Is it me or? So many cars without plates on the road

[Farangcannot]

Have been driving a bit around Thailand over the past year and have been noticing something I didn't really see before (or did not really paid attention before): so many cars are driving with no plates or washed out plates. I could see a pattern that is usually pick ups, modified 'racing' cars and motorbikes.

 

For the washed out plates: is it due to poor manufacturing standard or are they washed out on purpose? (Saw too many to be just an isolated event).

 

Am I the only noticing that? Has it gotten worse over the past year?

 

Anyway sad to see that even this basic law could not be enforced in Thailand (never saw any of those cars being pulled over). Or that so many people think they can get away with it.

 

Cheers!

[zzaa09]

Why the concern and basis for concern?

[Gottfrid]

It´s you.

[Moonlover]

Yes, it's you. You just don't appear to have been around for long enough to have become inured to these sort of things. Give it time.

 

Edited November 5, 2021 by Moonlover

[digbeth]

Washed out plate is a known defect, but the land transport office won't admit it and affected car owners has to pay out of pocket to have them replaced. for Bangkok this is 3กx prefix plates, other provinces issued plate in the same period around 2014, after years of never admitting fault on these batch of plates, they'd only back down and offer to only repaint the plate, owners that paid to replace their faded plate before this edict were sol 

 

Previous case years back there was a batch of plates that would yellow and crack, that time they managed to get warranty from the supplier and replace everybody affected for free within the time period. 

[NanLaew]

1 hour ago, Farangcannot said:

For the washed out plates: is it due to poor manufacturing standard or are they washed out on purpose? (Saw too many to be just an isolated event).

Poor paint job from the plate factory. Mine front one faded first so I swapped it with the back plate. About 8 months later, the front one is faded and the one on the back was also a bit worse. I got pulled over on a regular traffic check on Highway 2 and the cop said I need to get new ones, No ticket as it wasn't my fault, just some advice. I replaced them at the local LTO which took about 3 weeks from ordering to replacing them. The LTO said show the cops the receipt for the new ones if stopped in the interim.

 

2 hours ago, Farangcannot said:

Am I the only noticing that? Has it gotten worse over the past year?

Thai drivers are an indolent bunch so I would agree there's probably more of them as each month progresses.

 

 

 

[NanLaew]

30 minutes ago, digbeth said:

Washed out plate is a known defect, but the land transport office won't admit it and affected car owners has to pay out of pocket to have them replaced. for Bangkok this is 3กx prefix plates, other provinces issued plate in the same period around 2014, after years of never admitting fault on these batch of plates, they'd only back down and offer to only repaint the plate, owners that paid to replace their faded plate before this edict were sol 

 

Previous case years back there was a batch of plates that would yellow and crack, that time they managed to get warranty from the supplier and replace everybody affected for free within the time period. 

That repainting is a grey area as even just blackening the faded numerals can attract a ticket from an overzealous cop for 'altering a government document'. Best just to bite the bullet and get new ones I reckon.

 

The previous paint failure took over a year to sort out as they were replacing a whole lot of totally unreadable plates rather than faded ones.

[digbeth]

21 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

That repainting is a grey area as even just blackening the faded numerals can attract a ticket from an overzealous cop for 'altering a government document'. Best just to bite the bullet and get new ones I reckon.

 

The previous paint failure took over a year to sort out as they were replacing a whole lot of totally unreadable plates rather than faded ones.

Even if done by the LTO? I'm sure if you have the receipts 

[Nojohndoe]

A Thai member of my extended family was "ordered" to get replacement plates due to the fact that they were virtually unreadable from more than a few meters away.

When he replied that having paid to display the existing plates which are actually under the control if not the property of the Government he wanted the RTP Officer to supply him with a written request for free replacement. He was quickly waved on !

[NanLaew]

16 minutes ago, Nojohndoe said:

A Thai member of my extended family was "ordered" to get replacement plates due to the fact that they were virtually unreadable from more than a few meters away.

When he replied that having paid to display the existing plates which are actually under the control if not the property of the Government he wanted the RTP Officer to supply him with a written request for free replacement. He was quickly waved on !

The cop wasn't going to ticket your smartarse family member though was he? But it's a ripping yarn getting one up on a cop, eh? We've ALL (claimed to have) been there.

 

I always prefer the path of least resistance. I recall the new plates were maybe 300 baht? Too much for some?

[NanLaew]

26 minutes ago, digbeth said:

Even if done by the LTO? I'm sure if you have the receipts 

Go ahead, knock yourself out.

[worgeordie]

Vehicle's without plates  , not so much...... now motorbikes without lights at night ...

regards worgeordie

[Nojohndoe]

10 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

The cop wasn't going to ticket your smartarse family member though was he? But it's a ripping yarn getting one up on a cop, eh? We've ALL (claimed to have) been there.

 

I always prefer the path of least resistance. I recall the new plates were maybe 300 baht? Too much for some?

300 baht to replace items of not your responsibility ? Thats where your path of least resistance often empowers illegitimacy. No ripping  yarn at all. Just that he was bold enough to provide justified objection.

