Category: Legal Updates

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Consumer Protection: Proposed Labeling Rules for Solar Panels, Inverters and Energy-Storage Batteries

The Office of the Consumer Protection Board (OCPB) has opened a public consultation on three draft notifications of the Committee on Labels covering solar panels, inverters used with solar panels, and batteries for storing energy generated from solar panels. The consultation runs from 13–27 August 2026. Although, the notifications remain in draft form, they are an important development for manufacturers, importers, distributors, dealers, installers, and businesses supplying rooftop-solar and energy-storage systems.

The Proposed Labeling Rules:

The three draft notifications would regulate labeling requirements for the principal components of a solar-energy system: solar panels, inverters, and energy-storage batteries. The initiative follows increased regulatory attention to consumer protection in the solar sector, including concerns regarding the quality and safety of solar equipment and installations.

Designation of these products as label-controlled products is significant because labeling under the Consumer Protection Act is more than a product-branding requirement. The regulatory framework is intended to ensure that consumers receive sufficient and accurate information about the products they purchase, including information prescribed by the Committee on Labels. The precise disclosures, language requirements, and presentation requirements will ultimately depend on the final wording of each notification.

For solar products, compliance can be particularly complex because consumers frequently purchase an entire rooftop-solar or solar-plus-storage system rather than individual components. The panels, inverter, and battery may be manufactured by different companies, imported by different entities, and supplied to the consumer through a distributor or installer. As a result, businesses should consider labeling compliance across the entire supply chain rather than treating it solely as a manufacturer’s responsibility.

Key Compliance Issues for Businesses:

Manufacturers and importers should be particularly attentive to the proposals because they generally control product specifications, labels, packaging, and accompanying documentation. Imported equipment may present additional challenges where the original labels and manuals are prepared for international markets. Importers should therefore assess whether Thai-language supplementary labels will be required and whether information on those labels is consistent with the manufacturer’s original product information.

This review should extend beyond literal translation. Product names, model numbers, technical specifications, manufacturer and importer details, instructions, warnings, and other required disclosures should be consistent across the product label, packaging, manuals, technical specifications, warranties, and other customer-facing materials. Inconsistencies between these materials can create both regulatory and consumer-dispute risks.

Distributors, dealers, and installers should also monitor the proposals closely. A rooftop-solar provider may purchase panels, an inverter, and a battery from different suppliers and then offer them to the consumer as a single installed system. Businesses operating this model should consider incorporating label verification into their procurement and installation procedures, including checking that required labels are present, correspond to the correct product model, and are not removed or obscured during installation.

The proposals may therefore have consequences beyond the physical product label. Depending on the final requirements, businesses may need to review packaging, Thai-language disclosures, product specification sheets, user instructions, warranties, quotations, sales proposals, online product descriptions, and information provided by dealers and installers. Not all of these materials will necessarily constitute regulated labels, but consistency between mandatory product information and commercial representations should form part of the compliance review.

Supply-Chain Contracts and Existing Inventory:

Businesses should also review how responsibility for labeling compliance is allocated contractually. Supply, import, distribution, dealer, and installation agreements often contain general obligations to comply with applicable law but may not specifically address responsibility for preparing Thai-language labels, verifying technical information, implementing regulatory changes, or bearing the cost of relabeling noncompliant products.

For importers dealing with overseas manufacturers, this can be commercially important. Changes to factory-applied labels or packaging may require manufacturing lead times and additional costs. Agreements should therefore be reviewed to determine who must implement regulatory changes, who bears the associated costs, and what remedies apply where products supplied into the market do not satisfy mandatory labeling requirements.

Existing inventory will be another important issue when the final notifications are issued. Businesses may already hold substantial stocks of solar panels, inverters, and batteries bearing existing labels, while additional products may be in transit or subject to outstanding purchase orders. Companies should monitor the final rules for their effective dates and any transitional provisions, including whether existing inventory can continue to be sold or whether supplementary labeling will be permitted. Businesses should not assume that existing products will automatically be grandfathered.

Labeling, Product Safety, and Enforcement:

The proposed rules should also be considered alongside broader product-safety regulation. The OCPB has previously highlighted consumer concerns relating to allegedly substandard solar installations and has emphasized the importance of consumers being able to identify relevant product, manufacturer, importer, origin, and standards information.

Labeling compliance and technical compliance should therefore be managed as related but distinct requirements. A product’s compliance with an applicable industrial or technical standard does not necessarily establish compliance with consumer-labeling requirements, while a correctly labeled product may still fail to satisfy separate product-safety requirements.

Noncompliance with labeling requirements can carry criminal consequences under the Consumer Protection Act. The OCPB has stated that a seller of a label-controlled product without the required label, or with an incorrect label where the seller knows or ought to know of the noncompliance, may face imprisonment for up to six months, a fine of up to THB 100,000, or both. For manufacturers producing goods for sale and persons ordering or importing goods for sale, the potential penalty may increase to imprisonment for up to one year, a fine of up to THB 200,000, or both.

What Businesses Should Do Now:

As the notifications remain in draft form, immediate changes to product labels may be premature. However, businesses can begin preparing by identifying affected product models and collecting their current labels, packaging, manuals, and Thai-language product information. Importers should determine which labeling changes can be made locally and which would require cooperation from overseas manufacturers.

Businesses should also map responsibility throughout their distribution networks, review supply and dealer agreements, and identify existing inventory that could be affected by the new requirements. Once the final notifications are issued, particular attention should be given to the exact product scope, mandatory disclosures, Thai-language requirements, effective dates, and transitional arrangements.

Key Takeaways:

  • The OCPB is consulting on three draft labeling notifications covering solar panels, solar inverters, and batteries used for solar-energy storage.
  • The proposals are relevant to manufacturers, importers, distributors, dealers, installers, and integrated rooftop-solar and energy-storage providers.
  • Businesses should review not only physical labels but also packaging, Thai-language product information, technical documentation, sales materials, and downstream dealer practices.
  • Importers should assess whether existing global labels and packaging can satisfy the proposed requirements or whether local supplementary labeling or factory changes may be necessary.
  • Supply-chain agreements should clearly allocate responsibility and costs for labeling compliance and regulatory changes.
  • Businesses holding substantial inventory should monitor effective dates and transitional provisions carefully.
  • Companies can use the consultation period to conduct a preliminary product and labeling audit so they are prepared to implement the final requirements efficiently.

Author: Panisa Suwanmatajarn, Managing Partner.

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Generative AI and Music: Copyright Risks Highlighted by the DIP

The growing use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) to create music is raising increasingly important copyright questions. AI tools can now generate songs, modify voices, create remixes and produce new musical content by reference to existing works, making the boundary between technological creation and the use of protected material increasingly significant.

The Department of Intellectual Property (DIP) has recently highlighted the copyright implications of using generative AI in music. While the DIP’s comments do not introduce new legislation or a separate legal regime for AI-generated content, they provide a useful practical signal: the use of AI does not remove the need to consider copyright in the material used as part of the creative process.

For businesses using generative AI for music, advertising and other commercial content, this has implications not only for copyright clearance but also for contracts with AI providers, internal policies and the management of infringement risk.

