Registering a Yacht in Thailand
Can foreign nationals register a yacht in Thailand
Yes, a foreign national can own 100% of their yacht and can register a yacht in Thailand in their own name. You will however need to able to establish that you have an address in Thailand which we’ll cover in detail later in this Post.
Types of registration
There are many types of boat registration but the primary category that is applied to a yacht is that of Sports & Recreation. This category is only applicable to Privately owned yachts. Yachts under this category can not be used for business or operate commercially.
Yachts registered under the Sports & Recreation category have a great deal of freedom, in essence you may use your yacht freely within 15nm from shore and ply the waters freely from province to province without the need to inform the relevant provincial Harbour Masters.
The restrictions are:
The Registration Document will require an assigned Skipper.
Inspection and permission document is required to leave Thai waters.
or Aside
A note on how the Harbour Dept. identifies the size of a vessel (GRT).
Thailand employs the traditional measure GRT or Gross Registered Tonnage when referring to the size of a vessel. This size specification is often used and confused interchangeably with the terms displacement.
In fact the GRT of a vessel is not a measure of displacement or the length or weight of the vessel, it is the volume of space within the hull and enclosed space above the deck which are available for cargo, stores, fuel, passengers and crew. It is a measurement of the available volume, in cubic meters.
So how big is your Yacht in GRT, well the Harbour Department will calculate that for you and you can find plenty of calculators on line. To give you a feel for things, a regular sailing boat (keelboat) yacht of 45ft would come in at approx 8 GRT, note however, modern catamarans don’t fair well in this calculation, a 425ft Catamaran would be more like 23 GRT
Yacht registration documentation
Transferring the registration of a yacht from the Seller to the Buyer (that has been brokered by ISC).
Documents provided by the Broker
• Purchase and Sale Agreement Original
Documents required from the Seller
All document copies must be signed by the provider in BLUE PEN
- 3 copies of Sellers Passport including: data page, visa page & departure card.
- Residency letter from the Thai immigration office (ref what is this below).
- Sellers Power of Attorney for registering the Sale Agreement with the local Government office.
- Sellers Power of Attorney for registering the Sale Agreement with the Revenue Dept.
- Sellers Power of Attorney for registering a Tax ID.
- Sellers Power of Attorney for ownership change provided by the Harbour dept. (ref note below).
- Tax ID Number (ref note below).
- The original yacht registration book.
- Picture of yacht (Left side and Right side).
Documents required from the Buyer
All document copies must be signed by the provider in BLUE PEN
- 3 copies of Buyers Passport including: data page, visa page & departure card.
- Buyers Power of Attorney for registering the Sale Agreement with the local Government office.
- Buyers Power of Attorney for registering the Sale Agreement with the Revenue Dept.
- Buyers Power of Attorney for registering a Tax ID.
- Buyers Power of Attorney for ownership change provided by the Harbour dept. (ref note below)
- Residency letter from the Thai immigration office (ref what is this below).
- Tax ID Number (ref note below)
Fees
Revenue Department
The Revenue Department charges a stamp duty of 0.5% of the purchase price to when providing the Official Bill Of Sale.
Agent fees
TBA case by case
What is a residency letter?
The Harbour department needs a valid address in Thailand to reference in the yacht registration book.
The immigration office facilitates this by issuing a letter stating that you have provided them with proof of a residential address. Please note that this letter is only valid for the duration of your visa, if you do not have sufficient time left on your visa for the registration transfer to take place (minimum two weeks) you may be required to provide a new valid letter to the Harbour
department before they will issue the registration book.
A proof of a residential address letter can be obtained on your behalf, the required documents are:
- Original passport
- Copy of passport (Identity page, Visa Page and Departure Card)
- Copy of Hotel Receipt, house register (Ta Bien Baan) or a form of property rental lease or agreement.
What is a Tax ID
The sale of boats larger than 5 Gross Tonne must be registered with the local government and stamp duty paid to the Revenue Department. To facilitate this process both the Buyer and the Seller are required to have a Thai Tax ID.
If you do not have a Thai Tax ID one can be obtained on your behalf, the documents required are:
- Power of Attorney to obtain a Tax ID (ref attached sample)
- 1 Copy of passport (Identity page, Visa Page and Departure Card)
- Copy of Ta Bien Baan or Residence Certificate (With address in Amphur Sattahip or Banglamung)
Power of Attorney
These documents gives the recipient authority to sign documents, make instructions and submit and receive document related to the transfer of the yacht registration on your behalf. The recipient may be either a member of the ISC staff or a subcontracted Agent.
Ref translated copies via the links below
Translated POA for Harbour Dept
