What should a Yacht Charter Agreement include under Thai law?

1. Definitions and Interpretation
2. The Charter
3. Owner's Obligations
4. Guests and Conduct
5. Master's Authority and Weather
6. Bareboat Skipper
7. Fuel, Provisions and Expenses
8. Charter Fee and Payment
9. Security Deposit and Damage
10. Cancellation
11. Breakdown
12. Late Return
13. Liability
14. Personal Data
15. Notices, Law and Disputes
16. General

• Check the Yacht's Thai registration and its licence to carry passengers, and never take more Guests than the licence allows (Clauses 2.1 and 3.2). Keep copies on board.
• Send the passenger list in Schedule 2 to the Owner at least 3 days before embarkation (Clause 4.1). The Owner uses it for the marine and national park authorities.
• For a bareboat charter, the skipper needs a certificate recognised in Thailand for a vessel of this size (Clause 6.1). A foreign person acting as skipper for others, or a foreign owner running a charter business, may face work permit and foreign business restrictions. Check this before accepting the booking.- For a crewed charter, the Owner's captain and crew must hold the Thai certificates required for the Yacht (Clause 3.4). The captain decides all safety matters (Clause 5.1).
• Recommend that Guests have travel insurance that covers water activities.

• Inspect the Yacht together, fill in the condition report in Schedule 1 and take dated photographs, including the fuel gauge and engine hours (Clause 9.2).
• The Owner may deduct from the security deposit only for damage caused by the fault of a Guest or the skipper, with evidence, and not more than … per incident unless there was gross negligence, alcohol or drugs, or a breach of the main prohibitions (Clauses 9.3 and 9.4). Damage not recorded at disembarkation must be notified within 48 hours (Clause 9.5).

• The monsoon on the Andaman coast usually brings rough seas from about May to October. If the Yacht cannot leave port for more than 24 hours because of the weather, the Charterer receives other dates or a refund for the lost time (Clause 5.3).
• Cancellation charges are penalties under Thai law that a court may reduce, and the Owner refunds them if it re-charters the same dates (Clause 10.2).

• The advance provisioning allowance is the Charterer's money. The Owner must account for it with receipts and refund any balance within 7 days (Clause 7.3).
• A VAT-registered Owner issues a tax invoice for each payment. A Thai company that charters the Yacht may need to withhold tax: 5% if the charter is treated as a rental of property, or 3% if it is treated as a service. Agree beforehand which applies.

• No stamp duty is payable on a bareboat charter. It is a lease of movable property, and only leases of land, buildings, other structures and floating houses are listed in the Stamp Duty Schedule.- A crewed charter combines the use of the Yacht with the services of the crew. Revenue officers may treat it as a hire of work (Instrument 4 of the Stamp Duty Schedule): 1 THB for every 1,000 THB or part of 1,000 THB of the fee. On the Charter Fee you entered, that would be the amount the system calculates from the figures entered, paid by the Owner. Ask your accountant how you treat these agreements.

• The Civil and Commercial Code gives a lessor only 6 months after the return of a leased item to claim for damage to it. The Owner should notify and pursue any damage claim well within that period.
• A Thai court works in Thai. A certified Thai translation of this Agreement and of any messages will be needed.

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-63C4C5. If you reuse this content, please credit the author and link to the original.