The Framework

Thailand’s draft Digital Platform Economy Act (DPEA) proposes advanced conduct restrictions on large online platforms that meet specific thresholds: a minimum of ฿7 billion in domestic revenue, 15 million monthly end-users, and 10,000 annual business users over three consecutive years.[1] These platforms—labeled as “gatekeepers” in the legislation—would be subject to 14 obligations that restrict how they can operate their services. The proposed rules prohibit covered firms from limiting third-party sellers’ ability to offer different prices or terms elsewhere, from using non-public business data to compete, and from ranking or integrating their own services ahead of third-party offerings on their platform.^[2] The draft gives the Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA) authority to enforce these rules and issue penalties based on global revenue, without requiring evidence of anticompetitive harm or case-by-case investigation.^[3]

Implications for U.S. Technology Leadership

Thailand’s proposed single-firm conduct rules apply only to platforms that exceed specific thresholds for revenue and users, criteria that functionally target U.S. technology companies. The regulation restricts how these firms operate core aspects of their platforms, including product integration, data usage, and internal ranking systems, without requiring any evidence of anticompetitive harm.^[4] U.S. companies would be compelled to redesign their platform infrastructure to comply with behavioral restrictions that do not apply to local or regional competitors, thereby creating a structural imbalance. These rules penalize the operational scale and integration that define U.S. tech models, undermining the business architecture that has enabled their global success.

The law also threatens the strategic advantages that underpin U.S. technology leadership. By introducing preemptive, jurisdiction-specific design mandates and enabling enforcement based on global revenue, the regulation increases the legal and financial risks for U.S. firms operating in Southeast Asia. If replicated across other ASEAN countries, Thailand’s model could accelerate regulatory fragmentation in the region, making it harder for U.S. firms to deploy unified product features or maintain competitive pricing.^[5] This erosion of scalability and operational consistency weakens the position of U.S. firms in key growth markets and reshapes the digital landscape to favor firms not bound by equivalent constraints.

Endnotes