Driving a Malaysian car in Thailand

[MatteoBassini]

I've searched all over for this info but it's either explaining about the process of crossing the border into Thailand or driving a Thai car into Malaysia.

 

My question is: How long can a Malaysian car drive in Thailand before having to return to Malaysia? And, is it possible for the car to return to Thailand immediately after and continue driving same as before?

 

The context is I want to buy and own a car that is only sold in Malaysia. I cannot pay the 3 million baht import tax so my idea is to just keep it registered in Malaysia and drive it back and forth. As for owning a Malaysian car and probably having to have a valid Malaysian address for the equivalent of a bluebook there, I can worry about that later.

 

Problem here is, if for example the car is given 90 days to drive in Thailand before having to either be registered in Thailand or have to return to Malaysia, will the car gain back those 90 days once it crosses the border into Malaysia and then back again? It's a silly idea, I know, but I'm willing to go through extreme measures just to have a unique car, except paying 4 million baht for a Mazda 6.

 

Thank you in advance.

[tifino]

I had this scenario where we'd drive up from Penang every 2nd weekend... do our shopping whilst varying our stays at either Hatyai, Songkla or CowboyTown/PadangBesar 

 

I always followed the IO's warnings to ensure the car never stayed longer than 30 days in LOS per trip. This was great as it meant we'd accosioanllt drive all the way to Bangkok too.'

 

Only scare was once I did a radiator, and my old mazda626 at the time was difficut to get spares for, above the border.

Noting the IO warned there were to be no acceptable excuses as to why the car was still in LOS beyond that 30 days limit date!

 

I had to make sure it was fixed and back over to malaysia, or some massive Fine (citing would be accused for Importing) would happen! Cannot recall now just how many zeroes were quoted for the Fine, but it would have been well above the actual value of the car...   (many Zeroes)

There were no limitations regarding how soon the car could come back over the border to LOS

 

The process to bring car in was simle

just needed your Passport, and the rego papers

 

The car itself continues to be driven with it's Malaysian plates.

 

you walk away with a clear magic plastic disc, which is to hold the short term LOS rego card, to the window.

 

now back in australia, I still have the last rego card, and the plastic disc on my current car's windscreen... as a sort of souvenir    It is put up centrally on the glass in front of your internal rear view mirror

 

I cannot recall what the Fee was, for each car visit over the border?

Bringing the Penang registered car over was fairly simple

 

Edited June 8, 2019 by tifino

[MatteoBassini]

Thanks for the reply, Tifino. Seems like this answers most of my concerns. I'm also contemplating getting a Laos car instead of Malay because of the novelty of having a LHD car...

[DK2223]

I am a Malaysian and before i live here, i used to take my Malaysia car to Thailand. If i remember correctly and the law have not change, you can drive a Malaysia registration car in Thailand for every 29-30days. Other then border town like Hatyai, Dannok, Betong, you will need to have a Thailand temporary insurance for your car that can be done at any Malaysia-Thai border. How much it charges is base on how far you want to travel into Thailand from Malaysia border. In law of Malaysia -Thai border is in between 50km from the border of Malaysia you do not need an insurance after that you will need to pay for the insurance. Example if you drive from Changlun(Malaysia) border to Dannok, the 1st town after the thai immigration, you do not need insurance, but if you want to drive to Hatyai(65km) from Malaysia border, then you need Temporary Thai car insurance. Except that if you are living somewhere near the border, then it will be ok, but if you live somewhere far from the border, i won't advice you to do it. And you will need a Malaysia driving license to drive a Malaysia registration car in Thailand (if i remember correctly). Except you are Thai and have a Thai driving license. 

[DK2223]

Just out of curiosity, which part of Thailand you live?

[MatteoBassini]

2 hours ago, DK2223 said:

Just out of curiosity, which part of Thailand you live?

Thanks for the info, DK. I live in Pattaya.

 

How much does the insurance cost if it's just to Hatyai?

[DK2223]

7 hours ago, MatteoBassini said:

Thanks for the info, DK. I live in Pattaya.

 

How much does the insurance cost if it's just to Hatyai?

Then I don't really advice you to buy a car in Malaysia to drive in Thailand.

I am sorry, can't really remember. If i am correct, it not expensive if just to Hatyai.

[canopus1969]

646 Baht  - the Government Insurance

[MatteoBassini]

2 hours ago, canopus1969 said:

646 Baht  - the Government Insurance

That's not so bad, if it's lower than 2000 to drive around Pattaya and Bangkok, it's feasible for me.

 

2 hours ago, DK2223 said:

Then I don't really advice you to buy a car in Malaysia to drive in Thailand.

I am sorry, can't really remember. If i am correct, it not expensive if just to Hatyai.

True, I'm starting to think to buy a Laos car instead, as it gives me 90 days instead of just 30 days. However, I apparently cannot buy a Laos car as a Thai citizen unless I own a business in Laos.

Edited June 9, 2019 by MatteoBassini

[DK2223]

20 hours ago, MatteoBassini said:

That's not so bad, if it's lower than 2000 to drive around Pattaya and Bangkok, it's feasible for me.

 

True, I'm starting to think to buy a Laos car instead, as it gives me 90 days instead of just 30 days. However, I apparently cannot buy a Laos car as a Thai citizen unless I own a business in Laos.

I am not sure is the 646baht is for the how many km.. As i remember, my friend ride his big bike from Malaysia and travel around Thailand, it cost him around 800 -1000 Malaysia ringgit for the coverage for whole country..

 

Laos car will be a little trouble, if you are not laos person. The police in Thailand is a little trouble some for Laos car as i know.. But you can try your luck...

