Does this mean that Classic cars over 2m baht are now allowed? (Seems the "retail value" would still be assessed by Customs?)

 

https://www.siamcar.com/news/press-release/5506

It’s still onerous.

 

it must have a minimum value of 2M baht and you will pay a minimum tax of 900K baht.

 

They determine whether your car meets the criteria and they won’t give a kind valuation to a foreigner.

 

So a car made 1995 or before must have a current value in its current country unquestionably more than 2M baht.

 

The big question is which big-wig are they changing the rules for.

 

 

Came here in 2006 I had a v8 Triumph Stagg for 25 years the tax they wanted to import was horrendous sadly I had no option but to sell it that was worse than going through a divorce 

I know the feeling.  I drove a 1973 MGB to/from work for 40 years,  as well as a few cross-country trips in the U.S., all totaling nearly 300,000 miles.  Could not bring it to Thailand (in 2019), so sold it and never looked back...  

3 hours ago, crazykopite said:

Came here in 2006 I had a v8 Triumph Stagg for 25 years the tax they wanted to import was horrendous sadly I had no option but to sell it that was worse than going through a divorce 

😪 I know the feeling....of losing your car...😫

2 hours ago, Uncle John said:

I know the feeling.  I drove a 1973 MGB to/from work for 40 years,  as well as a few cross-country trips in the U.S., all totaling nearly 300,000 miles.  Could not bring it to Thailand (in 2019), so sold it and never looked back...  

Wow!  Still absolutely gorgeous!  A perfectly styled car, IMO, with timeless design.  

Just imagine if you had the same feelings for your old woman with as much mileage as a car 😉 or motorbike 

 

is it possible after 20 - 30 years ? 

6 hours ago, crazykopite said:

Came here in 2006 I had a v8 Triumph Stagg for 25 years the tax they wanted to import was horrendous sadly I had no option but to sell it that was worse than going through a divorce 

Rover V8 or Triumph V8?

1 hour ago, Hummin said:

Just imagine if you had the same feelings for your old woman with as much mileage as a car 😉 or motorbike 

 

is it possible after 20 - 30 years ? 

thats the age to take em to the scrapppers..... not to Thailand.

Out of interest, is a kit car subject to high import charges?

1 hour ago, Geoff914 said:

Rover V8 or Triumph V8?

Or Ford 3.0 V6.............😋

3 hours ago, transam said:

Or Ford 3.0 V6.............😋

Purists would whine about the Rover V8 in a Stag.  They put the Ford V6 in the NSU Ro 80. That would have been a nice car. Styling way ahead of its time.

A friend of mine had a Stag with the Rover engine. He didn't want the hassle of the Triumph engine. Although all the car renovation programmes that have done a Stag stick with the Triumph engine. Was it something to do with a misplaced water pump because the V8 is basically a 4 cylinder Dolomite engine with an extra bank of cylinders. The pump is near the top of the engine or something then suffers if the water level is low. Is that right? That and diabolical build quality at the factory.

 

33 minutes ago, Geoff914 said:

Purists would whine about the Rover V8 in a Stag.  They put the Ford V6 in the NSU Ro 80. That would have been a nice car. Styling way ahead of its time.

A friend of mine had a Stag with the Rover engine. He didn't want the hassle of the Triumph engine. Although all the car renovation programmes that have done a Stag stick with the Triumph engine. Was it something to do with a misplaced water pump because the V8 is basically a 4 cylinder Dolomite engine with an extra bank of cylinders. The pump is near the top of the engine or something then suffers if the water level is low. Is that right? That and diabolical build quality at the factory.

 

 

Back in the 80's I shared a house with a guy who had one with the V8 Triumph engine, he worked out on the North Sea oilrigs and spent loads of money keeping it running, always overheating, got to the point where it went out only on dry winter days due to head gasket failure, common problem with them. 

The 4 cylinder engine from Triumph was a great engine which Saab eventually fitted a turbo on, that was one of the best engines ever, years later I became a Saab fan and built a few quick ones, 600+ bhp in a front wheel drive was a handful, only ever used on track days.

8 hours ago, Ralf001 said:

thats the age to take em to the scrapppers..... not to Thailand.

It goes both ways, 

 

many men have been dumped to, not only men who dump their dragon

19 hours ago, crazykopite said:

Came here in 2006 I had a v8 Triumph Stagg for 25 years the tax they wanted to import was horrendous sadly I had no option but to sell it that was worse than going through a divorce 

I had a Stag, many years ago living in Sydney. 

Nice car, it didn't like Sydney summers 😂

 

16 hours ago, Geoff914 said:

Purists would whine about the Rover V8 in a Stag.  They put the Ford V6 in the NSU Ro 80. That would have been a nice car. Styling way ahead of its time.

A friend of mine had a Stag with the Rover engine. He didn't want the hassle of the Triumph engine. Although all the car renovation programmes that have done a Stag stick with the Triumph engine. Was it something to do with a misplaced water pump because the V8 is basically a 4 cylinder Dolomite engine with an extra bank of cylinders. The pump is near the top of the engine or something then suffers if the water level is low. Is that right? That and diabolical build quality at the factory.

 

The Triumph V8 was a disaster, especially when the proven Buick lump was available at BL..But back then, Triumph was allowed to do its own thing and persevered with their project.

