Thailand Law Library

by Thailand Lawyer

Chapter 15: General Provisions

If any vessel loads or discharges any articles or goods or performs any work on Sunday or public holiday or before or after official working hours as prescribed in a Ministerial Regulation, except where the permission of the Director-General or a competent official has been previously obtained and the legal fees in accordance with the scale prescribed by the Minister in a Ministerial Regulation have been paid, the master of the vessel or agent, or both shall be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty thousand Bath, but their liabilities under this section shall not absolve them from liabilities under any other section of this Act.

Whenever it is necessary for the protection of benefits in the revenue of the State to place an official on board a vessel at a place not within easy access from the nearest customs station, or whenever a master of a vessel or other interested persons request the attendance of an official at such place, all travel expenses and a daily fee at the rates prescribed by the Minister in a Ministerial Regulation shall be charged to the vessel, or to the applicant.

In the case where a competent official considers that there is a question on the amount of duty of any goods which are clearing through customs, such goods shall be taken to the Customs House or placed in any secure place, unless the competent official and the owner of the goods or his agent agree that only a sample shall be taken for determination of the question. In order to safeguard the revenue of the State, the amount of duty declared in the shipment entry by the importer or exporter, as the case may be, shall be paid and an additional sum of money covering the maximum duty payable on such goods shall be deposited as security but the Director-General may issue a Notification that a security by the Ministry of Finance or a bank shall be accepted in lieu of such additional deposit, and may prescribe the conditions for such performance as considered appropriate.

In the case where a security is given under section 112 and the competent official has assessed the amount of duty payable and notified the importer or exporter, as the case may be, the importer or exporter shall pay the duty in the amount notified within thirty days as from the date of receiving the notice.

In the case of cash security and the cash security given is sufficient to cover the amount of duty assessed by the competent official, such cash security shall immediately be applicable to the payment of the assessed amount of duty, and the importer or exporter shall be deemed to have paid the notified amount or duty within the period specified in paragraph one.

In the case where an importer or exporter does not pay the full amount of duty within the time limit specified in paragraph one of section 112 bis or does not comply with the regulations or conditions prescribed by the Director-General pursuant to section 40 or section 45, the Director-General or a person authorized by him may levy a surcharge not exceeding twenty percent of the amount of duty or additional duty payable. This surcharge shall be deemed as duty.

When the importer or exporter pays the duty or additional duty, a surcharge at the rate of one percent a month of the amount of duty paid, calculated not on a compound basis, as from the date of release or exportation to the date of payment shall be collected, but such surcharge shall not be collected in the case of the payment of additional duty under section 102 ter, sub-section 3.

In the case where there is a conversion of a guarantee to cash security after the release or the exportation of goods, a surcharge shall be collected and calculated at the rate of one percent a month, calculated not on a compound basis as from the date of release or exportation to the date of deposit of cash security in substitution of the guarantee. But in the case where such cash deposit is insufficient to cover the duty, a surcharge shall also be collected for the additional duty payable on the basis provided in paragraph one.

In the calculation of a surcharge under paragraph one and two, a fraction of one month shall be counted as one month, and the surcharge shall be deemed as duty.

In the case where the duty paid or the cash security is to be refunded on account of an excess collection of the amount or additional amount payable, the refund shall be made together with an interest at the rate of 0.625 percent a month of the refund amount, calculated not on a compound basis, as from the date of payment of duty or deposit of last cash security to the date of approval of the refund. In the case where cash security is given in substitution of a guarantee after the release or the exportation of goods, the interest on the cash security to be refunded shall be calculated from the date of latest deposit of cash security to the date of approval of the refund. In the calculation of interest under this paragraph, a fraction of one month shall be counted as one month and shall be deemed as duty to be refunded.

In the case where an importer or exporter fails to pay duty, the Director-General or a person authorized by him shall have the power to detain any goods of such person which are passing through customs or are in any way under the supervision of the customs until all duties have been duly paid. Where payment is not made within thirty days as from the date of the detention of such goods, the Director-General shall have the power to order the sale by auction of such goods and the proceeds of such sale shall be first used as payment for the duty in arrears, the duty on the auctioned goods, the costs of storage, removal and other charges due to the customs, and any balance remaining therefrom shall be used as payment of any other charge reasonably owed to the storekeeper, and any balance remaining thereafter shall be paid to the agent of the vessel importing the auctioned goods. Any balance remaining after the foregoing deductions shall become property of the State unless claimed by the owner of the goods within six months as from the date of sale by auction.

