2.          Factory License

Factories are divided into three categories:

1.    Factories that do not require licenses.

2.    Factories that only require notification to officials in advance of the commencement of operations. The operators may commence operations as soon as they receive a receipt form from the Ministry stating that their report has been received.

3.    Factories that require license from the Department of Industrial Works, Ministry of Industry, prior to operation. Subject to the Ministry’s discretion, the operators may be granted, prior to the license, a certificate allowing them to build parts of the factory.

The operator of a factory in Category 3 must notify the competent authority at least 15 days before a factory test-run commences, and again at least 15 days before actual manufacturing begins.

Note: In general, the degree of government control required is dependent on the degree of environmental protection deemed necessary. The more likely a factory, based on its output, is to cause pollution, the more that type of factory is regulated.

The Ministry of Industry has the power to issue regulations for all of the categories regarding:

·        Description, category, or type of machinery and equipment to be used in the operation of the factory business;

·        Location, environment, interior and description of the factory;

·        Requirements for workers who have specific knowledge to carry out any duties in the factory;

·      Process of manufacture and provision of equipment to prevent, stop, or alleviate danger, damage or disturbances that may occur to the public or property in the factory or nearby premises;

·        Standards and procedures for the control or release of waste, pollution or anything else arising from factory operations which may affect the environment;

·        Provision of necessary data and documents by the factory operators to ensure compliance with the law

·        Provision of anything that may affect the safety of work operations.

If there is an inspection of a factory or machinery to ensure compliance with the Act, a private body may carry out the inspection and report in place of government officials, provided the private persons follow the regulations concerning the Act as per the Government Gazette.

Licenses granted are valid until the end of the fifth calendar year from the year in which the business starts operations, except in the case of the relocation of the factory or of the dissolution of the operation in the factory business (which also refers to the event that the factory is transferred, leased or subjected to hire purchase). In these cases, the license is regarded as having expired on the date of issuance of a license to the factory’s new operators, or on the date of dissolution of factory business.

Applications for renewal of license must be submitted prior to the date of expiration, along with a fee of 100,000 baht. Following submission, renewal is considered to have been extended unless there is a specific order otherwise. If the application is submitted within 60 days of the expiration date, it will be processed normally, but an additional fine of 20,000 baht will be levied. Once the expiry date is reached, an application for a renewal must be made within 60 days. Upon expiration of the sixty-day period, the application will be treated as if it were a new application.

Updated: November 2015