The Thailand Consumers Council (TCC) plans to discuss the consumer protection law with various political groups, according to its deputy secretary-general Ittaboon Onwongsa.
Mr Ittaboon recently led a public hearing to draft 2024 consumer protection guidelines, joined by the Eight-Dimension Consumer Protection Subcommittee and the TCC.
For the next fiscal year, the TCC has many plans afoot to secure its mission of better protecting consumers, he said. These include more activities to increase businesses’ understanding of the TCC’s mission.
They will tell entrepreneurs that the TCC is not doing anything to impede development, let alone their business.
On the contrary, the measures are designed to boost consumer trust in the strength and reliability of trading firms, Mr Ittaboon said.
Seeking cooperation with groups on both sides of the spectrum is one of the TCC’s strategies.
The council plans to propose five consumer protection laws for the government’s approval.
One of these is revisiting the Consumer Protection Act with the aim of increasing consumers’ rights in the categories of financial services, public transport, real estate, health products and drugs, health services, general services, communications, and energy and the environment.
Revisiting the Food Act while also promoting the new Hemp and Cannabis Act — with more of a focus on at-risk groups — are also on the to-do list, Mr Ittaboon said. The TCC is expected to submit its guidelines and a budget proposal to the government.
Mr Ittaboon said the plan covers eight areas of consumer protection and comes as consumer rights violations have grown more complex and intense.