An importer or exporter has a right to appeal the assessment of duty by a competent official to the Appeal Commission in accordance with the rules prescribed by the Director-General within thirty days as from the date of the receipt of such assessment. In the case where the importation or exportation of goods is in a Changwat other than Bangkok Metropolitan, the appeal can be made through the Customs House or the Regional Customs Bureau, and shall be in accordance with the rules prescribed by the Director-General.

The Appeal Commission shall consist of the Director-General as Chairman, a representative of the Ministry of Finance, a representative of the Office of the Council of State and qualified persons appointed by the Director-General in the number of five but not exceeding seven persons. The Appeal Commission shall appoint the officials of the Customs Department as Secretary and Assistant-Secretary. The Secretary shall also be a member.

A qualified member appointed by the Director-General shall hold office for a term of three years.

Upon the expiration of a term under paragraph one, if a new member is not yet appointed, an outgoing member shall remain in office to perform the duties until a newly appointed member takes office.

The appointment of a new member shall be within thirty days as from the date of expiration of term.

An outgoing member may be re-appointed but shall not serve for more than two consecutive terms.

In addition to vacating office at the expiration of term, a qualified member appointed by the Director-General vacates office upon:

1. death;
2. resignation;
3. being a bankrupt;
4. being an incompetent or quasi-incompetent person;
5. having been dismissed by the Director-General owing to incompetence in the performance of duty or serious misbehaviour;
6. having been sentenced by a final judgment to a term of imprisonment, except for an offence committed through negligence or a petty offence.

In the case where a member vacates office before the expiration of term, the Director-General shall appoint another person to replace such member and the replacing member shall hold office for the remaining term of the member he replaces.

At a meeting of the Appeal Commission, the presence of not less than one-half of the total number of the members is required to constitute a quorum.

If the Chairman of the Appeal Commission is not present at the meeting or is unable to perform the duties, one member shall be elected to preside over the meeting.

A decision shall be by a majority of votes. One member shall have one vote. In the case of an equality of votes, the person presiding over the meeting shall have an additional vote as casting vote.

Any member who has an interest in the matter then being decided, shall not attend a meeting or cast a vote in respect of such matter.

For the purpose of an appeal adjudication, the Appeal Commission or a competent official shall have the power to issue a summons requiring an appellant or any person concerned to give an oral statement, or to submit accounts, documents, evidence or data in any form or any other thing concerned with the appealed case, within a period of time of not less than fifteen days as from the date the warrant was sent.

If an appellant does not comply with a summons under paragraph one or does not appear for an oral inquiry without reasonable grounds, the Appeal Commission shall dismiss such appeal.

The Appeal Commission shall have the power to appoint a sub-committee to perform any entrusted duty and report to the Appeal Commission.

The provisions of section 112 decem and section 112 undecim, shall apply mutatis mutandis to the meeting of a sub-committee appointed by the Appeal Commission.

The members of the Appeal Commission and the members of the sub-committee appointed by the Appeal Commission shall be competent officials under the Penal Code.

The decision of the Appeal Commission shall be final. In the case where a decision is subsequently amended, the amended decision shall not have retroactive effect except in the case of a final judgment resulting in amendments to the Appeal Commission’s decision where an authorized competent official shall execute the judgment where related to retroactive punishment only with the parties to the case.

In the case where additional duty or cash security for duty paid is insufficient, an appeal under section 112 sex does not have reasons for the postpone of payment of duty assessed by a competent official unless the appellant obtains the approval of the Director-General or a person authorized by the Director-General to await for a decision on the appeal or a judgment in which case payment shall be made within thirty days as from the date of receipt of the decision on appeal or from the date of notice of the final judgment, as the case may be.

In the case where there is an appeal decision to pay additional duty, the appellant shall pay within the same period of time prescribed in paragraph one.

The appeal decision of the Appeal Commission shall be in writing and sent to the appellant.

The appellant has the right to appeal the decision of the Appeal Commission by filing a case at a Court within thirty days as from the date of receipt of the appeal decision with the exception of the case where the Appeal Commission dismissed the appeal pursuant to section 112 duodecim.

Any person who does not comply with the summons of the Appeal Commission or a competent official under section 112 duodecim shall be liable to imprisonment for a term of not exceeding six months or to a fine of not exceeding fifty thousand Baht, or to both.