Thailand’s regatta calendar is smaller than its reputation. The 38th Phuket King’s Cup runs 5 to 12 December 2026, at 35,000 baht a boat and 6,500 a crew member, and Samui is the May event. But Phuket Raceweek has not run since 2022 and Top of the Gulf has not run since 2019, on each event’s own evidence. If you want to keep a boat here, the number that governs your life is six months — the initial temporary-import period, extendable to a hard ceiling of two years and six months, with a 1,000-baht-a-day overstay fine. And a foreign-flagged yacht on that permit may not be chartered: trading in Thai waters requires a Thai-flagged, Thai-owned vessel.
The regatta calendar, and what has quietly stopped
Thailand is written up everywhere as a regatta destination on the strength of a calendar that no longer entirely exists. Two of the four events people name have not been held for years. Every status below comes from the event’s own site or its host venue’s, read 7 September 2026.
| Regatta | Where | Dates | Status, and how we know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phuket King's Cup Regatta (38th) | Phuket | 5-12 December 2026 | Running. Dates on the regatta's own site |
| Samui Regatta (23rd) | Chaweng Beach, Koh Samui | 23-30 May 2026; 24th announced 22-29 May 2027 | Organiser's own site, though its footer still reads 2021 |
| OK Dinghy World Championship | Royal Varuna YC, Pattaya | 19-26 February 2027 | Listed on the host club's own events page |
| Phuket Raceweek (19th) | Cape Panwa Hotel, Phuket | Last held 29 June - 3 July 2022 | Dormant. 2023 postponed; no edition since on its own site |
| Top of the Gulf Regatta (15th) | Ocean Marina, Jomtien | Last held 2019 | Postponed indefinitely per the host venue, dated 13 Jan 2019 |
Phuket Raceweek. The last regatta published on its own site is the 19th edition, 29 June to 3 July 2022, at the Cape Panwa Hotel. The 2023 edition was postponed, with a stated intention to work towards 2024, and nothing has appeared since. Its name still shows as a co-organiser on the King’s Cup contacts page, which is probably why people assume it is running.
Top of the Gulf. Established 2005 at Ocean Marina in Jomtien, and the host venue’s own page still carries the status Postponed Indefinitely, dated 13 January 2019. The event’s own history table runs 2005 to 2019 and stops at the 15th regatta. That is a real loss: it was the one Thai event with a serious dinghy and youth programme, taking Optimists, multihulls, windsurfers and dinghies alongside keelboats.
The King's Cup: dates, cost, and where it came from
The 38th Phuket King’s Cup Regatta runs 5 to 12 December 2026. Entry fees are published on the regatta’s own online entry page and are unusually transparent for a Thai sporting event:
- 35,000 baht per boat, monohull or multihull, with the skipper included;
- 6,500 baht per crew member;
- entries are not confirmed until payment is received.
Classes listed are IRC, RC Zero, Premier, Sportsboat, Modern Classic, Bareboat Charter, Monohull Cruising, Multihull and One-Design Racing, the last needing at least five boats. The bareboat class matters if you do not own a boat here: it is the route in for a crew that charters locally rather than shipping a hull halfway round the world.
The regatta’s own history page dates it to 1987, when Royal Varuna sailors including Commodore Chris King and Dr Rachot Kanjanavanit founded it as a tribute to HM King Bhumibol’s 60th birthday on 5 December that year. The first edition was hosted from the Phuket Yacht Club Hotel at Nai Harn Bay. It is organised under the auspices of the Pattaya-based Royal Varuna Yacht Club, alongside the Royal Thai Navy.
The host beach. The regatta’s own site names hotel sponsors but does not state a host venue on any page we could read, and the detail lives inside a notice of race PDF we could not resolve. Nai Harn was the venue for the first regatta in 1987, not necessarily this one. Rather than name a beach from a sponsor’s address, we are leaving it open — check the 2026 notice of race when it is posted.