[MatteoBassini]

15 hours ago, DK2223 said:

I am not sure is the 646baht is for the how many km.. As i remember, my friend ride his big bike from Malaysia and travel around Thailand, it cost him around 800 -1000 Malaysia ringgit for the coverage for whole country..

 

Laos car will be a little trouble, if you are not laos person. The police in Thailand is a little trouble some for Laos car as i know.. But you can try your luck...

RM 800 sounds a lot but I think your friend bought an additional insurance for peace of mind but not really compulsory.

 

At this point the biggest hassle would be finding time to drive over 30 hours back and forth from Pattaya to the Malaysian border... unless I get a day off from work each month, it's near impossible to do the journey on a weekend.

[Jeffrey346]

Your just looking for trouble especially in Pattaya. The police will be all over you and do have the right to confiscate the car.

[yardrunner]

On 6/9/2019 at 12:35 AM, MatteoBassini said:

Thanks for the reply, Tifino. Seems like this answers most of my concerns. I'm also contemplating getting a Laos car instead of Malay because of the novelty of having a LHD car...

I have driven a right hand drive car in the UK for three years and it was not easy to overtake other cars when you are sitting in the gutter and have to pull out a long way to see if it is safe to overtake and quite off-putting overtaking a lorry with big wheels turning a few inches from your head.

[Clamhua]

I drove my Malaysia registered Mitsubishi Triton into Thailand twice in 2015-2016. First trip as far as Krabi and the second time up to Hua Hin. There are a couple of roadhouse stops before the border in Changlun where we bought insurance and had all the papers filled out for us by the staff, just needed to show the registration paper and passport. Insurance cost was RM28 for 2 weeks. But they do write down your intended date of return to Malaysia, if you are late it was 1000 baht fine per day. Failure to take the car back was 2.4million baht in taxes. 

 

Once you cleared Malaysia you drive up to the Thai immigration, park your car yo the left hand car park and then go to a special unmarked booth to have the car processed, pay them 4RM. Then you clear immigration, jump in the car as you drive across you will be stopped just show the papers and drive through.

 

On return you drive up to a particular booth on the Thai side, follow the cars to find the booth if you see a driver jump out of his car that's the booth, give them the original papers they keep one and off you go providing you have already cleared immigration.

 

Once you hit Malaysia immigration you swipe your touch and go card, some RM is deducted and off you go. A few kms down there will be a roadblock checking for contraband (excessive shopping).

 

Not so hard to do but the process does change often at Danok

[MatteoBassini]

3 hours ago, Jeffrey346 said:

Your just looking for trouble especially in Pattaya. The police will be all over you and do have the right to confiscate the car.

As long as no laws have been broken they do not have a right to confiscate the car, especially if it isn't a Thai registered one. Seen plenty of Malaysian cars in Pattaya over the years.

 

2 hours ago, yardrunner said:

I have driven a right hand drive car in the UK for three years and it was not easy to overtake other cars when you are sitting in the gutter and have to pull out a long way to see if it is safe to overtake and quite off-putting overtaking a lorry with big wheels turning a few inches from your head.

That is indeed a big disadvantage but that is an acceptable compromise for me.

 

1 hour ago, Clamhua said:

I drove my Malaysia registered Mitsubishi Triton into Thailand twice in 2015-2016. First trip as far as Krabi and the second time up to Hua Hin. There are a couple of roadhouse stops before the border in Changlun where we bought insurance and had all the papers filled out for us by the staff, just needed to show the registration paper and passport. Insurance cost was RM28 for 2 weeks. But they do write down your intended date of return to Malaysia, if you are late it was 1000 baht fine per day. Failure to take the car back was 2.4million baht in taxes. 

 

Once you cleared Malaysia you drive up to the Thai immigration, park your car yo the left hand car park and then go to a special unmarked booth to have the car processed, pay them 4RM. Then you clear immigration, jump in the car as you drive across you will be stopped just show the papers and drive through.

 

On return you drive up to a particular booth on the Thai side, follow the cars to find the booth if you see a driver jump out of his car that's the booth, give them the original papers they keep one and off you go providing you have already cleared immigration.

 

Once you hit Malaysia immigration you swipe your touch and go card, some RM is deducted and off you go. A few kms down there will be a roadblock checking for contraband (excessive shopping).

 

Not so hard to do but the process does change often at Danok

Thank you for the great info, Clamhua. I think I'm convinced I'll do this. Now just to decide whether to buy a Mondeo or mazda 6

[jackdd]

Here everything explained: http://www.customs.go.th/content_with_menu1.php?ini_menu=menu_individual_submenu_02&ini_content=individual_F01_160909_01_02&lang=en&left_menu=menu_individual_submenu_02_160421_03_160922_01

 

[The Old Bull]

It's illegal for a Canadian to drive a US registered car in Canada for the same reason. Maybe there is a similar rule in place for Thais here.

[MatteoBassini]

6 hours ago, The Old Bull said:

It's illegal for a Canadian to drive a US registered car in Canada for the same reason. Maybe there is a similar rule in place for Thais here.

No.

That is because of the laws regarding vehicle importation in the US. An individual cannot import ANY car for private use unless it was more than 25 years old.

 

To prevent people from finding ways around this, the law limits the amount of time a Mexican or Canadian registered vehicle can drive in the US with no "resets". If the vehicle is given 30 days, after those 30 days are up it can no longer enter the US.

 

I don't know the importation laws in Canada, but I assume they've come up with that law to prevent people from driving a car that's illegal in Canada but legal in the US.