Phuket Yachties Face Two Month Renewal

Phuket Yachties Face Two Month Renewal
Chutima Sidasathian
Thursday, January 9, 2014

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Governor Maitree Intrusud (centre) opens the Phuket Boat Show today

PHUKET: With exquisite timing to the opening of the annual Phuket Boat Show, Customs officials revealed today that yachts will be required to register every two months instead of six months under tightening rules.

The new arrangement - a flashback to a past era before the six months replaced the two months rule - is likely to be the talk of yachting circles and will anger some sailors.

About 1500 yachts visit Phuket each year, a meeting about public transport at Phuket Provincial Hall in Phuket City was told today.

''For those who come and go from Phuket it will not be such a hardship but it will be difficult for those who put their yachts in for long-term repairs,'' said Phuket Tourist Association Vice president Sarayuth Mallam.

Phuket Customs Director Nanthita Sririkub told Phuketwan later that the new regulation had been announced on December 26.

A formal letter announcing the reduction of the registration period from six months to two months arrived yesterday, she said.

''Next Wednesday we will invite yachtspeople to discuss the issue,'' she said, ''And if it is not popular then it will be changed back eventually.''

Concern about safety and security appeared to have driven the change back to the old timetable, she said, which meant inconvenience for some. The fine for missing the date for reregistering would rise from 500 baht a day to 1000 baht a day, she said.

The eleventh annual Phuket Boat Show - also known these days as Pimex - was due to be formally opened today at the Royal Phuket Marina where it will run until Sunday.

phuketwan.com

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Originally Posted by Mid

Concern about safety and security appeared to have driven the change back to the old timetable

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Interesting but I sure don't see the connection.

There are increasing yacht invasions. Not reported in Thai media, unless corey. With the increase in violence and the unrivalled of laying shit mooring buoys in shallow water at Chalong the word is out in the yachting world. (The moorings are attached to large concrete blocks by rope. The rope rubs on the concrete blocks and the bouts and yachts drift off.)

A new yacht haven has been opened in Krabbi. It is a huge complex, unfortunately it is outside of town and only accessible on a high tide. Unfortunately all this tied to the "New Law" tells Yacht travellers that it is a better bet to take your boat else where.

Phuket yachties petition against boat stay law as wave of contract cancellations hits
Saran Mitrarat
Saturday, February 1, 2014

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Phuket Customs Director Nanthita Sririkub admitted that the new boat stay regulation has been enforced since January 7.
Photo: Gazette file

PHUKET: The yachting and marine industry in Phuket has launched a petition calling for Customs officials to repeal the new regulation limiting boat stays in Thailand to a maximum of two months during any one visit.

The news comes as contracts for berths at Phuket marinas for six months or longer are being cancelled.

“Some boats in Phuket are undergoing long-term repairs and the owner is not in the country,” one yacht services representative told the Phuket Gazette.

“When repairs are complete, the owner will have to pay overstay fees of 1,000 baht per day up to a maximum of 10,000 baht.

“Many boats are being taken to Langkawi, where there is no tax and they can stay as long as they want,” the representative said.

The petition has been sent for signature to at least 21 yacht and marine services companies on the island.

Phuket Customs Director Nanthita Sririkub confirmed that the regulation has been in force since January 7.

The admission from Ms Nanthita flies in the face of her January 9 statement that the new rule would not be enforced in Phuket until she received clarification from her superiors in Bangkok (story here).

“The regulation has been introduced… We have to follow our orders from Bangkok. Which means right now, we are already using the new regulation for permits-to-stay for foreign boats entering Thailand,” Ms Nanthita confirmed.

Ms Nanthita declined to comment further on the issue, other than to point out that she has met with representatives from Phuket’s marine and yachting industry, who unanimously oppose the new restriction.

Ms Nanthita has also sent a request to Bangkok asking her superiors to reconsider the drastic reduction in boat-stay periods, as already reported on January 10 (story here).

