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Nandana Indananda
The Digital Platform Law in Thailand sets out different responsibilities for each type of digital platform service provider. The law outlines the criteria for digital platform service providers to have transparent and fair terms and conditions for both business partners and consumers. Digital platform service providers have 22 responsibilities related to announcing their terms and conditions. These responsibilities are outlined in Article 17 of the law, and the Electronic Transactions Development Agency has provided additional details to help providers comply with the law. |
The Digital Platform Law in Thailand has established different responsibilities for each type of digital platform service provider. Small or low-impact platform providers only have the duty to submit a brief summary of their business operations before conducting business and to report their annual information to the Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA). However, general digital platform providers have many responsibilities such as notifying the relevant authorities before conducting business, submitting their compliance report to the authorities, and having responsibilities towards their users.
The principles for determining the duties of digital platform service providers towards users in Thailand are based on the digital platform laws of the European Union, specifically the P2B Regulation and the Digital Services Act. However, these two regulations have different principles and objectives. The P2B Regulation aims to protect business users while the Digital Services Act aims to protect consumers or end-users. The criteria for digital platform service providers to have transparent and fair terms and conditions are divided into two types: one between the platform and the business users, and the other between the platform and the consumers. In Thailand's digital platform laws, these criteria are all included in the same law, without distinguishing between the two types of agreements. Therefore, in order to comply with Thailand's digital platform laws, service providers must differentiate which criteria are intended for business users and which are intended for consumers.
The digital platform laws in Thailand have established the responsibilities of digital platform service providers regarding the announcement of terms and conditions for users in Article 17. In addition, the Electronic Transactions Development Agency has issued the notification to provide additional details. In brief, digital platform service providers have responsibilities to both business partners and consumers, and these responsibilities may be general or specific to each issue. This article summarizes the 22 responsibilities of digital platform service providers.
General Obligations:
1. Business operators must announce the terms and conditions of their services, which:
1.1 Must be in Thai language at a minimum.
1.2 Must use language that is easy to read and understand.
1.3 Must be readily available and accessible for users to read, see, or know easily, both before and during their use of the service.
1.4 Must provide sufficient details to allow users to make informed decisions when using the digital platform service with accurate understanding.
Specific Obligations related to service terms, restriction, suspension and termination, and service charges (Restriction, suspension and termination)
2. If there is any differentiated treatment towards the products, services, or content of the business operator or service user, the business operator must explain the differentiated treatment in the service terms.
2.1 Access to personal data or other information provided by service users for the use of digital platform services, or resulting from the provision of digital platform services.
2.2 Ranking or other settings by the business operator that affect service users' access to products, services, or content offered on the digital platform service used by other service users.
2.3 Service charges, whether direct or indirect, collected from the use of digital platform services.
2.4 Access to the use of digital platform service functions, technical connections, or service usage conditions and charges related to such usage.
3. In the case of advertising on digital platforms, businesses must provide the following details while the advertisement is displayed to the users:
3.1 Image, logo or any other similar form to indicate that the information presented is an advertisement.
3.2 Channels or methods for users to verify the advertisers.
4. Businesses must disclose details regarding service fees, payment periods, payment channels, payment methods and formats, fees, other expenses, and any other money or assets related to the service provided that businesses charge users or that businesses must pay to users. Alternatively, businesses must pay users.
5. Business operators must disclose the following details in the terms and conditions of service:
5.1 Additional distribution channels through which business operators may offer goods, services, or content to consumers through other channels or through affiliate programs to promote sales of goods to program participants. Through these channels, business operators may market goods, services, or content for service users.
5.2 The effect of the terms and conditions of service on the ownership and intellectual property rights of service users.
5.3 Types of ancillary goods and services, or complementary goods and services offered by the business operator or third party before completing the purchase of goods, services, or content, including conditions under which the business operator can offer to sell such goods, services, or content on a digital platform.
5.4 Limitations or restrictions that prevent business operators from offering the same type of goods, services, or content through other channels outside the digital platform service, along with reasons.
5.5 Conditions for temporarily suspending all or part of the service to any user, or terminating the service to any user, in accordance with section 12, section 13, and section 14.
5.6 Conditions under which service users may cancel their contract with the business operator.
6. If business operators intend to suspend all or part of the services temporarily for any service users, they must notify those service users in writing before or during the service suspension. They must also state the reasons for the suspension, such as relevant service conditions, facts, behavior, or notification by external parties.
7. If business operators intend to terminate services for any service users, they must notify those service users in writing at least 30 days in advance. They must also state the reasons for the termination, such as relevant service conditions, facts, behavior, or notification by external parties.
8. In case of service suspension or termination, business operators must show the details of options that service users can present the facts and reasons through the complaint handling process.
9. In case of revocation of service suspension or termination, the business operator must provide details regarding the restoration of service status to the service user for a reasonable period of time, including providing access to the personal or other data that the service user had on the digital platform before the service suspension or termination occurred.
10. The business operator must provide details of the Know Your Customer (KYC) process in the terms and conditions of service provision and comply with the duty and best practices of identity verification.
11. In cases where businesses arrange for user satisfaction evaluations or reviews on their digital platforms, they must provide users with relevant details, which may include the following:
11.1 Terms and conditions related to collection, such as evaluations or reviews from actual users who have received or used the products or services, duration for submitting evaluations or reviews, and the results or benefits of such evaluations.
