Are terms and conditions required for a website in Thailand?
No single Thai rule says every website must publish terms and conditions. A brochure site for a restaurant or a consultancy that only shows information and a contact form can run without them.
But the moment your site sells, takes bookings, holds user accounts or accepts content from visitors, terms stop being optional in practice: they are how you set the rules of the deal and limit disputes.
The document the law does expect from almost every site is different: a privacy notice. Thailand's Personal Data Protection Act requires you to tell people how you handle their personal data, and that applies even to a five-page site with one enquiry form. Our guide to PDPA Thailand rules for websites explains that duty. So if you publish only one legal page, make it the privacy notice; add terms when your site starts forming agreements with users.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Have a Thai lawyer draft or review your terms.
What terms and conditions actually do
Terms and conditions (also called terms of service or terms of use) are a contract between you and the people who use your site. They set out what you offer, on what conditions, and what happens when something goes wrong. Thailand's Electronic Transactions Act recognises agreements made electronically, which is why accepting terms online can create a binding arrangement.
In practical terms, good terms answer the questions that otherwise turn into arguments by phone or LINE chat:
- When is an order or booking confirmed, and what does the price include?
- What happens if the customer cancels, or if you have to?
- Who owns the photos, text and designs on the site, and can others reuse them?
- What are users not allowed to do, such as posting abusive reviews or scraping prices?
- Which law applies and where disputes are handled?
Terms cannot override the law. Under Thailand's Unfair Contract Terms Act B.E. 2540, clauses in standard-form contracts that are unreasonably one-sided can be limited or disregarded. So a line saying "we accept no liability for anything" does not protect you the way many owners assume.
Which websites need terms and conditions?
Use what the site does, not its size, to decide.
Online shops
Any site that takes payment, whether by card, PromptPay QR or cash on delivery, needs terms covering pricing, payment, delivery, returns and refunds. Without them, every dispute is argued from scratch.
Booking and reservation sites
Hotel and resort websites, clinics, spas, tour operators and restaurant websites that take reservations online need cancellation rules, deposit handling, no-show policy and what happens if you cancel. Guests from abroad in particular read these before they book.
Membership and account areas
If users log in, for example to a B2B price list or a course, terms should cover account security, acceptable use and when you can suspend access.
Sites with user content
Reviews, forums, comments or uploads need rules on what may be posted, who owns it, and your right to remove it.
Brochure sites
A simple information site may only need a short terms of use page covering copyright in your content and a disclaimer about the information shown. It is useful, but not where your effort should start.
Online shops: what Thai customers must be told
Selling to consumers online in Thailand brings consumer protection law into play, and your terms have to fit it rather than contradict it. We keep this section to points you can check with the regulator.
- Consumer protection oversight. The Office of the Consumer Protection Board (OCPB) administers the Direct Sales and Direct Marketing Act B.E. 2545, which covers selling to consumers at a distance, including online. Depending on your business, you may need to register as a direct marketing operator; check the OCPB's current rules.
- Cancellation and returns. That Act gives consumers a right to cancel certain direct marketing purchases within a set period after receiving the goods. Your returns clause should reflect that right, not narrow it. Confirm the current period and conditions with the OCPB or your lawyer.
- Who the seller is. Customers should be able to find your business name, address and contact details. Online sellers may also need to register electronic commerce with the Department of Business Development; that detail belongs in a separate guide.
- Delivery. Say which couriers you use (Thailand Post, KEX Express (formerly Kerry Express), Flash Express or J&T), typical delivery areas, who pays shipping, and what happens if a parcel is lost.
- Payment and tax documents. List accepted methods and whether customers can request a tax invoice, including an e-Tax invoice where you issue them.
Our E-commerce package, from THB 50,000 as an indicative one-time price, sets up PromptPay, cards, COD, Thai couriers and e-Tax invoices on Shopify or WooCommerce, and places your terms at checkout. The wording itself comes from your lawyer.
Terms, privacy notice and cookie policy
These three pages are often lumped together in a footer, but they do different jobs and answer to different rules. The privacy notice is the one the PDPA expects; our guide to writing a PDPA privacy policy covers its contents section by section. Consent for marketing is handled on the forms themselves, as explained in our article on the PDPA consent form and cookie banner. Do not fold consent into your terms: accepting terms to place an order is not consent to receive promotions.
| Terms and conditions | Privacy notice | Cookie policy | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | A contract with users | Information about personal data use | Detail on cookies and trackers |
| Legal driver | Contract and consumer law | PDPA duty to inform | PDPA, through consent for optional cookies |
| Who needs it | Shops, bookings, accounts, user content | Almost every site that collects personal data | Any site setting optional cookies |
| How users meet it | Accepted at checkout or sign-up | Linked at every form and in the footer | Linked from the cookie banner |
| Can it be bundled? | Separate page | Separate page | Own page or a section of the privacy notice |
Clauses most business sites include
Your lawyer will shape these to your business, but a Bangkok business site that sells or takes bookings usually ends up with the headings below. Copying another company's terms is risky: they describe someone else's delivery, refund and payment practice, may cite a foreign law, and can contain clauses that are unenforceable against Thai consumers.
- Who we areBusiness name, address, contact details and how to reach you about an order.
- Orders and pricingWhen an order or booking is confirmed, what prices include, and how errors in listed prices are handled.
- PaymentAccepted methods such as PromptPay, cards and COD, and when payment is due.
- Delivery or serviceCouriers, areas served, timing estimates and risk of loss in transit.
- Cancellations, returns and refundsThe process and timelines, consistent with consumer law.
- Intellectual propertyWho owns the content and what users may do with it.
- Acceptable useWhat users must not do on the site, especially where they post content.
- LiabilityReasonable limits, written with the Unfair Contract Terms Act in mind.
- Governing law and disputesThai law and how complaints are handled.
- Changes and languageHow updates are announced, the effective date, and which language version prevails.
Making them count, and keeping them current
Acceptance
A link in the footer that nobody opens gives you weak evidence that a customer agreed to anything. Where terms matter, ask for active acceptance: an unticked checkbox at checkout or sign-up reading "I have read and accept the terms and conditions", linked to the page, with the order blocked until it is ticked. This is often called clickwrap. Keep a record of which version each customer accepted.
Language
If your customers are Thai, publish a Thai version they can actually read. For a hotel or clinic with international guests, add English and state which version prevails if they differ. If you also sell to Europe, check how your approach fits there; our PDPA and GDPR comparison covers the privacy side.
Updates
Review the terms when you add a payment method, change couriers, launch memberships or change your returns policy. Date every version. A yearly review alongside our PDPA website audit checklist keeps both legal pages aligned with how the site really works.
We build the pages and the checkout acceptance; we do not draft contracts. Our PDPA compliance builds cover cookie consent, the privacy notice page and consented forms, and we wire your lawyer's terms into checkout and sign-up. To see what that means for your site, ask for a price for your project.
More on PDPA and websites
Sources
- Personal Data Protection Act B.E. 2562 (2019), English translation, Ministry of Digital Economy and Society
- Office of the Consumer Protection Board (OCPB)
- Office of the Council of State (Krisdika): Thai legislation including the Unfair Contract Terms Act B.E. 2540 and Electronic Transactions Act B.E. 2544
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