The marinas, in their own numbers
Five marinas cover essentially all serious yacht berthing in Thailand: four in Phuket and one on the eastern seaboard. Every figure below comes from the marina’s own site.
| Marina | Where | Capacity | Max size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phuket Yacht Haven | Phuket (north, Laem Phrao) | 332 berths | 3 m to 100 m+ |
| Ocean Marina Jomtien | Na Jomtien, Chonburi | Over 450 berths, 8-65 m | Yachts to 75 m |
| Ao Po Grand Marina | Phuket (north-east) | 230 berths + 60-space hardstand | To 499 tons; lift to 100 ft |
| Phuket Boat Lagoon | Phuket (Koh Kaew) | 180 wet berths, 160 hardstands, 24 dry stack | Not published |
| Royal Phuket Marina | Phuket (Koh Kaew) | 100 wet berths, 60 dry stack, 26 hard stand | Boats to 35 m |
Only one of the five publishes a rate card. Phuket Boat Lagoon’s own marina charges page, valid 1 November 2025 to 31 October 2026, gives 55 baht per foot per day or 920 baht per foot per month for a monohull under 70 feet, and 70 baht per foot per day or 1,300 per foot per month over 70 feet. Catamarans and trimarans pay 50 per cent more; prime-area berths 30 per cent more; add 7 per cent VAT, payable in advance. For a 45-foot monohull that is roughly 41,400 baht a month before VAT and extras. The other four direct pricing enquiries to the harbour master, so budget on the basis of Boat Lagoon and expect variation.
Two operational details that matter more than they sound. Ao Po Grand Marina states 24-hour access with zero tide restriction and a 50-metre-wide entrance, with a travel lift to 100 feet and 3.4 metres of draft. Royal Phuket Marina claims 24/7 access even at low tide for boats to 35 metres after dredging its inner channel. Tide-gated access is the thing that quietly ruins a berth you have already paid for.
Bringing a boat in, and the six-month clock
This is the section a reader can act on, so it is sourced entirely to Phuket Customs House’s own published procedure for temporarily imported pleasure craft and sport vessels.
- Initial stay: not more than six months from the date of importation.
- Extension ceiling: two years and six months from the date of importation. Extensions are processed at Phuket Customs House in Phuket Town, with supporting evidence such as a certificate of vessel repair or of anchoring from a marina, or a map of where the vessel is anchored if it is not in one.
- Overstay: 1,000 baht per day from the expiry date, capped at 10,000 baht.
- No sale, transfer or change of ownership while the vessel is here on a temporary import.
- Arrival: Ship Inward Report (form 272), vessel registration certificate, passport, clearance outwards from the last port, a photo showing the ship’s name, and the owner’s power of attorney to the master if the owner is not aboard. You receive a Simplified Customs Declaration.
- Departure: the Simplified Customs Declaration, Ship Outward Report (form 373), declaration for ship outward, passport and Port Clearance. You receive Clearance Outward, form 373.
A note on vocabulary. Cruising guides talk about a Thai “cruising permit”. We searched the Marine Department’s own site and that phrase appears nowhere. The instrument Customs actually names is Port Clearance, which is a Marine Department document. Ask for that by name.
Chartering, crewing, and where this becomes work
People arrive intending to part-fund a boat by chartering it. Two separate rules stand in the way, and both are worth understanding before you commit capital.
The vessel. The Thai Vessels Act B.E. 2481 restricts, at section 7, who may hold title to a vessel trading in Thai waters — Thai nationals, or Thai partnerships and companies meeting its management and shareholding tests, or state enterprises — and at section 47 restricts trade in Thai waters to such qualifying Thai-registered vessels. A foreign-flagged yacht admitted on a temporary import permit is admitted for private use and re-export. It is not admitted to trade.
You. Being paid to skipper, crew, instruct or run the operation is work, and work needs a permit. The government’s own guidance puts the penalty for working without a permit, or outside what a permit allows, at a fine of 5,000 to 50,000 baht plus deportation and a two-year bar on obtaining a work permit.