11.2 Terms and conditions related to filtering, such as evaluating user satisfaction or reviews based on their own experiences with the product, service, or content, not using offensive or illegal language, and handling evaluations or reviews that do not comply with the specified terms.
11.3 Terms and conditions related to disclosure, such as displaying the name or information about the users who have submitted evaluations or reviews, filtering the display of evaluation or review data and opinions of users, and providing options to change or configure such filters.
Specific Obligations related to the main parameters of algorithms or criteria that business operators use to rank or recommend to users.
12. Business operators must display the main parameters of algorithms or criteria that they use to rank or recommend products, services, computer data, advertising, satisfaction evaluations, feedback, or other content. They must also explain why these main factors are important in ranking or recommending compared to other factors.
13. If the renumerations, fees, other expenses, and any other money or assets related to the service that the business collects from users or that the business must pay to users, whether directly or indirectly, are part of the main parameters or criteria that may affect the ranking or recommendation of products, services, computer data, advertising, evaluation of satisfaction and comments, or other content, the business must disclose details of the impact that may occur to the users.
Specific Obligations regarding access to and use of data obtained from digital platform services by business operators or service users (Access to data)
14. Businesses must disclose details to users about accessing and using personal data or other information provided by users for digital platform services or resulting from the digital platform services provided by the business, whether accessed and used technically or contractually, including the storage of such data after the service contract has ended. This disclosure should include at least the following matters:
14.1 Access and usage as well as under any contractual agreements. This also includes the storage of such data after the service agreement has ended. In addition, if such data is provided to external parties not directly involved in providing the digital platform services, the business operator must specify the purpose of providing the data and provide options for users to opt out of providing such data to external parties.
14.2 Access and use of data, including personal and other data by other users of the services. Additionally, the business operator must provide options for users to opt out of providing such data to external parties not directly involved in providing the digital platform services.
Specific Obligations related to the channels of assistance provision, the process of handling complaints, and dispute resolution, as well as the timeframe for conducting such operations (Internal complaint-handling system
15. Business operators must provide details on the channels or personnel responsible for providing assistance to service users who have suffered harm from using the service, as well as the internal complaint-handling system that is in line with user behavior, whether it is a complaint about the digital platform service provided by the business operator or the service provided by employees or agents of the business operator or related service providers. This includes the timeframe for carrying out such procedures.
16. Business operators must provide details of the internal complaint-handling system, including at least the following information, to inform users of their services:
16.1 Follow-up procedures for complaint handling
16.2 Notification of individual complainant of the results of complaint handling
17. Business operators must inform users of their services of the internal complaint-handling system and provide details of the centralized complaint-receiving channels set up by the office as a result of digital platform services, by displaying the following or similar messages clearly.
Recommendations from the Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA) If you have any issues related to digital platform services, please contact Company Address Telephone number If the issue is not resolved within the specified timeframe, you can contact the Online Helpdesk and Problem Management Center (1212ETDA) at the emergency hotline 1212 (24 hours) or email 1212@mdes.go.th for advice and to file a complaint. |
18. In cases where business operators have established dispute resolution processes that involve a mediator or arbitrator, they must provide details about the process. This may include the qualifications of the mediator or arbitrator, the timeframe, and the outcome of the mediation or arbitration. It should be noted that any dispute resolution process must not infringe upon the rights of the business operator or the customer to pursue legal action.
Specific Obligations related to rating of the classification to present products, services, or content appropriately to each group of users
19. In the case of digital platform services offering products, services, or content that are subject to legal requirements for appropriate rating towards each group of users, the business operator must disclose the main criteria used for rating and the resulting effects of such rating to the users.
20. The business operator must provide information or symbols indicating the rating of the product, service, or content to the users before or during the service use, with the position of such information or symbols located near the rated product, service, or content.
Specific Obligations related to dealing with products, services, or content that falls under illegal categories.
21. Businesses must disclose details of policies, processes, measures, or tools used to handle products, services, or content that violate the law, and the use of algorithmic decision-making or human review in such operations.
22. In cases where businesses have established mechanisms for notifying and taking action against illegal products, services, or content, such as notice-and-action or notice-and-takedown mechanisms, to enable users to report illegal products, services, or content, businesses must disclose the procedures involved, which should include at least the following details, to inform users.
22.1 User notification requirements that must be taken when notifying, including at least the following details:
(a) Written in letters and signed by the notifier's hand or electronic signature.
(b) The user certifies that the notification message is true.
22.2 Details of the information required for notification, including at least the following:
(a) Contact information of the notifier, such as name, telephone number, email, or any other means or channels that can be used to contact the notifier.
(b) Adequate explanation of the reasons to show how the product, service, or content referred to violates relevant laws.
(c) The product, service, or content referred to as violating the law and the location of the product, service, or content, with sufficient details to enable the business operator to handle the product, service, or content referred to, such as a URL, except for notifications sent to service providers of computer information searches to specify only the reference or connection point leading to the product, service, or content referred to.
22.3 Notification to users who are alleged to have disseminated products, services, or content that violate the law to provide an opportunity for rebuttal.
In summary, the digital platform service providers who charge fees from their users have a lot of responsibilities. Not only do they have to prepare information to notify the Electronic Transactions Development Agency before conducting their business, but they also have a duty to revise their Terms & Conditions to comply with the criteria set forth. This revision must be completed before the notification of business operation, or by November 17, 2566, for digital platforms that have provided services before August 20, 2566. This is considered a significant challenge for Thai entrepreneurs.