[Nojohndoe]

4 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

Vehicle's without plates  , not so much...... now motorbikes without lights at night ...

regards worgeordie

Now there is a legitimate issue of concern. In daylight  hours  RTP members will enforce any petty infraction they  can devise but in the hours of dangerous unlit darkness are snug somewhere else but on the roads !

[Liverpool Lou]

On 11/5/2021 at 10:03 PM, Nojohndoe said:

300 baht to replace items of not your responsibility ?

Having legible plates is your responsibility!  It goes with the territory of owning a car.

[Berkshire]

On 11/5/2021 at 6:41 PM, Farangcannot said:

For the washed out plates: is it due to poor manufacturing standard or are they washed out on purpose? (Saw too many to be just an isolated event).

 

Am I the only noticing that? Has it gotten worse over the past year?

Actually, I have noticed more and more vehicles with unreadable plates.  Not overwhelmingly, but maybe 1 out of 20.  Most appear intentionally doctored.  I've always figured that it's about those traffic cameras all over Chiang Mai that aim to catch speeders and those running red lights, i.e., if the camera can't read your plates, you won't get a ticket.  I've thought about making my plates unreadable, but a Thai friend advised against it as the police will issue a large fine if they catch you.  Well, wonder how these other drivers are getting away with it. 

Edited November 9, 2021 by Berkshire

[seedy]

22 minutes ago, Berkshire said:

 I've thought about making my plates unreadable, but a Thai friend advised against it as the police will issue a large fine if they catch you. 

An online search will answer those questions. Invisible to traffic cameras only.

Looks normal to the naked eye.

I never get tickets - 555

[Rampant Rabbit]

Theres  a  massive  amount with no  lights  now  including lorries, I drove for 6  months with  no  plates in a  new  car as  dealer  too  lazy to do anything about it,  finally  got a 1000 baht fine at a  toll  booth, cancelled  via a  friend and then  wife  bollucked the   dealer who sent the  real plates

[Berkshire]

21 minutes ago, seedy said:

An online search will answer those questions. Invisible to traffic cameras only.

Looks normal to the naked eye.

I never get tickets - 555

Are you talking about license plate covers....like the below video discusses?  What I've seen on Thai roads are plates that have the numbers obscured by paint or some other material.  I've seen various plate covers as well, although I'm not sure if they actually work. 

 

 

[Rampant Rabbit]

29 minutes ago, seedy said:

An online search will answer those questions. Invisible to traffic cameras only.

Looks normal to the naked eye.

I never get tickets - 555

more  information pls

[seedy]

Sorry - but forum rules forbid us humble folk from discussing criminal activity !

Google will find the answer - got mine from Germany via mail. Came in an envelope.

It does not cover the whole license plate

[Cake Monster]

Faded plates, or non at all, have surely increased since the introduction of Speeding Cameras.

No plate = no ticket.

 

[Nojohndoe]

5 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Having legible plates is your responsibility!  It goes with the territory of owning a car.

Having plates that match the registration and ongoing current annual licensing of a vehicle is undeniably the responsibility of the owner and operator of a vehicle. But given that the plates  provided by and required to be displayed by an authority are an item that  can not legally be purchased or altered in any way or form and as such are not the property of the owner of the the vehicle then if the plates are deficient in purpose to the interests of that authority and/or the interests of associated authorities in application of assumed interest or penalties relevant to that vehicle which in no manner implies better or greater interest to the vehicle owner further than compliance to the obligation to have present on display with corresponding documentation of legitimate concurrent coincidental that is fully paid how and why is the responsibility to be placed on the owner?

Vehicle number plates are the equivalent of an imposed identification label . But in the terms of  genuine application especially in consideration of vehicles and  the major functional components of are temporary by comparison to chassis number or  engine number.

Having  plates that are unobstructed or unaltered is the limit of responsibility of a vehicle owner.

The quality of durable observable visibility remains the  responsibility of an authority that imposes the presentation of their product . A deficiency in the quality of that product is therefore not justifiably the responsibility of the  vehicle owner nor the  vehicle manufacturer in that it  has no material or functional impact for other than the  authority that imposes the presentation of it.

 

 

[Liverpool Lou]

16 hours ago, Nojohndoe said:

Having plates that match the registration and ongoing current annual licensing of a vehicle is undeniably the responsibility of the owner and operator of a vehicle. But given that the plates  provided by and required to be displayed by an authority are an item that  can not legally be purchased or altered in any way or form and as such are not the property of the owner of the the vehicle then if the plates are deficient in purpose to the interests of that authority and/or the interests of associated authorities in application of assumed interest or penalties relevant to that vehicle which in no manner implies better or greater interest to the vehicle owner further than compliance to the obligation to have present on display with corresponding documentation of legitimate concurrent coincidental that is fully paid how and why is the responsibility to be placed on the owner?

Vehicle number plates are the equivalent of an imposed identification label . But in the terms of  genuine application especially in consideration of vehicles and  the major functional components of are temporary by comparison to chassis number or  engine number.

Having  plates that are unobstructed or unaltered is the limit of responsibility of a vehicle owner.

