The Kingdom of Thailand respects all international laws regarding copyrights and trademarks.CopyrightThailand passed a new copyright law in December 1994 that strengthened legal copyright protection and increased the penalties for copyright infringementTrademarksAmendments to the trademark law in 1992 provide higher penalties for infringement and extend protection to services, certification, and collective marks.SERVICES BARRIERSProfessional servicesUnder current Thai regulation, only persons of Thai nationality may be licensed in many professional services, including accounting, architecture, engineering, construction management, brokerage services and legal services. However, there is planning to revise these regulations.INVESTMENT BARRIERSThe announcement of National Executive Council No. 281, commonly known as the Alien Business Law, limits foreign equity in many Thai firms to less than fifty percent. The Treaty of Amity and Economic Relations between Thailand and the United States provides for 100 percent U.S. ownership of companies in most industries. Businesses in the fields of communications, transport, fiduciary functions, natural resources, or trade in agricultural products are excluded from treaty coverage. ANTI-COMPETITIVE PRACTICESThe Communications Authority of Thailand imposes stringent equity and revenue sharing requirements on International Value Added Network Service (IVANs) providers. In conclusion, The World Bank predicts that Thailand will be the world's eighth largest economy within 20 years by the year 2020. Thailand will have a larger economy than Brazil, Britain, France, Italy and Taiwan. Thailand's own National Economic and social Development Board has seen a doubling of the economy in the year 2000 and the Kingdom ranking first in Southeast Asia, among the seven ASEAN states. I feel that this is the perfect timing to invest and I am confident that my business will prosper....
