Pramuanchai Law Office

In our previous newsletter reporting the enactment of the International Carriage by Air Act, B.E. 2558 (“the Act”) which came into effect on 15 May 2015, we have pointed out that the Act was modeled on the Montreal Convention, 1999 (“MC99”) and was intended to pave way for Thailand to become a party to the MC99 in the near future. In our previous newsletter, we have also pointed out the fact that the Act does not perfectly reflect or mirror the MC99 and a draft Act to amend the Act has been discussed in advance with the aim to enable Thailand to ratify the MC99.

Now, the said draft Act to amend the Act has been completed. In the recent meeting of the cabinet, the government agreed to submit the draft Act to the National Legislative Assembly for deliberation as a matter of urgency. On 17 January 2017, General Prayuth Chan-ocha, the Prime Minister, submitted the draft Act to the President of the National Legislative Assembly to consider it as an urgent matter.

Various areas of the existing Act will be amended by the draft Act once passed. The essential areas to be amended are:

1. The draft Act will amend the definition of “domestic air carriage” and add three new definitions; namely “the international carriage by air under the Convention”, “Convention” and “State Party”.
2. To extend the scope of application of the Act
3. To empower the Director of the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand to direct the carrier to furnish evidence of insurance
4. To add new Section 7/1, Section 7/2, Section 7/3, Section 7/4 and Section 7/5 to reflect Article 25, Article 26, Article 27, Article 51 and Article 52 of MC99
5. To amend the existing Section 22 and Section 44 of the Act to perfectly reflect Article 31 of MC99
6. To add new provisions as the second paragraph of Section 46 to reflect Article 38.2 of MC99
7. To add new Section 53/1 to reflect Article 48 of MC99
8. To add new Section 54/1 to reflect Article 32 of MC99
9. To add new provisions as the second paragraph of Section 55 to reflect Article 35.2 of MC99
10. To add new Section 56/1, Section 56/2, Section 56/3, Section 56/4, Section 56/5 and Section 56/6 to reflect Article 33, Article 34, Article 37, Article 45 and Article 46 of MC99.

Not only the government bodies involved in overseeing carriage by air but also the related private sectors, scholars and academic institutions are in support of the draft Act.

It is very likely that once the draft Act is passed, Thailand will ratify MC99.

For more information, please contact our aviation team.

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[19012017]