The quality of durable observable visibility remains the  responsibility of an authority that imposes the presentation of their product . A deficiency in the quality of that product is therefore not justifiably the responsibility of the  vehicle owner nor the  vehicle manufacturer in that it  has no material or functional impact for other than the  authority that imposes the presentation of it.

The requirement to display legible plates is a responsibility that you take on when you operate a vehicle on the road, that their quality may not be up to your standards is neither here not there.  If they become illegible it is your responsibility to blow B300 to get new plates just as it is your responsibility, for example, to keep a vehicle legally roadworthy regardless of the quality of the vehicle supplied by it's manufacturer.     

 

"...given that the plates  provided by and required to be displayed by an authority are an item that  can not legally be purchased..."

Nonsense, new plates can be purchased, legally, from the LTD.

[Liverpool Lou]

17 hours ago, Nojohndoe said:

Having plates that match the registration and ongoing current annual licensing of a vehicle is undeniably the responsibility of the owner and operator of a vehicle. But given that the plates  provided by and required to be displayed by an authority are an item that  can not legally be purchased or altered in any way or form and as such are not the property of the owner of the the vehicle then if the plates are deficient in purpose to the interests of that authority and/or the interests of associated authorities in application of assumed interest or penalties relevant to that vehicle which in no manner implies better or greater interest to the vehicle owner further than compliance to the obligation to have present on display with corresponding documentation of legitimate concurrent coincidental that is fully paid how and why is the responsibility to be placed on the owner?

Vehicle number plates are the equivalent of an imposed identification label . But in the terms of  genuine application especially in consideration of vehicles and  the major functional components of are temporary by comparison to chassis number or  engine number.

Having  plates that are unobstructed or unaltered is the limit of responsibility of a vehicle owner.

The quality of durable observable visibility remains the  responsibility of an authority that imposes the presentation of their product . A deficiency in the quality of that product is therefore not justifiably the responsibility of the  vehicle owner nor the  vehicle manufacturer in that it  has no material or functional impact for other than the  authority that imposes the presentation of it.

 

 

Hahahahahaaa....!    Wonderful loquacious verbosity but could you have a go at explaining in more pompous detail, please?!

Edited November 10, 2021 by Liverpool Lou

[Nojohndoe]

4 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

The requirement to display legible plates is a responsibility that you take on when you operate a vehicle on the road, that their quality may not be up to your standards is neither here not there.  If they become illegible it is your responsibility to blow B300 to get new plates just as it is your responsibility, for example, to keep a vehicle legally roadworthy regardless of the quality of the vehicle supplied by it's manufacturer.     

 

"...given that the plates  provided by and required to be displayed by an authority are an item that  can not legally be purchased..."

Nonsense, new plates can be purchased, legally, from the LTD.

"Roadworthy" ?  Contemplate the reality of that in the terms you suggest.  Yes the mechanical viability in terms of safety is and should be the responsibility of the owner but I am at a loss to understand how the presence of a legible Number Plate effectually provides enforcement. A traffic stop penalty based on the legibility of such a plate would be rare in comparison to the more common issue of expired annual re-licensing or any other opportune cause to extract financial penalty that said number plate provides nothing other than evidence that the vehicle it is attached to can be presumed to have been subjected to original taxes and registration.

I am not attempting to proffer pomposity rather than illustrating the abject failure of the RTP to focus on effective enforcement rather than the relatively petty issue of the  legibility of a component that at best facilitates the cash grab from speed cameras if those ever get paid!

Explain to me then why any rational person should /would be willing to pay 1 Baht for a defective  replacement component that is non mechanically functional and is officially the property of the  authority that has imposed the prepaid  presence of  who have already admitted a batch quality deficiency?

A more practical focus would be on the enforcement of realistic safety issues that are prolificly evident daily!

Or is it that an overloaded vehicle with  deficient lights that has for years escaped compliance to a safety inspection is driven by a drunk driver at night overturns and kills occupants and innocent by standers is less in consideration to the revelation that the attached  number plates were noted to be be in "pristine" condition ?

 

 

[Jaxxper]

The licensing authority did announce that some of the plates manufactured during a certain period were not of the usual standard and did fade. From memory they did say they would provide new plates for those that applied. 

[4MyEgo]

On 11/5/2021 at 10:41 PM, Farangcannot said:

Or that so many people think they can get away with it.

But they do.

[Russell17au]

Some people give their plates a very light spray of white paint so that they are not readable by the speed and red light cameras. Back when the illustrious leader was running for the leader of the country with the free democratic election the LTD announced that it would enforce the no registration and no licence laws with an increase in the fines and the mighty illustrious one told them no because it would upset the people because he was afraid that the people that supported him might turn their backs on him and he would lose the election. It was the same with the no passengers in the bake of pick-ups until it was Songkran and then the law was conveniently forgotten.

 

[Brahmz]

Buy a black paint pen at your local stationer and colour in the letters & numbers. Works great and lasts longer than the original.

 

The Thais without rego plates you can do nothing about, let them go (they are usually going too fast).