Existing copyright rules continue to apply:

The starting point is that generative AI does not operate outside the existing copyright framework. Under the Copyright Act, copyright owners have exclusive rights in relation to protected works, subject to applicable limitations and exceptions. Depending on the circumstances, reproducing, adapting or otherwise using a protected work without authorization may therefore constitute infringement.

The DIP has emphasized that where copyrighted material is used in connection with generative AI, users should consider whether they have the necessary rights and obtain permission where required. This is particularly relevant where an AI workflow involves identifiable existing material—for example, where a user supplies an existing song, recording or other protected content to an AI system to generate or modify musical content. The fact that AI technology performs part of the transformation does not, by itself, provide authorization to use the underlying copyrighted work.

AI-assisted music can involve several layers of rights:

Music-related AI applications can be legally complex because a single piece of music may involve multiple protected elements. A song may involve rights in the musical composition and lyrics, while a particular recording may involve separate rights in the sound recording. Depending on how an AI tool is used, more than one category of rights may therefore need to be considered.

For example, using an existing recording as an input for an AI-generated remix may raise different questions from merely instructing an AI system through text to create music of a particular genre. Similarly, an AI voice-conversion tool that processes an existing recording may involve different copyright considerations from a system generating an entirely new recording without the user supplying an existing protected work. Businesses should therefore avoid treating “AI-generated music” as a single legal category. The relevant copyright analysis depends significantly on what material enters the AI workflow, what the system does with that material and how the resulting content is subsequently used.

Copyright clearance should begin with the input:

For businesses, one of the most immediate implications of the DIP’s position is the importance of reviewing the material supplied to AI systems. Before employees, agencies or contractors upload music, recordings or other content to a generative AI platform, businesses should consider whether they own the relevant rights, have obtained an appropriate license or can otherwise lawfully make the intended use.

This is particularly important in advertising and marketing, where AI tools may be used to generate background music, modify existing tracks or rapidly produce multiple versions of creative content. A business may ultimately be responsible for content distributed under its name even where an external advertising agency, production company or AI provider performed much of the underlying creative work. Copyright clearance should therefore form part of the AI-content production process rather than being addressed only after the content has been generated.

AI provider contracts deserve closer scrutiny:

The copyright analysis should not stop with the underlying content. Businesses should also review the contractual terms governing the AI tools they use. Terms of service can differ considerably between platforms, particularly in relation to material uploaded to the platform, the provider’s ability to use customer content and the rights granted in generated outputs.

For commercial use, relevant contractual issues include rights and permissions relating to material submitted to the AI system, permitted use of customer-provided content by the AI provider, rights to use and commercialize generated outputs, intellectual property representations and warranties, indemnification for infringement claims, and procedures for responding to copyright complaints. Similar protections may be appropriate in agreements with advertising agencies, production companies and other contractors creating AI-assisted content.

Internal AI policies should address copyrighted content:

Businesses increasingly permit employees to use generative AI tools without necessarily treating that use as a formal intellectual property process. This can create risk where employees upload commercially released music or other third-party content to an AI platform, use copyrighted material as a reference, or use AI to modify content without considering whether the business has the necessary rights.

Internal AI policies should therefore address intellectual property alongside confidentiality, personal data and cybersecurity concerns. Organizations should consider establishing rules governing the types of third-party content that may be uploaded to AI systems, when copyright clearance is required and which AI platforms may be used for commercial content creation. For higher-risk uses, an internal approval process may also be appropriate before AI-generated material is released publicly or incorporated into a commercial campaign.

What the DIP’s position does—and does not—resolve:

The significance of the DIP’s comments should not be overstated. They provide a useful indication of how existing copyright principles should be approached when generative AI is used to create or modify music and reinforce the practical importance of obtaining authorization before using copyrighted works where permission is required.

However, the comments should not, without further legal or regulatory authority, be treated as establishing a definitive position on whether and under what circumstances copyrighted works may be used to train generative AI models. Nor should they be treated as conclusively determining whether, or under what circumstances, AI-generated output qualifies for copyright protection or who may own rights in such output. Those questions involve distinct legal issues concerning reproduction, exceptions to copyright, authorship, originality and the degree of human creative contribution.

Practical implications for businesses:

Companies using generative AI to create music or other commercial content should consider incorporating copyright review into their AI governance framework. A risk-based approach may be appropriate: generating content from text instructions without supplying identifiable third-party works may present a different risk profile from uploading existing songs or recordings, generating remixes or adaptations, or using protected material as a direct input or reference in the generation process.

Particular caution is appropriate where AI-generated content will be used in advertising, distributed commercially or incorporated into products. Businesses should also consider the complete contractual chain. An organization commissioning AI-generated music from an agency or contractor may wish to require appropriate warranties concerning the lawful use of source material rather than assuming that copyright compliance rests exclusively with the creator.

Key Takeaways:

  • Generative AI does not displace copyright law: Using an AI tool does not, by itself, authorize the reproduction, adaptation or other use of copyrighted material.
  • Inputs matter: Businesses should understand what copyrighted material is being supplied to an AI system and whether the necessary rights or permissions have been obtained.
  • Music can involve multiple rights: Compositions, lyrics and sound recordings may involve separate rights and require separate analysis.
  • Contracts should allocate AI-related copyright risk: Businesses should review AI-provider and agency agreements for input rights, output rights, warranties, indemnities and restrictions on the provider’s use of uploaded material.
  • Internal AI policies should cover intellectual property: Rules governing employee use of generative AI should address copyrighted inputs and commercial use of AI-generated content.
  • Important questions remain unresolved: The DIP’s comments should not be interpreted more broadly than their stated scope, particularly regarding AI training and copyright ownership of AI-generated output.

Author: Panisa Suwanmatajarn, Managing Partner.

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From Grants to Equity: Government Innovation Agency Can Now Invest in Startups

A significant change to the legal framework for government support of innovation has opened the door to direct public-sector investment in startups and innovation businesses. The National Innovation Agency (Public Organization), the government agency responsible for promoting and supporting innovation (the “NIA”), has been granted expanded statutory powers to hold shares, become a partner, co-invest with other persons or entities, and participate in certain venture capital structures. This marks an important shift from the NIA’s traditional role as a provider of grants and financial support toward a model under which it may participate as an investor and acquire an economic interest in the businesses it supports.

The change was introduced by the Royal Decree Establishing the National Innovation Agency (Public Organization) (No. 3) B.E. 2569 (2026). In addition to expanding the NIA’s objectives to cover the development of innovation beyond the research and development stage toward commercialization, the amendment expressly authorizes the NIA to hold shares, become a partner, or participate in joint investments with individuals or legal entities in businesses connected with its statutory objectives. It may also invest in trusts established to conduct venture capital activities. Importantly, however, the NIA’s principal purpose in holding shares or participating in investments must not be the pursuit of profit, and the exercise of these investment powers is subject to criteria prescribed by the Council of Ministers.

From Funding Agency to Investor:

The distinction between a grant and an investment is significant. Under the traditional grant model, government funding supports a project or business without the government ordinarily acquiring an ownership interest. Equity investment creates a different relationship: the government agency may become part of the company’s capital structure, with its interest potentially affected by valuation, dilution, subsequent financing rounds, corporate restructurings, and an eventual exit. The amendment therefore does more than create another source of funding. It establishes the legal basis for the NIA itself to participate in the investment relationship.