It is often said that boat crew or skipper is on Thailand’s restricted-occupations list. We read the Ministry of Labour’s absolutely-prohibited tier as published on the government portal — 27 items including motor vehicle driving, guide work and Thai massage — and no maritime, crew or skipper entry appears on it. But the same portal elsewhere refers to a scheme of some 40 prohibited jobs across several tiers, and we could not obtain the full notification. So we are stating neither that it is restricted nor that it is clear. The work permit requirement above is the part that is confirmed and the part that will actually catch you.
If you are structuring anything commercial around a boat here, start at work permits in Thailand, and take Thai legal advice. BAANLYY is a listing portal, not a law firm, and nothing on this page is legal advice.
The season, from the official calendar
The government portal, citing the Meteorological Department, sets Thailand’s three seasons precisely: summer from mid-February to mid-May, when the northeast monsoon changes to the southwest; the rainy season from mid-May to mid-October, once the southwest monsoon covers Thailand; and winter from mid-October to mid-February under the northeast monsoon.
That calendar is why the Andaman events sit in December and the Gulf events sat in May, and it is the frame we are using rather than a sailing-holiday brochure. What the Meteorological Department does not publish, in anything we could find, is a stated Andaman sailing season or a side-by-side comparison of Andaman and Gulf monsoon behaviour. If you see a crisp “November to April” window quoted as official, it is not.
What we could not confirm
- The King’s Cup host venue or beach, and the 2026 notice of race. Only 2025 notices were posted; class structure and fees could change.
- Whether any Phuket marina is a designated Port of Entry, or has customs and immigration on site. None of the five states it. Ao Po’s own facilities page says the office can arrange agents for clearance, which is the opposite of an on-site claim. No official list of Thai yacht ports of entry was obtainable from any government source.
- Ao Chalong’s status as the Phuket clearance point. Repeated everywhere; asserted by no official source we could reach. The yacht club’s domain does not resolve.
- Marine Department rules for foreign yachts in English. md.go.th is reachable but publishes only e-service portals; no page on cruising permits, port clearance procedure or length of stay was findable.
- Whether a foreigner may serve as master or crew on a Thai-flagged vessel. The Thai Vessels Act restricts ownership and trade, not crew nationality. The Seafarers Standards Division site refused automated access.
- Immigration Bureau procedure for arriving by yacht. immigration.go.th returned 403 to every request. We are not filling that gap from secondary sources.
- Berthing rates at Yacht Haven, Royal Phuket Marina, Ao Po Grand Marina and Ocean Marina. None publishes them.
- RYA recognition of any Thai school, independently. The RYA’s own centre finder covers the UK home countries only and has no country filter, so every accreditation claim on this page rests on the school’s own site.
- Whether Top of the Gulf or Phuket Raceweek will return. Absence of a newer notice is not proof of cancellation. There is simply no primary evidence of an edition since 2019 and 2022 respectively.
- Samui Regatta 2027. Published on the organiser’s site, whose footer still reads 2021. Treat it as published intent.
Frequently asked questions
The 38th Phuket King's Cup Regatta runs 5 to 12 December 2026, per the regatta's own site. Entry is published on its online entry page: 35,000 baht per boat for both monohulls and multihulls, and 6,500 baht per crew member, with the skipper included in the boat fee. Entries are not confirmed until payment is received. Classes listed are IRC, RC Zero, Premier, Sportsboat, Modern Classic, Bareboat Charter, Monohull Cruising, Multihull and One-Design Racing, which needs a minimum of five boats, and the event splits into separate notices of race for keelboats and multihulls on one hand and international dinghy classes on the other. Two things to note: the entry page itself warns that individual class promotions may apply and that the notice of race governs, and only 2025 notices of race were posted when we checked, so the 2026 class structure could differ.
Two reasons, one royal and one meteorological, and they point the same way. The regatta's own history page says it was founded in 1987 by Royal Varuna sailors as a tribute to HM King Bhumibol's 60th birthday on 5 December that year, and it has been anchored to that date ever since. December is also solidly inside Thailand's northeast monsoon: the government portal, citing the Meteorological Department, puts the winter season from mid-October to mid-February, when the northeast monsoon covers the country, with the rainy southwest monsoon running mid-May to mid-October. That is why the Andaman regatta calendar clusters in the cool months and why the Gulf events sat in May.
