Abstract:
Thailand has a large tourism industry. It welcomes a multitude of foreign tourists that
generates substantial revenues for the country. Therefore, when foreign tourists encounter problems
about consumer damages, they should be able to obtain an easily accessible, fair, timely and
effective consumer redress since they will only stay within Thailand for a short duration. The
research of the existing Thai laws found that although foreign tourists are protected under the
Consumer Protection Act B.E. 2522 and the Liability for Damage Arising from Unsafe Products Act
B.E. 2551 but there is no available measure for an immediate consumer redress. While the Foreign
Tourists Compensation Funds and the Tourism Business and Guide Act B.E. 2551 are only limited to
the certain civil redresses. Meanwhile, foreign tourists may file a consumer case at the court
according to the Consumer Case Procedure Act B.E. 2551. But they may not be able to obtain a
prompt and reasonable redress because the court procedure maybe lengthy and costly, the plaintiffs
will need to obtain an enforcement order by themselves later, and the eligible consumer case agents
may not be able to represent them in all cases.
Hence, the researcher proposes, in a preliminary, an improvement to the existing dispute
resolution measure. The related consumer protection laws should instate the consumer case agents
for the foreign tourists specifically to represent them in the court procedures. The consumer redress
mechanism for foreign tourists should be easier to use, more expeditious, without unnecessary
burden or cost. Furthermore, Thailand should enact the new legislation to establish the civil
consumer redress for the foreign tourist fund which will be governed by the specific agency
equipped with multilingual agents. This agency would be authorized to receive and investigate the
complaints and approve the redress from the fund. The fund will then be transferred the right of
recourse from the tourists to sue the traders who have committed the illegal unfair trading. The
section 18 and section 19 of the Consumer Case Procedure Act B.E. 2551 should be amended to
allow the fund to be eligible to exercise the right of recourse as a consumer case and exempt all the
court fees.