NP
Narun Popattanachai
Thailand
Director, Regulatory Impact Assessment & Evaluation of Law at Office of the Council of State
Description
Narun is currently the Director of Impact Assessment and Evaluation of Law, Law Reform Division, Office of the Council of State, Thailand (OCS). In this role, he leads the national legislative and regulatory policy development works, including the reform of Thailand’s Electronic Transaction Act as well as the introduction of the Digital Platform Economy Bill, both of which will provide the future-proof, AI-ready legal and regulatory framework that enables sustainable growth for Thailand’s digital economic sector. Previously, he contributed to many important economic laws, notably, the Emergency Decree on Digital Asset Businesses 2018 (known as Thailand’s crypto asset regulation) and Credit Information Business (Amendment) Act 2022.
Cognizant of the dramatic paradigm shift in the post COVID-19 pandemic world, he has been steering the digital transformation projects to facilitate meaningful citizen engagement in the legislative process, resulting in the launches of Thailand’s rulemaking participating portal (law.go.th) and the machine-readable, public legal e-database (ocs.go.th). Currently, both portals attract almost 2.5 million visits and 700,000 comments on regulatory proposals. In addition, he founded and managed the TH2OECD platform, an AI-augmented webservice for Thailand’s OECD Accession Process, which assist government agencies in drafting the Initial Memorandum and preparing the technical reviews.
In 2023, he was seconded at Regulatory Policy Division, Public Governance Directorate of the OECD Secretariat Office from the Government of Thailand. At the OECD, he engaged in regulatory developments in Southeast Asia and Middle East. Since December 2023, he has been a member of the OECD Better Regulation in the Digital Age (BRIDGE) Expert Group, helping to modernize the regulatory governance approach that fits for the digital world, chiefly among which is the governance of AI-powered services. Most recently, he was chosen as a Responsible AI Fellow joining a cohort of thought leaders from around the world to discuss AI regulation and governance under the auspices of the Washington DC-based Stimson Center and Microsoft’s Office of Responsible AI.
Narun researches and teaches on the topics including law and finance, law and disruptive technology, financial technology (fintech) as well as securities regulation for both national universities and academic institutions in the Asia Pacific region. He read law at University College London (UK), graduating with Upper Second Class (2:1) honours. He went on to complete two master’s degrees from UCL and Columbia Law School (USA) respectively as well as a doctorate (J.S.D.) also from Columbia in 2018. He has been a non-practicing member of the New York Bar since 2013.
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