Licence for Electric Scooter.

[blackprince]

Actually a Thai friend did enquire about this at the Ministry of Transport office last week, and they were told that insurance is not necessary and not actually possible either, though I'm not sure what power rating they were talking about.

Edited October 31, 2021 by blackprince

[jackdd]

1 hour ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Bicycles with electric assistance do have motors!   Don't think it makes them a motorbike, though, and I don't think they need registering but I'd suggest it's a grey area that most are guessing about.

 

1 hour ago, blackprince said:

But not a lot of point in arguing here about it, it's a simple matter to confirm the current situation by talking to dealers, the police and insurers about this if anyone is really interested.

No guessing and no arguing, the law (which somebody posted above) is clear:

Motorcycle means a vehicle that is driven by an engine power or electric or other power  
and has not more than two wheels and, if attached by a side-car, has not more than an additional wheel.

Edited October 31, 2021 by jackdd

[piston broke]

 

As long as the scooter is 500W or less - you don't need a licence, insurance or registration / road tax ....

 

 

[jackdd]

7 hours ago, piston broke said:

 

As long as the scooter is 500W or less - you don't need a licence, insurance or registration / road tax ....

 

 

Can you point to the section of the law where it says so?

[blackprince]

@jackdd

Please see my post above about the Ministry of Transport.

I would far rather take their advice than a supposed translation of Thai law posted anonymously on this forum and which you cite without specific reference anyway.

As I mentioned earlier, it is very simple for anyone wishing to get specific authoritative advice for any electric vehicle - just go to the MoT or police or ask insurers.

Numerous factors will come into play, not least of all the power rating of the vehicle and whether it is pedal assisted or not.

 

[Kwasaki]

1 hour ago, blackprince said:

@jackdd

Please see my post above about the Ministry of Transport.

I would far rather take their advice than a supposed translation of Thai law posted anonymously on this forum and which you cite without specific reference anyway.

As I mentioned earlier, it is very simple for anyone wishing to get specific authoritative advice for any electric vehicle - just go to the MoT or police or ask insurers.

Numerous factors will come into play, not least of all the power rating of the vehicle and whether it is pedal assisted or not.

 

You are not really thinking this through are you. 

[blackprince]

2 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

You are not really thinking this through are you. 

On the contrary, I have offered some nuance on the thinking about this.

It's very simple, there are numerous categories of 2 wheel evs based on power rating and whether they're pedal assisted or not, among other things.

Anyone who is interested in one of these vehicles should ask about their specific ev type at their local Ministry of Transport office if they want a definitive answer. Citing ThaiVisa / AseanNow to the police is not going to help too much I can assure you.

[Kwasaki]

40 minutes ago, blackprince said:

On the contrary, I have offered some nuance on the thinking about this.

It's very simple, there are numerous categories of 2 wheel evs based on power rating and whether they're pedal assisted or not, among other things.

Anyone who is interested in one of these vehicles should ask about their specific ev type at their local Ministry of Transport office if they want a definitive answer. Citing ThaiVisa / AseanNow to the police is not going to help too much I can assure you.

You are missing the point.

I take you are a falangie in Thailand and will be happy to ride a 2 wheel powered bike without insurance and hope you don't have an accident. ????

 

[jackdd]

9 hours ago, blackprince said:

@jackdd

Please see my post above about the Ministry of Transport.

I would far rather take their advice than a supposed translation of Thai law posted anonymously on this forum and which you cite without specific reference anyway.

As I mentioned earlier, it is very simple for anyone wishing to get specific authoritative advice for any electric vehicle - just go to the MoT or police or ask insurers.

Numerous factors will come into play, not least of all the power rating of the vehicle and whether it is pedal assisted or not.

 

Do you have this in writing or just hearsay from a friend?

 

Here by the way the official law: http://web.krisdika.go.th/data/law/law2/%A803/%A803-20-9999-update.htm

Quote

มาตรา ๔  ในพระราชบัญญัตินี้
(๑๗) “รถจักรยานยนต์” หมายความว่า รถที่เดินด้วยกำลังเครื่องยนต์ กำลังไฟฟ้า หรือพลังงานอื่น และมีล้อไม่เกินสองล้อ ถ้ามีพ่วงข้างมีล้อเพิ่มอีกไม่เกินหนึ่งล้อ

In my opinion the translation which I quoted in the previous post is accurate.

 

The written law is the highest authority, the Ministry of Transport can't make up a rule which violates the law.

So unless there is some other law (which nobody here could quote, so I assume it doesn't exist) which adds an exemption for certain motorcycles, any two wheeled vehicle with a motor or engine, but without license plate and insurance, isn't street legal.

[KhunLA]

9 minutes ago, jackdd said:

The written law is the highest authority, the Ministry of Transport can't make up a rule which violates the law.

 

But they can ignore it, as that was 1979, and don't think they had e-bikes, e-scooter (stand on type), e-bicycles in mind when written.

 

E-motorcycles & scooter, yea, quite applicable, and need reg/tags/DL/ins.

