Taking A Car To Thailand

[Aikido]

I suppose this question may have been asked before but does anyone really know the correct answer,

cos i would really like to know the truth if its out there.

exactly how long does a Thai have to own a car in another country before they can take it to Thailand without paying ridiculous inport tax.

[Briggsy]

Why do you think i) such legislation for the avoidance of import duty exists and ii) it only applies to Thai Nationals?

[Linosea]

From Asiatradingonline.com

Importing a car into Thailand, whether new or used, for personal use or for sale, you must pay taxes and duties. Used vehicles are restricted goods and generally not allowed for importation into Thailand, except for temporary imports as mentioned above or imports under the conditions specified by the Ministry of Commerce.

WHO IS ALLOWED TO IMPORT CARS TO THAILAND

.....

WHO IS ALLOWED TO IMPORT CARS TO THAILAND

The importers under the criteria listed below are eligible to import ONE used/ secondhand vehicles for personal use

Nonresidents & FOREIGNERS: Only those who are Nonresidents with non-immigrant visas issued by the Immigration Department and work permits issued by the Ministry of Labor to work in Thailand for at least one year at the time of importation are allowed to import motor vehicles to Thailand. If you are on a tourist visa or retirement visa you cannot import a car.

Thai Residents: The Thai residents are divided into 2 categories:

Returning Thai residents working/studying/living abroad: The permanent import of personal vehicles under this condition is allowed only when the vehicle is accompanied the owner on the change of residence and the importer have owned, possessed, and used the imported vehicles together with the valid driving license for at least one and a half year while staying abroad.

Returning Thai residents marrying foreigners: It is required that the importer have owned, possessed, and used the imported vehicle while staying abroad for at least one and a half year, from the date of transferring of ownership to the date of arriving in Thailand. In addition, a Marriage Certificate and relevant evidence indicating the change of residence to Thailand must also be shown to Customs.

Documentation & what you need if you Qualify

The documentation required for permanent import of brand new personal vehicles include:

An Import Declaration Form;

A Bill of Lading or Air Waybill;

Sale documents (if any);

A Delivery Order (Customs Form No. 100/1);

A Foreign Transaction Form 2 in case where the CIF value of the imported vehicles exceeding 500,000 Baht;

An insurance premium invoice; and

Other relevant documents (if any).

However, additional documents as listed below are required in case of the permanent imports of used/secondhand personal vehicles:

A House Certificate and Identification Card;

A passport in case of changing residence;

A Vehicle Registration Certificate indicating that the imported vehicles was used abroad;

An import permit from the Ministry of Commerce

Import Clearance Procedures

The importer will be required to complete all the formalities to clear the vehicles through Customs at the port of entry. To avoid any you must have:

The importer/agent submits an Import Declaration Form together with all supporting documents to the Customs office at the port of entry;

Customs verifies the documents, and assesses liable taxes and duties;

The importer/agent pays liable taxes and duties at the Cashier Division, the Customs Department; and

The importer/agent presents the receipt issued by the Cashier Division to Customs at the warehouse to take the imported vehicles from Customs custody.

Tax and Duty Assessment

An individual who imports vehicles for personal use, or a commercial importer, may be considered an importer and liable for payment of taxes and duties. The Customs value of the imported vehicles shall be determined on the basis of the CIF value (Cost & Insurance & Freight).

Imported vehicles are the used ones, the amount of taxes and duties collected will be reduced according to the age of the vehicles as shown in the given table below:

..... more info on the link above....I guess the answer is out there ....

[asiaworld]

Wah nice answer Linosea .. I really hope some mod will notice thise thread & move it to motoring forum ! This question comes up regularly over there, now the only thing missing is the actual report of who brought what & what were the charges !!

[lopburi3]

The official regulations for import are here

[initiala4]

I tried to do this venture once....and bottom line its not really worth it.

[asiaworld]

I tried to do this venture once....and bottom line its not really worth it.

Well thats a Short one .. C'mon you sound like ; I tried to buy a car once, but since it depreciates, and taxis are plentiful..its not really worth it !

So IF You did try , than surely you could post more than the bottom line here , and your answer may even get pinned for future reference

[initiala4]

I tried to do this venture once....and bottom line its not really worth it.

Well thats a Short one .. C'mon you sound like ; I tried to buy a car once, but since it depreciates, and taxis are plentiful..its not really worth it !

So IF You did try , than surely you could post more than the bottom line here , and your answer may even get pinned for future reference

well i bought a $35,000 car and did get a quote from the customs some monster amount of tax which is almost similiar to the value of my car!

