Amendment of the Consumer Protection Law: Important Steps Forward for Improvement towards More Efficient Protection

Abstract

The Consumer Protection Act B.E. 2522 (1979) has constantly undergone amendment on three occasions since 1998. That having been said, the most recent amendment by the Consumer Protection Act (No. 4) B.E. 2562 (2019), in May 2019, is regarded as the “most significant” amendment simply because it is indeed the amendment of “the structure” of the Act. This amendment not merely establishes a new specific committee, namely, the Committee on Safety of Goods and Services, but also introduces new provisions on consumer protection in relation to safety along the line of the Directive of the European Union as well as legislation on product safety of certain foreign jurisdictions.

In addition, another important matter put forth by this amendment is that it empowers the Secretary-General of the Consumer Protection Board to institute action and take legal proceedings in relation to violation of consumer rights on behalf of consumers, hence the introduction of the “duality system” as regards the exercise of the power to initiate litigation and take legal proceedings on behalf of consumers - the power originally vested in the Consumer Protection Board only.

Notwithstanding, the Consumer Protection Act B.E. 2522 (1979) remains plagued with certain unresolved problems or shortcomings which indeed require proper and appropriate amendment as well. Such deficiencies represent “fundamental problems” that have adverse effects on the application of the Act, in particular, with respect to the definitions of “consumers” and “business operator”. Also, the Act requires insertion into it matters of importance concerning the protection of rights to privacy of consumers as well as specific protection measures and mediation or compromise of disputes over violation of consumer rights. These news provisions should have statutory room by their express insertion into Part III (of Chapter II: Consumer Protection) which is concerned with “Consumer Protection in relation to Miscellaneous Matters”. In effect, the title of such Part should be renamed as “Consumer Protection in relation to Compensation for Damage”, so as to correspondingly reflect the protection of consumer rights under the Consumer Protection Act B.E. 2522 (1979).