In September, Thailand’s Ministry of Health passed a new law requiring plain packaging and labeling for cigarette products.

The regulation, implemented under Thailand’s Tobacco Products Control Act, places restrictions and requirements, is the first of its kind in Asia.

The law states that the name of the manufacturer must be labeled clearly on both sides of the package with standard font type, size, and color.

Health warning photos must now also be printed on both sides of the package, covering 85% of the package, and with a different warning picture on each side.

The brand of the cigarette and specific type must also be clearly labeled in a specific font type, size, and color as well as must be printed on at least two sides of the product packaging, but not more than three.

There also must be two warning messages on the cigarette packaging that take up at least three-fifths of each side.

Thailand businesses have until December 8^th to comply with the new packaging regulations or they will face a fine of up to 40,000 baht.

Thailand has issued a variety of anti-smoking laws in just the past year, including controversial regulations that prohibit smoking in households if it causes a family member harm as well as bans on smoking in certain public areas.

Read the full story here.

Thailand’s recently passed amendments to its Labor Protection Act, which lay out specific remedies for employees terminated as a result of automation or other technological advancements.

The changes come as many workers either have been or face being replaced in the future by AI, robotics, machinery, algorithms, and computer programs that can do menial labor at far cheaper and more productive rates.

Firstly, the Labor Protection Act amendments state that employees laid off due to automation must be given advance notice of termination of at least 60 days or 60 days’ worth of wages.

For normal firings not involving automation, only 30 days notice or 30 days’ pay is required.

The business must also notify labor inspectors also 60 days ahead of any terminations due to tech advancements or face a fine of up to 20,000 baht.

Thailand’s labor laws regulate everything from workplace conditions and work hours to maternity leave and social security.

Any companies that lay off workers replaced by technology also must pay special severance payments based on the laid-off employee’s last salary and experience at the company.

For example, an employee who had worked at the company between 120 days and one year would receive 30 days worth of severance pay. An employee with 10 to 20 years of experience would receive 300 days of severance payments.

Read more about the changes to the Labor Protection Act amendments concerning automation here.

Bloomberg reports that Thailand’s pension system is the worst out of 37 countries examined in the 2019 edition of the Melbourne Mercer Global Pensions Index.

Pension plans in the 37 countries were graded on measurements such as savings, employee rights, pension growth, and the overall growth of the economy.

Topping the pension rankings were the Netherlands, Denmark, and Australia respectively followed by Finland, Sweden, Norway, Singapore, New Zealand, and Canada.

Thailand’s pension system received a grade of “D” for what the report cited as an ineffective and ambiguous pension program.

The report stated that Thailand should introduce some form of mandatory retirement savings measures to remedy its pension system’s woes.

Under Thailand laws, only employees of the state are eligible for a pension tied to their salary.

Most Thai citizens have to rely on pensions ranging from 600-1,000 baht per month, which amounts to about $20-33.

One-in-three Thai workers are forced to continue working past retirement age due to insufficient savings and a poor pension program.

Read the full story here.

The Trump administration has suspended $1.3 billion worth of duty-free trade for certain Thai products.

In a letter to Vice President Mike Pence and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announcing the decision, Trump said Thailand had not been doing enough to protect worker rights, specifically those laid out in international trade agreements.

The suspension of duty-free status will affect nearly one-third of all Thai exports to the US.

The decision by Trump is yet another hit to Thailand’s export industry, which is already stagnating due to factors such as the strong Thai baht as well as the ongoing US-China trade war.

Thailand currently sits as the second biggest beneficiary of duty-free trades to the US behind India.

The total trade between the two countries totaled $44.5 billion in 2018.

Thailand business lawyers note that the country’s fishing industry could bear the biggest brunt of the suspension as it has already seen its seafood trade to Europe fall drastically in recent years due to multiple unethical practices in the industry that perturbed the EU.

A further hit to seafood exports going to the US could signal alarm bells in the industry.

Read the full story here.

Businesses in Thailand have joined arms with expats living in the Kingdom in opposition to the recent and strict enforcement of the TM30 Form, a controversial immigration regulation.

The TM30 Form regulation states that landlords must report when foreigners residing in their home or building visit another province for more than 24 hours.

The TM30 Form requirement dates back to a 1979 immigration law but has rarely been enforced in the past, according to Bangkok company lawyers.

Authorities are now cracking down on TM30 enforcement, which has drawn outrage from the expat community living in Thailand.

The law will affect over 2 million foreign workers residing in Thailand, not to mention the retirees and long-term visitors.

Now, companies operating in Thailand are also airing their grievances, saying the law–and its renewed enforcement–are bad for business.

Businesses, specifically startups, are arguing that the law is dissuading much-needed, highly-skilled workers from staying in the country.

For example, an expat living in Bangkok–or his or her landlord–is required by Thailand immigration law under the TM30 Form to report to immigration for something as small as a weekend trip from Bangkok to Pattaya, which could lead to queuing for hours in line at an immigration office upon both arrival and return.

