RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE S/NGMTS/W/2/Add.29
27June1995
ORGANIZATION(95-1732)
Original: English Negotiating Group onMaritime Transport Services
COMMUNICATION FROM THAILAND
Response toQuestionnaire onMaritime Transport Services
Thefollowing communication iscirculated attherequest ofThailand tomembers ofthe
Negotiating Group onMaritime Transport Services.
_______________
I. Market structure
Vessels
1. ThestructureofThaifleetover1,000GRT,excludingfishingandothernon-commercialvessels,
asofJanuary 1994.
STRUCTURE OFNATIONALLY-OWNED OROPERATED FLEET (1993)
Type ofvessels1Number ofVessels Deadweight Tonnage
National Flag2Foreign Flag National Flag2Foreign Flag
OilTankers 57 n.a. 283,419 n.a.
Liquified GasCarriers 7 n.a. 8,470 n.a.
Chemical Tankers - n.a. - n.a.
Combination Carriers 12 n.a. 168,395 n.a.
Ore/Bulk Carriers 15 n.a. 192,624 n.a.
General Cargo 78 n.a. 607,677 n.a.
Container Ships 10 n.a. 124,656 n.a.
Refrigerated Carriers 5 n.a. 10,653 n.a.
Specialized Cargo - n.a. - n.a.
Ro-Ro - n.a. - n.a.
Ferries andPassenger 7 n.a. 9,628 n.a.
Other - n.a. - n.a.
AllVessels 191 n.a. 1,405,522 n.a.
1Vessels of1,000 grtandabove, excluding fishing andother non-commercial vessels.
2Where applicable, separate datashould beprovided onvessels andtonnage registered under second
orinternational registers.S/NGMTS/W/2/Add.29
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Trade
2. Thetotalinternational trade carried byseaof1993 isasfollows:
Quantity: 84,774,000 tons(94.40 percent);
Value: 1,587,431 millions baht(75.20 percent).
3. Thecargo of1993 carried bysea:
Export: 33,856,000 tons(92.3 percent) or689,510 millions baht(73.2 percent);
Import: 50,918,000 tons(95.9 percent) or897,921 millions baht(76.8 percent).
4. Theestimated share oftotalinternational trade carried byseainterms ofquantity which is
carried byThaivessels is9.50percent.
5. Notavailable.
Organization ofcargo
6. Notavailable.
7. Notavailable.
8. TheUnited Nations Code ofConduct forLiner Conferences isnotapplicable inThailand.
9. Thailand hasbilateral shipping agreements withChina andVietnam which contain clauses
regarding cargo sharing between therespective contracting parties. However, theclauses havenever
beenimplemented andwillberepealed induecourse.
10. Notavailable.
11. Notavailable.
Portandauxiliary services
12. Following aretheresponses:
(1) Total national porttraffic forinternational tradecargoes in1993was84.7million tons;
(2) Klong Toey andLaem Chabang Ports, in1994, handled about 90percentoftotalliner
cargo;
(3) In1994,containerthroughputofinternationaltradeatallnationalportswas1.98million
TEUs.
13. There arenoforeign suppliers present inthemarket asregards theindicated auxiliary services.
Butanumber ofindicated services arejointly invested and/or operated withlocalpartners.
14. None.S/NGMTS/W/2/Add.29
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II. Regulatory structure
General
1. Twodepartments oftheMinistry ofTransport andCommunications areresponsible forthe
matters ofmaritime transport:
1. TheHarbour Department.
TheHarbour Department regulates andcontrols thematter ofnavigation, maritime
safety, pilotage, shipregistration including pollution from ships;
2. TheOffice oftheMaritime Promotion Commission.
TheOffice isresponsible foroverall shipping policy.
2. None.
3. None.
4. None.
5. InThailand there areGovernment-owned ports andprivate ports. Some Government-owned
ports areoperated byprivates intheforms ofleasing orconcession. Private portsarerequired tohave
licence asstipulated intheAnnouncement oftheNational Executive Council No.58.
Re:TheControl ofPublic Utility Business
6. Thailand doesnotusetheterm"international maritime transport".
7. Thailand doesnotusetheterm"national shipping enterprise".
Market access
8(a) No.
8(b) No.
8(c) No.
8(d) Asprovided under thehorizontal commitments. Please seeAnnex 1.
9(a) No.
9(b) Service suppliers ofInland Clearance Depot andContainer Freight Station arerequired tobe
incorporated under Thailawwithatleast60percentofequity owned byThaiandhaving business
relating tointernational maritime transport.
10. Yes,asprovided under thehorizontal commitments. Please seeAnnex 1.
11. ThaiVessels ActB.E. 2481 (1938) stipulates thattheshipowner must havethefollowing
qualifications:
1. Being incorporated under Thailaw;S/NGMTS/W/2/Add.29
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2. having itsheadoffice inThailand;
3. meeting allofthethree requirements asfollows:
(a) Themajority ofitsdirectors haveThainationality;
(b) thecompany regulations donotallow itsshare certificate tobeissued tobearer.
(c) proportion orequity inthecapital isinaccordance witheither ofthefollowing
formulations:
(i) notlessthan51percentofthecapital belong tonatural persons of
Thainationality;
(ii) notlessthan51percentofthecapital belong tojuristic persons
established under Thailawwithallshare holders anddirectors being
natural persons ofThainationality;
(iii) allofthecapital belong totwoormore juristic persons which may
byitself ownaThaivessel. Inthiscase, whether there isanatural
person owning partofsuchcapital isimmaterial.
11(a) No.
11(b) No.
