Thailand

Franchise regulation

There is no specific franchise regulation but there is a longstanding draft Franchising Business Act which has not been enacted into law.

Various laws and regulations govern franchise relationships including the Civil and Commercial Code, the Unfair Contract Terms act, the Trade Competition Act and the Guidelines for the Consideration of Unfair Trade Practices in Franchise Businesses.

Pre-contractual disclosure requirements

Under the Guidelines for the Consideration of Unfair Trade Practices in Franchise Businesses the following information must be disclosed to the franchisee prior to entering into the franchise agreement:

• Information on compensation and cost of business, such as franchise fee, royalty fee, marketing cost, training cost, expenses for the purchase of equipment necessary to conduct business, expense method, including payment details and refund conditions;
• Franchise business plan, such as management assistance, training plan, consultation, number and location of current and future nearby franchisees and sale promotion strategy;
• Information on the trademark rights, patent, copyright and the related rights, term of protection, scope and condition of the license agreement; and
• Information on the renewal, amendment, cancellation, and termination of the franchise agreement.

Registration

The franchise agreement does not need to be registered but IP licenses and/or short form licenses do need to be registered.

Other issues

All IP licenses recorded at the Thai Department of Intellectual Property must be translated into the Thai language.

Difficulty Rating/Comments

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