This development may be particularly relevant for startups that have progressed beyond the stage at which grants alone can support their growth but remain too early or risky to attract sufficient private capital. The financing gap can be particularly significant for deep-tech and other innovation-driven businesses, where substantial capital may be required for product development, testing, regulatory approvals, manufacturing scale-up, intellectual property protection, and market entry before sustainable revenues are generated. Government equity or co-investment can potentially help bridge this gap and, by sharing part of the investment risk, encourage private investors to participate.

The NIA has announced that it intends to implement its expanded investment role through an initiative referred to as “NIA Venture,” using government funding as catalytic capital to encourage additional private investment. The announced framework includes investment through PE Trust structures, strategic investment through holding companies and other fund structures, and Corporate Co-Funding alongside qualified private investors, particularly for Seed to Series A businesses. The NIA has also announced an initial allocation model of approximately 40% for PE Trust, 30% for Holding Company, and 30% for Corporate Co-Funding. These investment channels and allocations are implementation measures announced by the NIA and should be distinguished from the statutory powers established by the Royal Decree itself.

What This Means for Startups and Investors:

The new powers do not give the NIA unrestricted authority to invest public funds in any startup. Investments must relate to the NIA’s statutory objectives, its principal purpose in participating in an investment must not be profit-seeking, and the relevant investment activities are subject to criteria prescribed by the Council of Ministers. Accordingly, the Royal Decree establishes the legal authority to invest, while the practical availability of NIA investment will depend on the applicable eligibility requirements, investment limits, approval procedures, governance arrangements, and other implementing conditions.

For founders, having a government organization on the cap table may create opportunities but also raises issues that should be considered at the outset. The investment terms will need to address valuation and dilution, the class and rights of shares acquired by the NIA, governance and information rights, and the company’s ability to raise subsequent financing. This is particularly important because later-stage venture capital investors may require preferred shares, liquidation preferences, anti-dilution protection, board representation, reserved matters, and other investor protections. An early government investment should therefore be structured in a way that does not unnecessarily complicate future financing rounds.

Exit arrangements may also require particular attention. Unlike a conventional venture capital fund, a public organization operates within a statutory and administrative framework governing its investments and assets. The ability of the NIA to sell, transfer, or otherwise realize its investment may therefore need to be considered when drafting shareholders’ agreements and investment documents, particularly in anticipation of a trade sale, secondary transaction, restructuring, or public offering. Startups should also anticipate potentially greater due diligence, reporting, and compliance requirements where public funds are involved.

The amendment is equally relevant to venture capital funds, corporate venture capital investors, and other private investors. Co-investment with the NIA could allow public and private capital to be combined in transactions that might otherwise be difficult to finance. However, the parties will need to consider how valuation is determined, whether investors subscribe for the same class of shares, how governance rights are allocated, how follow-on rounds are handled, and how exit decisions are made. Any conditions attached to government investment should also be assessed carefully to ensure that they do not unnecessarily restrict the company’s future operations, restructuring, overseas expansion, intellectual property arrangements, or ability to raise additional capital.

A New Model for Innovation Financing:

The amendment reflects a broader shift in the government’s approach to innovation financing. Grants and other forms of financial assistance remain important, particularly during research and early product-development stages, but they may not provide sufficient capital to take successful innovation from research to commercial scale. Allowing the government innovation agency to use equity and venture investment structures provides an additional tool for addressing that financing gap and may enable public capital to attract rather than replace private investment.

At the same time, the framework deliberately distinguishes the NIA from an ordinary commercial venture capital investor. Its investment activities must advance its statutory objectives, and profit cannot be the principal purpose of its participation. The success of the new model will therefore depend on achieving a balance between protecting public funds and providing sufficient commercial flexibility for startups to raise capital, grow, restructure, and eventually provide an exit for their investors.

Key Takeaways:

  • The government innovation agency now has express statutory authority to hold shares, become a partner, co-invest with other parties, and participate in specified venture capital structures.
  • This represents a shift from a model centered on grants and financial assistance toward one that can also include equity and co-investment.
  • The investment authority is subject to important limitations: investments must relate to the agency’s statutory objectives, profit must not be its principal purpose, and the exercise of the relevant powers is subject to criteria prescribed by the Council of Ministers.
  • The announced NIA Venture initiative includes PE Trust, Holding Company, and Corporate Co-Funding channels, but these are implementation arrangements rather than investment structures prescribed by the Royal Decree itself.
  • Startups should consider the effect of government investment on their cap table, governance, future fundraising, reporting obligations, and exit arrangements.
  • Private investors considering co-investment should assess how public-sector investment conditions interact with conventional venture capital terms and future financing rounds.
  • The practical impact of the reform will ultimately depend on the implementing criteria and the investment structures adopted under the new statutory framework.

Author: Panisa Suwanmatajarn, Managing Partner.

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Cabinet Approves Major Expansion of Home Worker Protections

The Cabinet has approved a draft amendment to the Home Workers Protection Act that would significantly expand the scope of protection for individuals performing work outside an employer’s or business operator’s premises.

The proposed amendments are particularly significant for businesses using remote workers, home-based workers, freelancers, and other individuals who perform assigned work away from business premises. Importantly, the proposed framework is intended to address modern working arrangements, including work assigned or performed through online systems.

The draft has been approved by the Cabinet but has not yet become law. It must proceed through the legislative process before enactment.

Broader Scope of Protected Work:

The existing Home Workers Protection Act principally focuses on work assigned by an industrial business operator to individuals or groups to produce or assemble goods outside the operator’s establishment.

The proposed amendments would substantially broaden this framework.

The concept of “work taken to be performed at home” would extend beyond traditional industrial production and cover work associated with a wider range of economic activities, including:

  • agriculture;
  • industry;
  • services; and
  • commerce.

The amendments would also expressly accommodate work arrangements involving electronic or online systems.

This change is potentially important for businesses operating through digital platforms or engaging individuals remotely. The relevant question may no longer be limited to whether a person physically takes materials or manufacturing work home. Businesses may need to consider whether work assigned digitally and performed outside their premises falls within the expanded statutory definition.

The legislation should therefore not be viewed as regulating only traditional home manufacturing or piecework. Its potential application could extend considerably further into the modern service and digital economy.

Minimum Compensation Protection:

The draft strengthens the statutory protection relating to compensation.

Compensation payable to a home worker would be required to meet the statutory minimum applicable under the legislation and could not fall below the minimum wage standard under labor protection law.

The amendments also reinforce the requirement that compensation be paid in Thai currency.

For businesses that calculate compensation on a project, output, piece-rate, or task basis, compliance may therefore require more than simply agreeing on a lump-sum fee with the worker. The compensation structure should be reviewed to ensure that it satisfies the statutory minimum requirements applicable to the work.

This could be particularly relevant to businesses using high-volume outsourcing models where individual workers are compensated according to completed tasks or units of production.

Increased Financial Consequences for Non-Payment:

The proposed amendments would strengthen the financial consequences for failing to make payments required under the Act.

Where a business fails to pay compensation or other amounts owed to a home worker, or fails to return security that it is legally required to return, the business may be required to pay interest at a rate of 15% per annum.

The relatively high statutory interest rate creates a significant incentive for businesses to establish reliable payment and reconciliation procedures.

Businesses that require workers to provide deposits or other forms of security should also review when such security must be returned and ensure that internal processes allow this to occur within the statutory requirements.

