Hi.

 

What is the process for transferring a second-hand motorbike from another province and which documentation should I bring? I was made aware by someone that I will need to visit the DLT twice: once to transfer the bike from the old to the new province, and then, a few days later, to transfer the ownership of the bike to my name. I was also made aware that the seller does not need to come (he lives quite far away) but will need to provide me all documentation (signed copy of ID and tabien baan) twice, once for the transfer of the province, and once for the transfer of the ownership.

 

Has anyone done this kind of transfer before?

You'll need a power of attorney; use the standard Thai-form that you can buy in paper-shops. And yes, signed photo copies of ID-card and house book. Always check what the local Land Transport-office wish of paperwork for transferring it to a new owner, before buying any vehicle second hand.

Pay a m/c shop or inspection station to handle the transaction.

1 hour ago, khunPer said:

You'll need a power of attorney; use the standard Thai-form that you can buy in paper-shops. And yes, signed photo copies of ID-card and house book. Always check what the local Land Transport-office wish of paperwork for transferring it to a new owner, before buying any vehicle second hand.

 

I would go to the DLT to get the POA forth from them, as some government offices have specific forms for specific tasks.

 

31 minutes ago, papa al said:

Pay a m/c shop or inspection station to handle the transaction.

That would be the easiest way. They'll have the forms needed and know what documents you need.

7 hours ago, JimmyTobacco said:

Has anyone done this kind of transfer before?

 

Yes a few times   what province do you live in and what province is the bike currently registered in ?

(province on the number plate)

Firstly it is not necessary to change from a different province anyway, you can re-new the tax anywhere. I would try to get a testing station to change it if that's what you really want to do.

yes it does need at least 2 visits to LTO, as you will get new plates. Also you will need a LOR Letter Of Residence from Immigration unless you have a yellow book. Plus if you brought it from a 'Falang' you will need a copy of his Passport with a Current visa. 

7 hours ago, JimmyTobacco said:

Has anyone done this kind of transfer before?

I have done it with my car, but that was purely personal, as I wanted it registered in my province.

The wife's car I had put in my name by the 'Tent' dealer but I will not be transferring it to my province, waste of time, money and energy.

3 hours ago, khunPer said:

You'll need a power of attorney; use the standard Thai-form that you can buy in paper-shops. And yes, signed photo copies of ID-card and house book. Always check what the local Land Transport-office wish of paperwork for transferring it to a new owner, before buying any vehicle second hand.

Correct.

 

Also, don't listen to those who tell you that you will have to return to the Land Transport Office (LTO) where the bike is currently registered to effect the transfer - that is not correct.  You will however, have to carry out the transfer at the main LTO in your province.

 

You may also need a certificate of residence (COR).  I was required to have one when I went to register my bike in my name.  However, I recently enquired what I needed to transfer my car into my name and my local LTO gave me a written list of the required documents - no mention of a COR. I suspect though, that when I go to do it, the LTO will request one.

 

Once the paperwork is done, you will have to wait a few days then return to pick up the new plates.  I'm told though, that vehicles originally registered in Bangkok can retain their original plates - not sure if that's true or not.

 

If the previous owner was a foreigner, you will need a signed copy of their passport to accompany the POA. The statement in a post above is not correct - the passport does not need to have a current visa in it. The previous owner of my bike had actually left the country.

Edited October 15, 20241 yr by MangoKorat

1 hour ago, brianthainess said:

The wife's car I had put in my name by the 'Tent' dealer but I will not be transferring it to my province, waste of time, money and energy.

So what address is it registered to?

Power of attorney needed without the seller, I used just one copy of docs, it was enough. Farang sellers in Phuket don't need certificate of residence, only buyers. 

 

I once transfered a bike to my name from a farang friend who left the country a week before, they noticed his visa expired a few days before I was in DLT Phuket, they picked on that, called the manger, he came and said where is he, I said left already, he said it's okay because it's only a few days....! Not sure if it was a month or more if it was a problem or not..., different offices different rules though... 

