Rules and regulations of the Radio Amateur Society of Thailand
under the Royal Patronage of His Majesty the King
(Unofficial translation)
Section 1
General Regulations
General Regulations
Article 1. Society's Name: The Society has the name "Samakhom Witayu Samak Len Haeng Prathet Thai Nai Prabarom Rachupathum" The abbreviation (in Thai) will be Sor, Wor, Sor, Tor. In English it will be called "The Radio Amateur Society of Thailand Under the Royal Patronage of His Majesty the King" and abbreviated as "R.A.S.T."
Article 2. The Administrative Office: The administrative office of the Society is located at 328/19 Sirindhorn Road, Bang Bamru Subdistrict, Bangplad District, Bangkok 10700.
Article 3. The Emblem of the Society: This is a map of Thailand inside in two concentric circles in which will be written in Thai: "Samakhom Witayu Samak Len Haeng Prathet Thai Nai Prabarom Rachuprathum," under which, in English, will be written "RADIO AMATEUR SOCIETY OF THAILAND UNDER THE ROYAL PATRONAGE OF HIS MAJESTY THE KING" and within the inner circle the abbreviations "Sor, Wor, Sor, Tor" (in Thai) and RAST that are imposed on the map of Thailand.
Section 2
Objectives
Objectives
Article 4. The society is for amateur radio operators and has the following objectives:
4.1 To respect national institutions, religion and His Majesty the King.
4.2 To encourage members to use amateur radio frequencies to create unity and friendship.
4.3 To develop knowledge and technical expertise in communications using radio frequencies for members and the general public.
4.4 To train and educate its members to be amateur radio operators with greater technical knowledge and skills.
4.5 To promote benefits to society and national safety.
4.6 To encourage members to use radios for sending and receiving communications as a back-up to public communications networks in the event of a disaster or an emergency.
4.7 To increase the number of members that will be reserve radio operators who can serve society and the nation, both during peace and in the case of an emergency.
4.8 To build up a reputation for the society and for the nation in order to gain recognition and acceptance among radio organizations in the international community.
4.9 To inform the membership of news via publications.
4.10 To not be related to activities involving business, politics or religion.
Section 3
Members and Membership
Members and Membership
Article 5. Categories of members: Members of the Society are divided into five categories as follows:
5.1 Honorary members: Those that the Society has considered to be people who have benefited the Society and amateur radio and whose membership will provide the Society with an honorable status and convenience and who have been awarded this status in a vote by a the Society's Committee members.
5.2 Ordinary members: Those who have obtained a basic or higher amateur radio licence from the Office of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) or who hold a licence recognized by the NBTC or who is recognized by the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) as an amateur radio operator and who has submitted a request for membership, this having been approved by the proceedings at a meeting of the Committee.
5.3 Extraordinary members: Individuals other than those mentioned in articles 5.1 and 5.2 who have submitted their request for membership, this having been approved by the proceedings at a meeting of the Committee.
5.4 Associate members: Students who are under 20 years of age who have submitted a request for membership, this having been approved by the proceedings at a meeting of the Committee.
5.5 Organizational members: Societies, associations, clubs or amateur radio groups who have submitted a request for membership, this having been approved by the proceedings at a meeting of the Committee.
Article 6. Applications for membership: Those wishing to apply for membership in the Society (with the exception of honorary members) must submit an application in the form specified by the Society to the Registrar of the Society.
Article 7. Approval process for those who have submitted their applications for membership: The Registrar of the Society shall present the applications at the next Committee meeting and after this has been approved by the Committee the Registrar will inform the new member of the membership in a letter.
Article 8. Admission fees and dues to maintain the Society.
8.1 Application fee: When submitting their application, applicants must pay a 100 baht fee.
8.2 Dues
8.2.1 Honorary members: No need to pay any dues.
8.2.2 Ordinary members: Payment of an annual fee of 200 baht.
Ordinary Life members: A one-time payment of 2,000 baht.
Ordinary 5-year members: A single payment 700 baht in dues.
8.2.3 Extraordinary members: Annual payment of 100 baht in dues.
Lifelong Extraordinary members: A one-time payment of 1,000 baht
8.2.4 Associate members: Annual dues of 50 baht
8.2.5 Lifelong Extraordinary members: Those that have paid dues according to clause 8.2.3 are entitled to lifetime membership with the payment of 1,000 baht in dues.
