CONSUMER PROTECTION: THE RIGHT TO RETURN GOODS PURCHASED IN STORED IN THAILAND

Abstract

Consumer protection laws and regulations in Thailand impose no requirements on sellers to disclose information about their returns policy. It is consumer’s own responsibility to enquire about their right to return the goods. Although some stores began to offer the right to return the goods to consumers when they are not satisfied with the goods purchased, other stores do not adopt the same policy. This article is aimed at exploring the right to return the goods purchased in stores based on consumers’ satisfaction in Thailand within the scope of the consumer protection law. It also examines whether and how law concerning consumer protection in the United States, at both federal and state levels, protects consumers by giving them the right to return the goods purchased in store when they are not satisfied with them. This article discovers that although the law in the United States does not grant consumers the right to return the goods purchased in stores, it imposes the duty on sellers to inform consumers of the availability of the right to return. This effectively leads to the adoption of returns policy based on consumers’ satisfaction by nearly every store in the United States. In comparison, the right to return goods seems to be alien to consumer protection law in Thailand. The study finds the absence of such right is inadequate for consumer protection. Therefore, the article proposes two possible approaches as the solutions. The first approach is to amend the existing statue on consumers’ right, the Consumer Protection Act, B.E. 2522 (1979), by adding the right to return goods purchased in stores based on consumers’ satisfaction. The second approach is to use the existing mechanism. By this, the Consumer Protection Board and its relevant ad hoc committees exercise their power given by the Act to regulate or impose the disclosure of information on returns policy on sellers and stores. Finally, whether the first or second approach is adopted, there should be a sanction imposed on sellers for failure to meet the requirement to disclose their returns policy or adhere to the mandatory disclosure of information on returns policy to reach an efficient enforcement of the consumer protection law and policy.