Arrest of Ships in Thailand

Ship arrest is an effective channel to obtain security for a maritime claim held by a creditor domiciled in Thailand. The claimant is not required to submit a complaint, but only a petition requesting the arrest of the vessel along with fees as required by the Central Intellectual Property and International Trade Court (IP&IT Court). The IP&IT Court can grant an arrest warrant on the filing date. This article provides a general overview of ship arrest in Thailand.

The Brussels Convention on the Arrest of Sea-Going Ships of 1952 and the Geneva International Convention on the Arrest of Ships of 1999 have not been ratified by Thailand. Instead, ship arrest in Thailand is governed by Thailand's Arrest of Ships Act B.E. 2534 (1991), which adopts the general principles in the Brussels Convention, with some differences. As a civil law country, the statutory framework established by the Arrest of Ships Act and related laws is dispositive and interpretations thereof, even