Thailand's 2015 Special 301 report

In its Special 301 report this year Thailand was maintained on the Priority Watch list. There are concerns over a lack of government priority for IP enforcement and weak coordination among government entities despite the National IPR Center of Enforcement operating since in 2013.

Outside practical enforcement, issues are raised about the backlog of pending patent applications, widespread unlicensed software in the public and private sectors, growing Internet-based copyright piracy, rampant trademark counterfeiting, lengthy civil IPR proceedings and low civil damages, the protecting of unfair commercial use, as well as unauthorized disclosure, of test data generated to obtain marketing approvals for pharma and agrochem products, and finally extensive cable and satellite signal theft.
 
On one hand the report praises the new Customs Act that provides Thai Customs officers with ex officio authority to suspend and seize illegal goods in transit, as well as copyright law amendments to address unauthorized camcording. On the other it complains of poor laws relating to the lack of a much-needed landlord liability provision, inadequate protections against the circumvention of technological protection measures and unauthorized modification of rights management information, and unclear operation of ISP notice-and-takedown procedures.

The Special 301 Priority Watch List doesn't compare countries at the same level. The interesting comparison with Indonesia reads in Thailand's favour since many of the above are complex IPR issues most of which are not even discussed in relation to Indonesia, given that Indonesia faces much more fundamental problems. Thailand is a more developed market so the US expects a higher level of IPR protection.