New Era of Thai Law Consumer Protection Begins
http://www.lawsays.net/articles/2005/1/New-Era-of-Thai-Law-Consumer-Protection-Begins/Page1.html
Gregory Smyth
For nearly 30 years, Bamrung Suvicha Apisakdi Law Associates (BSA Law) has focused on providing reliable legal advice and services to the Thai and foreign business community in Thailand. We provide international standards of legal services while retaining the customs of the Thai business culture. By Gregory Smyth
Published on 03/2/2009
Consumer protection has long been seen as one of the areas where Thailand's laws fail miserably. Thailand's law firms and courts are constantly kept busy with consumer complaints about faulty or substandard products. Unfortunately for many, the claims process is too long and expensive to justify itself. However, a new era of consumer protection with laws ratified last year is about to begin.
New laws enforcing stricter standards for product liability and greater consumer protection were passed in September last year, and took effect only recently, in February 2009. The foundation laws for the long-awaited movement towards greater consumer protection in Thailand came in two parts, and while one took effect in mid-late 2008, the other has only just taken effect in February 2009. Thailand law firms like BSA Law, as well as Tilleke and Gibbins, are looking forward to providing greater protection for their clients, and having the obstacles to justice reduced, and the scales tipped back into balance, with the interests of consumers and businesses having equal weighting under the new Thai law.
Thailand's law system is complex, and complaints can take many months, require hundreds of kilometers of travel, and end up costing consumers more than they feel they are worth. This seems to be why sellers have been getting away with unfair returns policies, and supplying substandard merchandise without answer for such a long time. Legal services in Thailand like BSA Law and Tilleke and Gibbins can help, but the bureaucracy of the process stifles true justice.
As a result of the difficulty of getting businesses to hear and respond fairly to consumer complaints, there were several high profile cases in Thailand where the media was used to try to get justice, instead of Thailand's law system and courts. One consumer took a sledgehammer to her faulty Hyundai outside a dealership, after trying to negotiate with the business to no avail. The managers rushed to offer her a cashier's check in exchange for her car, and later a spate of other unhappy consumers copied, with some even lighting their cars on fire. This was seen to severely undermine confidence in Thailand's laws, and thus were these Thai business law amendments born.
The first part of the groundbreaking act was widely reported. The Act on Court Proceedings for Consumer Cases, or the 'Consumer Cases Act', was effected in August 2008. The essence of the act was to make initiating action against a business easier for consumers. Legal services in Thailand gave what help they could to consumers, however actions under Thai law were usually time-consuming and damages awarded were often minimal, not covering loss of employment time due to court proceedings, or any punitive damages. Courts are now able to award a broader ranged of damages, and cases must be heard at a location convenient to the consumer.
The new part of the Act which took effect in February is the Product Liability Act, covering products sold after February 21, 2009. The new Thai laws have addressed the problems faced by consumers who purchased unsafe products, especially in the areas of high technology items. The new prescription period for product liability claims initiated by Thailand law firms or individuals is three years. Thai courts can now force businesses to make announcements about unsafe products and recall them from purchasers. Another groundbreaking feature is that the new laws pierce the corporate veil, something that Thai courts have been very reluctant to do in the past. If a company was dishonestly incorporated, or if assets are siphoned off to defeat the interests of claimants, companies will now be responsible under Thai business law.
Thailand's law system is complex, and complaints can take many months, require hundreds of kilometers of travel, and end up costing consumers more than they feel they are worth. This seems to be why sellers have been getting away with unfair returns policies, and supplying substandard merchandise without answer for such a long time. Legal services in Thailand like BSA Law and Tilleke and Gibbins can help, but the bureaucracy of the process stifles true justice.
As a result of the difficulty of getting businesses to hear and respond fairly to consumer complaints, there were several high profile cases in Thailand where the media was used to try to get justice, instead of Thailand's law system and courts. One consumer took a sledgehammer to her faulty Hyundai outside a dealership, after trying to negotiate with the business to no avail. The managers rushed to offer her a cashier's check in exchange for her car, and later a spate of other unhappy consumers copied, with some even lighting their cars on fire. This was seen to severely undermine confidence in Thailand's laws, and thus were these Thai business law amendments born.
The first part of the groundbreaking act was widely reported. The Act on Court Proceedings for Consumer Cases, or the 'Consumer Cases Act', was effected in August 2008. The essence of the act was to make initiating action against a business easier for consumers. Legal services in Thailand gave what help they could to consumers, however actions under Thai law were usually time-consuming and damages awarded were often minimal, not covering loss of employment time due to court proceedings, or any punitive damages. Courts are now able to award a broader ranged of damages, and cases must be heard at a location convenient to the consumer.
The new part of the Act which took effect in February is the Product Liability Act, covering products sold after February 21, 2009. The new Thai laws have addressed the problems faced by consumers who purchased unsafe products, especially in the areas of high technology items. The new prescription period for product liability claims initiated by Thailand law firms or individuals is three years. Thai courts can now force businesses to make announcements about unsafe products and recall them from purchasers. Another groundbreaking feature is that the new laws pierce the corporate veil, something that Thai courts have been very reluctant to do in the past. If a company was dishonestly incorporated, or if assets are siphoned off to defeat the interests of claimants, companies will now be responsible under Thai business law.