Fishing rights may only be granted to Thai nationals or companies with more than 70% Thai ownership that are registered and headquartered in Thailand.

No license for fishing shall be issued to: (a) any alien, or (b) any ordinary partnership, unless all its partners shall have Thai nationality, or (c) any limited partnership, unless all its partners jointly and unlimitedly liable shall have Thai nationality, and not less than seventy percent of its capital shall be owned by natural persons having Thai nationality, or (d) any limited company, unless the majority of its directors shall have Thai nationality and not less than seventy percent of its capital shall be owned by natural person having Thai nationality, and such company shall have no regulations permitting the issue of shares to bearer. The partnership or company which is entitled to obtain such license must have been registered under the Thai law, having its principal office in the Kingdom of Thailand.

If the person, partnership or company who or which has already obtained license for fishing afterwards becomes disqualified to be granted license as provided in Section 5, such person, partnership or company shall notify the issuing official of same within fifteen days from the date of becoming disqualified and, at the same time, to surrender the license. In such case the issuing official shall cancel such license.

In applying for registration of a Thai vessel in the category of a fishing vessel, the applicant shall, in addition to compliance with the provisions on registration of Thai vessels, have obtained a certificate in support of the submission of the application to the Vessel Registrar. The applicant shall apply for a certificate under paragraph one by submitting an application therefor to the Department of Fisheries in accordance with the rules, procedures andconditions prescribed by the Director-General of the Department of Fisheries, provided that the following certification must at least be made: (1) that the applicant for registration is under no prohibitions for the purpose of being granted a fishing licence under the law on fisheries; (2) that the vessel to which the application for registration of a Thai vessel relates has never been used for the commission of offenses under the law on fisheries; (3) that the vessel to which the application for registration of a Thai vessel relates is not under any legal proceedings against it.

“Thai fishing vessel” means a fishing vessel registered as a Thai vessel pursuant to the law on Thai vessels.

Requests for permission, filings for registration, grants of permission, acceptances of registration, issuances of licenses, renewals of licenses and the transfer of licenses pursuant to this Royal Ordinance shall be in accordance with the rules, procedures and conditions provided by Ministerial Regulation. Any such Ministerial Regulation may fix duties and fee rates not exceeding those stipulated in the schedule annexed to this Royal Ordinance. A Ministerial Regulation for the determination of duties or fees issued pursuant to paragraph one may impose different rates, taking into consideration the types, kinds, sizes or numbers of fishing vessels, or fishing gears, or the types, kinds, sizes, nature or forms of aquaculture enterprises or fishing operations.

A commercial fishing licensee must provide an occupational safety and hygiene system, as well as provide proper working conditions for seamen as prescribed by Ministerial Regulation.

A commercial fishing licensee must not engage in a fishing operation in coastal seas.

Any person wishing to engage in commercial fishing must obtain a commercial fishing license issued by the Director-General or a person designated by the DirectorGeneral. The issuance of a license pursuant to paragraph one shall be executed specifically for a particular fishing vessel. The number and type of fishing gears authorized for the purposes of fishing operation, areas in which fishing operations are to be undertaken, the maximum allowable catch of aquatic animals allowed for fishing operations or the period during which fishing operations are allowed shall also be specified on the license in alignment with the fishing capacity and the maximum sustainable yield of aquatic animals for the purposes of sustainable fisheries stipulated in the Fisheries Management Plan.

Any person requesting a license pursuant to section 32, section 35 and section 36 must not be under any of the following prohibitions: (1) being convicted by a final court judgement due to a commission of any offense under section 114, and a period of five years has not yet lapsed since the judgment day; (2) being aperson whose fishing license is being suspended; (3) being a person subject to an order of the Director-General issued pursuant to section 113(1) or (5) and a period of five years has not yet lapsed since the day of the order; (4) being a person subject to an order of the Director-General issued pursuant to section 113(2) and the prohibition period has not yet expired; (5) being a person whose fishing license has been revoked and a period of five years has not yet lapsed since the revocation to the day of the license application; (6) a foreign state or international organisation has given written notice that a suspension of such person’s fishing authorization has not yet expired or that fishing authorization has been revoked by the competent authority of such state or international organisation; (7) being a person whose fishing license has been revoked twice within a period of five years.

The Director-General shall have the power to issue the following orders against any person engaging in a fishing operation which constitutes a serious infringement:

(1) seizure of the aquatic animals and aquatic animal products obtained from any

such fishing operation or seizure of fishing gear;

(2) prohibition of any fishing activity until full compliance is achieved; (3) suspension of license for a period not exceeding ninety days each time; in this regard, an order may also be issued to prohibit the use of any such fishing vessel until the license suspension period expires;

(4) revocation of license and publicly listing the fishing vessel as a vessel used in

IUU fishing;

(5) detention of any such fishing vessel or demanding that a security be

deposited where such infringing fishing vessel is a non-Thai fishing vessel.

When seizing aquatic animals or aquatic animal products pursuant to (1), the Director-General may order the owner or master of the vessel to take care of and store the aquatic animals and aquatic animal products on boardthe vessel in the same conditions.

When issuing an order pursuant to paragraph one, the Director-General shall take into account the severity of the infringement, recidivism andthe prevention of recidivism.