Many years back I was at a pub in Sussex, when a fleet of Stag's arrived, seems a meet at the pub, of course I was interested, as I had a 6.8ltr Pontiac V8 at the time. I was surprised to see the different engine combo's hence my Ford 3.0 V6 comment.

 

My brother-in-law back in the UK not long ago bought a Stag with some pension money, I did point out the Triumph V8 probs, but he said in this car it has all been sorted.............I have a feeling he paid a lot of money for it, a very, very clean example....🤗

51 minutes ago, transam said:

I had a 6.8ltr Pontiac V8 at the time.

In my 20's, I had a black, Firebird, 4sp manual, 6.6lt imported from California. 

 

I liked the Smokey and the Bandit car, '77, Pontiac Transam. 

I found an importer in Sydney, Beverley Hills. 

 

Smokey and the Bandit, '77, Pontiac Transam Firebird, targa top, beautiful car. 

There was a company in Sydney, Corvette Conversions, doing left to right conversions. At the time a conversion was necessary for registration 

 

I don't have any photos of her here, found these on the Web. 

 

 

 

2 minutes ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

In my 20's, I had a black, Firebird, 4sp manual, 6.6lt imported from California. 

 

I liked the Smokey and the Bandit car, '77, Pontiac Transam. 

I found an importer in Sydney, Beverley Hills. 

 

Smokey and the Bandit, '77, Pontiac Transam Firebird, targa top, beautiful car. 

 

I don't have any photos of her here, found these on the Web. 

 

 

 

I had a girlfriend in the early ‘80s that had a blue ‘77, 

2 minutes ago, mogandave said:

I had a girlfriend in the early ‘80s that had a blue ‘77, 

Cool chick, I'm jealous 👍

17 minutes ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

Cool chick, I'm jealous 👍

And she she worked in an ice cream joint…

Thinking about this...

 

The trouble is the new rules have been announced by the Thai Excise Department...I wonder if the Customs Department have read the memo?

 

 

1 hour ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

In my 20's, I had a black, Firebird, 4sp manual, 6.6lt imported from California. 

 

I liked the Smokey and the Bandit car, '77, Pontiac Transam. 

I found an importer in Sydney, Beverley Hills. 

 

Smokey and the Bandit, '77, Pontiac Transam Firebird, targa top, beautiful car. 

There was a company in Sydney, Corvette Conversions, doing left to right conversions. At the time a conversion was necessary for registration 

 

I don't have any photos of her here, found these on the Web. 

 

 

 

Mine was a slightly altered 1976..........😋

 

35 minutes ago, transam said:

Mine was a slightly altered 1976..........😋

 

Wow, looks great 👍

 

Some money there 

1 hour ago, mogandave said:

And she she worked in an ice cream joint…

I was thinking that or KFC 👍

1 hour ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

I was thinking that or KFC 👍

No KFC on the midway…

 

 

On 9/22/2025 at 7:27 AM, Hummin said:

Just imagine if you had the same feelings for your old woman with as much mileage as a car 😉 or motorbike 

 

is it possible after 20 - 30 years ? 

Nah.  The car keeps its shape.

On 9/22/2025 at 8:40 AM, crazykopite said:

Came here in 2006 I had a v8 Triumph Stagg for 25 years the tax they wanted to import was horrendous sadly I had no option but to sell it that was worse than going through a divorce 

 

On 9/22/2025 at 10:31 AM, Uncle John said:

I know the feeling.  I drove a 1973 MGB to/from work for 40 years,  as well as a few cross-country trips in the U.S., all totaling nearly 300,000 miles.  Could not bring it to Thailand (in 2019), so sold it and never looked back...  

 

 

No stags or MGB's qualify under this new scheme, you couldn't bring one here.

 

I had a Stag too.  It did overheat but we fixed it.  It's vital to run the right coolant and don't let the level's drop.  It was a manual and I ruined the diff, I found a Triumph 2000 diff in the scrap yard but the bolt holes didn't fully line up.

 

I had a 73 Jensen Interceptor, that car didn't like being stuck in traffic, it would have fuel starvation issues.  One of those might qualify to be imported.

On 9/24/2025 at 1:35 AM, JBChiangRai said:

 

 

 

No stags or MGB's qualify under this new scheme, you couldn't bring one here.

 

I had a Stag too.  It did overheat but we fixed it.  It's vital to run the right coolant and don't let the level's drop.  It was a manual and I ruined the diff, I found a Triumph 2000 diff in the scrap yard but the bolt holes didn't fully line up.

 

I had a 73 Jensen Interceptor, that car didn't like being stuck in traffic, it would have fuel starvation issues.  One of those might qualify to be imported.

 

Why not? Said any car over 30 years old?

 

If the price is below 2m they just round it up.

13 minutes ago, RAZZELL said:

If the price is below 2m they just round it up.

Do they?

 

More likely you don’t get a permit, or they give you a permit, then confiscate the vehicle.

 

This is Thailand.

2 hours ago, JBChiangRai said:

Do they?

 

More likely you don’t get a permit, or they give you a permit, then confiscate the vehicle.

 

This is Thailand.

 

 

Read the regulations. Any vehicle priced under 2m the import duty is assessed on 2m.

 

Who knows what will happen until someone tries to do it.

 

(The issue is rules are made my Excise Dept yet you have to deal with Customs)