Left changing name on green book too late?

[Mm75]

Hi,

I bought a bike from someone in June. He was gracious enough to give me his green book and some forms and photocopies of documents all signed, ready for me to transfer to my name.

Unfortunately, I'm terrible and haven't gotten round to transferring it to my name. I think the previous owner is not even in Thailand anymore. 

What can I do? Have I left it too late? I still have all of these documents but obviously his signed photocopy of his passport is now 6 months out of date..

 

I want to take the bike out of town and around the country but am worried that without my name in the green book this may cause problems. If I was caught with the green book in someone else's name, is this illegal? 

 

Any advice would be amazing! Thank you 

[Kwasaki]

12 minutes ago, Mm75 said:

What can I do? Have I left it too late?

Go to your nearest DLT office and find out.

 

12 minutes ago, Mm75 said:

If I was caught with the green book in someone else's name, is this illegal?

No.

[papa al]

Changing to your name = big problem;

but just take book in for annual registration,

you can do that indefinitely.

No prob with cops.

I you want to sell bike,

= problem.

[Isaanbiker]

 

OP, I had a very similar problem, and I'd like to advise you to get the bike and insurance in your name.

 

I've bought my bike from a dishonest Irish guy who delivered the bike to my house. He was with his wife and their daughter.

 

But when I look at it now, it could have been somebody he knew and helped him to get the money.

 

A long story short. The guy received a payment of 15 K upfront to deliver it and to make sure that I'd get it.

 

 Then he came with a good night's story that his mate, the former owner, and his wife would arrive in Thailand on New Year's Eve, and the copy of the ID card of his friend's wife had been too old, so he didn't take it with him.

 

 I thought that it wouldn't be a big deal because my wife's uncle is a big shot in the transport department, but I was wrong.

 

I fought six months to get that done, had to drive to Korat to find the former owner, a Thai lady who left Thailand with an American over ten years ago.

 

 I finally found a relative who had her as a Line contact. I spoke to the woman, but she wasn't in the mood to send me anything. 

 

After three months she sent a photo she'd made on her phone to us, but it turned out that it wasn't enough.

 

Another two months of fighting, and I had a signed copy of her ID card. I can call myself lucky that the bike wasn't stolen from somebody. 

 

  I've told you the whole story to understand how complicated this procedure is.

 

Are you sure that the bike wasn't stolen somewhere, together with the book? 

 

It happens from time to time. Money makes the world turn around!

As others have already mentioned, you can continue riding the bike, but if the insurance is still in the former owner's name and an accident happens, you're fragged.

 

 You could change the insurance if a Thai person came with you — your wife, gf, etc.

 

  But you can't sell the bike without it being in your name.

 

And as already mentioned, if an accident happens, you'll have many problems.

 

I'll send you a message in a few minutes. 

      

   

  

[DaRoadrunner]

Why do I get the feeling this is a guy with a stolen bike?

 

If it happens to be a red Yamaha 650 chopper, its mine and I would like it back.

Edited December 10, 2019 by DaRoadrunner

[Isaanbiker]

35 minutes ago, DaRoadrunner said:

Why do I get the feeling this is a guy with a stolen bike?

 

If it happens to be a red Yamaha 650 chopper, its mine and I would like it back.

I always see new bikes in town ridden by Thais who do not have the book.

 

Can you post a photo of your bike and I'll try to do some research.

 

   People who do that, should be hanging on the highest tree. 

 

  There's a high possibility that this bike is stolen. It happens too often.

 

It's frigging easy to make a book, if you know somebody at a LTD, or gangsters who are specialised on it. 

 

   I hope that you get it back. I'll also help you to find a solution for the thief he'll never forget. 

 

OP, could you please post a photo of your bike?

Edited December 10, 2019 by Isaanbiker

[taninthai]

I had same problem as op except I had 2 bikes that needed name change and one a colour change as well....my paperwork was 2 years old......I put an add in our local Facebook group and a local Thai sorted it all out for me for 4000 bht,some paperwork needed to be redone and signatures copied????????

6 months shouldn’t be a problem ,just head down to dlt office or use an agent.

Edited December 11, 2019 by taninthai

[Mm75]

Hey everyone. Thanks for the reply. Bike is definitely not stolen, the seller was there when I bought it and was very honest. He was super kind and had photocopied all of his documents for me and signed everything ready for me to take it to change the name.

However, I flew back to England for a holiday before I had gotten it sorted and just kept putting it off. And now I'm finally trying to deal with it but it's 6 months after the initial sale, so his documents are now out of date.

 

Thanks for the advice though. 

If I take it to the DLT office, will they be able to help? Or will they assume I stole it?

 

I can try and get in contact with the previous seller - if he give a photocopy of his current passport (showing him not in Samui), would that help?

[OneMoreFarang]

Until a couple of years ago I owned a bike which was not in my name.

I bought it from a small Thai dealer. He gave me the green book and copies and signed documents from the previous owner.

And then every years the dealer, who also did the service on my bike, renewed the tax and insurance.

A couple of years later I sold the bike to a guy in another shop. I gave him exactly the same documents which I received when I bought the bike.

It's some time ago now. I think he deducted 1000B per year which I owned the bike because he said that's what he has to pay to change the registration. But it was no problem for him. It seems that is more or less normal procedure.

Obviously I don't know how "normal" this is. But it seemed to be no real issue.

[Agusts]

It's not a problem that the signature date on some documents are old, for example on copy of passport there is no issue. It is his passport and he has confirmed it, even 5 years from now,  this is okay...!

 

But he also had to give you a power of attorney letter, the date on that , if very old, maybe penalised...

 

Some DLT offices also want a copy of passport visa page, and if too old they might pick on that...

 

But the only way to know is to go to the office, and they never say anything like it's stolen etc., you have the original green book and some documents signed by owner that says he sold it to you, hopefully a bill of sale too,  so what's the problem. They help you and tell you if any document need re-signing with new date, or maybe just do the transfer....