This information is for reference only and is not legal advice. Consult a licensed lawyer before any transaction.
Consumer Protection Act
Consumer Protection Act B.E. 2522 (1979)
The information is reviewed and updated monthly against official sources.
In short
Thailand's Consumer Protection Act B.E. 2522 (1979, as amended) gives buyers, including foreign property purchasers, legally enforceable rights to truthful information, fair contracts and compensation, lets the Consumer Protection Board control developer advertising, labels and standard contracts, and makes misleading promotional claims binding and unfair clauses void.
Section 3: Key definitions: consumer, advertisement, label
The Act defines a consumer broadly as anyone who buys goods or receives services from a business operator, or who is offered them, even if a different person actually pays. Advertisement covers any communication made to ordinary people for commercial purposes, and a label is any text or image about goods attached to or accompanying them.
Section 4: Five fundamental consumer rights
Buyers are guaranteed five protected rights: to receive accurate and sufficient information about goods and services, to freely choose what to buy, to safety in use, to fair contract terms, and to have any harm considered and compensated. These rights underpin every other protection in the law and apply to property buyers dealing with developers.
Section 22: Ban on false or misleading advertising
Advertising must not use statements that are false, exaggerated or that mislead people about essential features of the goods or services. It must also not encourage unlawful or immoral conduct or threaten public unity. A developer's claims about a project's qualities, completion or returns fall squarely within this prohibition.
Section 23: Prohibited advertising methods
Advertising techniques that endanger health or cause physical or mental harm, nuisance or distress to consumers are forbidden, regardless of whether the content of the message is itself truthful. This addresses how a promotion is delivered, not only what it says, and supplements the ban on deceptive content.
Section 24: Committee power to require warnings or restrict ads
The Committee on Advertisement may order that advertisements carry cautionary statements, limit the media or manner used, or ban advertising of goods that could harm consumers. This regulatory control lets authorities intervene before harm spreads, for instance where promotional material for a development could mislead the public.
Section 22 (advertising binds): Advertising treated as a binding promise
Because claims that mislead about essential qualities are prohibited, statements a developer makes in brochures, models, websites and sales materials are treated as commitments about the product. A buyer who relied on advertised specifications, finishes, amenities or facilities can hold the seller to them and seek redress if the delivered property differs.
Section 30: Label-controlled goods
The Committee on Labels may designate categories of goods, including manufactured and imported items, as requiring controlled labels. The aim is to ensure consumers receive clear written information at the point of sale so they can make informed choices and understand what they are buying.
Section 31: Required contents of labels
Labels must state truthful information and not mislead about the goods, identify the manufacturer or importer and country of origin, and include necessary details such as price, quantity, instructions for use, cautions and expiry where relevant. Untruthful or misleading labels expose the seller to penalties.
Section 35 bis: Contract-controlled businesses and standard contracts
The Committee on Contracts may declare a business that uses contracts affecting consumers to be contract-controlled. For such businesses the Committee can require contracts to include specified necessary terms and prohibit terms that are unfair to consumers. Real-estate sale and purchase is a classic candidate for this control.
Section 35 ter: Missing required terms deemed included
Where a contract for a controlled business omits a term the Committee has made mandatory, the law treats the contract as if that protective term were present. The seller cannot defeat consumer safeguards simply by leaving required clauses out of the document.
Section 35 quarter: Prohibited unfair terms deemed void
If a controlled contract contains a clause the Committee has banned as unfair, that clause is treated as not existing. The rest of the contract stands, but the abusive provision cannot be enforced against the consumer, removing one-sided escape clauses that developers might insert.
Unfair Contract Terms Act B.E. 2540, Section 4: Unfair terms enforceable only to a fair extent
Under the companion Unfair Contract Terms Act, clauses in consumer or standard-form contracts that give the business an unreasonable advantage are enforceable only so far as fair and reasonable in the circumstances. A court may scale back excessive penalties, forfeitures, termination rights or liability waivers used in property deals.
Unfair Contract Terms Act B.E. 2540, Section 6: No blanket exclusion of liability for defects
In contracts transferring property to a consumer, a seller may not exclude liability for defects or for disturbance of the buyer's rights, unless the buyer knew of the problem when signing, and even then only to a fair and reasonable extent. Developers cannot hide behind sweeping as-is disclaimers.
Unfair Contract Terms Act B.E. 2540, Section 7: Court reduction of excessive deposit forfeiture
If a contract lets the seller forfeit a deposit that is disproportionately large compared with the actual loss, a court may reduce the retained amount to match the real damage suffered. This protects buyers who lose a reservation or down payment far exceeding the seller's genuine costs.
Section 4 (right to redress) and damages: Buyer remedies and compensation
A consumer whose protected rights are violated is entitled to have the harm assessed and compensated. The Consumer Protection Board may act on a buyer's behalf, including bringing or supporting litigation, so an individual purchaser harmed by a developer's misleading sales or unfair contract is not left to litigate alone.
Sections 47 and 52 (penalties): Penalties for false advertising and unlawful labels
Operators who advertise falsely or in a prohibited manner face imprisonment up to six months or a fine up to fifty thousand baht. Selling goods without a required label, or with an unlawful one, carries similar penalties, with heavier sanctions for manufacturers and importers. These criminal sanctions reinforce the civil protections.