A new Notification of the Trade Competition Commission on Market Dominance repealing the 2018 Notification on this issue came into effect on 26 September 2020.
The new test of market dominance under this Notification is as follows:
- where a business operator in any market has a market share of 50% or more and with sales volume of THB1 billion or more in the preceding year; or
- where the first three business operators in any market have a combined market share of 75% or more in the preceding year.
The provision in (b) does not apply where any one operator has less than THB1 billion sales or less than 10% market share in the preceding year.
On 8 September 2020, the Act amending the Civil Procedure Code (No.32) B.E. 2563 (2020) ("Act") was published in the Royal Gazette. The Act will come into force on 7 November 2020. The Act introduces a new legal provision which allows a party to civil proceedings to request in-court civil mediation even before a complaint is filed with the court. The parties are not required to pay court fees upon filing the petition requesting a pre-litigation mediation session, and are also not required to be accompanied by their lawyers to the mediation session. The mediation session will be conducted by a court-appointed mediator.
In the event that the parties are able to reach a mutual agreement/compromise and the court allows the parties to sign such agreement/compromise, the parties may request the court to render a judgement according to the settlement agreement. An appeal against the said judgment can only be made on limited grounds.
Further, it is also worth noting that if the limitation period for the claim in question (i) expires after the petition requesting the mediation is filed and the parties cannot reach a mutual agreement or compromise during the mediation, or (ii) will expire within sixty days from the date on which the mediation ceased without agreement from the parties, the prescription period will be extended for a further 60 days from the date on which the mediation ceased.
Under the Land and Building Tax Act B.E. 2562 (2019) ("Land and Building Tax Act"), taxpayers are required to pay land and building tax within April of each year. However, on 11 December 2019, the Ministry of Interior issued an announcement to extend several timeframes under the Land and Building Act, including the deadline for the payment of land and building tax, from April 2020 until August 2020. On 28 August 2020, as a measure to prevent and suppress the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bangkok Governor issued the Notification of Bangkok Metropolitan Administration Re: Extension of the Period to comply with the Land and Building Tax Act B.E. 2562 (2019) ("Notification"). In essence, the Notification provides an additional two-month extension of the deadline for paying building and land tax from August 2020 until the end of October 2020.
On 21 May 2020, the Royal Decree Prescribing an Entity and Business in which the Data Controller is Exempted from the Personal Data Protection Act B.E. 2562 (2019) B.E. 2563 (2020) ("Royal Decree") was published in the Royal Gazette. The Royal Decree provides a one-year postponement of the effective date of key operative provisions of the Personal Data Protection Act B.E. 2562 (2019) for data controllers which are entities or businesses listed in the schedule attached to the Royal Decree, from 27 May 2020 to 31 May 2021. The listed entities or businesses include governmental agencies, foundations or associations, agricultural businesses, industrial businesses, commercial businesses, telecommunications business.
On 17 July 2020, the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society published the Notification of Ministry of Digital Economy and Society Re: Standards for Maintaining Security of Personal Data B.E. 2563 (2020) ("Notification") in the Royal Gazette. In essence, the Notification stipulates that data controllers who are entities or businesses listed in the schedule annexed to the Royal Decree are required to put in place security measures for personal data in accordance with the standards prescribed under the Notification, including the implementation of the administrative, technical and physical safeguards with regard to accessing and controlling the use of personal data. The Notification came into effect on 18 July 2020 and will remain in effect until 31 May 2021.
