providers.
- Digital Platform Service Providers’ point of contact in Thailand.
In the Notification, we noticed that there are additional qualifications of the Digital Platform Service Providers specified therein which we view that those are in conflict with the principle of definition of the term “digital platform services” and Section 8 of the Royal Decree as it shall not include a digital platform service that is intended for offering goods or services of a single digital platform service operator or an affiliated company which is an agent of such operator, irrespective of whether the goods or services are offered to third persons or to affiliated companies.
Furthermore, the aforementioned Digital Platform Service Providers must notify the ETDA of the following information on an annual basis, i.e., (1) within 60 days of the end of the calendar year in the case of a natural person’s platform operator or (2) at the end of the fiscal year in the case of a juristic person platform operator:
- Value of transactions incurred on the service platforms (if any)
- Gross income from providing the service platform in Thailand (if any)
This Notification is only applicable to smaller size Digital Platform Service Providers. However, Digital Platform Service Providers in general are still obligated to comply with. The sanction for failure to notify the required information would be subject to the competent official issuing of an order prohibiting the Digital Platform Service Providers from providing the digital platform services.
Author: Panisa Suwanmatajarn, Managing Partner.
Other Articles
- Thailand Takes a Step Towards Marriage Equality: A Closer Look at the Amendment of the Civil and Commercial Code
- Subordinate Legislations under the Foreigners Work Management Emergency Decree
- A Proposal for the Reform of the Foreigners’ Working Management Emergency Decree B.E. 2561: Enhancing Labor Management in Thailand
- Proposal for the Repeal of the Act Governing Offenses Arising from the Use of Cheques B.E. 2534 (1991) : Promoting Fairness and Responsibility
- Enhancing Rights and Welfare: The Freelance Promotion and Protection Bill
- Thailand – New Government with its Executive and Legislative Policies to Promote Foreign Direct Investment