[hansnl]

I tried to import my Land Rover Defender 110 when I "emigrated" to Thailand, the value of the beast in Holland was about 12000 Euro, the estimate for importing the car together and loaded with my personal effects was: about 14000 Euro.

So forget it, only if the car is VERY old, it might be worth it, but reasonable cars.....forget it!

[A_Traveller]

To make this easy, it really doesn't matter what the 'regulations' say. The Customs' view is that they have the right to establish the value of the vehicle and that their valuation will be the sole source for the calculation of duties payable. Personally I tried to bring in a classic vehicle from the UK, a Bristol 411, suffice it to say that when we reached 6 times the acknowledged value of the vehicle {based on then current [class 1] auction results in the UK} I viewed this as a lost cause. I won't even enter into the reality distortion field which revolved around my Jensen FF.

Other countries in the region allow personal imports, but Thailand with the fantasy of being the 'Detroit of Asia' simply views any such activity with hostility and associated graft.

If one looks at Mercedes here, try spotting the UK sourced ones, e.g. :sun roof, and you may be surprised as to how many there are. These, like the original s-class belonging to K. Thaksin, have been 'personally imported', except oddly enough the models are often too new to have been 'on the road' for the required 18 moths, go figure, and no they're not from SEC or the like.

Regards

Edited November 10, 2007 by A_Traveller

[asiaworld]

Hmm.. From what hansnl & initiala4 wrote , i conclude, that it may actually Not be so Bad.. C'mon Malaysia for example imposes upto 300% excise on the fully importe vechicle! This way we see euro cars being soo expencive>>same here .

Now when you buy something Retail in Europe+ tax on CIF , that's not going to sound good .. But if you scout the net for Duty Free cars ! & try to ship one directly , you may as well win, even with the 1++% tax on top (you'll have low CIF cost ) so i think, there's only so much customs are allowed to impose on top of it .. Of course wouldn't work for everyone, but say one expat, with proper visa moving here >>one off deal .. Could be worth trynig ..

Now hansnl & initiala4 Were you asking about NEW cars @ the customs ?!?

[A_Traveller]

there's only so much customs are allowed to impose on top of it

Wrong read my post again. Fact, vehicles are subjected to valuation by whim, get used to it. By the by, a few years ago, the importer for Ermenegildo Zegna had a similar problem in that she had no idea how her, effectively, identical shipments would be evaluated, sometimes having luxury tax applied other times not.

AFAIK there is only one Jensen Interceptor here, which used to belong to a falang at Bangkok Post. I was told that the original importer was 'well connected', which in those days would have meant senior military, and that even then it had been difficult to arrange {They are after all a bit obvious}

Regards

[stateman]

From Asiatradingonline.com

Importing a car into Thailand, whether new or used, for personal use or for sale, you must pay taxes and duties. Used vehicles are restricted goods and generally not allowed for importation into Thailand, except for temporary imports as mentioned above or imports under the conditions specified by the Ministry of Commerce.

WHO IS ALLOWED TO IMPORT CARS TO THAILAND

The importers under the criteria listed below are eligible to import ONE used/ secondhand vehicles for personal use

Thai Residents: ....:

Returning Thai residents working/studying/living abroad: The permanent import of personal vehicles under this condition is allowed only when the vehicle is accompanied the owner on the change of residence and the importer have owned, possessed, and used the imported vehicles together with the valid driving license for at least one and a half year while staying abroad.

Wonder any readers are returning Thais with experience importing used car meeting the 18 months ownership abroad.

If so, what was your experience, and how much duty, fees, were imposed.

[Flatouthruthefog]

there's only so much customs are allowed to impose on top of it

Wrong read my post again. Fact, vehicles are subjected to valuation by whim, get used to it. By the by, a few years ago, the importer for Ermenegildo Zegna had a similar problem in that she had no idea how her, effectively, identical shipments would be evaluated, sometimes having luxury tax applied other times not.

AFAIK there is only one Jensen Interceptor here, which used to belong to a falang at Bangkok Post. I was told that the original importer was 'well connected', which in those days would have meant senior military, and that even then it had been difficult to arrange {They are after all a bit obvious}

Regards

Old cars attract especially sticky fingers on the docks. The Thai wife of an American executive of Halliburton, a company not without clout around the world, told me that her husband's immaculate Triumph TR3A sat deteriorating on the Bangkok docks for a year until he gave up in disgust and sent it back to the US.

