The Role Of Consumer Dispute Resolution Institutions In Indonesia And Thailand (A Comparative Legal Study On Non-Litigation Mechanisms Of Consumer Protection)

Abstrak

This study examines the role of consumer dispute resolution institutions in Indonesia and Thailand, with particular attention to the non-litigation mechanisms available to protect consumers amid the expansion of the digital and cross-border economy. Using a normative juridical method with statutory and comparative approaches, the research analyses primary legal materials, principally Indonesia’s Law Number 8 of 1999 on Consumer Protection and Thailand’s Consumer Protection Act B.E. 2522 (1979), together with secondary legal literature obtained through library research. The results show that Indonesia resolves consumer disputes mainly through the Consumer Dispute Settlement Body (BPSK), a semi-judicial institution operating under the Ministry of Trade that issues binding decisions through mediation, conciliation, and arbitration, generally within twenty-one to sixty days. Thailand, by contrast, relies on the Office of the Consumer Protection Board (OCPB) together with the Thailand Consumers Council (TCC) and the Thailand Arbitration Center (THAC), which emphasise community-based mediation and have progressively incorporated online dispute resolution. Both systems share the same normative objective of providing consumers with accessible, efficient, and non-litigious remedies, yet they differ markedly in institutional structure, the binding character of settlements, and the extent of digital-technology adoption. This study recommends strengthening the institutional capacity and digital infrastructure of BPSK, drawing on Thailand’s more independent and technologically integrated model, to enhance access to justice for Indonesian consumers, and calls for closer ASEAN-level harmonisation of consumer dispute resolution standards.