Not on the evidence of its own site. The most recent regatta published there is the 19th Phuket Raceweek, 29 June to 3 July 2022, hosted at the Cape Panwa Hotel. The 2023 edition was postponed, with the site saying it intended to work towards a 2024 event, and no 2024, 2025 or 2026 edition appears. The footer carries a current copyright year, which is a template value and not evidence of a live event. Top of the Gulf Regatta is in the same position, and more explicitly: its host venue's own page still carries the status Postponed Indefinitely, dated 13 January 2019, and the event's own history table stops at the 15th regatta in 2019. Neither is confirmed cancelled forever, but neither has published an edition in years. If you are planning a season around a Thai regatta, the King's Cup and Samui are the ones with current dates.
Phuket Customs House publishes the procedure and the numbers. A temporarily imported pleasure craft or sport vessel may not remain in Thailand for more than six months from the date of importation, and a request for an extension may not take the total beyond two years and six months from importation. Extensions are processed at Phuket Customs House in Phuket Town and want supporting evidence such as a certificate of vessel repair or of anchoring from a marina. If you do not re-export by the agreed date, Customs fines the vessel at a daily rate of 1,000 baht from expiry, capped at 10,000 baht. And the temporary import comes with a hard condition: no sale, transfer or change of ownership while the vessel is in Thailand on that basis. On arrival you file a Ship Inward Report, form 272, with the vessel registration, passport, outward clearance from the last port and a photo showing the ship's name, and receive a Simplified Customs Declaration; on departure you produce Port Clearance and Ship Outward Report form 373.
Two separate obstacles, and both are real. The first is the vessel. The Thai Vessels Act B.E. 2481, at sections 7 and 47, restricts title to a vessel trading in Thai waters to Thai nationals and to Thai partnerships and companies meeting its management and shareholding tests, and restricts trade in Thai waters to such Thai-registered vessels. A foreign-flagged yacht admitted on a temporary import permit is admitted for private use and re-export, not to trade. The second is you. Any work for pay in Thailand requires a work permit, and working without one, or outside what a permit allows, carries a fine of 5,000 to 50,000 baht plus deportation and a two-year bar on obtaining a permit. What we are deliberately not saying is that skipper or boat crew appears on Thailand's restricted-occupations list: it does not appear on the absolutely-prohibited tier we were able to read, and we could not read the full notification, so we are not asserting it either way.
The best-evidenced answer is the Royal Varuna Yacht Club at Pratamnak in Pattaya, which states on its own site that it is RYA accredited to provide dinghy, multihull sailing and powerboat courses and that its instructors are RYA qualified. It publishes RYA youth and adult courses, RYA Powerboat Level 2 described as ICC-endorsable, and instructor training. It does not publish prices. In Phuket, Phuket Sea School at Yacht Haven claims to be the country's only RYA-recognised sail cruising centre and does publish prices, and Phuket Yacht Club at Chalong runs junior and adult courses under ISSA rather than RYA accreditation. We could not independently verify any of these accreditations, because the RYA's own centre finder covers the UK home countries only and has no country filter. Treat each claim as the school's own.
Related guides
- Phuket — the island the marinas are on, as a place to live.
- Pattaya — Ocean Marina, Royal Varuna and the eastern seaboard.
- Koh Samui — Chaweng, and the May regatta.
- Kitesurfing — the other wind sport, on the same monsoon calendar.
- Scuba diving and snorkelling — what is under the boat.
- Boats and ferries in Bangkok — water transport at the other end of the scale.
- Work permits in Thailand — before you charter anything to anyone.
- Explore Thailand — the section this guide sits in.
A berth is only useful if you live near it
Koh Kaew and Laem Phrao in Phuket, Na Jomtien on the eastern seaboard. The marina you can reach in twenty minutes is the one you will actually sail from.
