Foreigner driving a Toyota Hiace in Thailand (and border crossing)

[AndyHKS]

Hi, I will move to Thailand soon and I plan to purchase a Toyota Hiace and convert it into a camper van.  Is foreigner allowed to purchase/drive a Hiace?  I believe Hiace is registered as a commercial vehicle in Thailand?

 

I also do a lot of border crossing between Thailand and Malaysia, can the Hiace cross the border just the same as other passenger cars?

[steve187]

i think if anything the question should be, ' what Thai licence do i need to drive a hiace or similar'

[Siam Bruce]

I am sure the Police will suspect you of travelling /moving passengers about so you could expect to be stopped on a regular basis, if it was done out inside as a camper van this should allay their fears but it will NOT stop them initially pulling you over.

My lad (pre covid) was working for a company doing the border runs with a minibus, _{(Continually being stopped )} he wanted to buy his own but in the end I bought a Fortuna 2.5 Diesel, he never got stopped and could fit 8+ locals inside easily. Plus I could use it, 250k- kms on it now and still going strong, just regular Oil changes, all filters and brakes. Timing Belt

[pgrahmm]

Don't forget there's no infrastructure here for campers & sleeping in a non A/C tin can isn't very comfortable - if even bearable.....

[Will B Good]

Read on here yesterday that it is illegal to modify a vehicle.......I appreciate it being illegal means very little in Thailand.......but is that any kind of modification?......ie.....truck to camper van???

[AndyHKS]

1 hour ago, pgrahmm said:

Don't forget there's no infrastructure here for campers & sleeping in a non A/C tin can isn't very comfortable - if even bearable.....

I can understand.  I think I will rarely sleep in it overnight (hotel/motel is widely available/affordable), maybe more for a nap after a long drive.  I am also thinking to have a portable battery to power a mini A/C

[AndyHKS]

54 minutes ago, Will B Good said:

Read on here yesterday that it is illegal to modify a vehicle.......I appreciate it being illegal means very little in Thailand.......but is that any kind of modification?......ie.....truck to camper van???

I am quite worry about this now after what Siam Bruce said about getting pulled over by police.  I am thinking at least a roof rack with solar panel, removing all the back seats, a rollup mattress, a toilet/shower modification... no fancy cabinets or kitchen, just the very basic to get by for a long trip 

 

)

[Will B Good]

5 minutes ago, AndyHKS said:

I am quite worry about this now after what Siam Bruce said about getting pulled over by police.  I am thinking at least a roof rack with solar panel, removing all the back seats, a rollup mattress, a toilet/shower modification... no fancy cabinets or kitchen, just the very basic to get by for a long trip 

 

)

Small diesel generator for aircon would be a must (for me)....the heat is brutal.....whoops just read the hotel overnight idea......excellent idea...

 

We looked at renting an RV to tour Europe for 6 months......it worked out cheaper to stay in 'hotels'.

Edited April 13, 2022 by Will B Good

[Liverpool Lou]

4 hours ago, AndyHKS said:

 Is foreigner allowed to purchase/drive a Hiace?  

Yes.  There is no legislation that prevents foreigners from buying or drivng Toyota Hiace-type vehicles.

[KhunLA]

Wasted time, effort & expense, when hotels are so cheap in SEA.  Especially, since won't be actually sleeping in it overnight.

 

You can hook up an inverter to any vehicle, if wanting to use electrical appliances.  I travel with a moka pot and portable (small) gas burner for morning coffee.  No need to complicate things.

 

 

 

[actonion]

My Thai brother  in law bought a  regular second hand Hi Ace, he took out all the seats,  & added  benches along  the  2 sides & down the center, not really a conversion, he uses it as the local bus, his idea was he can get more people in   using the bench seats,    making him more money,  rather than the  standard seats, he's never had a problem  with the authorities and it has just passed its annual  vehicle inspection  (MOT)..

[Lancashirelad]

RetirecheapJC  (google) might be a good person to talk to as he previously bought and converted a Hiace.

[PJ71]

On 4/13/2022 at 2:54 AM, AndyHKS said:

I can understand.  I think I will rarely sleep in it overnight (hotel/motel is widely available/affordable), maybe more for a nap after a long drive.  I am also thinking to have a portable battery to power a mini A/C

I fail to understand the point of having a 'camper van' if you're gonna stay in hotels, does that not defeat the purpose?

