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.

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.

Indonesian ride-hailing giant Go-Jek has officially entered Thailand’s ultracompetitive and burgeoning food delivery scene.

In order to gain a foothold in its fellow southeast Asian country, Go-Jek partnered with local ride-hailer and motorbike delivery service Get.

Go-Jek was unwilling to provide specific details on who their main funders were, but according to Thailand business attorneys, foreign ownership of domestic companies cannot exceed 49%.

The two will work together using the established Get brand name and the company’s local expertise while Go-Jek will provide funding and the technology to challenge the big fish in the market, such as Grab.

Get is a Thai start-up that has only been in operation for less than a year, but has already amassed 20,000 merchants and 10,000 drivers.

Thailand is Go-Jek’s third entry into foreign markets, with Singapore and Vietnam coming before.

Read the full story here.

Over 500 Chinese companies made their way to Thailand last weekend in order to forge bilateral contracts that would pave the way for new Chinese manufacturing sites in the Southeast Asian country.

The move comes as a mutually beneficial economic deal for both countries.

On the one hand, Thailand will be able to link its Eastern Economic Corridor, which has prime port access to the rest of the world’s trade, with China’s insanely ambitious Belt and Road Initiative that seeks to create a trade infrastructure of roads, bridges, and other pathways from mainland China all the way to Europe.

Also, the economic symbiosis between the two countries will give Chinese manufacturing sites a crucial loophole to avoid US tariffs that have become the norm as Donald Trump’s trade war against the East Asian nation intensifies.

“It is the [opportunity] Chinese investors are seeking: a place outside China to produce with higher competitiveness to counter the effects of the trade war and also to become more competitive in global markets,” said Stanley Kim, the chairman of the Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce who organized the event.

Read the full story here.

For a qualified Thailand business attorney, contact the expert lawyers at Chaninat & Leeds.

Myanmar recently passed a new companies law in the hopes that it will attract increased investment from Thai businesses in the coming years.

The legislation comes after massive drops in investments from Thailand into the Burmese economy in recent years.

Burmese officials point out that the revamped companies law will replace the century-old replaced legislation that stifled foreign investment in the Southeast Asian country.

Now, foreign companies will be encouraged to invest in Myanmar’s economic future and will face significantly less hurdles to do so.

Myanmar hopes to attract Thai investors in a wide variety of industries, including solar, natural gas, and manufacturing.

Thailand makes up for 14.5% of foreign investments in Myanmar, trailing only China and Singapore.

Read the full story here.

For an expert Thailand business lawyer, contact the professionals at Chaninat & Leeds.

A Japanese firm agreed to a plea deal after allegedly bribing public officials in Thailand, in what is the country’s first ever plea bargain since introducing the new system last month.

Japanese government investigators alleged that Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Ltd. (MHPS) violated the Unfair Competition Prevention Law by bribing foreign officials.

Although MHPS struck a plea deal with the government, they did not admit any wrongdoing and got assurances that for their cooperation in the case, will not face any prosecution for any crimes.

According to the special investigation squad, members of MHPS bribed Thai government officials into choosing their company for a contract to construct a power plant in the Southeast Asian country.

MHPS also conducted an in-house investigation and found that several employees engaged in misconduct and, subsequently, turned that information over to investigators.

The violators, if found guilty, face up to $2.67 million in fines.

Read the full story here.

For foreign business licenses in Thailand, contact the expert Thai and US business lawyers at Chaninat & Leeds.