The President of the Classic Car Assoc of Thailand said a year ago that there was no sign of this situation improving - and he is not without influence, as his Dad used to run the air force. This has nothing to do with the official paperwork we read.

And Chiang Mai has a nice white Jensen Interceptor (not an FF sadly), owned by the owner of Hillside 4 condo block.

[Rdrokit]

Not worth bring a car to Thailand. When I moved here last year I wanted to bring my 2000 Chevrolet Camaro Super Sport. (OK so I like big V8s). The value of the car was $12,000US and since it was over 3litres (5.7 litres & 350 horse power) the tax was 328% of the value then discounted 67% for its age which came out to be around $26,000 US. Not worth it.

[initiala4]

Hmm.. From what hansnl & initiala4 wrote , i conclude, that it may actually Not be so Bad.. C'mon Malaysia for example imposes upto 300% excise on the fully importe vechicle! This way we see euro cars being soo expencive>>same here .

Now when you buy something Retail in Europe+ tax on CIF , that's not going to sound good .. But if you scout the net for Duty Free cars ! & try to ship one directly , you may as well win, even with the 1++% tax on top (you'll have low CIF cost ) so i think, there's only so much customs are allowed to impose on top of it .. Of course wouldn't work for everyone, but say one expat, with proper visa moving here >>one off deal .. Could be worth trynig ..

Now hansnl & initiala4 Were you asking about NEW cars @ the customs ?!?

Used car...by me

[Bruce1]

I have a 1995 Land Rover Discovery stored in Australia. I estimate its only worth about AUS$6000 or so. I did ask about personal importing and all the replies were vague and along the lines of, "It'll cost you heaps more than the value and its not worth the trouble."

But, it would be nice to find somewhere where you could actually calculate the cost of importing to get a precise answer, however I gather from previous replies that it seems to vary depending on how the official felt that morning when s/he woke up?

Is there anywhere to get an official answer on this? I'm on a non imm B and work permit so I think I'm supposed to be able to do it in theory, but I guess that may not be true in practice - TIT.

[stevemiddie]

I have a 1995 Land Rover Discovery stored in Australia. I estimate its only worth about AUS$6000 or so. I did ask about personal importing and all the replies were vague and along the lines of, "It'll cost you heaps more than the value and its not worth the trouble."

But, it would be nice to find somewhere where you could actually calculate the cost of importing to get a precise answer, however I gather from previous replies that it seems to vary depending on how the official felt that morning when s/he woke up?

Is there anywhere to get an official answer on this? I'm on a non imm B and work permit so I think I'm supposed to be able to do it in theory, but I guess that may not be true in practice - TIT.

The valuation is done on a whim so you cannot get precise answers on the values.

It is the value that the Thai customs places on the said vehicle. It will not make ANY difference showing your purchase receipt and how much you paid for it.

I imported my pride and joy from the UK. Mitsubishi FTO GPX. Paid 7K for it ( uk ..........490,000 baht equivalent )

ALL papers correct. Secured container. Insured etc .

Customs did not HAVE A CLUE as to its value. Looked on the internet etc for second hands.

Decided on a value of 750,000 baht ( <deleted> ) PLUS PLUS PLUS 207% tax ! ( oh my god )

We went round in circles for months whilst my baby was rusting to death.

Tried getting a reviewed value 5 months later. Now 800 and something thousand. ( i forget exactly how much ).

Different cusoms officer.

Another 2 months and it eventually returned back to the UK. I was lucky. They sometimes refuse this and impound them.

( hence the customs car auctions............lots of tea money all round )

There is NO precise answer on values here.

Please follow EVERYONES advice on here. DON,T.

Edited November 22, 2007 by stevemiddie

[xbusman]

Jeeze, I get so tired of this subject. Moderators need to pin something on this subject, we seem to discuss it every week or so.

Here is the real deal.

Thai Customs is known to be one of the most corrupt organizations on the face of the earth. Right up there with Zimbabwe colonels and russian protection agencies. Honestly, it is rated at the very top of the corruptometer by numerous international agencies.

Its not too bad getting things out of Thailand. The grease is pretty standardly applied and being an export based economy there are a few politicians who actually care that things get moved out. Dont forget, those politicians are also on the payroll of the big exporters so that keeps things moving. There can still be problems exporting but all in all its possible and not too nasty.