8.2.6 Organizational members: A single payment of 2,000 baht in dues.
Article 9. Commencement of membership: This occurs after a member has been accepted in the proceedings of a Committee meeting and has paid his dues fully
Article 10. Termination of Membership: Membership ends under one of the following circumstances.
10.1 Death.
10.2 Resignation: By submitting a letter of resignation to the Society's committee and paying any outstanding debts.
10.3 Judged to be incompetent, or as if incompetent, or have disappeared, is bankrupt, punished by imprisonment, except for a misdemeanor or punishment for a misdemeanor or other such offenses.
10.4 A Committee meeting decides to remove a member from the membership. This must be with a vote of three fourths of the Committee members at the meeting, for whatever reason and according to the following clauses:
10.4.1 Activities committed which are against the Society or which hurt the reputation of the Society.
10.4.2 Violation of the policy of the Society.
10.4.3 Failure to pay annual dues before the expiry period of the membership at the end of December without a reasonable cause.
10.5 A member who has not paid his dues is considered a terminated member. When the member has paid the dues which he owes, his membership will be reinstated without having to follow through with the application process again.
Section 4
Privileges and Responsibilities of Members
Privileges and Responsibilities of Members
Article 11. Privileges of membership
11.1 Members have the right to participate in all activities of the Society in accordance with rules set forth in a Committee meeting and have a right to receive any and all privileges assigned by the Society.
11.2 All members have the right to offer their opinions or to make suggestions to the Society or to its Committee members on any matter in line with the objectives of the society in order to bring prosperity to the Society.
11.3 All members have the right to request an inspection of activities and assets of the society by submitting a request in writing to the Committee.
11.4 Every member has the right to attend meetings, to debate and to make suggestions and to query the Committee. Only ordinary members and organizational members have the privilege to make a motion at a General Meeting by submitting a written document at least seven days beforehand and the motion must have the support of no fewer than 10 ordinary members.
11.5 Only ordinary members may vote in a General Meeting or to be elected as a member of the Committee of the Society.
11.6 For organizational members, only the president or vice-president of the society, the president or vice-president of the club, the president or vice president of the group or their representative has the right to vote in a General Meeting and in the election of Committee members of the Society. There will be only one vote per association, club, group or organization.
Article 12. Responsibilities of Members:
12.1 Members must strictly comply with the rules and regulations of the Society, from the proceedings of the General Meeting and according to the proceedings of the meeting of Committee members.
12.2 Members must maintain the reputation and the interests of the Society.
12.3 Members must disseminate and support the activities of the Society.
12.4 Members must pay their dues as scheduled.
12.5 Members must accept the objectives of the Society and act in accordance with their objectives.
Section 5
The Committee of the Society
The Committee of the Society
Article 13. Committee of the Society: There will be a Committee for the management of the Society which will represent the Society and which will consist of the President of the Society and other Committee members comprising a total of not more than 19 persons. The President and nine other committee members will be elected during the Annual General Meeting. Those nominated to be the President of the association and as Committee members must be present at the Annual General Meeting and must be endorsed by at least 10 persons. Another 5 Committee members may be appointed by the President of the society while another 4 Committee members are to be appointed by the Committee for a total of 9 appointees.
The Committee shall appoint the Vice-President, the Secretary, the Treasurer and the other officers as appropriate.
The President of the Society and Committee members serve in their positions for 2 years each. The President and Committee members must retire after that but may be re-elected or appointed to be Committee members for the next term.
Article 14. Qualifications of Committee members: The Committee members of the Society must have the following qualifications:
14.1 Must be an ordinary member.
14.2 May not be a worker or a regular employee of the Society.
14.3 Must not be bankrupt
14.4 Must not be incompetent, or as if incompetent.
14.5 Must be free from a contagious disease that is shunned by society.
14.6 Must not hold a position in another amateur radio association with the same agenda as the Society.
Article 15. Termination of Committee Membership: A Committee member may be terminated from the position on the Committee for any of the following reasons:
15.1 Completion of tenure.
15.2 Resignation from the position as approved by the proceedings of a Committee meeting.
15.3 Lacking qualifications under Article 14. and losing membership according to Article 10.
15.4 By the proceedings of a General Meeting to remove the person from the position.
15.5 For missing Committee meetings on three consecutive occasions without any written notification.
Article 16. The case of a position becoming vacant before the end of tenure: When there is a condition where the position of the President of the Society or other Committee members becomes vacant before the end of tenure, the Committee should appoint any ordinary member to the position and that appointee should perform the duties of the person he is replacing.