The following acts shall be regarded as fishing operations

constituting severe infringements pursuant to section 113:

(1) use of a stateless vessel to engage in a fishing operation pursuant to section

10;

(2) fishing without a fishing license or a license for the use of a fishing gear

pursuant to section 31, section 32, section 35, section 36 or section 48;

(3) failure to comply with section 81; (4) preparing a fishing logbook or reporting a fishing operation based on a false document or destroying a document or evidence related to the commission of an offense;

(5) fishing in excess of the quantities or the condition prescribed in section 36, fishing in a prohibited area pursuant to section 56, or fishing during a prohibited period pursuant to section 70;

(6) modification of a fishing gear under section 42, or use of a prohibited fishing

gear pursuant to section 67, section 68, section 69or section 71(1);

(7) fishing in violation of rules prescribed by a coastal state or an international

organisation pursuant to section 49;

(8) catching aquatic animals or taking aquatic animals of a smaller size than that

prescribed onto a fishing vessel pursuant to section 57;

(9) catching aquatic animals or taking aquatic animals prescribed onto a fishing

vessel pursuant to section 66;

(10) transshipping aquatic animals and aquatic animal products in violation of

the rules under section 87, section 88or section 89;

(11) falsifying, concealing or changing a vessel’s mark or registration; (12) obstructing the performance of duties by a competent official or observer, or concealing, tempering with or disposing of evidence relating to an investigation conducted by a competent official;

(13) participating in, providing support to or securing essential basics to a fishing

vessel undertaking IUU fishing;

(14) committing more than three offenses other than those stated under (1) to (13) above within any one-year period, regardless of whether or not the offenses are identical.

Any licensee who disagrees with an order to suspend a license, cessation of permission or revocation of license pursuant to section 111, revocation of a registration pursuant to section 112, or an order given pursuant to section 113, may file an appeal to the following persons within thirty days as from the day he/she is notified of the order: (1) where a competent official is the person who issues any such order, an appeal

may be filed to the Director-General;

(2) where the Director-General is the person who issues any such order, an

appeal may be filed to the Minister.

The Director-General or the Minister shall determine the appeal under paragraph

one within sixty days as from the day the appeal is received.

An appeal against an order under paragraph one shall not constitute a stay of execution of the order with the exception of a case in which the Director-General or the Minister, as the case may be, issues an order for a temporary stay of execution thereof. A decision of the Director-General or Minister shall be final.

The Minister shall publish the names of fishing vessels used in IUU fishing, and may also order that the vessel registrar under the law on Thai vessels have the fishing registration of any such vessel revoked. When the Minister publishes such list of fishing vessels or issues a registration revocation order, no person shall use any such listed vessel for fishing for a period of time as prescribed by the Minister, which shall last no less than two years as from the date on which the publication was made. During any such period, the owner of a fishing port or a fish market enterprise shall not allow any such fishing vessel to land aquatic animals at his/her fishing port or fish market.

The notification of a list of fishing vessels pursuant to section 116

shall at least contain the following particulars:

(1) the current name and previous name of the fishing vessel; (2) the flag of the fishing vessel and the flag designating the previous nationality

of the fishing vessel;

(3) the owner of the vessel, the previous owner of the vessel concerned, and the

beneficiary of the said vessel;

(4) the vessel’s registration number or designated number issued by a relevant

international organisation and that issued by the Marine Department;

(5) aphoto thereof; (6) the date on which the vessel is included on the list of vessels; (7) the offense causing the listing of the vessel; (8) the period of time during which the registration of the vessel for fishing

purposes is revoked.

The Department of Fisheries shall notify the list of fishing vessels issued by the Minister pursuant to section 116 to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations and international organisations.

The Minister may have the name of a vessel removed from the list

of vessels undertaking IUU fishing when: (1) the owner of the vessel has presented evidence to prove that the fishing

vessel has not beeninvolved in IUU fishing;

(2) the fishing vessel has capsized or has been destroyed; (3) a period of not less than two years has lapsed since the fishing vessel was included in the list and no further report has been received that the fishing vessel has been involved inIUU fishing;

(4) the owner of the vessel has presented evidence proving that corrections have been made such that the vessel is capable of engaging in lawful fishing or has completely removed all unlawful components;

(5) the owner of the vessel has satisfactorily presented evidence that he/she has not had a part or has not been involved in IUU fishing in whatsoever way, and has put in place appropriate preventive measures.

Where the license expires or where the licensee is subject to the revocation of his/her license or permit pursuant to 111 or section 113, the licensee shall dismantle or destroy the fishing tool, structure or anything belonging to him/her in the fishing ground within thirty days as from the date on which the license expires or the date he/she is notified of the order revoking the license or permit, as the case may be. The provisions under paragraph two of section 103 shall be applied mutatis mutandis.

If the owner of a fishing port, a fish market entrepreneur or the owner of a vessel registered as a carrier for the transshipment of aquatic animals or the storage of aquatic animals violates or fails to comply with this Royal Ordinance, or Ministerial Regulation, Notifications or Directives issued pursuant to this Royal Ordinance, the Director-General shall have the power to order that any such registration be revoked.

The Director-General shall have the power to issue the following orders against any person engaging in a fishing operation which constitutes a serious infringement: (1) seizure of the aquatic animals and aquatic animal products obtained from any such fishing operation or seizure of fishing gear; (2) prohibition of any fishing activity until full compliance is achieved; (3) suspension of license for a period not exceeding ninety days each time; in this regard, an order may also be issued to prohibit the use of any such fishing vessel until the license suspension period expires; (4) revocation of license and publicly listing the fishing vessel as a vessel used in IUU fishing; (5) detention of any such fishing vessel or demanding that a security be deposited where such infringing fishing vessel is a non-Thai fishing vessel.