14 hours ago, MangoKorat said:

16 hours ago, brianthainess said:

The wife's car I had put in my name by the 'Tent' dealer but I will not be transferring it to my province, waste of time, money and energy.

So what address is it registered to?

It is registered to my address in a different province, Aka, I am the registered owner. 

The Tent dealer in Chonburi near Pattaya did it for me using Copies of my Yellow book & pink card, I live in Trat, it took them 1 day, to do that, and an oil change, not only that, as I didn't want my wife to drive it back (she drives very slowly) they even delivered it on a truck, to Koh Chang ferry point, the next day at the time they said 1 pm. At No extra charge.

Edited October 16, 20241 yr by brianthainess

2 hours ago, brianthainess said:

It is registered to my address in a different province, Aka, I am the registered owner. 

The Tent dealer in Chonburi near Pattaya did it for me using Copies of my Yellow book & pink card, I live in Trat,

 

Just to clear up some confusion in my mind  sorry its a rather confused mind 😋

 

The car is/was registered in which province... number plates ?

the tent dealer managed to transfer ownership to you

(new name in blue book) without changing number plates  and the plate  province and your address province in the blue book are different ?

 

In my experience  unless you go to the province the vehicle is already registered in to do the transfer at the main DLT,

( and all your documentation ducks line up ie you are resident / living in that province)

you will have to change province  of the vehicle before they will transfer ownership, changing province also entails a new number plate 

this "change of province"can be done at the original province DLT  or your local main DLT nearest to home then also transfer ownership  without having to travel halfway across the country...of course its been a few years since a bought an out of province vehicle and things may well have changed for the better

 

Yes it is true that you can pay tax and insurance  yearly  in any province  does not matter who pays or where...but that is not the same as changing the registered owner of the vehicle.

 

Lots of Thai's also never actually register the vehicle in their name  they just keep hold of all the relevant documents...keep paying the yearly tax and insurance   it only becomes a "problem"  when/if they want to sell the vehicle.

3 minutes ago, johng said:

The car is/was registered in which province... number plates ?

the tent dealer managed to transfer ownership to you

(new name in blue book) without changing number plates  and the plate  province and your address province in the blue book are different ?

Yes. Registered in Chonburi near Pattaya, with Chonburi plates,

My name is in the Blue Book, 

And it still has Chonburi Plates. So yes they are Different.  Perfectly legal. 

As I said it is not law to have the plates of your province.

 On a side note we were over in Trat and my Missus was in the 7/11, there was an eagle eyed cop in there, he asked her why are you in Trat, she answered him, "we go holiday Koh Chang", even she thought it was some how illegal...............

So I ended up getting it done. Had power of attorney, 1 signed copy of the ID and tabien baan of the owner, the purchase deed and of course the green book. Also two otherwise empty transfer forms signed by the owner which I had to fill in at the office.

 

The process was:

1. Queue for inspection of documents and they will tell you which part of the forms to fill in

2. Fill in the forms, queue again, get approval of the documents and get a ticket to queue for another desk

3. Go to the other desk, get the documents checked and approved again, possibly pay a small fee (not 100% sure). She asked us if we had multiple copies of the owner's ID and tabien baan (one for transfer of province, one for transfer of name) to which we said no. She allowed us to copy the original at the second floor and come back to the desk to have stamps put on them and ratify them.

4. Go to the testing station where they basically only checked the frame number to make sure it matched the green book and wasn't stolen.

5. Take the documents to another desk, pay another small fee and get told to come back 3 days later.

6. Come back three days later. Queue again for inspection of documents and get the ticket to queue for the other desk.

7. Pay the fee at the other desk (380 baht or smth) and gave documents inspected again (took quite long because basically they are transferring the bike into the new province and into your name). Get greenbook transferred to my name.

8. Pickup the new license plate from another desk with the documentation.

 

All in all it was not too bad, except for the waiting times, something like 2 and 3 hours the first and second time.