All e-commerce platforms in Thailand operated by foreign companies will be required to register their businesses and open a formal office in the kingdom as part of the government's effort to curb the influx of cheap, low-quality products into the country, the Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday.
Addressing concerns about the e-commerce platform Temu -- a key player in Thailand's e-commerce scene that is at the centre of the controversy -- Deputy Commerce Minister Napintorn Srisunpang said the Chinese company, which runs the platform, has been registered as a Thai legal entity since Nov 11.
Speaking in her capacity as the chairwoman of a government sub-committee tasked with curbing the influx of cheap, substandard products from China, Ms Napintorn said once the amendments to the relevant regulations are completed, all foreign e-commerce operators will have to register as a Thai entity, like Temu had done.
To further protect the country's small- and medium-sized businesses from unfair competition, the government will amend the Revenue Code to impose value-added tax on consumer goods sold online, she said.
Ms Napintorn also said to control the quality of goods sold online, the government will step up inspections on three kinds of goods, namely agriculture, consumer and industrial products.
The inspection of imported goods at a customs house will be scaled up, and officials will be tasked to monitor products sold on websites and through other online platforms to ensure the safety of consumers, she said.
As a result of the stricter controls on imported products over the past couple of months, the total value of imported goods dropped by about 20% between January and June.
The average monthly import value fell from around 3.2 billion baht per month to about 2 billion baht per month, she said.
However, since Thailand started charging a tariff on imported products sold through online platforms which are worth less than 1,500 baht, the government made 707 million baht in added revenues from July 5 until Nov 21, she said.
The volume and value of imported sub-standard products -- such as fashion goods and food supplements -- and illegal goods, such as e-cigarettes, have also increased during the same period, she said. She noted these products were estimated to be worth around 506 million baht.
In a bid to enhance the protection of consumers' rights, a number of government organisations, including the Office of the Consumer Protection Board, have signed a memorandum of understanding to work together to regulate imported products better, she said.
These organisations will be looking for products that do not have Thai language labels or user instructions, she added.
Products which breach copyright will also be removed from e-commerce platforms.
In related news, the Commerce Ministry is ramping up its crackdown on the use of Thai nominees by foreigners to hold shares in companies registered in Thailand, said Commerce Minister Pichai Naripthaphan.
The ministry is looking at several logistics companies which are suspected to be operated by Chinese citizens using Thai nominees so they can legally register their businesses as Thai companies.