Stronger Protection Against Child Labor:

Another significant amendment concerns child labor.

The draft would prohibit the engagement of children under 15 years of age to perform homework.

This represents a material strengthening of the existing framework. Under the current legislation, the prohibition concerning children under 15 is focused on work that may be hazardous to their health and safety. The proposed amendment would establish a broader prohibition against engaging children below that age for home work.

Violation of the prohibition could result in substantial criminal penalties, including imprisonment for up to two years, a fine ranging from THB 400,000 to THB 800,000, or both.

Businesses using subcontractors, intermediaries, community production networks, or multi-tier outsourcing arrangements should pay particular attention to this requirement. Compliance mechanisms should extend beyond the immediate contractual counterparty where work may ultimately be distributed to individuals performing it at home.

Implications for Online and Platform-Based Work:

Perhaps the most consequential aspect of the proposed amendments is their potential application to work performed through online systems.

Traditional distinctions between employees, contractors, freelancers, platform workers, and home workers have become increasingly difficult to apply as businesses adopt remote and digitally mediated working models.

The amendments indicate a legislative intention to bring at least some forms of digitally assigned work within the home-worker protection framework.

This does not necessarily mean that every freelancer or remote contractor will automatically become a protected home worker. Whether the Act applies will depend on the statutory definitions and the particular structure of the working arrangement.

Nevertheless, businesses should avoid assuming that describing an individual as an “independent contractor,” “freelancer,” or “service provider” will by itself determine the legal position.

The substance of the arrangement—including how work is assigned, where it is performed, how compensation is calculated, and the relationship between the work and the business’s activities—may become increasingly important.

What Businesses Should Review:

Businesses that outsource work to individuals outside their premises should begin assessing their arrangements before the amendments become effective.

Particular attention should be given to:

  1. Worker classification – identifying individuals who may fall within the expanded definition of home workers.
  2. Digital work arrangements – reviewing work assigned, managed, submitted, or delivered through websites, applications, platforms, messaging systems, or other electronic channels.
  3. Compensation structures – ensuring that piece-rate, task-based, project-based, and similar payment arrangements satisfy applicable minimum compensation requirements.
  4. Payment procedures – establishing systems to ensure timely payment and avoid exposure to statutory interest.
  5. Security and deposits – reviewing whether security is collected from workers and establishing procedures for its lawful and timely return.
  6. Age verification – implementing appropriate controls to prevent individuals under 15 from being engaged to perform covered home work.
  7. Subcontracting arrangements – reviewing contractual protections and compliance mechanisms where work is distributed through agents, contractors, subcontractors, or other intermediaries.
  8. Contract documentation – updating contractor, outsourcing, and home-work agreements to reflect the expanded statutory requirements.

Effective Date:

The Cabinet-approved draft provides for the amendments generally to take effect 180 days after publication in the Government Gazette, although certain provisions concerning the preparation of subordinate legislation would take effect from the day following publication.

Businesses will therefore have a transition period once the legislation is enacted, but organizations with substantial outsourcing, home-working, or platform-based workforces may benefit from conducting an impact assessment before that period begins.

The draft remains subject to the legislative process, and its provisions may be revised before enactment.

Key Takeaways:

  • The proposed amendments represent a significant modernization of the home-worker protection regime.
  • Most importantly, protection would no longer be centered primarily on traditional industrial homework. The expanded framework would cover work connected with agriculture, industry, services, and commerce and would expressly respond to work arrangements conducted through online systems.
  • Businesses engaging individuals to perform work outside their premises should therefore reassess whether arrangements currently treated simply as outsourcing or freelance relationships could fall within the expanded legislation.
  • The proposed minimum compensation requirements, 15% statutory interest exposure, strengthened child labor prohibition, and potentially broader application to online work make this an important compliance development for businesses using decentralized or digitally managed workforces.
  • As the legislation remains in draft form, businesses should continue monitoring the legislative process and review the final text when enacted before implementing definitive compliance changes.      

Author: Panisa Suwanmatajarn, Managing Partner.

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Thailand’s Response to the 12.5% U.S. Section 301 and the request for Further Exemptions

Introduction

On July 23, 2026, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) issued its final action under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 in the Forced Labor Investigation, covering approximately 60 trading partners. Thailand was placed in the higher 12.5% tariff band, effective July 24, 2026, alongside Vietnam, the Philippines, and Singapore. Thailand received this rate because the United States found it had not adopted, committed to, or partially implemented a prohibition on the import of goods produced with forced labor, unlike a smaller group of trading partners assigned a 10% rate.

A separate and still-ongoing USTR proceeding, the Excess Capacity Investigation, covers 16 trading partners, including Thailand, and examines alleged structural excess capacity in manufacturing sectors. This investigation has not concluded and no tariff has yet been imposed under it. If the United States ultimately takes action on this second track as well, Thai exporters could face a further tariff, with some commentators estimating a combined exposure of up to 25% across both proceedings.

Domestically, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has directed six ministries and the Royal Thai Police to address both issues. Externally, the Ministry of Commerce (“MOC”) continues to negotiate an Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (“ART”) with the United States and has requested exemptions for a further 78 tariff lines, while stating that its negotiating position will not compromise the interests of farmers, the public, or businesses.

Key Concerns and Thailand’s Response

Following the Cabinet meeting of July 27, 2026, the Cabinet Secretariat issued an urgent instruction to the Ministries of Finance, Foreign Affairs, Agriculture and Cooperatives, Commerce, Labor, and Industry, and to the Commissioner-General of the Royal Thai Police. Each agency has been directed to prepare supporting data and response measures, identify the units responsible for each task, and set clear implementation timeframes.

1. Forced Labor

The United States has emphasized the need for stronger measures against goods produced with forced labor, including enhanced Human Rights Due Diligence (“HRDD”) and supply-chain traceability. The Ministry of Labor leads this response, together with the Ministries of Commerce and Industry. Their tasks are to accelerate enforcement of existing laws and regulations, compile lists of at-risk products and industries, and develop origin-certification and traceability systems covering the full production chain, so that Thailand can substantiate its position in discussions with the United States and other trading partners.

Thailand does not yet have directly enforceable legislation on this point. Thailand’s Ministry of Justice has been developing a draft Act on the Promotion of Responsible Business Conduct (also referred to as the mandatory Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence, or “HRDD/mHREDD,” bill) since 2025, intended to align with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The bill remains under development, and its legislative timeline, including submission to Parliament, has not been firmly fixed as of this update. Businesses should not wait for enactment before building supply-chain records.

2. Structural Excess Capacity

This issue is the subject of the separate, ongoing USTR Excess Capacity Investigation described above. It did not itself determine Thailand’s placement in the 12.5% forced-labor tariff band, though it could result in additional measures. The MOC leads Thailand’s response, with the Ministries of Industry, Agriculture and Cooperatives, and Finance. The agencies must compile risk lists at the product and industry level, integrating data on production capacity, inventory levels, government subsidies, price structures, export volumes, and country of origin. They must also investigate false origin claims and the use of Thailand as a trans-shipment point to evade trade measures imposed by importing countries.

Government support policy is also shifting direction. Future assistance is intended to target productivity, cost reduction, technology adoption, value addition, and greater use of local content. Subsidies that expand production capacity or increase supply beyond market demand are to be avoided, as they could themselves be cited as evidence of excess capacity. In discussions with USTR, Thailand has represented that domestic capacity utilization in the targeted industries generally runs between 70% and 90%, with no industry operating below 60%.

