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Writer's pictureLexpertise Law Firm

How do Digital Platform Service Providers calculate AMAU?

Updated: Nov 20, 2023

Nandana Indananda

​The Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA) has issued a notification detailing the criteria and methods for calculating the average number of monthly active users (AMAU) for digital platform service providers in Thailand, in compliance with the Royal Decree on Digital Platform. The calculation involves counting the number of unique users who have used the service in each month and adding up the number of users for each month specified in the law, and then dividing by the number of specified months. It is important to differentiate between different types of users, such as business users and end users. If a digital platform has a user authentication process, the number of non-duplicate service users should be counted from each individual's sign-in. If not, other indicators must be used. The ETDA will provide further guidelines on how to determine whether users have actually used the service or not. Service providers are required to collect the number of users each month and calculate the average number of users per month for reporting purposes.


The Royal Decree on Digital Platform requires digital platform service providers to survey the average number of monthly active users (AMAU) for the purpose of determining their obligation to report business activities to the Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA) and to submit annual reports.

However, one issue is how to calculate the average number of monthly active users.

Criteria for calculating AMAU

​The ETDA has issued a notification regarding the criteria for calculating the number of average monthly active users (AMAU) in the Kingdom of Thailand. This notification serves to establish the criteria and methods for calculating the number of users in compliance with the law. It will apply to service providers who are required to report their business operations (according to section 8.1) and to service providers who are required to report their brief list of information (according to section 8.4). Usually, website or application service providers often check their own website or application usage. This may be to survey the popularity of their service and improve it in the future. This check can be done by surveying the number of page views, sessions, or the number of unique IP addresses of visitors. However, this data may not be used immediately as a basis for calculating the number of average monthly users because the ETDA notification specifies the criteria and methods for calculating the number of users.

According to the criteria outlined in this ETDA notification, service providers must determine the number of Monthly Active Users (MAU) in the Kingdom of Thailand. This involves counting the number of Unique Users who have used the service in each month, and then adding up the number of users for each month specified in the law. Finally, this total number is divided by the number of specified months in order to determine the Average Monthly Active Users (AMAU).

The first thing to consider is that users on digital platforms come in various types, such as business users including sellers of goods or services and workers on the platform, as well as end users who are the ultimate consumers. Therefore, it is essential to differentiate and clearly identify these different types of users and not mix the number of users from each type together.

The calculation of Average Monthly Active Users (AMAU) must start with finding the number of users who use the service per month (Monthly Active Users: MAU) in the Kingdom of Thailand. The number of users must be a unique user who is an active user of the service. The ETDA has specified this criteria in detail in its notification.

The criteria used to calculate the number of non-duplicate service users is based on the principle that if a digital platform has a user authentication process such as signed-in or logged-in, then the number of non-duplicate service users should be counted from each individual's sign-in to the service. However, if the digital platform does not have a user authentication process, other indicators must be used such as IP address, cookie identifier, radio frequency identification tags, or device identification number to identify non-duplicate service users.

To count the number of active users in a given month, it is necessary to consider whether the users actually used the service or not. The ETDA will provide further guidelines on this matter, but in general, activity should be considered. For businesses, this could include activities such as selling products on the platform during a given period, communicating with customers, and so on. For consumers, activities could include logging in, searching for products or services, selecting items or stores, and so on. If businesses or consumers engage in such activities, they can be considered as actual users of the service.

Example of the Calculation the AMAU

For a better understanding, please consider the following example. Company A has been providing digital platform services since 2022 and decided to notify its business operation on November 17, 2023, which is the last day of the declaration period set by the Royal Decree. Company A is required to collect the number of users each month from January 2023 to October 2023, a total of 10 months, and then calculate the average number of users per month.

Let's assume that Company A has a unique number of actual users each month, as follows:

Therefore, as Company A has an average number of monthly service users of 5,250, it is obliged to notify the ETDA by November 17, 2566, according to the Notification for calculating the average number of service users per month for digital platform businesses.

This criterion is an important guideline that digital platform service providers must use to calculate the average number of users per month. Business operators are responsible for using this criterion to calculate what type of platform service their business provides. In addition, information about the average number of monthly active users is also data that digital platform business operators must report to the Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA) both before and during their business operations.

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