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Minerals Act Section 17 — Mineral management master plan and no-go areas
Minerals Act (พระราชบัญญัติแร่) — Section 17.
Plain-English Summary
The Committee must prepare a mineral management master plan covering at least the survey of mineral resources, reserves, classification of mineral-potential zones, areas or minerals to be reserved or conserved, and the zones designated as mining-ore areas. It must be prepared with public participation and public disclosure (except for minerals that could affect national security) and be prepared or revised every five years, then submitted to the Cabinet. A zone designated for mining may not lie in a national park, a wildlife sanctuary, a registered ancient monument zone, an area where the law absolutely prohibits use, a national safety and security zone, or a watershed or seepage-forest area. Section 18 then bars mining in any area, or of any mineral, that the plan reserves or conserves.
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 17 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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