Thailand Law Library

by Thailand Lawyer

Chapter 6: Exportation

Before the exportation of any goods from the Kingdom, an exporter shall have fully complied with this Act and other laws relating to the Customs, duly submitted a shipment entry and paid the full amount of duty or deposited cash security. An application for the deposit of cash security shall be in accordance with regulations as prescribed by the Director-General.

In the case where there is an application and the Director-General considers it necessary for any goods to be exported urgently, he shall have the power to allow the exportation of such goods without prior compliance with the provisions of paragraph one but under the conditions specified by him, and in the case where the goods may be dutiable, cash or other securities to his satisfaction shall be required as a guarantee for the payment of duty.

If it is in any way necessary in connection with the Customs to determine the precise time at which the exportation of any goods is deemed to have been completed, it shall be deemed that exportation has been completed as from the time at which the vessel exporting such goods left the limits of the port of final departure from the Kingdom.

Before any goods are loaded onto a vessel or transported for loading onto a vessel for exportation from the Kingdom, two copies of a shipment entry in the prescribed form (Schedule 5) shall be lodged with and accepted by the competent official.

No export goods shall be loaded onto any vessel, until the competent official has granted an “inward clearance” unless special permission has been granted.

Before any vessel, whether loaded or in ballast, is cleared for departure from the Kingdom, the master, or in his unavoidable absence a person authorized in writing by him, shall report to the competent official at the Customs House and shall answer any question of the competent official concerning the vessel, the goods, and the voyage and shall deliver to such official an account of goods in such vessel in the form prescribed in Schedule 6 or such other form as may be prescribed by the Director-General. The master shall produce, for inspection, the vessel’s certificate of registry, inward clearance and such other evidence as may be required that all due charges on the vessel or goods have been paid for.

Upon due satisfaction that the law has been complied with, a clearance in the form prescribed in Schedule 7 shall be granted by the competent official. A clearance fee shall be charged in accordance with the scale as prescribed in a Ministerial Regulation.

If any vessel departs from a port in the Kingdom for foreign regions without a clearance or without complying with the requirements of the following sections, the master, or in his absence, his agent, if proven to have acted in collusion with him, shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand Bath.

If any vessel having received a clearance at one port proceeds to any other port in the Kingdom to load goods for exportation, the master shall, after loading such goods at such other ports, deliver to the competent official thereat a written account of the additional goods loaded and shall also produce the clearance granted at the first port of departure. Such performance shall be repeated at every port until a final clearance is obtained for departure from the Kingdom. In each instance the additional clearance certificate shall be attached to the clearance certificate issued at the first port of departure. A fee shall be charged for each additional clearance certificate, in accordance with the scale as set forth in the Ministerial Regulations.

The master of every vessel carrying exported goods shall lodge or cause to be lodged by his agent a manifest at the Customs House within six full days from the date of issuing of a clearance certificate, which shall contain the full particulars of the goods set forth in accordance with the official export account. Such manifest shall be furnished in duplicate and shall be accompanied by a certificate in the form prescribed in Schedule 8 of this Act.

The master of every vessel which has been cleared for departure shall deliver to the competent official an account of the passengers carried on board his vessel before leaving the limits of the port. Such account shall show the number, sex, and nationality of such passengers, and shall be in such form as prescribed by the Director-General.

The master of every vessel with a registered tonnage of under two hundred tons departing from the Port of Bangkok shall obtain a Paknam Pass before sailing and shall deliver such pass to the competent official at Paknam. The master of any other vessel departing from the Port of Bangkok shall proceed at a reduced speed when passing through a Customs Checkpoint at Paknam, and when hailed by a Customs official shall answer by giving the name and destination of the vessel. A master who commits an offence under this section shall be liable to a fine not exceeding forty thousand Bath.

If the loading of goods onto any exporting vessel is continued for more than twenty-one days from the commencement of such loading, or if any exporting vessel having loaded goods remains in port beyond such period, a charge as prescribed by the Minister in a Ministerial Regulation shall be imposed and a competent official may detain such vessel until such charge, and any other expense which have been incurred in watching the vessel, shall have been paid. The Director-General may exempt the charge upon production of reasonable proof that the delay was unavoidable.

If any goods which have been bonded or guaranteed that they will be exported on any vessel was not duly loaded before the departure of such vessel, such goods shall be forfeited unless notice of the reasons for the non-shipment thereof was given to the competent official immediately after the departure of the vessel in order that he may certify the short shipment. If such goods have not been warehoused or issued a new shipment entry for exportation on another vessel by entering under bond or security within fourteen days after the final clearance of the vessel, the submitter of the export entry shall be liable to a fine not exceeding ten thousand Bath.

(Repealed)

All vessels about to leave a port shall fly the blue-peter flag at the foremast. The flag shall be kept hoisted until the voyage commences. In the case of vessels departing in the afternoon the flag shall be hoisted as from the morning. In the case of vessels departing in the morning the flag shall be hoisted as from the previous afternoon. Any master failing to comply with the provisions of this section shall be liable to a fine not exceeding forty thousand Bath.

The transshipment of goods may be permitted once the person authorized to conduct the transshipment has submitted a shipment entry in duplicate in the prescribed form (Schedule 9) provided that no such transshipment shall take place except with the permission and in the presence of a competent customs official.

(Repealed)

If any goods upon which a drawback is claimed or allowed is loaded onto a vessel or transported to a quay, wharf or other place for exportation and the competent official finds after an examination that the goods description are inconsistent with the shipment entry, shipping bill, claim form, or other documents, or if the claim in respect of such goods appears to be fraudulent in any respect, all such goods and packages as well as other articles contained therein shall be liable to forfeiture. The applicant for such exportation and drawback claim shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or a fine not exceeding five hundred thousand Bath or treble the amount of the drawback claimed or both the fine and imprisonment.