Thailand Law Library

by Thailand Lawyer

The Committee shall appoint one or more expert committees based upon their field of expertise, or as the Committee deems fit.

The qualifications and prohibitions, term of office, vacation from office, and other operations of the expert committee shall be in accordance with the Committee’s notification.

The expert committee shall have the following duties and power:

1. Consider complaints under this Act;
2. Investigate any act of the Data Controller or the Data Processor, including the employees or the contractors of the Data Controller or the Data Processor in connection with the Personal Data that causes damage to the Data subject;
3. Settle disputes in connection with Personal Data; and
4. Carry out any other acts which are stipulated as the expert committee’s duty and power under this Act or as assigned by the Committee.

The Data subject has the right to file a complaint in the event that the Data Controller or the Data Processor, including the employees or the service providers of the Data Controller or the Data Processor violates or does not comply with this Act, or notifications issued in accordance with this Act.

The filing, refusal of acceptance, dismissal, consideration and timeframe for the consideration of the complaints shall be in accordance with the Committee’s rule by taking into account the refusal of acceptance of the complaints or dismissal of the matter in the event that there has been the authority to consider such matter under other laws.

In the event that a complainant does not comply with the rules provided in Section 73 paragraph two, or the complaint filed is prohibited from being accepted for consideration under such rules, the expert committee shall not accept such complaint for consideration.

If, after the expert committee’s consideration of the complaint pursuant to Section 72 (1), or the investigation of any act pursuant to Section 72 (2), it is found that such complaint or act has no ground, the expert committee shall issue an order to dismiss such complaint or investigation.

If, after the expert committee’s consideration or investigation under paragraph two, it is found that such complaint or act can be settled, and the concerned parties are willing to settle the dispute, the expert committee shall proceed with the dispute settlement. However, if such complaint or act cannot be settled, or the dispute settlement fails, the expert committee shall have the power to issue the following orders:

1. for the Data Controller or the Data Processor to perform, or rectify their act within the specified period of time; or
2. to prohibit the Data Controller or the Data Processor from carrying out an act which causes damage to the Data subject, or for the Data Controller to carry out any act to cease the damage within the specified period of time;

In the event that the Data Controller or the Data Processor does not comply with the orders provided under paragraph three (1) or (2), the provisions in connection with administrative enforcement under the law on administrative procedure shall be applied mutatis mutandis. In the event that the properties of the Data Controller or the Data Processor are to be seized, attached, or sold by auction, as required by the law on administrative procedure, the expert committee shall have the power to order such seizure, attachment, and sale by auction for such purpose.

The issuance of the order under paragraph one, two, or three (1) or (2) shall be in accordance with the criteria and methods under the Committee’s notification.

The orders of the expert committee shall be signed by the Chairperson of the expert committee.

The order of the expert committee in this Section shall be final.

In order to proceed in accordance with this Section, when the consideration result is issued, the expert committee shall inform the complainant of such result together with the reasons. In case that the complaint is not accepted for consideration or dismissed as such complaint has already been under consideration of an official authority under other laws, the expert committee shall inform the complainant of the same. If the complainant wishes to propose such matter to the official authority under other laws, the expert committee shall proceed to do so and shall be deemed that such official authority has received such complaint from the date when the expert committee has received such complaint.

The expert committee shall have the power to order any person to submit documents or information in connection with the subject matter of a complaint, or any other matter related to the protection of the Personal Data under this Act. The expert committee shall also have the power to request any person to make a statement of facts.

In order to act in accordance with this Act, the Competent Officer shall have the following duties and power:

1. Request the Data Controller, the Data Processor, or any person in writing, to provide information or submit any documents or evidence in connection with the actions or offenses under this Act;
2. Investigate and collect facts, and report to the expert committee in the event that the Data Controller, the Data Processor, or any person, has committed an offense or caused damage due to their violation of or non-compliance with this Act or notifications issued in accordance with this Act.

In carrying out the duty in (2), if there is a necessity to protect the benefits of the Data subject or for the public’s interest, the Competent Officer shall file a complaint to the competent court to issue an order granting permission to the Competent Officer to enter the premises of the Data Controller, or any person involved in the offense under this Act, during the interval between sunrise and sunset or during the business hours of such premises, to investigate and collect facts, seize, or attach documents, evidence, or any other items related to the offense, or which has a cause to believe that they are used to commit such offense.

In order to appoint the Competent Officer, the Minister shall consider appointing such person from the civil officials or other government officials whose position is not lower than a civil official at the operational level or equivalent, and having the qualifications in accordance with the notification issued by the Committee.

During the performance of his or her duties under this Section, the Competent Officer shall present his or her identification card to the relevant persons and be provided with reasonable facilitation by the relevant persons.

The identification card of the Competent Officer shall be in accordance with the form required by the notification of the Committee.