Exposure and Exemptions Secured

Thailand has obtained exemptions for 2,120 tariff lines under Annex II, Part A, representing approximately 61.6% of tariff lines and US$56.2 billion in exports, or roughly half the value of Thai goods exported to the United States. This is a substantial increase from the 471 items exempted under an earlier, preliminary list. Goods already subject to duties under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (for example, automobiles, steel, aluminum, and copper) are not subject to duplicate Section 301 duties. This overlap covers roughly US$7 billion of the remaining non-exempt goods.

Taking both the exemption list and the Section 232 overlap into account, the MOC estimates that approximately 28% of Thai exports to the United States remain exposed to the additional 12.5% tariff. Leading non-exempt industrial products include car and truck tires, machinery, cameras, air conditioners, and vehicle wheels and rims. Products such as jewelry, milled rice, pet food, canned tuna, and processed shrimp likewise remain outside the current exemption list and are among the items for which Thailand is now seeking relief (see below).

Solar cells and modules face particularly high cumulative exposure. In addition to the Section 301 tariff, U.S. antidumping duties on Thai-origin solar cells have been assessed at rates of up to approximately 203%, and countervailing duties at rates of up to approximately 800%, reflecting separate U.S. Commerce Department determinations on dumping and subsidization. Combined with the Section 301 tariff, total cumulative duties on affected solar shipments can substantially exceed 800%, and in the highest cases run well over 1,000%.

The Request for 78 Additional Tariff Lines

The MOC has submitted a proposal covering seven product groups and 78 tariff lines, which are agriculture and food security, consumer and household goods, medical and public-health products, electronics and semiconductors, vehicles and parts, machinery components and industrial equipment, and handicrafts and value-added products. Illustrative items include rice and Thai hom mali (jasmine) rice, maize, coconuts, orchids, cassava and cassava starch products, and fishery products, alongside jewelry, dog and cat food, milled rice, medical rubber gloves, tuna, processed bonito, fresh and cooked shrimp, and sauces and seasonings. The Commerce Ministry has separately referenced a further proposal covering 13 additional items, though it has not clarified whether these form part of the 78-line request or a distinct submission.

Thailand’s negotiating position is subject to three limits. It will not cross the interests of farmers, the interests of the public, or the rights of businesses. Thailand has indicated it is prepared for technical-level ART talks and is awaiting a determination from USTR, after which the MOC has suggested negotiations could conclude within a matter of weeks.

Key Takeaways

  • Solar cells are a particular outlier, combined Section 301, antidumping, and countervailing duties can push cumulative exposure well above 800%, in some cases exceeding 1,000%.
  • The 12.5% tariff under Section 301 currently in effect stems from the Forced Labor Investigation only. The separate Excess Capacity Investigation remains open and could result in an additional tariff if concluded against Thailand.
  • After accounting for the Annex II exemption list and the Section 232 overlap, approximately 28% of Thai exports to the United States remain exposed to the 12.5% tariff.
  • Six ministries and the Royal Thai Police have been directed to address forced labor and excess capacity concerns, with traceability and origin certification central to the response.
  • A mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence bill is under development by the Ministry of Justice, and its legislative timeline is not yet fixed. Businesses should not wait for enactment before building supply-chain records.
  • A request for 78 further exemption lines across seven product groups remains pending, and technical-level ART talks await a USTR determination.

Author: Panisa Suwanmatajarn, Managing Partner.

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Class-Action Signal Raises the Stakes for Online Consumer Complaints

Background:

Thailand’s Office of the Consumer Protection Board (OCPB) has announced that it is developing a national action plan to strengthen consumer protection for products sold through online channels. The initiative is intended to improve coordination among government agencies responsible for digital commerce, online marketplaces, direct-selling businesses, and consumer protection, while establishing clearer responsibilities and performance indicators.

Although the proposed action plan itself does not introduce new legal obligations, one aspect deserves particular attention from businesses. The OCPB has been directed to study the broader use of class-action proceedings where large numbers of consumers suffer substantially similar losses.

Thailand already recognizes class actions under the Civil Procedure Code, but they have historically been used relatively infrequently. The latest policy initiative indicates that consumer regulators are considering greater reliance on collective litigation as an enforcement mechanism where systemic consumer harm is identified, particularly in the rapidly expanding digital marketplace.

Why this matters:

The announcement does not create a new statutory cause of action or impose additional regulatory requirements on online platforms. However, it signals a possible shift in enforcement priorities.

Traditionally, consumer complaints have often been addressed individually through customer service channels or administrative dispute resolution. A greater emphasis on class actions would instead encourage regulators and claimants to examine recurring patterns of similar complaints across multiple consumers.

This approach could significantly increase litigation exposure where businesses fail to identify or address systemic issues affecting multiple customers.

Practical implications for businesses:

Online marketplaces, e-commerce operators, social-commerce platforms, direct-marketing businesses, manufacturers, importers, brand owners, payment providers, logistics companies, and merchants should consider strengthening internal governance before any formal policy changes occur.

Particular attention should be given to:

  • identifying recurring complaints involving the same product, seller, advertisement, or defect;
  • maintaining reliable seller identification and beneficial ownership information;
  • preserving documentation relating to product origin, regulatory approvals, and compliance certifications;
  • implementing effective notice-and-takedown procedures for unlawful or unsafe products;
  • escalating recurring safety or quality issues through documented internal processes;
  • reviewing refund, replacement, recall, and remediation procedures;
  • preserving evidence, including listings, livestreams, advertisements, customer communications, payment records, and delivery information; and
  • reviewing merchant agreements to ensure appropriate cooperation, indemnification, and information-sharing obligations.

Repeated complaints that appear insignificant when viewed individually may later be relied upon collectively to establish knowledge of defects, inadequate remediation, misleading advertising, or broader compliance failures.

Intellectual property considerations:

The proposed enforcement direction is also relevant for intellectual property owners.

Counterfeit and unauthorized products frequently give rise to overlapping legal issues extending beyond trademark or copyright infringement. A single product listing may simultaneously involve misleading advertising, product safety concerns, inaccurate labeling, warranty issues, and consumer protection violations.

Accordingly, brand owners should avoid treating online enforcement as solely an intellectual property exercise. Internal coordination between IP, consumer protection, product compliance, marketplace enforcement, and litigation teams will become increasingly important where multiple consumer complaints concern the same products or sellers.

Data privacy considerations:

Any increase in collective consumer litigation is likely to require broader preservation and analysis of personal data.

Businesses may need to process information relating to customers, merchants, payment transactions, logistics providers, communications, complaint histories, and digital evidence. Such processing should continue to comply with Thailand’s Personal Data Protection Act.

Organizations should therefore review:

  • legal bases supporting evidence preservation and regulatory disclosures;
  • access controls for complaint and investigation datasets;
  • secure information-sharing procedures with regulators and external advisers;
  • contractual obligations imposed on processors, including marketplaces, call centers, logistics providers, and cloud service providers;
  • document retention policies and litigation-hold procedures; and
  • incident response plans addressing potential personal data breaches involving consolidated claimant information.

