Thai marine association formed

by IBI Magazine/Mike Derrett on 25 Jul 2006 Thailand now has an official association for the leisure boating industry entitled the 'Thai Marine Business Association', which is now the first properly constituted association for the industry in the South East Asia region.

Formed originally as the Marine Alliance of Thailand (MAT) in 2003 by Alan Cooke, an English expatriate living in Phuket, the members have now succeeded in obtaining legal recognition by the Thai government. Part of this process necessitated a name change.

The association represents all aspects of the industry in Thailand, including yacht charter, marinas, boatbuilding and events such as boat shows and regattas. The association does not represent commercial marine transport such as ferries.

Under the Marine Alliance of Thailand banner, considerable success has been achieved for the industry in Thailand. MAT efforts assisted in the abolition in 2004 of a punitive import duty and excise tax on boats, which at one stage reached 200 per cent on both imported and locally manufactured boats.

Now a rate of VAT of just seven per cent applies, which has set the scene for a rapid growth in leisure boating and related marine tourism in the last two years.

The new association is working closely with the government body for tourism and is currently preparing a marine tourism marketing plan to attract government funding.