The Department of Industrial Works (DIW) (กรมโรงงานอุตสาหกรรม) is a department under the supervision of the Thai Ministry of Industry (MOI). When the MOI was spun off from the Ministry of Commerce in 1942, the DIW was one of the first departments established under the MOI.

The DIW consists of 15 divisions (called “bureaus” or “offices”) including the following which are likely most familiar to business operators:

• five bureaus of “industrial clusters”

Industrial Cluster 1 Bureau (responsible for the issuance of factory licenses to factories which produce or process beverages, liquors, agricultural products, sugar, food additives, tobacco products, etc.)

Industrial Cluster 2 Bureau (responsible for the issuance of factory licenses to factories which produce or process textiles, leather, motor vehicles, etc.)

Industrial Cluster 3 Bureau (responsible for the issuance of factory licenses to factories which produce or process oil and petroleum products, plastics, chemicals, rubber, cement, etc.)

Industrial Cluster 4 Bureau (responsible for the issuance of factory licenses to factories which produce or process metals, machinery, firearms, etc.)

Industrial Cluster 5 Bureau (responsible for the issuance of factory licenses to factories which produce or process wooden products, paper, toys, gas, etc.)

• the Central Office for Machinery Registration (responsible for machinery registrations

• the Hazardous Substances Control Bureau (responsible for the issuance of licenses and receipt of legally required notices concerning industrial-related hazardous substances).

The following laws generally fall under the DIW’s purview:

• the Factory Act of 1992;
• the Machinery Registration Act of 1971; and
• the Hazardous Substances Act of 1992 (with respect to industrial-related substances only).

Under the Factory Act, businesses which would like to establish what is known as a “Type-3 factory” are required to obtain a factory license from the DIW. The application for the license may be submitted directly to the DIW’s head office (which is located in the MOI compound on Rama VI Road in Ratchathewi District of Bangkok) or through a provincial office of the DIW in the relevant province.

Under the Hazardous Substances Act, if any hazardous substances (e.g., restricted chemicals or other restricted substance such as chemical wastes and used electronic equipment) are to be produced, imported, exported or possessed (either in a factory or elsewhere), a license from (or a prior notice to) the Hazardous Substances Control Bureau of the DIW may be required (depending on the applicable category of hazardous substances which are divided into four classes based on their levels of hazard).

Under the Machinery Registration Act, owners of qualified machinery may voluntarily register their machinery with the Central Office for Machinery Registration of the DIW in order enable the owners to mortgage their machinery to secure their obligations towards other parties (such as banks).

For more information about the DIW, please visit its official website (in the Thai language): www.diw.go.th