11(c) No.
National treatment
12(a) None.
12(b) None.
Access toanduseofportfacilities
13. Except ballast waste disposal andemergency repair facilities, alloftheindicated services are
available totheuserofGovernment-owned ports.
14. Pilotage, garbage collecting atport,navigation aidsandanchorage, berthandberthing services.
15. Alloftheservices areavailable onnon-discriminatory basis.
16. There arenodiscriminatory measures restricting access toseaports onthesameterms asnational
servicessuppliers.Similarly,thereisnoportinvolvedininternationaltrafficwhichisclosedorrestricted
forentrance ofvessels owned oroperated byforeign nationals.
17. No.
18. There aremeasures mandating theuseofport handling equipment facilities without
discrimination.
19. No.S/NGMTS/W/2/Add.29
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Most-favoured-nation treatment
20. Thebilateral shipping agreements between Thailand-China andThailand-Vietnam haveclauses
asregards theshare ofcargo traded bygovernmental organization oftherespective contracting party.
However, theclauses havenever beenimplemented andwillberepealed induecourse.
21. Asin20.
22. No.
23. No.
24. According tobilateral shipping agreements, Thailand grants most-favoured-nation treatment
tothevessels ofChina andVietnam when theyareengaged inentering, leaving orberthing atThai
ports. Similarly, portfacilities, including those forloading, discharging, stacking andstorage purposes
onwharf, shore andwater aswellasnavigation aidsandpilotage services atThaiports arefurnished
tothevesselsofbothcountriesunderthetermsofmost-favoured-nationtreatment.However,inpractice,
nopreferential treatment hasactually beengiven toships ofanycountry.
25. No.
26. No.
Government procurement
27. Imported government cargoes arerequired tobecarried byThaiflagship.
28. No.
Competition law
29. TheThaianti-trust lawsarenotapplicable tomaritime transport sector.
(a) Notapplicable.
(b) Notapplicable.
(c) Notapplicable.
(d) Notapplicable.
Shipping conferences
30. There isnolegislation dealing withshipping conference.
31. Notapplicable.
32. Notapplicable.
33. Notapplicable.
34. Notapplicable.S/NGMTS/W/2/Add.29
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Shipper/carrier relations
35. Noarrangement exists.
36. Notapplicable.ANNEX 1
THAILAND -SCHEDULE OFSPECIFIC COMMITMENTS
Modes ofsupply: (1)Cross-border supply (2)Consumption abroad (3)Commercial presence (4) Presence ofnatural persons
Sector orsub-sector Limitations ofmarket access Limitations onnational treatment Additional commitments
I. HORIZONTAL COMMITMENTS
ALL SECTORS INCLUDED IN
THIS SCHEDULE
(3)Unless otherwise specified,
commercial presence insectors or
subsectors inthisschedule ispermitted
onlythrough alimited liability
company which isregistered in
Thailand andwhich meets the
following conditions:(3)Unless otherwise specified,
national treatment forthis
mode ofdelivery is
unbound.
(a)Foreign equity participation must
notexceed 49percentofthe
registered capital; and
(b)Thenumber offoreign
shareholders must belessthan
halfofthetotalnumber of
shareholders ofthecompany
concerned.
(4)Unless otherwise specified, temporary
movement ofnatural persons is
unbound except inthefollowing
categories:
Note: Thescope andclassification ofsubsectors contained inthisschedule, unless otherwise specified, corresponds totheexplanatory notes forservices
listed inthe1991Central Product Classification (CPC) oftheUnited Nations Statistical Office, while theordering isbased ontheServices Sectoral
Classification Listsetoutindocument MTN.GNS/W/120 dated 10July1991.
GATS/SC/85
Page1GATS/SC/85
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THAILAND (continued)
Modes ofsupply: (1)Cross-border supply (2)Consumption abroad (3)Commercial presence (4) Presence ofnatural persons
Sector orsub-sector Limitations ofmarket access Limitations onnational treatment Additional commitments
(a)Anatural person whostays in
Thailand fornotmore than90
daysforthepurpose of
participating inbusiness meetings
orcontacts, entering intocontract
tosellorpurchase services,
visiting ofbusiness establishments
orother similar activities;
(b)Acorporate transferee ofthe
managerial orexecutive levelora
specialist, provided thatsuch
person hasbeenemployed bythe
company concerned outside
Thailand foraperiod ofnotless
thanoneyearimmediately
preceding thedateofhisorher
application foradmission andhas
satisfied thecriteria for
management needs1stipulated by
theDepartment ofEmployment.
Temporary entry islimited toa
one-year period andmaybe
extended forafurther twoterms
ofnotmore thanoneyeareach.
1Inconsidering managerial needs, thefollowing factsshallbetaken intoconsideration bytherelevant authority, namely: 1.Sizeoffullypaid-up capital; 2.Employment
creation; 3.Extent offoreign investment; 4.Export promotion; 5.Transfer oftechnology; 6.Special needs ofthemanagement.THAILAND (continued)
Modes ofsupply: (1)Cross-border supply (2)Consumption abroad (3)Commercial presence (4) Presence ofnatural persons
Sector orsub-sector Limitations ofmarket access Limitations onnational treatment Additional commitments
(3),(4) Regarding acquisition andusage
oflandaccording totheLand
Code ofThailand, foreign
nationals ordomestic companies
which aredeemed foreigners are
notallowed topurchase orown
landinThailand. However, they
maylease landandown
buildings. Foreigners arealso
allowed toownpartof
condominium units under the
lawsandregulations governing
theownership ofcondominiums.
GATS/SC/85
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