But bringing things in is an entirely different matter. You simply become the captive victim of a group of professional extortionists that have you by the wallet. If you are stupid enough to try and do it, you are going to pay huge amounts of money for the remote possibility that something might actually get through. Honestly, probably your best bet is to import something into Malaysia or Laos and try to drive it across the border. At least you have possession of your vehicle and can negotiate on the spot with a remote chance of actually getting it in. As for eventually getting it legally registered, not much chance unless you have more time and money than sense.

Here it is in a nutshell.

Just dont do it. Forget it. Deal with it like an adult and drop the idea. Buy what is available and be glad you can get that junk at those horrific prices. Its a third world country and the door is nailed shut so that a small group can rape and pillage those with money. Dont volunteer to be a victim.

[englishoak]

Amen !

[Flatouthruthefog]

Amen !

and Amen again. All this good DON'T advice was reinforced to me this week by the Secretary of the Classic Car Assoc of Thailand which gets frequent requests for help. They can't help. No-one can do anything until and unless we get a government in on Dec 23rd which is determined to clean up the greedies, and I for one will not be holding my breath.

I pledge to get back on this if I hear of any changed circumstances.

[mikethevigoman]

I suppose this question may have been asked before but does anyone really know the correct answer,

cos i would really like to know the truth if its out there.

exactly how long does a Thai have to own a car in another country before they can take it to Thailand without paying ridiculous inport tax.

we tried to bring a very nice volvo into thailand worth about 1400 pounds in the uk, when we looked into it the taxes etc were quoted as 350,000 baht as the car is assessed at local value which they said was over 1 mill ! hence the car remains in the uk,.

[mikethevigoman]

Jeeze, I get so tired of this subject. Moderators need to pin something on this subject, we seem to discuss it every week or so.

Here is the real deal.

Thai Customs is known to be one of the most corrupt organizations on the face of the earth. Right up there with Zimbabwe colonels and russian protection agencies. Honestly, it is rated at the very top of the corruptometer by numerous international agencies.

Its not too bad getting things out of Thailand. The grease is pretty standardly applied and being an export based economy there are a few politicians who actually care that things get moved out. Dont forget, those politicians are also on the payroll of the big exporters so that keeps things moving. There can still be problems exporting but all in all its possible and not too nasty.

But bringing things in is an entirely different matter. You simply become the captive victim of a group of professional extortionists that have you by the wallet. If you are stupid enough to try and do it, you are going to pay huge amounts of money for the remote possibility that something might actually get through. Honestly, probably your best bet is to import something into Malaysia or Laos and try to drive it across the border. At least you have possession of your vehicle and can negotiate on the spot with a remote chance of actually getting it in. As for eventually getting it legally registered, not much chance unless you have more time and money than sense.

Here it is in a nutshell.

Just dont do it. Forget it. Deal with it like an adult and drop the idea. Buy what is available and be glad you can get that junk at those horrific prices. Its a third world country and the door is nailed shut so that a small group can rape and pillage those with money. Dont volunteer to be a victim.

I liken it to marrying a bar girl ,.

[mikethevigoman]

From Asiatradingonline.com

Importing a car into Thailand, whether new or used, for personal use or for sale, you must pay taxes and duties. Used vehicles are restricted goods and generally not allowed for importation into Thailand, except for temporary imports as mentioned above or imports under the conditions specified by the Ministry of Commerce.

WHO IS ALLOWED TO IMPORT CARS TO THAILAND

The importers under the criteria listed below are eligible to import ONE used/ secondhand vehicles for personal use

Thai Residents: ....:

Returning Thai residents working/studying/living abroad: The permanent import of personal vehicles under this condition is allowed only when the vehicle is accompanied the owner on the change of residence and the importer have owned, possessed, and used the imported vehicles together with the valid driving license for at least one and a half year while staying abroad.

Wonder any readers are returning Thais with experience importing used car meeting the 18 months ownership abroad.

If so, what was your experience, and how much duty, fees, were imposed.

All our quotes and queries were sent from my (thai ) wife ,it made no diffference, you are dealing with very big fish with very big apetities,.

[LivinLOS]

Still see that nice new Range rover on Brit plates around regularly..

Cambo border is the one where Tea money works.

As for legally importing and getting a Thai plate, almost impossible.

[Bruce1]

Okay okay, I get the point - DON'T! So I won't. Obviously everything I was told about this was right.

Incidentally, I think I read somewhere that the signing of the ASEAN pact the other day will mean in theory that over the next 10 years vehicle taxes have to be standardised within ASEAN. So, if so, that could cause a few ripples in all this. Or not...