In brief
At present, certain promotional activities (e.g., sweepstakes, raffle games or random premiums) are subject to the Gambling Act, B.E. 2478 (1935) (“Gambling Act“), which require the business operator to get permission from the Department of Provincial Administration.
The Gambling Act regulates all sweepstakes activities with a strict and complicated permission system. The Office of the Council of State has now updated the requirements under the Gambling Act by passing the Bill on Sweepstakes Activities in the Course of Business or Occupation (“Sweepstakes Bill“) to reduce the strict procedures and difficulties for business operators in arranging these promotional activities.
The purpose of this Sweepstakes Bill is to:
- Reduce the strict and complicated permission procedure for sweepstakes activities that are not gambling games
- Implement a notification method instead of the permission method for some promotional sweepstakes activities
- Decrease the degree of seriousness of violation by providing administrative penalties for certain violations
- Provide a mechanism for any persons, subject to certain conditions, to file a case to the administrative court to revoke prohibited activities set out in the subordinate law issued under the Sweepstakes Bill
This Sweepstakes Bill is still in the public hearing process. We will keep you updated if there is any significant progress.
