The e-commerce market in Southeast Asia is one of the fastest-growing and most promising with its projection to grow to USD 11 billion in 2025. According to the Electronic Transactions Development Agency, in 2017 the total e-commerce market in Thailand was estimated at USD 2 billion. The total Thai e-commerce revenue is expected to reach USD 3.5 billion in 2018. The driving factors arise from increased Internet and mobile phone use as well as improved logistics and e-payment systems.
Source: www.export.gov
Yet with rapid growth of e-commerce transactions, closing of transactions via the traditional exchange of signatures opens the door to various issues. For banks and payment service providers there is always the problem of chargebacks. Of course, verification methods are on the increase but the starting point in closing a digital transaction is an e-signature.
Under Thai law, an “e-signature” is a letter, character, number, sound, or any other symbol created in electronic form which can be used in conjunction with electronic data for establishing the relationship between a person and such electronic data.
The law clearly expresses that the enforceability and binding effect of electronic data cannot be denied or rejected because such data is produced electronically or is in an electronic form. An e-signature is automatically considered reliable / trustworthy if such e-signature: (i) is created and linked exclusively to its owner; (ii) is created under the exclusive control of the signatory without other persons involved; (iii) any change to such e-signature must be detectable and identifiable; and (iv) any amendment to an executed document using such e-signature can be detected and identified.
Practically speaking, an e-signature using Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) technology is currently recognized under Thai law as a secure and reliable technology. Thus technologies using PKI for e-signatures are legally binding and enforceable.
For more information, contact John P. Formichella at: [email protected].