 

Seriously, anyone thinking of the former 3, need to pop in local PoPo & ask there policy, if they even have or care.  Me, locally, they don't seem to care, as yet to see one getting cited, or hear of.

[Kwasaki]

1 hour ago, KhunLA said:

But they can ignore it, as that was 1979, and don't think they had e-bikes, e-scooter (stand on type), e-bicycles in mind when written.

 

E-motorcycles & scooter, yea, quite applicable, and need reg/tags/DL/ins.

 

Seriously, anyone thinking of the former 3, need to pop in local PoPo & ask there policy, if they even have or care.  Me, locally, they don't seem to care, as yet to see one getting cited, or hear of.

Accident? 

[WhiteBuffaloATM]

EScooters are Illegal, Dangerous, Confusing & Stupid Contraptions.

Two Wheeled Version of the ludicrous Sinclair C5 !

Should be Nowhere Near Roads, Pathways or Pedestrians.

Get a Racing / Mountain Cycle and/or Large Moped / Motorbike ! 

Conventional/ Folding Pushbikes…. here ? Really dont get that at all……

[ChaiyaTH]

On 10/31/2021 at 6:53 AM, jackdd said:

No you don't, because it's illegal to ride on the road anyway.

Based on which law? Bicycles go on there too.

[jackdd]

1 hour ago, ChaiyaTH said:

Based on which law? Bicycles go on there too.

Based on the Land Traffic Act, an English translation was posted by Kwasaki on page 1 of this thread.

 

[ChaiyaTH]

19 minutes ago, jackdd said:

Based on the Land Traffic Act, an English translation was posted by Kwasaki on page 1 of this thread.

 

What section do you refer to specifically? These laws are from almost 40 years ago and there wasn't anything like that back then. Most people do not refer to many of these electric steps as vehicles either, they are considered manual steps with electric assistance.

 

Seems you just make assumptions based on old laws while in reality nobody is stopped using them. Guess you wanna claim electric bicycles to be illegal then too.

Edited November 3, 2021 by ChaiyaTH

[jackdd]

5 minutes ago, ChaiyaTH said:

What section do you refer to specifically? These laws are from almost 40 years ago and there wasn't anything like that back then.

The section which I quoted in English as well as in Thai just a few posts above already, section 4.37:

"Motorcycle means a vehicle that is driven by an engine power or electric or other power  
and has not more than two wheels and, if attached by a side-car, has not more than an additional wheel. "

 

Yes, the law is 40 years old, but it's still valid. It even specifically talks about eletric power / motor, and not only engine.

Edited November 3, 2021 by jackdd

[kwilco]

On 10/31/2021 at 1:39 AM, KhunLA said:

They are legal to drive on the road, depending on what you buy.

Some E motorcycle / scooters are legal / registered / tagged, which of course will require you to have a motorcycle license to drive.  I own 1 myself.

 

Other E 2 wheelers, depending on motor size, may not be street legal, as not registered / tagged.  This can include many things.  

 

Legality (to register) or unregistered and allowed to be driven on the road, comes down to motor size / capability, I think.  Most motors rated in watts; 250w, 350w, 500w, 750w, 1000w & up.  I personally have not checked to verify the law, but most folks state 500w is the legal limit on 2 wheel vehicles, no matter what they are called; e-scooter, e-bike.  If it looks like a motorcycle or scooter (Scoopy / Fino), then it better be able to be registered.

 

If looks like a bicycle w/pedals, or something you are standing on, I'd say your pretty safe, as long as you aren't passing PoPo on the road doing 40 kph.  No real way for them to tell the motor size / capability without a spec sheet in front of them.  Which comes down to battery v X Ah and motors ability to use.

 

Mine is 'rated' at 3000w motor, but with a 72v50Ah battery, has the capacity to generate 3600.  Promo says it will do 80-90 kph, user manual states 60 kph, and can verify at least 87 kph by myself & 80 kph with wife on the back.

 

You put a bafang mid or hub motor on your bycycle with a 60v30Ah, and you'll be  cruising along quite nicely  ????

 

I believe most BMS controller, govern you to about 25 kph on many small e-bikes& e-scooters, as the legal limit in many countries.  Again, I have not researched the legal limits here in Thailand, as not applicable to myself.

 

There's more than a few in the area I live, and are basically ignored by PoPo, or shall I say I haven't seen anyone pulled over with one.   Although lax enforcement of helmet law here also, along with with very low accident counts, off the main highway, so PoPo doing excellent job with the very few checkpoints that I do see monthly.   Possibly making people get licensed & registered ... or else.

 

Complete opposite of Udon Thani where daily check points (money collection) & stupidity on the road leads to way too many accidents.  I rarely have to make an evasive move while driving here vs when living in UT area.

Have you found the laws for this?

[KhunLA]

1 hour ago, kwilco said:

Have you found the laws for this?

self delete, as just realized I simply repeated myself from 2 earlier post.  Which I thought were self explanatory.

Edited January 28, 2023 by KhunLA