As one of the leading law firms on PDPA issues, our member Tilleke & Gibbins has informed us with the latest process on the enforcement in Thailand which seems to be attacked by COVID-19 as well.
Thailand’s Personal Data Protection Act B.E. 2562 (2019) (the PDPA) is currently due to become fully effective on May 27, 2020. However, due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, business operators in Thailand have raised concerns about their ability to fully comply with the obligations and pressed the government to consider the negative impact that hasty enforcement may have on businesses. On the other hand, postponing the PDPA could adversely impact data subjects’ consumer protection rights and human rights, which the government has a duty to protect. Publicly available information for the past few weeks shows that the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (MDES) has been looking into methods of relaxing the enforcement of the PDPA in a manner that addresses that difficult balance. Please read more here.