“We asked [Thai Customs officials in Bangkok] to be flexible for Phuket and to allow us to continue using the previous regulation while we waited for their decision, but the protests in Bangkok have forced our head office to close. We are still waiting for their official response,” she explained.

Although the new rule (explained here) offers visiting yachts a maximum stay of two months, one Phuket Customs official today warned that the initial permit-to-stay for a boat might be as short as one month.

“It depends if the owner is accompanying the boat, or if it is just the captain and crew,” said the official – who declined to be named in this report, saying that he did not have the authority to confirm the new rule or how it would be applied.

“We can be flexible in issuing permits-to-stay. We will consider each application case by case.”

The new rule has stirred outrage throughout Phuket’s yachting and marine industry.

“We were first told about the new rule on January 7, and that was when they [Customs officials] had already started enforcing it,” a representative from one local yachting company told the Gazette.

“They wouldn’t show us any documents announcing that the new rule had come into effect, but they did force us to comply."

“The new regulation is not good for yachts coming to Phuket. We offered our suggestions on January 15. However, we have no idea if those ideas have been passed on to Bangkok. We can only hope they will revert to the previous rules.”

phuketgazette.net

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Originally Posted by Mid

“We can be flexible in issuing permits-to-stay. We will consider each application case by case.”

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Originally Posted by Mid

one Phuket Customs official today warned that the initial permit-to-stay for a boat might be as short as one month.

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Indeed a flexible approach. :rolleyes:

It"s back to 6 months at present

Just to put this in perspective here is some stuff I discovered about motorbikes.

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Thailand has its own vehicle temporary papers that are issued on arrival at the border.
Subject to local insurance you are normally granted import for the length of your visa (one, two or three month), up to a maximum of 6 months.
The overstay fine is 200 baht a day, with a maximum fine of 2,000 baht for up to 6 months overstay; plus a stern warning not to do it again, or you will lose your bike. I’ve seen a few warnings given out to other riders over the years, & it’s embarrassing to be around at the time!
Note that nothing is actually stamped in your passport. The Customs temporary import form is a separate document, recorded in the Customs computer, but not at all connected to the immigration computer.
Quite a few riders keep their bikes in the country on a temporary import, overstay up to 5 months, pay a 2,000 baht fine, take the bike out, ride back in again, to repeat the whole process yet again.
Note also that the temporary import form, signed by you, stipulates a huge fine (more than the bike is worth) should you not take the bike out as agreed.

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So it would seems that the yachts are not being unfairly treated? Depending of course on the "renewal fee".

All depends how you look at it! If Thailand wants to keep Yachties at arms length no problem. Lots of other places to go that want us to spend money. Most countries fall over backwards to attract the big spenders of the fleet. Big boats have big maintenance fees and need crews. Small boats often need to lay over.

Boats can now stay 6 months and apply for a further 6 months. Which would suit me fine:)

Cruising boats flee Thailand after rules change
Sat 1 Mar 2014

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'Chalong Bay - 20% of foreign-flagged boats left in the two months it took to get the law rescinded' .

Governments of the world beware. Countries popular with cruising sailors reap good economic benefits, but cruising yachts are designed to move, and cruising sailors will vote with their lifted anchors when authorities, by design or accident, make it difficult or more expensive for visiting yachts. Many countries have experienced this, and Thailand is only the latest.

By a bureaucratic mistake which included boats in a new law actually meant for motor vehicles, 20% of the visiting yachts to Phuket left in the first two months after the law was passed on December 26. According to Nunthita Wirikup, Director of the Phuket Customs Department, 'This 20 per cent (of the foreign-registered boats) left in the eight weeks it took us to get the two-month rule rescinded on February 19.'

Before December 26 last year, foreign-registered yachts could be kept in Phuket for up to six months but on that date, according to the Phuket News, the Customs Department brought in a new rule that owners or skippers must 're-register' their boats every two months during the six months.

