Parliament Members Push Commerce Ministry to Regulate Online Platform Fees After Small Sellers Face Heavy Profit Cuts

Parliament members are calling on the Commerce Ministry to regulate online platform fees after small merchants have been hit with heavy profit margins. During a 9:00 a.m. session on May 14, 2026 at Parliament, with Sophon Sarum presiding, members discussed the government's approach to setting commission rates on various online platforms, which is currently having a severe impact on people earning their living online.

Jury Num Gaeo, a Democratic Party member from Songkhla, raised concerns about the state's direction and measures regarding commission fees, or "GP fees," on online platforms. He emphasized that earning through online platforms has become a vital artery of Thailand's economy, but the growing problem is the constantly rising fee caps that the government cannot control.

Jury noted that platform commission fees are essentially a "booth rental" or "market head fee" that merchants must bear. He illustrated the impact with an example: if someone sells 100 baht worth of goods, they now must pay 30 baht in platform fees. For 1 million baht in sales, platforms take 300,000 baht—compared to the original free model.

Having been involved in online commerce from the beginning, Jury observed that when platforms once charged only 2-3%, they now constantly increase rates, with all profits ultimately flowing to the platform. He cited a notable example: a seller earned 2.1 million baht but had to pay the platform 700,000 baht, something entirely beyond their control.

Jury warned of deeper consequences extending beyond merchants to consumers. When sellers earn smaller profits, they must cut costs by reducing raw material quality, ultimately affecting product standards and creating a cascading problem for the future.

Jury urged the Commerce Ministry and related agencies to take action. He stated that if they can accept online merchants and OTOP vendors gradually collapsing one by one, they need do nothing. However, if they wish to prevent this growing crisis, they must regulate GP fees and platform commissions to fair levels proportionate to product percentages and categories.