Importantly, the prospect of consumer enforcement should not be interpreted as permitting unrestricted disclosure of customer or merchant data. Any disclosure should remain subject to applicable legal authority, proportionality, security safeguards, and appropriate documentation.

Looking ahead:

The OCPB’s announcement remains a policy initiative rather than a binding regulatory change. Nevertheless, it provides an early indication that consumer enforcement may increasingly focus on systemic patterns of misconduct affecting multiple consumers rather than isolated disputes.

Businesses that rely on digital sales channels should therefore begin assessing whether existing compliance, complaint-handling, and evidence-preservation processes would adequately support regulatory investigations or collective litigation involving large groups of consumers.

Key takeaways:

  • Organizations should ensure that complaint investigations and evidence preservation continue to comply with Thailand’s Personal Data Protection Act, particularly where large volumes of personal data are involved.
  • The OCPB is considering greater use of class-action proceedings for widespread consumer harm arising from online commerce.
  • No new legal obligations have been introduced, but the initiative signals a potentially significant shift in enforcement priorities.
  • Businesses should strengthen systems for identifying recurring complaints and preserving evidence relating to products, sellers, and customer interactions.
  • Online platforms and brand owners should integrate consumer protection, product compliance, and intellectual property enforcement rather than treating them as separate functions.

Author: Panisa Suwanmatajarn, Managing Partner

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Thailand-Australia Strategic Partnership 2026–2029: Advancing Cybersecurity, Economic Resilience, Cross-Border Crime Cooperation, and Support for SMEs and Startups

Earlier, Thailand’s Cabinet approved the Joint Plan of Action to Implement the Thailand-Australia Strategic Partnership for 2026–2029. The four-year framework succeeds the 2022–2025 Plan and will be signed during the Thai Prime Minister’s official visit to Australia on 17–20 August 2026. It reaffirms the Strategic Partnership elevated in 2020 and provides a practical roadmap for cooperation across five pillars: political and security affairs; economic and trade relations; sectoral collaboration; people-to-people links; and regional and sub-regional engagement (including ASEAN, the Mekong, and the Indo-Pacific).

Two accompanying Joint Statements—one on combating transnational crime and one on strengthening economic cooperation—were approved in parallel. Together they signal a pragmatic, results-oriented deepening of ties with direct relevance for businesses, technology firms, and innovation ecosystems in both countries.

Cybersecurity and Digital Cooperation within the Security Pillar:

The political and security pillar explicitly covers defense cooperation, non-traditional security challenges (including cyber), good governance, and critical technologies. This builds on the existing Memorandum of Understanding on Cyber and Digital Cooperation between Thailand’s Ministry of Digital Economy and Society and Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. That MoU promotes information exchange, best-practice sharing on cybersecurity strategies and laws, protection of critical infrastructure, and a secure, open internet that supports digital trade and innovation.

The new Plan is expected to operationalize these commitments further, creating opportunities for Australian cybersecurity providers, Thai digital-security firms, and joint public-private initiatives focused on threat intelligence, capacity building, and resilience of critical infrastructure. In a region facing rising cyber risks, closer bilateral alignment also strengthens Thailand’s position within ASEAN and Indo-Pacific cyber frameworks.

Joint Statement on Transnational Crime: Targeting Online Scams and Related Threats

The dedicated Joint Statement on combating transnational crime prioritizes online scams/fraud, narcotics trafficking, human trafficking, and money laundering. Cooperation will proceed through bilateral channels and ASEAN mechanisms. This reflects the reality that sophisticated cyber-enabled crime—particularly large-scale online investment and romance scams operating from the region—has become a shared security and economic threat.

Existing operational links between the Royal Thai Police and the Australian Federal Police, including intelligence sharing and joint operations against cybercrime and financial crime networks, provide a foundation. The new Statement is likely to expand structured coordination, capacity building, and disruption of illicit financial flows. For the private sector this translates into stronger expectations around know-your-customer and anti-money-laundering compliance, potential public-private partnerships on fraud detection, and reduced exposure of legitimate businesses and consumers to scam ecosystems.

Economic and Trade Pillar: Resilience, Clean Energy, and Multilateral Trade:

The economic pillar emphasizes growth, resilient supply chains capable of withstanding global volatility, the clean-energy transition, and a robust multilateral trading system. It sits alongside long-standing instruments—the Thailand-Australia Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA), the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and the Strategic Economic Cooperation Arrangement (SECA), which was renewed in late 2025 through 2028.

Two-way goods and services trade reached approximately A$32.4 billion in 2025, underscoring the commercial weight of the relationship. The Plan and the parallel Joint Statement on economic cooperation are expected to facilitate further trade facilitation, agricultural collaboration, and digital-economy linkages while supporting diversification of supply chains.

Opportunities for SMEs and Startups:

Although the full Plan has not yet been published in detail, official summaries highlight support for startups and SMEs, particularly through science, technology, innovation, and digital cooperation. This continues themes already present in the original Strategic Partnership Declaration, which called for extensive digital-economy collaboration to accelerate business growth, including for startups and SMEs, and to develop a digital-ready workforce.

Sectoral cooperation under the Plan spans agriculture, education, climate action, energy, infrastructure, science and innovation, public health, environment, disaster management, and gender equality/social welfare. For technology-oriented SMEs and startups these areas open concrete avenues:

•  Digital and cyber solutions for agriculture, supply-chain resilience, and clean-energy systems.

•  Innovation partnerships, research collaboration, and technology transfer with Australian counterparts.

•  Access to capacity-building, skills development, and potential co-investment or market-entry support under SECA and related mechanisms.

•  Participation in people-to-people exchanges that build networks and talent pipelines.

Australian firms offering cybersecurity tools, digital platforms, agritech, cleantech, or fintech solutions, and Thai startups seeking capital, technology, or export pathways to Australia and the broader Indo-Pacific, stand to benefit from the clearer policy framework and high-level political endorsement.

Looking Ahead

The Joint Plan of Action is a political framework rather than a legally binding treaty. Its value will be realized through concrete projects, dialogues, and private-sector engagement after the formal signing in mid-August 2026. Businesses and legal practitioners should monitor implementing arrangements under the cyber MoU, SECA work programs, and any new working groups on digital economy, innovation, or transnational crime.

For companies operating at the intersection of technology, trade, and compliance, the 2026–2029 Plan reinforces Thailand-Australia cooperation as a practical platform for managing cyber risk, building resilient commercial relationships, and accessing opportunities in a strategically important bilateral partnership.

Author: Panisa Suwanmatajarn, Managing Partner.

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OCPB Introduces FastTrack Complaint Handling for Online Purchases: Practical Implications for Digital Businesses

The Office of the Consumer Protection Board (OCPB) has announced the introduction of OCPB FastTrack, an expedited complaint-handling process designed to assist consumers experiencing problems with online purchases. While the initiative does not introduce new legal obligations or amend existing consumer protection laws, it signals a more proactive enforcement approach and an expectation that online businesses will respond promptly to consumer complaints.

Overview of the FastTrack Process:

According to the OCPB, consumers may use the FastTrack process for common online shopping disputes, including:

  • products that differ from their advertisements;
  • non-delivery of purchased goods; and
  • sellers who fail to respond after payment.

The OCPB has indicated that the process aims to streamline complaint handling through digital coordination with online platforms and businesses, with a target of resolving complaints within 14 days.

