An Overhaul of Advertisement Regulations under Thailand’s Consumer Protection Act

After decades of enforcing regulations governing advertisement in general, the Committee on Advertisement under the Consumer Protection Act, B.E. 2522 (1979) (as amended) (the “CPA”) repealed and replaced the notifications concerning puffery (statements of exaggeration) and guidelines for proof under the CPA, and issued a new regulation with enforcement starting on 14 January 2023, namely the Notification of the Committee on Advertisement Re: Guidelines on Use of Advertising Statements with Confirmation of Difficult-to-Prove Facts and Guidelines on Proof of Facts Concerning Advertising Statements, B.E. 2565 (2022) dated 2 September 2022 (“New Notification on Advertisement”).

Major points and requirements of the New Notification on Advertisement can be summarized as follows:

Key Notes:

• The New Notification on Advertisement applies to both business operators and advertisers.
• A business operator or advertiser bears the burden to prove any claim they use in advertisement.
• Evidentiary documents of certification must be shown to the regulator within 15 days of the receipt of notice of the regulator. Failing to do so may (i) cause the regulator to impose orders which include, among others, suspension of advertising and (ii) deem the business operator or advertiser to have knowingly used false statements which is an element of offense under the CPA.
• Although there is legislation governing advertisement of particular types of products and services, a catch-all provision under the CPA, where the CPA and its subordinate regulations will apply to the extent that they are not contrary or duplicative to such specific regulations, does exist. As a result, all sectors are recommended to observe this New Notification on Advertisement.