CEOs want foreign e-commerce operators to comply with Thai laws
Most Thai CEOs urged state agencies to ensure that foreign e-commerce platform operators comply with Thai laws and deal with the influx of poor quality products, according to a survey published on Wednesday.
The survey by the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) on “How should the Thai industrial sector cope with cheap products from e-commerce platforms?” was conducted among 175 CEOs from 46 industries across Thailand.
The survey sought their responses to the following questions:
● Impact of e-commerce platforms on sales
47.4%: Unaffected
35.1%: Sales decreased
17.5%: Sales increased
● Positive factors from e-commerce platforms (top four)
65.7%: Offers an alternative to consumers to access products from factories
64.0%: Encourages Thai entrepreneurs to boost their competitiveness
26.3%: Promotes expansion of Thai e-commerce and digital economy
13.1%: Reduces stock management costs
● Negative factors from e-commerce platforms (top four)
61.7%: Influx of poor quality products could affect consumer safety and burden on waste management
44.6%: Impact on price competitiveness and market share
41.7%: Impact on domestic supply chain
26.9%: Impact on domestic entrepreneurs’ profits
● How should the public sector supervise e-commerce platforms? (top four)
67.4%: Foreign e-commerce platform operators should register as entities under Thai law and set up offices in Thailand in order to collect value-added tax (VAT) on them
46.9%: Strictly enforce consumer protection laws, open a channel for submitting complaints, and allow consumers to return poor quality products to e-commerce platform operators
45.1%: E-commerce platform operators should display standard certification marks on their platforms
26.3%: Overseas payment should be supervised by the Bank of Thailand
● How should the private sector cope with e-commerce platforms? (top four)
57.7%: Develop product standards and adopt technology for enhancing manufacturing
48.6%: Build a network for promoting domestic products and penetrating new markets
34.9%: Apply creativity and design to boost product value and pay attention to patent registration
32.0%: Boost brand acceptance and develop after sales service
● Can the Thai industry compete against cheap products from e-commerce platforms?
80.7%: Yes
19.3%: No