Article 17. Meetings of the Committee: The Committee shall meet no less than once every second month. The President or other committee members of at least three people may also call special meetings.
Article 18. The attendance necessary for there to be a quorum of the Committee: There must be at least one half of the Committee members in attendance in order for there to be a quorum.
Article 19. Proceedings for Committee Meetings: Unless otherwise specified in these regulations, the majority vote at a Committee meeting shall be the proceedings of the meeting. In the case where the vote results in a tie, the Chairman of the meeting shall be granted one additional vote in order to break the tie.
Article 20. Chairman of the Committee meeting: The President of the Society shall be the Chairman of the meeting. If the President of the Society is not present, or is unable to perform the duty for whatever reason, the Vice-president shall be the Chairman of that meeting. If the Vice-President is not in attendance, or is unable to perform the duty, the Committee members present shall appoint any Committee member to be the Chairman of the meeting for that meeting only.
Article 21. The Authority and duties of Committee members: The authority and duties of the Committee shall be as follows:
21.1 To organize and manage the assets of the Society in accordance with the regulations and resolutions of the Annual General Meeting.
21.2 To appoint Committee members to various positions in the Committee.
21.3 To set an agenda for the Society's activities.
21.4 To hire or appoint and remove various consultants and honorary consultants of the committees, sub-committees, officers, and all workers in order to proceed in an orderly fashion.
21.5 The President of the Society is the Chairman of General Meetings and Committee meetings and shall oversee the activities of the Society and the representatives of the Society to those outside the Society.
21.6 The Vice-President shall have the responsibility to substitute for the President when the President is absent or is unable to perform the duties of President, as well as having the responsibility to help the President in performing the duties of President as the President assigns.
21.7 The Secretary has the responsibility to arrange the meetings of the Committee, to report on the minutes of the meeting and has the responsibility to contact members and those outside the Society about various issues, to manage various activities of the Society or to perform work not specifically appointed to other members of the Committee.
21.8 The Treasurer has the responsibility to control the flow of money, to care for the funds and to make a written report of funds and to maintain the various documents.
21.9 The Registrar has the responsibility to maintain the membership register, including documents regarding membership.
Section 6
General Meetings
General Meetings
Article 22. General meetings: General Meetings shall be established as follows:
22.1 There shall be an Annual General Meeting each year, once a year, during the month of March.
22.2 In the case that the Committee considers it appropriate or if no less than 100 members present a petition to the Secretary requesting a General Meeting, the Committee shall designate an extraordinary general meeting within 30 days of receiving the petition.
Article 23. Quorum for General Meetings: At General Meetings, whether it be the Annual General Meeting or an Extraordinary General Meeting, there must be at least 50 members present and two thirds of the Committee members must be present for there to be a quorum.
Article 24. Resolutions at a General Meeting: Unless otherwise specified in these regulations, a majority vote shall be considered as a resolution of the meeting. If the votes are equal then the Chairman of the meeting shall have the casting vote.
Article 25: The date of a General Meeting: The committee must send a notice of the date, time, venue and the agenda of the General Meeting, including the documents under clauses 29.1, 29.2 and 29.3, to all members at least 7 days before the meeting.
Article 26. Lack of a Quorum: If not enough members are present at a General Meeting for there to be a quorum the Committee of the Society must hold another General Meeting within 14 days from the date of the first meeting. For this second General Meeting there is a quorum regardless of the number of members attending. However, if such a General Meeting is an Extraordinary General Meeting that is conducted according to member requests then there is no need to hold the meeting, which is considered cancelled.
Article 27. Chairman of the General Meeting: The President of the Society shall be the Chairman of the General Meeting. If the President is not present or is unable to perform the duty, the Vice-President shall be the Chairman of the meeting. In the event the Vice-President is not present or is unable to perform the duty, the attendees of the general meeting shall appoint any member to the position of Chairman of that general meeting and only for that particular meeting.
