CHRIST (DEEMED TO BE UNIVERSITY)

CIA-III
Law And Economics

TOPIC:
Antitrust Law Of Thailand

SUBMITTED BY:
TISHA BAGH
BBA-LLB 4th Semester
{19113126}

SUBMITTED TO:
Mr. Ravikiran

PROFESSOR,
SCHOOL OF LAW,
CHRIST DEEMED TO BE UNIVERSITY,
LAVASA.
Antitrust and Competition in Thailand
Introduction:
The Trade Competition Act B.E. 2542 (1999) (Trade Competition Act) is the legislative foundation of
Thailand's antitrust law, and it applies to every form of business operation. The Trade Competition Act is
administered and enforced by the Trade Competition Commission.
The Trade Competition Act distinguishes between restrictive trade practices that are not eligible for permission
and restrictive trade practices that are eligible for approval. Abuse of dominant position, joint price-fixing, and
some types of everyday conduct between two or more business operators are examples of restrictive trade
practices that are not eligible for permissions. Mergers that may result in a monopoly or unfair competition, as
well as many other discriminatory cooperative practices, are examples of restrictive trade practices that are
eligible for permissions.

Restrictive trade practices not eligible for permission:

Abuse of dominant position:
 Business owners are prohibited from exploiting a dominant role under the Trade Competition Act. The
term "dominant position" is described in the Trade Competition Act as any one or more business
operators with a market share and sales turnover above those prescribed by the Commission with
Cabinet approval. The Commission's Notification on the Criteria for Determining Dominant Position,
which was reported and went into effect in February 2007, considers a company to have a dominant
position if it meets one of the following characteristics:
 Having a market share of at least 50% and a sales volume of at least THB1 billion in the previous year;
 Becoming one of the top three business operators with a combined market share of at least 75% and a
sales volume of at least THB1 billion in the previous year (unless the individual business operator in
question had a market share of less than 10 percent or a sales volume of less than THB1 billion in the
previous year).
 Possessing a dominant role in the market is not illegal in and of itself. Businesses with a dominant
position, on the other hand, would be barred from participating in the following trade practices:
 Fixing or sustaining price levels for goods or services in an unfair manner;
 Imposing unfair requirements on its customers (who are other business operators) to restrict their
services, manufacture, purchase, or sale of goods; or limiting their options in buying or selling goods,
receiving or delivering services, or obtaining credit from other business operators;
 Without fair purpose, ceasing, decreasing, or restricting services, products, purchases, sales,
distribution, or imports into the Kingdom of goods, or causing destruction or harm to interests in order
to minimize their quantities below market demand; or
 Interfering with others' business operations without justification.
 Furthermore, under the Trade Competition Act, if a business operator with a dominant position has a
market share of more than 75%, the Commission may use its powers to order the operator to stop,
withhold, or change its market share if the operator complies with the Commission's standards,
procedures, conditions, and periods.
Two or more business operators jointly undertook restrictive trade practices
The Trade Competition Act forbids any business operator from collaborating with another business operator to
engage in any trade practices that may result in the creation of a monopoly or a reduction or limitation of
competition in the market for any products or services. All of the following are examples of these:
Fixing the price of goods or services at the same amount, or as negotiated between them, or restricting the
number of goods or services sold;
setting the purchasing prices of goods or services at the same level, or as negotiated between them, or limiting
the number of goods or services they may buy;
concluding a joint agreement to manage or exploit a market; or 
Attempting to reach an agreement or impose a condition that will allow one party to win a bid or auction of
products or services or that will allow one party to avoid competing in the offer or auction.
Restrictive trade practices are jointly undertaken with overseas business operators
The Trade Competition Act prohibits any business operator who has a business relationship with an overseas
business operator (whether by contract, policy, partnership, shareholding, or other comparable relationship)
from taking any action that causes those who want to buy goods or services for their use to have limited options
in buying them directly.
Other restrictive practices
The Trade Competition Act forbids any business operator from engaging in conduct that is not in the best
interests of free and fair competition, and that may result in the destruction, harm, hindrance, obstruction, or
restriction of others' business operations, or that may preclude others from engaging in or cause others to cease
their business operations. Under the Trade Competition Act, this provision is considered a "catch-all" provision
because it is broad.
Restrictive trade practices eligible for permission
1. Mergers and acquisitions
2. Other restrictive trade practices
 The following restrictive trade practices are permissible under the Trade Competition Act if considered
commercially appropriate and obtained prior approval from the Commission:
 Assigning categories of customers to whom each business operator can sell goods or services without
competition from other business operators; allocating a territory in which each business operator can sell
or restrict the sale of goods or services;
 Assigning types of suppliers from which each business operator can purchase goods or services;
allocating a territory in which each business operator can buy or limit the purchase of goods or services;
 Limiting the quantities of products or services (to be generated, purchased, sold, or given by each
business operator) to those that are less than market demand;
 Lowering the quality of products or services to a level lower than that which was previously made, sold,
or delivered at the same or higher price;
 Appointing anyone as the sole distributor of a product or service; and
 Imposing restrictions or procedures on the selling or procurement of products or services to ensure that
they are completed in the same manner or according to the terms agreed upon.
Mergers and acquisitions
The Trade Competition Act forbids any business operator from completing a merger that could result in a
monopoly or unfair competition established by the Commission in the Government Gazette without first
obtaining pre-merger approval from the Commission. Mergers are classified as a combination of the following:
A merger between two or more producers, retailers, or service providers that results in the closure of one
company or the merging of two businesses into a new one;
Acquisition of all or part of the assets of another company to exert control over its strategy, administration, or
management; or
Acquisition of all or a portion of a company's stock in order to exert control over its strategy, administration, or
management.
Penalties and liabilities
Fines of up to THB6 million and/or three years in jail are the statutory criminal penalties for violating the Trade
Competition Act. These sanctions can be applied to both businesses and individuals. Only the Commission has
the authority to file criminal charges against the violators in court. The injured party has no choice but to file a
criminal complaint with the Commission, investigating and prosecuting the case in court. Suppose a business
operator engages in an illegal restrictive trade practice that causes harm to another. In that case, the injured
party can file a civil lawsuit to recover compensation from the business operator.
Extraterritorial application
The Trade Competition Act applies not only to the above-mentioned discriminatory trade practices that are
committed entirely or partially in Thailand but also to foreign commissions that have implications in Thailand,
i.e.,
 The consequence of the Commission will occur in Thailand;
 The resulting consequence, by the nature of the Commission, should appear in Thailand; or
 The result could be foreseen to occur in Thailand.
Reform
Revised threshold of dominant business operators
The Commission adopted the updated dominant business operator threshold introduced by the Sub-Committee
in October 2014, which will replace the Commission's Notification on the Criteria for Determining Dominant
Position, which has been in force since February 2007. Before promulgation, the revised threshold will be
proposed to the Cabinet for approval. The following table compares the revised threshold to the new threshold,
as approved by the Commission: If the company meets one of the following criteria, the operator would be
deemed to have a dominant position:  
Current Threshold Revised Threshold
(a)  Individually getting at least a 50% market share (a)  Individually getting at least a 30% market share
and a sales volume of at least THB1 billion in the and a sales volume of at least THB500 million in the
previous year; or previous year; or
(b)  Being one of the top three industry players in (b)  Being one of the top three company players in
Thailand, with a combined market share of at least the previous year, with a combined market share of at
75% and sales volume of at least THB1 billion the least 75% and a sales volume of at least THB500
previous year (unless the individual business operator million (unless the individual business operator in
in question had a market share of less than 10 percent question had a market share of less than 10 percent or
or a sales volume of less than THB1 billion in the a sales volume of less than THB500 million in the
previous year). previous year).

The threshold for merger filing

One of the restrictive trading practices that could be subject to the filing provisions is a merger. The merger
control threshold has been under discussion for some time. The proposed merger control threshold will be
calculated using market share and the number of shares owned or acquired in the following manner:
Any business operator with a market share of at least 30% and sales/income of at least THB2 billion in the
previous year for any product or service market, whether before or after the merger or integration; or 
The purchase or acquisition of at least 25% (for public companies) or 50% (for private companies) voting
shares, whether all at once or overtime, where the business operator has an individual or combined market share
of at least 30% and a volume of sales/income in the previous year of at least THB2 billion in any product or
service market.
The Commission has approved such a threshold and has charged the subcommittee with conducting further
research and establishing the format of merger filing forms and related guidelines.