On 12 March 2024, the Cabinet approved in principle the draft Alcoholic Beverage Control Act (No..), B.E. (“New Alcoholic Beverage Bill”) as proposed by the Ministry of Public Health. The New Alcoholic Beverage Bill has now been forwarded to the Office of the Council of State for further consideration.

In this video chat, the Consumer Goods & Retail team at Baker McKenzie Bangkok discusses Thailand’s new advertising guidelines as published by the Office of the Consumer Protection Board. The video is conducted in Thai with English subtitles.

The Office of the Consumer Protection Board has published the Notification of the Advertising Committee on Guidelines for Using Advertising Statements in Manners That Affirm Facts That Are Difficult to Prove and Guidelines for Proving the Facts Concerning Advertising Statements, B.E. 2565 (2022) in the Government Gazette on 13 January 2023, effective on 14 January 2023.

The “provision or acceptance of gift policy” is a key compliance principle in the governmental sector, as reflected in several key pieces of legislation. On 13 January 2023, the Office of the Prime Minister issued the Regulation on the Provision or Acceptance of Gift of Governmental Officials, B.E. 2565 (2022), which came into effect on 14 January 2023. This regulation updates and strengthens the policy on the provision or acceptance of gifts for the governmental sector. The regulation applies to all government officials, including but not limited to officials, staff, and employees of government agencies and state-owned enterprises.

Advertising is a great way for business operators to connect with consumers, and advertisers today are able to reach more customers than ever before through the use of various media and channels (e.g., electronic, social media, brochures, newspaper advertising and TV advertising). In response to this, the Office of the Consumer Protection Board has deemed it necessary to step up its efforts to protect consumers. This article discusses the potential regulatory development that business operators should be aware of concerning the use of advertising that presents unsubstantiated claims or statements that are difficult to prove true.

At present, certain promotional activities (e.g., sweepstakes, raffle games or random premiums) are subject to the Gambling Act, B.E. 2478 (1935), 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 to reduce the strict procedures and difficulties for business operators in arranging these promotional activities.