To support their complaints, consumers are encouraged to submit evidence such as:

  • the original product advertisement;
  • proof of payment;
  • communications with the seller; and
  • photographs of the goods received.

Although the 14-day target is an administrative objective rather than a legally prescribed response period, it provides insight into the OCPB’s enforcement expectations and its intended speed of intervention.

Practical Implications for Online Businesses:

The FastTrack initiative is likely to increase the pace at which marketplaces, platforms, and merchants receive requests from the OCPB. Businesses should therefore evaluate whether their internal complaint-handling processes can support rapid investigation and response.

In particular, businesses should consider whether they can:

  • promptly identify the relevant seller and transaction;
  • preserve historical versions of product listings and advertisements as they appeared when the purchase was made;
  • retrieve payment, delivery, communications, refund, and complaint records efficiently;
  • identify and investigate repeat-offender sellers;
  • authorize appropriate refunds or other remedies without unnecessary escalation;
  • distinguish disputes involving misleading advertising from those involving counterfeit, defective, or unsafe products; and
  • coordinate responses across the platform, merchant, logistics provider, payment service provider, and customer-service functions.

Businesses should avoid relying solely on current versions of online listings. Product descriptions, images, pricing, and promotional claims may have been modified after a transaction occurred. Maintaining reliable version histories, timestamps, and archived advertising records will be increasingly important when responding to regulatory inquiries or consumer complaints.

Intellectual Property Considerations:

Consumer complaints alleging that products are “not as advertised” may also expose intellectual property issues. These complaints may involve:

  • counterfeit goods;
  • unauthorized use of trademarks;
  • unauthorized use of copyrighted product photographs or marketing materials;
  • substitution of genuine products with non-genuine products;
  • misleading claims regarding authorized distributor or dealer status; or
  • imitation packaging or branding intended to confuse consumers.

For businesses operating brand-protection programs, the FastTrack process highlights the value of integrating consumer complaints with existing intellectual property enforcement mechanisms. Information obtained through customer complaints may assist in identifying repeat infringers, counterfeit supply chains, or fraudulent marketplace accounts that would otherwise remain undetected.

Rather than treating consumer complaints and intellectual property enforcement as separate functions, businesses should consider adopting a coordinated approach involving legal, compliance, trust and safety, and customer-support teams.

Data Privacy Considerations:

Responding to FastTrack complaints may require businesses to collect, review, and disclose information relating to customers, sellers, payment transactions, deliveries, device information, and communications.

Businesses should ensure that their complaint-handling procedures incorporate appropriate data governance measures, including:

  • clearly designated authority to respond to OCPB requests;
  • data minimization practices when preparing evidence packages;
  • secure channels for transmitting information;
  • appropriate access controls for complaint files;
  • contractual safeguards with processors such as call centers, logistics providers, and cloud service providers; and
  • incident-response procedures where complaint files contain personal data.

As complaint investigations become increasingly digital and involve multiple service providers, maintaining a structured and documented approach to personal data handling will help reduce compliance risks while supporting efficient regulatory cooperation.

Looking Ahead:

Although OCPB FastTrack does not create new statutory obligations, it reflects an evolving enforcement environment in which regulators expect faster cooperation from digital businesses. Organizations that rely on online sales channels should view the initiative as an opportunity to review their complaint-handling, record-retention, advertising preservation, brand-protection, and data-governance processes.

Businesses that can quickly reconstruct transactions, preserve historical evidence, coordinate responses across multiple stakeholders, and implement appropriate remedies will be better positioned to manage both regulatory scrutiny and consumer expectations as online commerce enforcement continues to evolve.

Key Takeaways:

  • Strong record-keeping and coordinated internal response processes will help businesses manage regulatory inquiries and consumer disputes more effectively.
  • OCPB FastTrack is an administrative initiative designed to expedite online-purchase complaint handling rather than a new law or regulation.
  • The initiative signals an expectation that platforms and sellers will respond promptly when contacted by the OCPB.
  • Businesses should ensure they can preserve historical product listings, advertisements, communications, payment records, and delivery information.
  • Consumer complaints may reveal broader issues involving counterfeit goods, trademark infringement, misleading advertising, or unauthorized use of copyrighted materials.
  • Complaint management, brand protection, and product-safety functions should be integrated rather than operating independently.
  • Organizations should review data governance procedures to ensure that complaint investigations involving personal data are handled securely and consistently.

Author: Panisa Suwanmatajarn, Managing Partner

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Parliament Considers Carbon-Credit Sales from Community Forests

A member-sponsored bill before Parliament could provide a clearer statutory basis for the sale of carbon credits generated from community forests. The Draft Community Forest Act Amendment was proposed by members of the House of Representatives, and its official description identifies its purpose as adding provisions concerning the sale of carbon credits. The proposal is currently undergoing public consultation under Section 77 of the Constitution and is not yet binding law. It remains subject to the legislative process and may be revised before enactment.

The proposal is nevertheless significant because community-forest carbon-credit activities already exist in practice, while the Community Forest Act was principally designed to regulate community participation in forest conservation, restoration, management, and sustainable use rather than transactions in carbon assets. The amendment should therefore not be understood as creating community-forest carbon projects for the first time. Its significance lies in seeking to place the sale of carbon credits more expressly within the statutory framework governing community forests.

Ownership, authority, and community approval:

One of the most important issues is the legal entitlement to carbon credits generated from a community forest. Ownership or control of the underlying land, statutory rights to manage the forest, responsibility for maintaining carbon stocks, entitlement to register a carbon project, and ownership of the resulting carbon credits are not necessarily the same thing. For project developers and purchasers, the relevant question is therefore not simply whether credits have been issued under a recognized carbon program, but whether the seller has a sufficient legal basis to claim and transfer them.

Closely related is the question of who has authority to approve a carbon project and sell the resulting credits. Community forests operate through statutory community-management structures, while carbon projects may involve commitments extending over many years. Project agreements may cover project registration, monitoring and verification, responsibility for development costs, allocation of credits, exclusivity, forest-management obligations, sale of credits, and distribution of revenues. The authority of the community representatives entering into those arrangements is therefore important, particularly where a developer is granted long-term or exclusive rights.

The final legislation will also need to be considered carefully in relation to community approval. A decision to enter into a long-term carbon project may have consequences extending beyond ordinary forest management, particularly where future carbon revenues or carbon rights are committed to a private developer. Any statutory requirements concerning community meetings, resolutions, voting, disclosure, or government approval could therefore become relevant not only to regulatory compliance but also to the validity and bankability of the project.

Revenue allocation and project agreements:

Benefit sharing will be another central issue. Community-forest carbon projects already operate against a background of administrative arrangements dealing with carbon-credit revenues and community benefits, so the proposed amendment will need to be read together with the existing framework. An important point to watch is whether the amended Act itself establishes principles for allocating proceeds from carbon-credit sales or leaves the details to subordinate regulations.

The commercial implications are substantial. Developers may bear the costs of feasibility studies, project design, carbon measurement, registration, verification, monitoring, and financing, while communities provide the forest stewardship and management activities on which the carbon benefits depend. Project-development agreements therefore need to deal clearly with project costs, entitlement to issued credits, authority to market and sell those credits, allocation of revenues, reporting obligations, and the duration of the developer’s rights. They should also address the particular risks of forest-carbon projects, including fire, illegal logging, natural disasters, changes in forest management, and other events that may reduce credit generation or result in carbon reversal.

