What should a Cargo Survey Services Agreement include under Thai law?

1. Definitions and Interpretation
2. Appointment and Survey Instructions
3. Performance of Surveys
4. Access and Safety
5. Evidence
6. Reports
7. Scope and Limits of the Surveyor's Opinion
8. Technology and Artificial Intelligence
9. Expert Evidence
10. Fees and Payment
11. Taxes and Stamp Duty
12. Ownership and Use of Reports and Evidence
13. Confidentiality and Personal Data
14. Liability
15. Insurance
16. Independence and Anti-Corruption
17. Force Majeure
18. Term and Termination
19. Notices
20. Governing Law and Disputes
21. General

• Survey services that end in a report are treated as a hire of work (Instrument 4 of the Stamp Duty Schedule). Duty is 1 THB for every 1,000 THB or part of 1,000 THB of the fees. On the Contract Value you entered, the duty on the original is the amount the system calculates from the figures entered, and each counterpart carries the amount the system calculates from the figures entered.Because the Fees are in …, convert the Contract Value to Thai Baht at the exchange rate on the date of signing and calculate the duty on the Baht amount. Each counterpart carries 5 THB, or 1 THB if the duty on the original is 5 THB or less.
• The Surveyor pays the duty (Clause 11.3). If the Fees actually received exceed the Contract Value, more duty becomes payable when they are received. An unstamped agreement cannot be used as evidence in a Thai civil court until the duty and a surcharge of up to six times the duty are paid (Revenue Code section 118).

• Survey fees are normally subject to VAT at the standard rate. A Thai company or juristic person that pays a Thai surveyor normally withholds 3% (Revenue Department Order Tor.Por. 4/2528, clause 12/1). A surveyor abroad follows different rules; take advice before the first payment.

• Say in each Survey Instruction what questions you need answered and who else may rely on the Report, such as your insurer (Clauses 2.2 and 7.3).
• Ask the carrier, terminal or consignee to give the Surveyor access and not to move or dispose of the damaged cargo before the Survey (Clause 4.1). Evidence lost before the Survey rarely comes back.
• The Surveyor must tell you if it also acts for the carrier, the receiver or an insurer in the same matter (Clause 2.3).

• Keep the Report and the original photograph files (Clause 5.4). Photos with their original date and location data carry more weight with insurers and courts.
• The Report is a professional opinion based on what the Surveyor could see. It does not decide who is liable or whether your insurance pays (Clause 7.2).
• The copyright in Reports and photographs belongs to you as the commissioning party (Clause 12.1), so you may give them to insurers, carriers and courts.
• The Surveyor's liability is limited per Survey Instruction (Clause 14.2). For surveys of high-value cargo, choose a higher fixed limit and check the Surveyor's professional indemnity insurance.

• A survey report supports your claim but does not preserve it. Give written notice of damage to the carrier within the time its contract or the law requires, and start proceedings before the limitation period ends; for carriage of goods it may be as short as one year from delivery.

• Photographs may show people, identity cards or vehicle plates. You are the data controller and the Surveyor is your data processor for that data (Clause 13.2). Ask for obscured copies before sharing Evidence widely.

• A company should sign through the director or directors authorised in its latest company affidavit, with the company seal if the affidavit requires one.
• A Thai court works in Thai. A Party that relies on this Agreement, a Report or other English documents in a Thai court must file certified Thai translations.

Compiled from the notes that accompany the English contract templates on this site, published by Phuwara Krobtaku (ภูวรา ครอบตะคุ), Thai attorney-at-law, licence no. 477/2558. The short answer and summary at the top of this page are put together by the site from the template's clause headings and notes. Statutes are quoted only in the official Thai text: Thai is the only official language of Thai legislation, and an unofficial translation can mislead. Article registry OKC-B0A138. If you reuse this content, please credit the author and link to the original.