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Minerals Act Section 38 — Prospecting licences: the three kinds, terms and area limits
Minerals Act (พระราชบัญญัติแร่) — Section 38.
Plain-English Summary
Nobody may prospect for minerals anywhere, whoever holds rights in the land, without a prospecting licence, an exclusive prospecting licence or a special prospecting licence. The ordinary prospecting licence is issued by the local officer (mayor or head of the tambon administrative organisation), lasts one year (Section 41). The exclusive prospecting licence is issued by the Director-General, lasts no more than two years, and each application may cover no more than 2,500 rai (Sections 42-43). The special prospecting licence is issued by the Director-General with the Mineral Committee's approval, lasts no more than five years, and an application may cover up to 10,000 rai (up to 500,000 rai at sea); the applicant must commit to a stated annual exploration spend and offer special benefits to the State (Sections 46-47, 49). Licences are personal to the holder and extend to the holder's employees (Section 39).
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 38 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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