The Future of Thailand as a Luxury Charter Destination

LICENSES

The biggest restriction hampering Thailand’s yachting future is that only locally flagged yachts are permitted to charter in many areas, despite ongoing efforts by the government to complete the superyacht charter licence arrangements.

In August last year, after three years of lobbying by the local yachting industry, new legislation was put into place to allow foreign-flagged yachts to legally charter in Thai waters. Following this, changes to crew visas, allowing them to stay in Thailand for 12 months, were agreed.

This means the visa for the crew will match the yacht’s one-year permit, allowing both to work together effectively during their stay. However, the VAT payments are taking time to complete and ultimately hindering this initiative.  

MARINAS AND BERTHS

Another major concern for the Thailand superyacht scene is the lack of infrastructure. In particular, developers looking to build new marinas face many legal and governmental restrictions, and it’s extremely difficult to get registrations and berths.  

There is hope, however. In a recent interview, Bart Kimman, managing director of the Northrop & Johnson Asia franchise, said ‘the government is beginning to look into this in a more serious way’ and gives an estimated timeframe of five years for changes to be put into place.

Phuket is currently home to four large marinas, all offering modern facilities for superyachts and built to the standards of their European and US counterparts. Plus, construction for the new Kung Bay Marina, also in Phuket, is expected to get underway early next year.

YACHTING SHOWS

In recent years, there has been an influx of yachting shows taking place in Phuket, with four taking place over the country’s 2016/2017 charter season, which runs from November to April.    

The inaugural Kata Rocks Superyacht Rendezvous made its debut last week from 10^th to 12^th December, while the second edition of the Thailand Yacht Show and Asia Superyacht Rendezvous take place this week, and the Phuket Boat Show will run from 5^th to 8^th January.

Backed by the Thai government, the Thailand Yacht Show even ran a forum on ‘The Making of Thailand as Asia’s Premier Yachting Destination’, and saw a 20 percent rise in show exhibitors and the number of attending yachts doubled to over 40, the largest in show being the 90m superyacht ‘Lauren L’.

All-in-all, these growing events will help place Thailand on the yachting map, creating a buzz and educating superyacht owners and potential charterers about what the less-travelled waters can offer to yacht-goers.

YACHTS COMMISSIONED

Bart Kimman recently sold a yet-to-be-built 81m sailing yacht from renowned Dutch shipyard Royal Huisman to an Asian client. Once she is delivered, she will be one of the world’s top 10 largest sailing yachts and one of a handful of impressive Asia-owned yachts in the region.

The presence of this new build alongside the other superyachts currently based in South East Asia is surely a positive indicator of the region’s yachting future. And, a number of outstanding superyachts are currently available to charter there this winter, including Lauren L, the 73m superyacht TITANIA, the 69m superyacht SALUZI and the 54m sailing yacht TIARA.

Whether there will be similar orders to the Royal Huisman commission remains to be seen, but if the government can speed up the processes to complete the superyacht charter licence arrangements, and work to lessen the restrictions surrounding berths and registrations they may well become the norm.  

For further information on planning a yacht charter to Thailand, speak to your preferred charter broker.

Alternatively, browse and compare all luxury yachts available to charter in Thailand.