Now, that rule has been dropped. In fact, the regulations have been relaxed and more is to come, said Ms Sirikup in an interview with Phuket News, after she has consulted with other relevant government departments.

For now, she said, the rules state that a foreign-flagged yacht may be kept in Phuket waters for up to six months. A relaxation of the rules means this period may be extended by four months by applying to the Phuket Customs Office and a further two months by application to the Southern Region Customs Director, Prayuk Maneechot, who is based in Songkhla, overseeing all 17 custom offices in the South.

These extensions, she stressed, will be given only in cases of special need. She added, 'The total maximum duration is not more than one year, though we might be able to allow an extension beyond one year in cases of dire necessity.'

Mrs Nunthita told The Phuket News, 'The reason we changed to two months previously, was that the Customs Department [in Bangkok] made the mistake of issuing the new rules based on the need to curb smuggling of cars.

'When the two-month rule was issued, I did not know they were going to do this. I had to chase the problem all the way up to Rakop Srisuppaaod, the Director-General in Bangkok, to approve reverting to the old six-month yacht stay rules.

'Now we are using the same law but adjusting some of the basic rules to suit the needs of boat owners or captains, but we need time to correct some of the other rules so that they are the same countrywide.

'I would like to see the Phuket Customs Department become the centre for administration of the customs regulations applying to boats. This is under consideration [in Bangkok].'

Apart from the ability to get extensions of stay for a boat, Mrs Nunthita explained other changes that have now been brought in that should gladden the hearts of yachties.

'The old rule linking the length of stay for a boat with the owner or captain’s personal permit to stay in Thailand has been cancelled.' Previously a boat was not allowed to be kept in Thai waters after the owner of captain’s permit to stay expired. Both boat and owner had to leave together.

But, Mrs Nunthita stressed, 'The boat stay is temporary only. It is not permanent. If you want the boat to stay here permanently without any problem, you should register your boat under the Thai flag.'

Asked about the fees, she told The Phuket News, 'There is no charge to extend the stay of a boat. However, if the boat ‘overstays’, people should understand that the old fine of B500 ($15) a day has been increased to B1,000($30) per day, up to a maximum of B10,000 ($300).

sail-world.com

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Originally Posted by VocalNeal

Just to put this in perspective here is some stuff I discovered about motorbikes.

Quote:

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Thailand has its own vehicle temporary papers that are issued on arrival at the border.
Subject to local insurance you are normally granted import for the length of your visa (one, two or three month), up to a maximum of 6 months.
The overstay fine is 200 baht a day, with a maximum fine of 2,000 baht for up to 6 months overstay; plus a stern warning not to do it again, or you will lose your bike. I’ve seen a few warnings given out to other riders over the years, & it’s embarrassing to be around at the time!
Note that nothing is actually stamped in your passport. The Customs temporary import form is a separate document, recorded in the Customs computer, but not at all connected to the immigration computer.
Quite a few riders keep their bikes in the country on a temporary import, overstay up to 5 months, pay a 2,000 baht fine, take the bike out, ride back in again, to repeat the whole process yet again.
Note also that the temporary import form, signed by you, stipulates a huge fine (more than the bike is worth) should you not take the bike out as agreed.

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So it would seems that the yachts are not being unfairly treated? Depending of course on the "renewal fee".

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Interesting as I drive a car registered in MY and have enjoyed the 6 months to a temporary import, 30 days, with a 90 day and then a 60 day renewal. The new rule has me heading down town every month, and of course including a return trip the next day to pick up the signed extension on the permit. My plans are to leave on Oct ober 15, and asI only got until Oct 6 as my visa expires, I plan on getting a 7 day extension at immigration, but then the car permit is expired

So Are you sure about these relatively lax rules on vehicle overstay? I asked and was told 1000 a day, but I do worry about the 2,100,000. assigned bond value ( crazy crazy price).

Thanks in advance