Article 28. How to vote at the General Meeting: Voting in the general meeting shall be according to the following two procedures:
28.1 Publicly by the raising of the hand.
28.2 A secret ballot: This shall be by marking a ballot card and will be done when the Committee and the majority of the membership present requests that voting is conducted by a secret ballot.
28.3 Voting must only be done in person at, and during, the meeting.
Article 29. Activities during the General Meeting: Activities of the General Meeting shall include the following:
29.1 To approve the minutes of the previous General Meeting.
29.2 To consider the annual report which should report on the activities of the previous year.
29.3 To consider income and expense statements and to certify the balance sheet.
29.4 To appoint an Auditor of the accounts and to determine the payment for the service rendered.
29.5 To elect the Committee according to the regulations.
29.6 Consideration of other business (if any exists).
Section 7
Finances and Accounting
Finances and Accounting
Article 30. Funds of the Society: The funds of the Society are under the oversight of the Committee and shall be held in a commercial bank in the name of the Society for safekeeping. Payments made by the Society, regardless from which account, must have the seal of the Society imprinted with the signature of the President, Vice-President, the Secretary, or the Treasurer with no fewer than two people signing. The spending limit shall be no more than 20,000 (twenty thousand) baht. If there is a condition where the amount is greater than this, it must be approved by the Committee.
Article 31. Accounting and Properties: The Treasurer is to prepare a report accounting for funds and properties of the Society by presenting various documents in accordance with established accounting procedures. Official receipts must be issued for all funds received and every dispersal of funds must be by proper documents with correct reporting of the amount approved by the President or the person responsible who is appointed by the President. All reports of receipts and payments must be retained for at least 10 years in order that they may be inspected completely. The Treasurer has the authority to care for the petty cash flow of no more than 10,000 (ten thousand) baht. The Committee shall establish an orderly way of handling funds and properties which is appropriate and expedient and make a statement of the condition and the procedures for handling the funds of the Society, presenting this to the members every three months.
Article 32. Balance sheet preparation: The Committee shall prepare a balance sheet each year and that shall be sent to an Auditor to be examined by no later than January in the following year. The Auditor shall complete the audit before the Annual General Meeting.
Article 33. Fiscal Year: The Fiscal year shall be from December 31 each year which is the end of the Fiscal year of the Society.
Article 34. Authority of the Auditor: The Auditor has the authority to examine the books and various documents that are related to funds and properties of the Society. He also has the authority to question the Committee and various officers of the Society who are involved in finances and to have access to the related documents.
Section 8
Amendments to regulations and the dissolution of the Society
Amendments to regulations and the dissolution of the Society
Article 35: Amendments to the regulations: These Regulations may be amended or altered by the proceedings of a General Meeting with a vote of not less than two thirds of the ordinary members attending the meeting.
Article 36: Dissolution of the Society: The Society may be disbanded through any one of the following causes or procedures:
36.1 When a General Meeting has passed the resolution to terminate the society with a vote of not less than 3 out of 4 of the number of ordinary members attending the meeting.
36.2 By bankruptcy
36.3 Under a court order to dissolve.
36.4 When the Government Registrar controlling societies has ordered the dissolution of the Society and has struck the name of the Society from the registry. In the event that the Society must dissolve, the remaining properties of the Society shall be transferred to an educational institution selected by a general meeting of the Society and it shall be the custodian of the properties.
Article 37. Liquidation: In the event that the Society must dissolve for whatever reason according to Article 36, the payments of accounts of the Society shall be according to the constitutional stipulations for civil and commercial code of law as is applicable.
Section 9
Miscellaneous
Miscellaneous
Article 38. The signing of documents: On various legal documents of the Society, or when signing documents, when the Society's seal, which is the emblem and legal representation of the Society, is affixed with the signature of the President of the Society, or the Vice-President or one of two appointed members of the Committee designated to sign, when duly stamped and signed, this document is official.
Transitional Provisions
The Committee members who are elected in the General Meetings according to Part 22.2 will finish their tenure according to Clause 15.1 at the General Meeting according to Clause 22.1.
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(This unofficial English translation was made in July 2020 by Tony Waltham, HS0ZDX and is intended to be an aid to English speakers desiring to know the nature of the Regulations and Bylaws of RAST. It is a translation that is based on an earlier translation of previous RAST regulations by Don Craft, HS0ZBG that were also edited by Tony Waltham)