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Minerals Act Section 143 — Officials' powers of entry, sampling and seizure
Minerals Act (พระราชบัญญัติแร่) — Section 143.
Plain-English Summary
Officials may enter a mining area, mineral-trading area, dressing area, metallurgy area, small-scale mining area or panning area to inspect operations between sunrise and sunset or during the site's working hours, and may continue at night or outside working hours if the inspection began and is unfinished. They may give written orders to stop breaches, correct operations or guard against danger; take reasonable mineral samples for analysis; and seize or attach minerals and property under Section 148. Officials are 'officials' under the Criminal Code and, for arrests, administrative or police officers under the Criminal Procedure Code (Section 146), and must show their identity card (Section 147). Obstructing an official or ignoring a Section 143(2) order is an offence under Section 172.
Official Text
Official Thai text at the Royal Gazette / Office of the Council of State. Translation summary only.
Consult official sourceParent Statute
Minerals Act
พระราชบัญญัติแร่ · B.E. 2560 (2017)
The Minerals Act B.E. 2560 (2017) repeals the earlier Minerals Act B.E. 2510 (1967), its amendments and the mineral royalty Acts, bringing mineral licensing and royalty into one statute (Section 3). The Minister of Natural Resources and Environment and the Minister of Industry each administer the parts of the Act within their own remit (Section 5); the Director-General of the Department of Primary Industries and Mines issues the larger mining leases and the exclusive and special prospecting, dressing, metallurgy and mineral-trade licences. The Act sets up a National Mineral Management Policy Committee and a five-yearly master plan that fixes where mining may and may not take place (Sections 8-19), ties mining to environmental impact assessment under the environmental quality law, adds community hearings and, for underground mining, stakeholder consultation (Sections 56, 82-88), caps royalty at 30 per cent of the market price (Section 132), and sets criminal penalties and civil liability (Sections 139-142 and 153-183).
The summary above is a plain-English educational paraphrase of Section 143 of the Minerals Act. It is not an authoritative translation. For the binding Thai text, consult the Royal Gazette or the Office of the Council of State. Educational use only — not a substitute for advice from a Thai-qualified lawyer.
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