Hi all, I'm due to arrive in Thailand shortly on a single entry visa, is there anything to stop me from buying a car and registering it in my name? I will have an international licence and not have a fixed address. My plan is to arrive at the airport, spend a a week or two around Bangkok/Pattaya and buy the car, drive to Samui(I intend to live here) find a place to rent longterm, enrol kids in school and obtain paperwork for required visa's. Does anyone see any issues with this? I guess my question is how do I have to register the car in my name and in the district I intend to reside. Thanks in advance for any replies/help. I have lived in Thailand previously, although a long time ago. 

To register the car in your name you need to get a "certificate of residence" from the immigration office in the province where you want to register it.

Rules on how to get this vary in each immigration office. For example to get a COR in Bangkok you have to do 90 day reports there, so in your case you can't register a car in Bangkok.

Depending on your home country, you might be able to get a document which confirms your address from your embassy, then you don't need to get a COR from immigration.

 

Buying a car somewhere, and then registering it at Koh Samui is of course possible (two trips to the DLT required, first they change the province, then you have to come back a few days later to change the name), maybe somebody else can tell you what exactly you need to present at the immigration office to get a certificate of residence there.

But most people would prefer to go to the DLT together with the seller of the car and transfer it together, so you know everything is in order with the car registration. If you buy a car in Bangkok, and then try to register it in Samui a few weeks later and there is any problem with the papers, it might be difficult to sort out.

7 hours ago, nathan christian said:

I will have an international licence and not have a fixed address. My plan is to arrive at the airport, spend a a week or two around Bangkok/Pattaya and buy the car, drive to Samui

I would say your way ahead of yourself, hire a car and do your Bkk, Pattaya thing and get to Samui and get set.

Then you can find out in Samui about all else you need to do.

Your country DL may need an IDP but get one anyway.

Cheers Jackdd & Kwasaki, i think I am getting a bit ahead of myself and would be wise to hire a car to make the trip to Samui, would only be staying in Bangkok/pattaya to look for a car. I did it a while ago in Malaysia, arrived, bought it, no registering in different states etc, went to local office changed the title, got insurance and away i went. Thailand doesn't seem quite as straight forward so thanks for pointing that out. Happy Songkran!

3 hours ago, nathan christian said:

Cheers Jackdd & Kwasaki, i think I am getting a bit ahead of myself and would be wise to hire a car to make the trip to Samui, would only be staying in Bangkok/pattaya to look for a car. I did it a while ago in Malaysia, arrived, bought it, no registering in different states etc, went to local office changed the title, got insurance and away i went. Thailand doesn't seem quite as straight forward so thanks for pointing that out. Happy Songkran!

Here simple stuff is made difficult for no apparent reason and when you think of it, a huge percentage of rides in LOS are not legal and nothing is done about it, crazy stuff...????

You will also need to show at least 30 days visa unexpired, which is near impossible on a tourist visa.

Thanks for replies, not sure if a years rental contract on a house would be enough to get the COR. Will try to check in Samui. If I need to do a 90 day reporting I will be screwed as I'm arriving from the UK on a single entry 60 day visa, will then be getting paperwork from school to then go to KL to obtain a more permanent visa for the family/kids, would've hoped to drive to KL to do this. Jackdd, you mention obtaining some documentation from my embassy, I would still need an address to obtain this though, wouldn't I? 

On 4/15/2019 at 12:26 AM, nathan christian said:

Jackdd, you mention obtaining some documentation from my embassy, I would still need an address to obtain this though, wouldn't I?  

Probably yes, but does of course depend on the embassy.

You should tell people your nationality, then maybe somebody here can tell you which documents the embassy requires. Or you could call the embassy and ask them.

Hi mate, yeah will ring them, I did say will be arriving from UK, so presumed people would know my nationality. Thanks for all your replies, much appreciated