AIS now compulsory for foreign yachts in Thailand

[mausgras]

From the Phukhet News

All foreign yachts in Phuket ‘will have to have AIS system’


The AIS systems on boats will be monitored from the Vessel Traffic Management Centre on Chalong Pier.
The regulation is being introduced after the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) commanded the Third Naval Area Command to organise boats and ships along the Andaman Coast and around islands offshore, from Ranong down to Satun.

The new regulation was announced in a Provincial Announcement signed by Governor Maitri Inthusut and released today (September 4) to the media.

“Phuket province is the center of maritime tourism on the Andaman coast,” the announcement stated. “There are numerous boats from foreign counties travelling for tourism around Phuket and neighbouring islands, which causes heavy water traffic congestion. Therefore the organisation of boats in the area needs to be enforced.

“[The systems must be installed] to follow the order of the NCPO and to accord with the installed Vessel Traffic and Management System (VTMS) of Phuket [on Chalong Pier] to control the security of water transportation, to prevent maritime accidents and to secure the waters’ stability to the utmost effectiveness and benefit.”

The announcement specifies that cruise boats, motor yachts and sailing yachts must install AIS Class B systems or higher, and the system must be turned on at all times.

Violations of the regulation, it warned, “will result in punishment according to the highest law.”

Phuripat Teerakulpisit, director of the Phuket Marine Office, said, “The cost of an AIS is about B20,000-30,000 depending on the specifications.

“Places where people can buy an AIS [in Phuket] will be announced after our next meeting on Wednesday [September 10],” he added. On that day, he said, he will also explain in detail how the regulation will be applied and to which boats.

AIS systems are used worldwide not only to control boats but also for collision avoidance, fishing fleet monitoring, traffic management, security, search and rescue, and accident investigation.

The technology has been compulsory worldwide since 2002 for all ferries and vessels over 300 tons, and the European Union is currently looking at making it compulsory for other vessels over a certain size.

- See more at: All foreign yachts in Phuket ?will have to have AIS system?

[monte]

Good stuff

[MarkJ]

Great news! AIS is the way to go!

[SimonV]

once class B was a choice now it is compulsory, will other countries bring this in? Where will it stop first boats then what, cars bikes people......big brother is watching you.

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[Boatguy30]

So being tracked 24/7 while onboard your "escape" vehicle is now a great thing?

[monte]

I thought I'd get in early before the invasion of privacy/the world should be free brigade joined in :;
Sure we should all be able to float around, single hand without proper navigation aids and travel to wherever the hell we want without any rules or fees, great idea!

[MarkJ]

I don't care who tracks me. I am not a criminal. I am not a drug user. I am visiting someone elses country as a guest, visitor, tourist. If thats not good enough I can go to another country.


Or stay home.

[SimonV]

Originally Posted by monte

I thought I'd get in early before the invasion of privacy/the world should be free brigade joined in :;
Sure we should all be able to float around, single hand without proper navigation aids and travel to wherever the hell we want without any rules or fees, great idea!

Why would you want to have no proper navigation aids.? Ais nice to have but i don't consider it a "proper" navigation aid.

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[Arthur Garfield]

Cool-pirates will know right where to find you.
The Gulf of Aden patroled corridor recomends turning off your AIS while in certain transits!

[SimonV]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

I don't care who tracks me. I am not a criminal. I am not a drug user. I am visiting someone elses country as a guest, visitor, tourist. If thats not good enough I can go to another country.


Or stay home.

Mark, I feel this is just the start. Oz has always been a follower, I will bet you a bottle of Bushmills single malt this will spread and some ladder climbing bureaucrat will put it into law here.



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[Boatguy30]

I think a lot of folks in 1930s germany and europe felt just as you do today; Mark.

[monte]

haha here come the conspiracy theories !
Im pretty sure there's always someone going to complain about new technology. I guess when someone suggested ships should be lit at night there were a few die hard sailors complaining about it (actually there's a few fishermen off Portugal that aren't quite up to speed with that yet..)
Same with seatbelts in cars, crash helmets for bikes. lifejackets, EPIRBS, flares etc. '
AIS has been mandatory on large vessels for years. The fact it has become so affordable for smaller vessels is a bonus for yachtsmen and pleasure craft.
From the original post:
AIS systems are used worldwide not only to control boats but also for collision avoidance, fishing fleet monitoring, traffic management, security, search and rescue, and accident investigation.

This is great stuff and the cost to install AIS is only getting cheaper and easier. Why wouldn't anyone want to be a part of such a great system. It wont be long till AIS signals are repeated between vessels giving close to worldwide coverage and communication.

I'm not suggesting anyone who doesn't currently use AIS is a hazard, so long as proper watches are maintained its not needed, although its bloody handy in reduced viability, as is radar, just that anyone who doesn't see the future benefit to the whole ocean going community is ignorant and selfish...

[hellosailor]

Last time I heard, it was Oz or NZ that tried requiring all foreign yachts to be equipped to local safety standards and that eventually got quashed because, quite simply, foreign vessels transiting national waters are governed by international agreement. And those agreements say you're only required to carry what your own sovereign requires.

For commercial vessels and vessels regularly operating in Thai waters, they'd be subject to Thai regulations. But as we used to say in the Colonies, "I don't care if you're the King if Siam, you're not in charge here."

Either there's a subtlety being missed here, or the Thais will be reminded of this sooner or later.

[biker6977]

Isn't there already crash avoidance technology that doesn't require registering your boat to a certain piece of equipment- such as GPS location, Radar etc? With that you know where those around you are and they can see you but they don't have to know the name of your boat, who it's registared to, the size, name etc. I just want to be a blip on a screen- not have everything about my boat out. Just saying that while it sounds nice- the road to hell is paved with good intentions.........

[Sarayu]

I can't really see the point. In areas where there is constant traffic eg ,Italian W coast the AIS goes off that often it is a nuisance. If everyone on the water is obliged to have it on constantly in high non commercial, touristy areas it will send us all mad!
As a product to be used for night sailing or around shipping, unbeatable, the more day speed boats obliged to motor with it, the more it will be ignored.