Advance Blog

January 21, 2022
Tilleke

Thailand Establishes Personal Data Protection Commission

Thailand has completed the establishment of the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC), the regulator under the country’s Personal Data Protection Act B.E. 2562 (PDPA), strongly indicating that the planned full enforcement of the PDPA on June 1, 2022, is likely to proceed as scheduled.

The establishment of the PDPC was finalized on January 18, 2022, when the Announcement of the Prime Minister’s Office on the Appointment of Chairperson and Honorary Members of the PDPC was published in the Government Gazette.

As stipulated in the PDPA, the PDPC consists of:

  • The chairperson, appointed based on knowledge, skills, and experience;
  • The vice-chairperson, who is the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society;
  • Five commission members, designated based on their positions in certain government agencies (as prescribed under the PDPA); and
  • Nine honorary commission members appointed based on knowledge, skills, and experience in personal data protection, consumer protection, technology and telecommunication, social science, law, health, finance, or other relevant fields.

As the vice-chairperson and the five commission members are appointed to the PDPC based on their positions, the January 18 announcement appointing the chairperson and the nine honorary commission members completes the formation of the PDPC.

The full enforcement of the PDPA has been previously postponed, and many businesses had expressed concern that another extension would be forthcoming before the current enforcement date. However, the successful establishment of the PDPC is a fundamental prerequisite to enforcement and indicates that the effective date of the PDPA on June 1, 2022, is unlikely to be further postponed. In addition, the PDPA’s draft subordinate regulations that were the subject of a series of public hearings last year are likely to be issued in the near future.

Companies and other organizations that are not yet compliant with the PDPA should now assess their current practices for handling and processing personal data in order to ensure that any compliance gaps can be closed or minimized before the full enforcement date.

For more details on the requirements under the PDPA and its subordinate regulations, please consult the Tilleke & Gibbins data privacy team by contacting Nopparat Lalitkomon at [email protected] or +66 2056 5646, Gvavalin Mahakunkitchareon at [email protected] or +66 2056 5648, or Thammapas Chanpanich at [email protected] or +66 2056 5561

Nopparat Lalitkomon
Nopparat Lalitkomon is a senior associate in Tilleke & Gibbins’ corporate and commercial group in Bangkok, specializing in digital, privacy, and technology matters for clients in high-tech industries.
Gvavalin Mahakunkitchareon
Gvavalin Mahakunkitchareon is an associate in Tilleke & Gibbins’ corporate and commercial group in Bangkok. She provides assistance and advice to both international and local clients on a wide range of corporate and commercial matters, including corporate services, company formation, data protection, employment, foreign investment (particularly in obtaining foreign business licenses), immigration, and e-commerce transactions.
Thammapas Chanpanich
Thammapas Chanpanich is an associate in Tilleke & Gibbins’ corporate and commercial group. She advises and assists both international and local clients on legal issues surrounding P2P lending, crowdfunding, fintech, e-commerce, online payment gateways, personal data management, electronic business transactions, finance, and insurance.
Share:
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn

Thailand’s Personal Data Protection Act B.E. 2562 (2019) (“PDPA”)

As the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) also applies to personal data collected prior to the PDPA’s entry into force, please be informed that AustCham Thailand will automatically keep your contact details including email address, name and last name, and company details, on our mailing list.

Your data was received by AustCham Thailand as a result from you either registering or attending an event, contacting our office or subscribing to regular updates via the website. However, if you would like to stop receiving emails AustCham Thailand and revoke your consent for AustCham to keep and use your data to contact you for chamber events and updates, please scroll down to the end of this email and click “Unsubscribe from this list”. Your personal data will be shortly deleted once the opt-out notice request is received.

Please note that your data is kept in AustCham’s CRM system, please see here for AustCham’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. AustCham uses a management software system from Wild Apricot, and emails are distributed through MailChimp.

MEMBER LOG IN