How Thailand’s 24m charter reform could reshape its charter market

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• Top story: How Thailand’s 24m charter reform could reshape its charter market

• Zairos: FX & Cross-Currency Solutions for Charter & Asset Payments

• Charter Updates: 62m Salt makes her charter debut | Summer in the Bahamas onboard ROCK.iT | World Cup fever onboard Sky | Free At Last back on the charter market | Greece onboard 34m Malen | New CA for Sea Falcon II

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TOP STORY

How Thailand’s 24m charter reform could reshape its charter market

Thailand’s coastline spans between 2,600 and 3,200-kilometres across the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea, encompassing more than 1,400 islands and a varied cruising landscape. Over the past decade, the country has progressively refined its regulatory framework to facilitate charter activity by foreign-flagged, commercially registered yachts, broadening formal access to its waters.

The latest amendment reduces the minimum size threshold for foreign-flagged yachts eligible to apply for a Thai Charter Licence from 30-metres to 24-metres. Under the revised framework, foreign-flagged vessels measuring 24-metres and above, carrying no more than 12 passengers, may apply to conduct commercial charters in Thai waters, subject to the established licensing and compliance requirements.

While the reduction to 24-metres broadens eligibility, the central issue is whether it will translate into a meaningful expansion of charter activity in Thailand, or whether the change alone is insufficient to deliver sustained growth.

The evolution of Thailand’s charter framework

Industry reporting indicates that a formal charter licence framework for foreign-flagged yachts was introduced in 2015 by Thailand’s Ministry of Transport and Marine Department, permitting vessels over 30-metres to conduct commercial charters in Thai waters under licence, subject to defined administrative and fiscal requirements.

Yachts below that threshold, however, were generally required to operate under the Thai flag in order to charter commercially. This meant importing the vessel into Thailand and paying VAT, as well as establishing a Thai-registered company with majority local ownership. For many foreign owners, the combined implications of tax exposure, ownership restructuring and administrative complexity significantly reduced the commercial appeal of reflagging in Thailand.

How the 24-metre threshold may reshape Thailand’s charter market

The reduction in the minimum size threshold is expected to increase the number of yachts available for charter in Thailand. According to Gordon Fernandes, Co-founder of Asia Pacific Superyachts in Thailand, the amendment is likely to expand the pool of commercially registered foreign-flagged vessels active in the Thai charter market. Under the previous framework, he explains, “there were very few yachts chartering here because the legalities meant that you had to have a Thai flag.” For many international owners, that route was commercially unattractive. As he puts it, “it wasn’t really viable for most owners,” limiting broader participation from foreign-flagged vessels.

Lies Sol, charter broker at Northrop & Johnson, offers a similar assessment. She notes that some yachts already present in the region had been “waiting for this reduction because they’re just under 30-metres” and can now formally enter the charter market.

Sol also considers the wider market implications of the reform, expecting the revised threshold to attract “new charter yachts to Thailand, particularly from markets such as Hong Kong and Singapore, where cruising grounds are more limited.” In her view, the expanded eligibility may encourage some of these vessels to base themselves in Thailand for a season.

The likely result is increased competition, which she argues could accelerate improvements in overall fleet quality. “More competition means yacht owners have to invest in their yachts,” she says, highlighting the need to modernise interiors, expand toy inventories and remain aligned with evolving client expectations. In a more competitive environment, she adds, owners must remain responsive to market demand. “If you’re in the business of charter, you probably are doing well to look at what the market is demanding nowadays.”

Beyond fleet participation and competitive dynamics, expanded charter activity could also reinforce Thailand’s charter infrastructure. Fernandes notes that the country’s extended seasonal window may support recurring annual basing, strengthening marina occupancy and associated services. Sol similarly emphasises that charter yachts generate consistent operational demand across fuel supply, provisioning and technical support. A yacht, she observes, “is not just coming here and sitting in the marina,” pointing to the broader service ecosystem that enables sustained charter operations.

Outlook for Thailand’s charter market

While the reduction to 24-metres removes a significant regulatory barrier, both Fernandes and Sol suggest that its full impact will unfold progressively rather than immediately. Fernandes describes the amendment as “great for us,” arguing that it will “fuel yachts that want to come here for the season every year.” In his view, Thailand’s ability to combine established hospitality infrastructure in Phuket with more remote cruising grounds in the south gives the destination “the best of both worlds,” reinforcing its competitiveness within the winter charter circuit.

Sol, however, places the reform within a broader global context. Thailand’s season coincides directly with the Caribbean, where booking volumes and charter revenues remain considerably higher. Although she expects additional yachts to enter the market over time, she cautions that repositioning decisions are unlikely to shift in the short term. “I think it will take some time,” she says, noting that vessels traditionally based in the Caribbean may be slow to alter established cruising patterns.

For Sol, the more decisive catalyst for sustained growth in Thailand’s charter market lies elsewhere. “I think that will really take off once crew visas are linked to the yacht’s stay permissions,” she says, referring to the current disconnect between yacht stay permissions and crew immigration rules. While foreign-flagged yachts can remain in Thai waters for extended periods, crew members are generally required to renew visas at shorter intervals, often every 30 days. In her view, linking crew visas either to the yacht’s extended stay or to the one-year charter licence would reduce administrative friction and make long-term basing more commercially viable. Without that alignment, she suggests, expansion may remain measured rather than transformative.

The 24-metre amendment therefore marks a meaningful step in broadening Thailand’s charter framework. Whether it proves to be a decisive turning point for charter activity in Thailand will depend less on the revised size threshold and more on the alignment of immigration policy, licensing conditions and regional competitiveness.

This article was first publish on SuperYacht Times.

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