Owners of property and accommodation that foreigners reside in also are complaining over the TM30 Form.

They state that the law forces them to report all the comings and goings, both small and big, of each of their tenants.

This, they argue, is an unnecessary and costly burden.

Read the full story here.

A new Thai law set to take effect in October creates a legal loophole for companies to import more plastic waste and further pollute the environment, according to activists.

The amendments to the 1992 Factory Act states that any factories with under 50 employees and machinery exceeding 50 horsepower will be subject to waste and pollution monitoring by government agencies.

Previously, all companies with more than seven employees and machinery with more than five horsepower were also monitored.

Environmental activist state that the change in Thailand’s business laws will let industrial manufacturers import more plastic waste and dump their current waste with impunity.

In just the last year, Thailand’s worsening pollution levels has drawn international headlines.

The business-friendly amendment to the Factory Act was rushed into law by the ruling military junta in the months prior to Thailand’s first election since 2014.

Read the full story here.

The 2019 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report found that Thailand still is not making enough efforts to combat human trafficking across its borders.

Despite the finding, the US State Department study found that Thailand had improved its overall efforts, even if it wasn’t a sufficient change.

For that reason, Thailand maintained its Tier 2 ranking–the same ranking they held in 2018’s version of the report.

The report focuses on the measures and effectiveness of countries in identifying victims, the punishment of caught traffickers, and the overall techniques and strategies being used to combat the problem of human trafficking.

In Thailand, the report found that for the first time the Thai government was using labor inspectors to find victims of human trafficking and labor abuse.

Thailand business attorneys note that a failure to move up to Tier 1 most likely was due to the inability to end the corruption and complicity of officials who aid and abet traffickers as well as the failure to identify victims on a consistent basis.

In 2014, Thailand was ranked in the 3rd Tier. Last year, it received a bump to Tier 2.

Read the full story here.

Thailand’s new competition law has had little effect on the country’s dominance by monopolies and oligopolies, indicated by the huge disparity among the rich and poor in the nation.

In fact, Thailand’s wealth inequality ranks among the worst in the world with the top 1% controlling 67% of the entire country’s wealth.

But the market dominance by big businesses at the expense of small and medium-sized businesses is surprising when you consider the fact that Thailand was the first Southeast Asian nation to pass competition laws in 1999, which set up a Competition Commission to enforce a fair market in the country.

Despite that 1999 law though, laws against unfair trade practices in the marketplace have seen lax enforcement due to the Competition Commission’s coziness with big business.

In fact, until the new competition amendment passed, nearly the entire commission was made up of politicians, industry representatives, and bureaucrats, which is one reason why Thailand recently ranked as 96th in a study of market dominance.

Similar Southeast Asian nations such as Malaysia and Indonesia rank much higher, coming in at 24th and 51st respectively.

After the 2014 military coup, the current amendments were passed to make the Competition Commission as an independent body, filled with economists, reputable Thai business lawyers, and other individuals with no current ties to big businesses.

Even though it is a right step, experts have little hope for the new amendments to competition laws in Thailand.

Why? Because, in most cases, government policies rather than business trade practices and regulations stifle market competition and provide unfair protections for monopolies and oligopolies.

For example, many large government contracts are given to certain business without competitive bidding.

Another illustrative example is Thailand’s beer regulations, which protect the giant beer manufacturers in the country.

In Thailand, in order to obtain a license to produce beer, applicants must prove investments up to $3.3 million and have the capacity to produce over 100,000 liters of beer per year, effectively barring small craft breweries and beer brands from entering the marketplace.

Read the full story here.

Thailand recently announced new labor protections aimed at boosting protections for workers as well as levying increased penalties for employers who fail to protect workers.

The amendments to the Labour Protection Act (LPA), passed on December 13, 2018, are expected to come into effect in the very near future.

The most important changes relate to better compensation for workers and increased leave allowances.

Thailand business lawyers handle trade disputes and other business disagreements between companies.

After the changes come into effect, a maternity leave period will increase from 90 days to 98 days, with at least 45 of those days paid leave.

On top of that, employers will now have to pay 75% of wages during a suspension of business operations.

Another important amendment states that if no advance notice of termination is given, an employer must pay one month of salary in advance instead of the notice.

Lastly, employers must now provide the same pay, holidays, and protections to both genders if the work position is of a similar nature.

Read the full story here.

During the first two weeks of July, Thai police charged 156 employers with violating the country’s migrant worker laws.

The increased crackdown comes in the wake of a move by the Thai government to document all migrant workers in the country by the end of June.

After the June 30th deadline, the Thai government formed 113 teams to inspect employers in a variety of sectors.

Around two-thirds of those charged were guilty of hiring workers without work permits or other proper work documentation or registration. If guilty, they’d face 10,000 to 100,000 baht fines for each employed undocumented migrant.

On top of punishing employers, the teams charged 687 migrants for engaging in work without a permit.

Read the full story here.

For Thai or US immigration advice or help, contact a professional Thailand immigration lawyer at Chaninat & Leeds.