Yes, scraping public data in Thailand is generally permissible, but strict adherence to privacy and intellectual property laws is required. Publicly accessible information does not automatically grant unrestricted use, as the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) 2019 and Copyright Act B.E. 2537 (1994) impose constraints. The Office of the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) and Department of Intellectual Property (DIP) enforce compliance, with 2026 amendments tightening penalties for unauthorized data aggregation.
Key Regulations for Scraping Public Data in Thailand
- Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) 2019: Prohibits scraping personal data without explicit consent, even if publicly available. Exceptions exist for journalistic or research purposes, but aggregation risks violating Section 26 on lawful processing.
- Copyright Act B.E. 2537 (1994): Restricts scraping copyrighted content (e.g., government reports, databases) without permission. Automated extraction tools may infringe Section 32 on reproduction rights.
- Computer Crime Act B.E. 2560 (2017): Criminalizes unauthorized access to computer systems, including scraping via bots. The Royal Thai Police Cyber Crime Division actively monitors violations, with 2026 amendments increasing fines to THB 5 million for repeat offenders.
Practical Considerations: Avoid scraping personal identifiers, respect robots.txt directives, and obtain prior consent for proprietary datasets. The Thai Data Protection Committee (TDPC) advises conducting a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) before large-scale extraction to mitigate legal exposure.