On March 7, 2022, the government of Vietnam issued Resolution No. 27/NQ-CP (“Resolution 27”) approving the promulgation of the latest version of the Draft Decree on Personal Data Protection (“Draft PDPD”) prepared by the Ministry of Public Security (“MPS”), and further instructed the MPS to pass this draft to the National Assembly’s Standing Committee for final consideration. Although the full content of the approved Draft PDPD has not been made available to the public, Resolution 27 clearly sets out several circumstances approved by the government in which processing of personal data can be carried out without the consent of the data subjects. In comparison with the corresponding provision under the widely seen version of the Draft PDPD made available to the public in February 2021 (“February Draft”), the main differences are as follows: If the data processing is necessary in response to an emergency situation that threatens the life, health, or safety of the data subject or other individual, the data controller, data processor, data controller/processor, or a third party can process the personal data without consent of the data subject, but they are responsible for proving that the situation is an emergency. The February Draft did not mention any requirement of proof. Moreover, “safety of the data subject or other individual” is a newly added criterion for personal data processing without consent under this circumstance. If the data processing is necessary because of national defense and security requirements, the processing must be carried out by competent authorities in accordance with other laws. The requirement that the processing must be carried out “by competent authorities” in this circumstance was not provided under the February Draft. Two circumstances have been removed: the processing of personal data in compliance with specific provisions that explicitly allow the processing of personal data without

On February 15, 2022, Thailand’s cabinet approved in principle a package of incentives to promote electric vehicle (EV) adoption in Thailand, with the aim of making the country an EV manufacturing hub in Asia. A week later, the cabinet approved further draft regulations including specific information on customs duty reductions and exemptions for certain types of imported EVs. The plan includes both tax and non-tax incentives from 2022 until 2025. In the first two years (2022–2023), the package incentivizes the widespread use of EVs in Thailand by providing exemption or reduction of import duties and excise tax, as well as subsidies to increase the demand for EVs and attract investment in the EV industry. These incentives will cover the importation of completely built up (CBU) cars and motorcycles, and the local manufacturing of completely knocked down (CKD) vehicles in Thailand. For the following two years (2024–2025), the plan promotes the use of domestically produced EVs by eliminating the exemption or reduction of import duties for CBU vehicles while maintaining the other incentives (e.g., reduced excise tax rates, and subsidies). The aim of this is to make the cost of CBU vehicles higher than locally produced vehicles to encourage operators to produce EVs in the country to meet increasing demand. Additional measures encourage the manufacturing of EVs in Thailand, including exemption of import duties for parts imported between 2022 and 2025, and treatment of the value of imported battery cells as a cost of local manufacturing (up to 15% of an EV’s retail price). This is beneficial to local manufacturers of EVs, as their activities will be entitled to a more generous incentive package than importation of EVs. At their meeting on February 22, 2022, Thailand’s cabinet further approved draft subordinate regulations, including specific reductions and exemptions of customs duty

On February 14, 2022, Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced a public hearing period on proposed advertising regulations for digital asset businesses. The public hearing period is now open for general comments until March 15, 2022. In the announcement, the SEC expressed their intention to provide clear digital asset advertising principles that conform to regulations in other countries, such as Singapore, the UK, and Japan. The SEC, in a meeting on February 3, agreed that the principles to be developed should apply to all digital asset businesses operating in Thailand. During the public hearing period, any interested parties may comment on the SEC’s proposed principles, which include the following key points: Advertisements that educate, inform, or give facts about digital assets, investments or services, or that provide an overall picture of digital assets, must not exaggerate, distort, or conceal information, or otherwise mislead consumers. In addition, advertisements that refer to customer numbers must only indicate the number of customers who have received approval to open an account and who are ready to use the service. Advertisements must be clear and appropriate, provide a warning on investment risks, and include clear and noticeable SEC-mandated statements in the font size stipulated by the SEC. Advertisements that present positive information or suggest an opportunity to receive returns must provide a balanced view that also discloses negative information or states investment risks. Advertisements relating to cryptocurrencies can only be made via a business operator’s official channels (e.g., the operator’s website, app, or other official online channel), and cryptocurrency cannot be advertised in public areas (e.g., billboards, public transportation, websites, newspapers and periodicals, etc.). However, advertisements for the services of a digital assets business can still be made in public areas and other channels. For example, this can be understood as meaning that