I have been looking into gathering information re pleasure crafts/vessels in Thailand.

Examples:

A 40 foot sailing yacht with a diesel installed.

A 30 foot daycruiser / speedboat.

A 30/35 foot cabin cruiser for overnight trips.

A 25-30 foot longtail boat for trips.

(I am talking Thai vessels here.)

What sort of license would be required for skippering the above?

How to obtain such a license? (for non Thai national).

Also, so far I have been informed that non Thai nationals just cannot own any kind of pleasure craft

in their own name. It seems, according to the information I have received, that there is no way

for a farang to buy a boat (for pleasure) in Thailand and have it registered in own name.

Any comments on that?

Would be happy if someone could shed some light on this.

cheers

Foreigners can Thai register a vessel in their own name. A license is not required to operate them for private pleasure use.

http://bangkok.angloinfo.com/information/42/sailing.asp

would seem to indicate a licence is required for private use.