Database Special E-commerce Edition

Six IT laws are now being prepared that will pave the way for electronic commerce in Thailand and this draft legislation dates back to early 1998 when the National IT Committee (NITC) empowered six subcommittees to study and draft these laws.

A so-called IT-Law Development project was carried out by Nectec, which has been the secretariat office for the six drafting subcommittees.

Each subcommittee is chaired by a prominent legal expert and is comprised of representatives from concerned agencies.

The IT laws will serve as an infrastructure for doing electronic commerce and will enhance confidence among the members of the electronic transaction playground while providing rules and etiquette for fair play and they will enhance Thailand's competitiveness.

Through the universal access mandate demanded by the new constitution (Section 78), a law is required to diminish the gaps between the information Haves and the Have Nots.

The six laws are:

1. Electronic Transaction Law: To set the effective legal framework to support successful electronic contracts.

2. Electronic Signature Law: To provide the security of electronic commerce transactions by using asymmetric-key cryptography.

3. Computer Crime/Computer-related Crime Law: To criminalise the new type of the offences in the borderless virtual world.

4. Data Protection Law: To protect rights of privacy in the Information Society.

5. Electronic Funds Transfer Law: To promote consumer protection and allocate the liability incurred from the technological risks.

6. Universal Access law (By-law of Section 78 of the Constitution): To create equitable Information Society by promoting universal access in the National Information Infrastructure (NII).

Many public seminars have been held by Nectec and other organisations to promote the awareness of the social effects of e-commerce and to call for public opinions.

[S]E-commerce information resources

[B]Here are some articles and other resources on e-commerce on the Web:

Article: Electronic Commerce in Thailand:

http://www.nectec.or.th/users/htk/e-commerce/intro.html

Article: National IT Projects in Thailand: www.nectec.or.th/it-projects

Bank of Thailand: http://www.bot.or.th

Electronic Commerce Pilot Project (Ministry of Commerce):

http://www.thaiecommerce.net/

IT Law Development Project: http://www.nitc.go.th/itlaws/

National IT Committee: http://www.nectec.or.th

National IT Plan (IT-2000): http://www.nitc.go.th/it-2000/

Nectec: http://www.nectec.or.th