[digbeth]

more seats is okay, less seats could be problematic

commercial vehicle got cheaper import tax that's why Hiace and other vans can be imported from Japan at reasonable price while most cars get effectively 300% tax

 

there are 3 kind of plates that applies to vans

black letter on white background plate: car this is for less than 7 seats and gets highest tax

 

blue letter is for vans of 11+ seats, this gets lower annual tax as well as some import (excise|) tax some police checkpoint are notorious in that they will harass vans using this plate that has seats taken out to make a 'VIP' captains seat in the back, if caught you could face heavy back tax like 100,000s to be paid

Toyota Thailand is even caught out themselves with the 'Majesty' essentially posh Hiace when the authorities deemed that the rear seats fitted is not really usable and they can't qualify for the lower tax, leading to suspend sales of the model.

 

green letter plate is for transporting goods, from pickup trucks to empty vans, if you register the HiAce with this plate, you'll be safest, the mattress or whatever can be considered 'cargo' 

 

all of these plates can be driven on normal passenger cars plate

 

only caveat is that the longer wheel base and high roof version of the Hiace, the 'commuter', if the gross weight is over 2 tonne, then it'll need to be registered as a commercial (heavy goods) vehicle on big truck plates which requires it to be either company owned or have valid reason to use and have sufficient location to park and many associated paper work in order. 

[Yellowtail]

On 4/15/2022 at 11:39 PM, PJ71 said:

I fail to understand the point of having a 'camper van' if you're gonna stay in hotels, does that not defeat the purpose?

One would think...

[Yellowtail]

I've thought about getting a Toyota Coaster and building a motorhome. Good value.

[Lancashirelad]

On 4/15/2022 at 5:56 PM, digbeth said:

more seats is okay, less seats could be problematic

commercial vehicle got cheaper import tax that's why Hiace and other vans can be imported from Japan at reasonable price while most cars get effectively 300% tax

 

there are 3 kind of plates that applies to vans

black letter on white background plate: car this is for less than 7 seats and gets highest tax

 

blue letter is for vans of 11+ seats, this gets lower annual tax as well as some import (excise|) tax some police checkpoint are notorious in that they will harass vans using this plate that has seats taken out to make a 'VIP' captains seat in the back, if caught you could face heavy back tax like 100,000s to be paid

Toyota Thailand is even caught out themselves with the 'Majesty' essentially posh Hiace when the authorities deemed that the rear seats fitted is not really usable and they can't qualify for the lower tax, leading to suspend sales of the model.

 

green letter plate is for transporting goods, from pickup trucks to empty vans, if you register the HiAce with this plate, you'll be safest, the mattress or whatever can be considered 'cargo' 

 

all of these plates can be driven on normal passenger cars plate

 

only caveat is that the longer wheel base and high roof version of the Hiace, the 'commuter', if the gross weight is over 2 tonne, then it'll need to be registered as a commercial (heavy goods) vehicle on big truck plates which requires it to be either company owned or have valid reason to use and have sufficient location to park and many associated paper work in order. 

MOST cars do not have import tax of 300% The duty is 80% but then there is excise and interior tax to be added, all + vat = 328% but this is only for cars with large engines above 3.0 litres. <2.0 litres its 187% in total.

 

Quote

all of these plates can be driven on normal passenger cars plate

I think you meant licence.

 

As far as I'm aware foreigners cannot drive a vehicle with anything other than white plates. Driving motor vehicles (for hire or reward) is a prohibited occupation for foreigners, therfore they should not be driving anything on a commercial plate.

[Yellowtail]

23 minutes ago, Lancashirelad said:

MOST cars do not have import tax of 300% The duty is 80% but then there is excise and interior tax to be added, all + vat = 328% but this is only for cars with large engines above 3.0 litres. <2.0 litres its 187% in total.

 

I think you meant licence.

 

As far as I'm aware foreigners cannot drive a vehicle with anything other than white plates. Driving motor vehicles (for hire or reward) is a prohibited occupation for foreigners, therfore they should not be driving anything on a commercial plate.

Two door pickups are commercial plates and while it does not mean it's legal, I drove one for years and never got stopped.