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Minerals Act Section 19 — Licensing only in plan-designated zones; buffer zones and baseline data
Minerals Act (พระราชบัญญัติแร่) — Section 19.
Plain-English Summary
A mining licence may be granted only in an area the master plan designates as a mining-ore zone, where mining is economically worthwhile and consistent with the plan. Where a deposit has potential but suitable technology and environmental and health protection measures do not yet exist, the deposit is to be reserved until they do. For mining that could have a high impact on the environment and public health, the licence must require a mining buffer-zone line and baseline environmental and health data. The National Mineral Management Policy Committee may require its prior approval for licences in particular areas or minerals, weighing economic worth, technology, protective measures and cumulative impacts. Section 32 lets the Minister set the buffer-zone, baseline-data, pollution-control and worker-protection rules by announcement; the baseline rules must at least require a study of geological heavy-metal or toxin contamination and of residents' illness before and after mining.
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 19 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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