Sources & References
- Phuket King's Cup Regatta — the regatta's own site: the 38th edition runs 5 to 12 December 2026
- Phuket King's Cup Regatta — the regatta's own online entry page, with its published entry fees of 35,000 baht per boat (monohull and multihull) and 6,500 baht per crew member, skipper included in the boat fee, and its class list: IRC, RC Zero, Premier, Sportsboat, Modern Classic, Bareboat Charter, Monohull Cruising, Multihull and One-Design Racing
- Phuket King's Cup Regatta — the regatta's own history page: founded in 1987 by Royal Varuna sailors as a tribute to HM King Bhumibol's 60th birthday, first hosted at Nai Harn Bay, and organised under the auspices of the Royal Varuna Yacht Club
- Phuket Raceweek — the event's own site, on which the most recent regatta held is the 19th edition of 29 June to 3 July 2022 at the Cape Panwa Hotel, with the 2023 edition postponed and no edition since
- Ocean Marina Jomtien — the host venue's own page for the Top of the Gulf Regatta, which records the event as established 2005 and its status as postponed indefinitely, dated 13 January 2019
- Top of the Gulf Regatta — the event's own history page, whose editions run 2005 to 2019 and stop at the 15th regatta
- Samui Regatta — the organiser's own site: 23 to 30 May 2026 and a 24th edition announced for 22 to 29 May 2027, based at Chaweng Beach, Koh Samui, run by Regattas Asia with the Samui Yacht Club Regatta
- Royal Varuna Yacht Club — the club's own site: address 286 Moo 12 Pratamnak Road, Nongprue, Banglamung, Chonburi (Pattaya), founded over 60 years ago, with the OK Dinghy World Championship listed for 19 to 26 February 2027
- Royal Varuna Yacht Club — the club's own training page, stating that the club is RYA accredited to provide dinghy, multihull sailing and powerboat courses and that its instructors are RYA qualified
- Phuket Customs House — the customs authority's own published procedure for temporary import of a pleasure craft or sport vessel: initial stay not exceeding 6 months, extension not exceeding 2 years and 6 months from importation, a daily overstay fine of 1,000 baht capped at 10,000 baht, the Ship Inward Report form 272 on arrival and Port Clearance and Ship Outward Report form 373 on departure, and no sale or transfer of ownership while temporarily imported
- Royal Thai Government portal (thailand.go.th) — temporary importation of a vessel requires a guarantee contract for re-export and is expected to be re-exported within one to two months but not exceeding six
- Marine Department legal portal — Thai Vessels Act B.E. 2481, sections 7 and 47: title to a vessel trading in Thai waters is restricted to Thai nationals and qualifying Thai companies, and trade in Thai waters is restricted to such Thai-registered vessels
- Royal Thai Government portal — the Ministry of Labour's list of work absolutely prohibited to foreigners. No maritime, boat crew or skipper entry appears on the tier published here
- Royal Thai Government portal — working without a permit, or outside what a permit allows, carries a fine of 5,000 to 50,000 baht plus deportation and a two-year bar on obtaining a work permit, under the Foreigners' Work Management Emergency Decree
- Royal Thai Government portal, citing the Meteorological Department — Thailand's three seasons: summer mid-February to mid-May, rainy season mid-May to mid-October when the southwest monsoon covers the country, and winter mid-October to mid-February under the northeast monsoon
- Phuket Boat Lagoon — the marina's own berthing rate card valid 1 November 2025 to 31 October 2026, and its own description of 180 wet berths, 160 hardstands and 24 dry-stacking bays
- Ao Po Grand Marina — the marina's own site: 230 berths up to 499 tons, a 60-space hardstand, 24-hour access with no tide restriction and a 50-metre-wide entrance
- Phuket Yacht Haven — the marina's own site: 332 berths taking vessels from 3 metres to over 100 metres
- Royal Phuket Marina — the marina's own site: wet berths for 100 vessels up to 35 metres, a 60-space dry stack and a 26-space hard stand
- Ocean Marina Jomtien — the marina's own site: over 450 berths from 8 to 65 metres across piers A to M, taking yachts up to 75 metres, with a 5-knot limit inside the marina and entrance channel
Primary and official sources are cited above. Government rules, fees and procedures in Thailand change over time and vary by office; always confirm current requirements with the relevant authority before relying on them. BAANLYY never takes paid placement in editorial content.
