11 April, 2017
While the e-commerce industry is growing quickly in Thailand, there currently exist only a few regulations governing this business in the country.
Recently, the Central Committee on Prices of Goods and Services, Ministry of Commerce, issued Notification No. 44 B.E. 2560 re: Displaying of Price and Details of Goods and Services Sold via E-commerce System or Online (Notification), which was published in the Royal Gazette on 17 March 2017 and became effective 18 March 2017.
Any business operators who sell goods or services via an e-commerce system or online are subject to this Notification, meaning that the sale of goods and services on any online platform, from social media sites to mobile applications to online marketplaces would be required to comply with the following key requirements.
What to show: Online sellers must completely and clearly display the price, service fee, type, kind, nature, size, weight, other expenses, and other details of goods or services.
Numerals: The price and the service fee can be shown per unit in any figure, but Arabic numerals are required.
Language: The description and/or any details to be shown along with the price or the service fee must be in Thai, though it is permissible to include an accompanying translation of that information into one or more other languages.
Pricing: The retail price of goods or services shown online must be the same as the sale price or the service charge to customers, exception in case the operators charge customers below the price showing online.
Business operators who fail to comply with the Notification requirements may be subject to a fine.
We expect to see many more regulations like this Notification in the near future in order to ensure the integrity and reliability of online business in Thailand.
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