If the amendment introduces mandatory rules on approval, sales, or benefit sharing, existing contractual models may need to change. Developers negotiating new projects should therefore avoid relying on broad provisions simply assigning all “carbon rights” to the developer without examining whether those rights can legally be granted, by whom, for what period, and subject to what approvals.

Existing projects and corporate purchasers:

The treatment of existing projects will be particularly important. Community-forest carbon projects may already be governed by agreements among communities, developers, government agencies, and other participants. If the amended Act introduces new requirements concerning authority, approval, sale, or revenue allocation, the question will be whether those requirements apply only to future projects or also affect existing arrangements. The final legislation and any transitional provisions should therefore be reviewed carefully. Existing agreements may also need to be assessed for change-in-law provisions and for clauses dealing with ownership and allocation of credits, exclusivity, benefit sharing, duration, and termination.

For companies purchasing community-forest carbon credits, a clearer statutory framework could improve legal certainty, but it should not replace transaction-level due diligence. Buyers should establish the legal status of the community forest, the authority through which the project was approved, compliance with applicable community and government approval requirements, the developer’s entitlement to the credits, applicable benefit-sharing arrangements, and whether the credits have previously been sold, allocated, pledged, or otherwise committed.

There is also an important distinction between carbon-program eligibility and legal entitlement to transact. Registration or issuance under a recognized carbon standard demonstrates compliance with the requirements of that program, but should not necessarily be regarded as conclusive evidence that all underlying questions of ownership, community authorization, or contractual authority have been resolved. This is especially relevant to long-term off-take arrangements for future credits, where the purchaser assumes project-development and regulatory risks in addition to ordinary delivery risk.

What to watch:

The proposal remains a member-sponsored parliamentary bill rather than a change in current law. Businesses should therefore not restructure existing projects on the assumption that it will be enacted in its present form. Its progress is nevertheless worth following because it addresses an increasingly important intersection between community forest management and the carbon market.

If enacted, a clearer statutory framework could strengthen the basis on which communities derive economic benefits from forest conservation, provide greater certainty for developers investing in community-forest carbon projects, and make the resulting credits easier for corporate purchasers to diligence. Much will depend on how the final legislation addresses ownership, authority to sell, community approval, revenue allocation, benefit sharing, and existing projects.

Key takeaways:

  • Corporate purchasers should examine the underlying legal entitlement to community-forest credits rather than relying solely on their registration or issuance under a carbon standard.
  • The proposed amendment was initiated by members of the House of Representatives and specifically addresses the sale of carbon credits from community forests. It is undergoing public consultation under Section 77 of the Constitution and is not yet binding law.
  • Community-forest carbon-credit activities already exist. The proposal is significant because it could provide a more express statutory foundation for the sale of those credits.
  • Carbon-credit ownership, authority to sell, and community approval are separate legal issues and will be important for both project structuring and buyer due diligence.
  • Project-development agreements may need to address statutory requirements concerning approval and benefit sharing, as well as project costs, allocation of credits, exclusivity, carbon-reversal risks, and changes in law.
  • Existing projects should monitor the final legislation and any transitional provisions to determine whether current contractual arrangements will need to be reviewed.

Author: Panisa Suwanmatajarn, Managing Partner.

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United States Finalizes Section 301 Tariff Framework Based on Forced Labor Enforcement: Thailand Subject to a 12.5% Tariff

In our previous article (USTR Section 301 Forced-Labor Determinations: Implications for Thailand – The Legal Co., Ltd.), we discussed the U.S. Section 301 investigation involving approximately 60 trading partners, including Thailand, and Thailand’s response to the proposed tariff measures through trade negotiations and domestic regulatory reforms.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (“USTR“) has now concluded that review, announcing the final tariff framework under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 on 23 July 2026. The framework imposes additional tariffs ranging from 10% to 12.5% on imports from approximately 60 trading partners, effective from 24 July 2026.

Although Thailand actively participated in the consultation process and sought both a reduction in the proposed tariff rate and additional product-specific exemptions, it remains subject to the higher 12.5% tariff, which took effect immediately upon the expiry of the preceding tariff measures.

The final framework is significant not only for the additional tariffs it introduces, but also for what it signals: the United States’ continued use of trade policy as a lever to address forced labor concerns and to encourage stronger labor standards and supply chain governance among its trading partners.

Overview of the Final Tariff Framework

The final framework adopts a tiered approach, with tariff rates determined by the USTR’s assessment of each trading partner’s efforts to prevent goods produced using forced labor from entering the U.S. market.

  • 10% tariff — applies to countries that (i) already prohibit imports of goods produced using forced labor, (ii) have committed to implementing such measures through reciprocal trade arrangements, or (iii) have introduced measures offering some protection against such imports. Countries in this category include Argentina, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United Kingdom.
  • 12.5% tariff — applies to countries the United States considers not to have implemented sufficiently effective measures to prevent goods produced using forced labor from entering U.S. supply chains. Thailand falls within this category, alongside China, Hong Kong, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, and Vietnam, among other trading partners.

According to the USTR, the final framework applies to trading partners representing approximately 99.4% of total U.S. imports. Certain products remain exempt, including oil, natural gas, and goods that cannot be sourced domestically in the United States.

Legal Significance

Beyond the tariff rates themselves, the legal basis for the framework carries equal significance.

According to publicly available reports, the United States introduced the final tariff framework after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that tariffs previously imposed under emergency powers were unlawful. Rather than relying on those emergency powers, the U.S. government has instead invoked Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which authorizes the USTR to act against foreign government policies or practices considered unfair or burdensome to U.S. commerce.

This development demonstrates that, notwithstanding new limits on the use of emergency powers, the United States continues to rely on existing trade legislation to pursue its broader trade policy objectives. It also reflects a growing trend in which labor standards, human rights, and supply chain governance are increasingly treated as matters of international trade compliance, rather than solely as corporate social responsibility or ESG considerations.

Business Implications

The practical implications of the final tariff framework extend beyond the tariffs themselves.

Businesses exporting to the United States — including manufacturers, suppliers, and other participants in global supply chains — should expect increased requests from customers and business partners to demonstrate that their products are free from forced labor and that appropriate due diligence has been conducted throughout the supply chain.

Businesses should therefore consider:

  • reviewing supplier due diligence procedures;
  • strengthening supply chain traceability;
  • maintaining documentation on product origin and manufacturing processes; and
  • monitoring developments in U.S. trade policy, as well as Thailand’s proposed Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) framework.

Taking these steps early may help businesses respond more effectively to evolving customer expectations, reduce compliance risk, and minimize disruption to cross-border trade.

Key Considerations for Businesses

The final tariff framework reinforces the growing convergence between international trade policy, labor standards, and supply chain governance. While the immediate consequence is the additional 12.5% tariff imposed on imports from Thailand, the broader implication is that businesses should expect increasing scrutiny of their supply chains and rising expectations around responsible sourcing and human rights due diligence.

Businesses with operations or supply chains connected to the United States should review their existing compliance programmers, strengthen supplier due diligence and traceability measures, and continue monitoring regulatory developments in both the United States and Thailand to remain prepared for evolving trade compliance requirements.

Author: Panisa Suwanmatajarn, Managing Partner.

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