Bridging Legal Systems in The Era of Digital Commerce: A Comparative Study of Indonesia and Thailand

Abstract

Digital commerce has transformed cross-border economic relations in Southeast Asia while exposing the limits of territorially bounded regulation. Indonesia and Thailand, two major ASEAN digital markets, have adopted rules on electronic transactions, consumer protection, personal data, cybersecurity, and platform services, yet differences in regulatory structure and enforcement continue to generate uncertainty. This article examines how the two legal systems may be bridged without eliminating legitimate national regulatory autonomy. It employs normative legal research using statutory, conceptual, and comparative approaches. Primary materials include Indonesian and Thai legislation, UNCITRAL instruments, and ASEAN agreements; secondary materials comprise peer-reviewed scholarship and authoritative books on digital trade, data governance, platform regulation, and online dispute resolution. The analysis finds substantial normative convergence in functional equivalence, electronic authentication, privacy protection, and consumer confidence, but identifies divergence in platform supervision, institutional design, cross-border data-transfer safeguards, and remedial mechanisms. It argues for functional harmonization based on minimum interoperable standards rather than wholesale legal unification. A proposed Indonesia–Thailand legal bridge consists of mutual recognition of trustworthy electronic transactions, compatible data-governance safeguards, risk-based platform accountability, coordinated consumer redress, and interoperable online dispute resolution. Such an approach can strengthen legal certainty, preserve regulatory space, and support an inclusive ASEAN digital economy sustainably.