Thailand Law Library

by Thailand Lawyer

Any person who refuses to produce any certificate, statement, declaration, record, or other data to a competent official who requires their submission or production or as required for submission or production under this Act or any law relating to the customs, or any person who neglects to produce such certificate, statement, declaration, record, or other data within a reasonable period of time or a specified time and in accordance with the form prescribed by the law shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand Bath.

In the case where there are reasonable grounds to suspect that there has been a violation or non-compliance with any provisions of this Act or other laws relating to the customs, the Director-General or a person authorized by the Director-General, or a competent official authorized by the Director-General or a person authorized by the Director-General by a written order, shall have the duties of inspection with the following powers:

1. to enter the place of business of an importer, exporter, agent of a vessel, agent of such persons or a relevant person or other places relevant with such person, in the period between sunrise and sunset or during official working hour. In such case there shall also be the power to order such person or other persons in such place to perform any act necessary for the inspection;
2. to inquire the facts or require the production of accounts, documents, evidences or data in any form or other things involved in the commission of an offence from the importer, exporter, agent of a vessel, agent of such persons or a person involved in the importation or exportation;
3. to seize or attach accounts, documents, evidences or data in any form or other things that may be used to prove an offence under this Act or other laws relating to the customs.

Any person who obstructs or fails to comply with the order of the Director-General or a person authorized by the Director-General or a competent official under paragraph one shall be liable to imprisonment for a term of not exceeding one year or to a fine of not exceeding one hundred thousand Bath, or to both.

In the case where there are reasonable grounds to suspect or there is a detection of an offence under this Act or other provisions of law relating to the customs, for the purposes of conduction and investigation in connection with the offence, the competent official shall have the power to order the importer, exporter, agent of a vessel, agent of such person or a person involved in the importation or exportation, to give an oral statement or facts or a written statement or order such persons to send the accounts, documents, evidences and data in any form or other things involved in the commission of the offence for inspection whereby a period of time not exceeding seven days as from the date of receipt of the order shall be given to such person.

Any person who violates or fails to comply with paragraph one shall be liable to imprisonment for a term of not exceeding one year or to a fine of not exceeding one hundred thousand Bath, or to both.

In the case where an offender liable to a penalty under this Act is a juristic person, a managing director, a managing partner or a person responsible for the operation of such juristic person shall be liable to the penalties provided for such offence unless it can be proven that such offence was committed without his knowledge or consent or he has acted reasonably in preventing such offence.

In the performance of duties of the Director-General, the person authorized by the Director-General or a competent official under this Act shall be rendered all reasonable assistance by the persons concerned.

Any person who does not assist the competent official under paragraph one shall be liable to a fine of not exceeding twenty thousand Baht.

In the performance of duties under this Act, the Director-General, a person authorized by the Director-General or a competent official shall show his identity card to the persons concerned.

The identity card shall be in accordance with the form prescribed by the Director-General as published in the Government Gazette.

A duplicate of any certificate, entry, or document, and account or non-confidential statement may be issued when the Director-General deems fit on payment of a fee prescribed by the Minister in a Ministerial Regulation.

The loading, discharge, carrying and landing of goods, the transport of goods to a place for examination, the necessary or permitted weighing, scaling, opening, repacking, bulking, sorting, lotting, marking and numbering, the transport of goods to an storage of in a proper place until duly delivered, shall be performed by and at the expense of the importer or exporter. The Customs Department shall not be held responsible for any damage sustained on the goods while such goods are in the Customs Department’s custody and supervision not caused by a wilful act or an incompetent performance of duty.

All cases or packages containing goods shall bear marks and numbers and such marks and numbers shall be shown on all documents relating to such goods.

Any person who commits an offence under this Act and no other penalty for such offence is provided by this Act or any other law, such person shall be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty thousand Bath.

The provisions of this Act shall prevail in all matters concerned with the customs where inconsistent with the provisions of other Acts or Notifications in forced, and Acts or Notifications which will come into force at a future date shall not be deemed as repealing, restricting, altering, or withdrawing the powers under this Act unless such new Act or Notification expressly states such an intention.

This Act shall equally apply to the importation and exportation of goods or to any kind of trade across the territorial boundaries of the Kingdom as to trade by sea. All the provisions, requirements, and penalties of this Act shall be applicable in so far as possible in connection with such land trade notwithstanding the use of words or terms ordinarily applicable to shipping, and such words or terms shall mean and include trains, vehicles, carriers, beast of burden, aircraft, Customs boundary post, airports prescribed as tax checkpoints, the loading, discharge, as the case may be, or other like words or terms applicable to land or air traffic whenever necessary for the purpose of this section.

The Minister of Finance shall have charge and control of the execution of this Act and shall have the power to issue Ministerial Regulations prescribing official holidays and official working hours for the Customs, fixing fees, charges, license fees, price of forms and travelling expenses and anything concerned in order to carry out any performance in accordance with these provisions.

Such Ministerial Regulations shall come into force as from their publication in the Government Gazette.

Notified on this 30th July B.E. 1926.