Red Plates

[kiakaha]

From the Expat Motors website :

"There is no restriction driving a car in Thailand with red registration plates, but a few spare hundred Baht notes come in handy every now and then to keep the local boys in brown happy!!!"

1) I find that sentence to be an oxymoron (self contradictory)

2) I always thought that red plated cars could only be driven within the plate's province and between certain hours

Hailing all red plater experts, thoughts ?

[matter]

From the Expat Motors website :

"There is no restriction driving a car in Thailand with red registration plates, but a few spare hundred Baht notes come in handy every now and then to keep the local boys in brown happy!!!"

1) I find that sentence to be an oxymoron (self contradictory)

2) I always thought that red plated cars could only be driven within the plate's province and between certain hours

Hailing all red plater experts, thoughts ?

Friend just bought a new car. The salesman said that if he drives it at night then have 100 baht to give to the police.

Edited February 26, 2008 by matter

[kiakaha]

I'm interested in what the actual law is, not what you can get away with on a bribe. I've always believed the law to be what I posted above.

[madjbs]

Does it matter though? Everyone just drives where they want at whatever hour and nobody cares.

[lazeeboy]

bought 4 new cars over the years ,never had a problem when driving on red plates while waiting for my registration number

[torrenova]

Never had a problem driving a truck on red plates registered in Korat even when stopped in Pattaya, Bangkok, Buriram and anywhere in between.

I was worried about driving a Korat registered vehicle in Pattaya for the obvious tea money shit but no issues, either on red plates or the normal ones.

[North]

Does it matter though? Everyone just drives where they want at whatever hour and nobody cares.

Yes, it does matter to know what the law says, personally I don´t like to be stopped by the police just because the car is on red plates.

We have tried to call the relevant office here in Khon Kaen and ask for the rules for driving on red plates.

First we spoke to a lady, she said: You cannot drive on red plates after dark.

Five minutes later we called again, a man answered: Yes, there should be no problem with driving after dark on red plates, the law has been changed.

So, how can we get the real answer, does anyone know where to ask ?

North

[Crossy]

I believe that the 'after dark' rule was removed a couple of years back, but I can't find the link now

Dunno about 'out of province'

[jackbox]

I lived in Pattaya last year and bought a new moto. In Pattya they have red plates for motorcycles. I drove it to Bangkok and got stopped for driving in the wrong lane on Bangna-Trad (apparently motos can only be in leftmost lane and I didn't see the signs or there aren't any signs -- not sure which). Anyway I got a ticket for the wrong lane violation (had to pay 200 baht at Bangna Police Station) and the officer commented on the fact I was crazy for driving from Pattaya (Pattaya red plates say Pattaya on them not Chonburi as the white plates do) to Bangkok, so he did see the red plates. Never said anything about why are these Pattaya red plates in another province. I read that you are supposed to stay in your province but I have seen many Krung Theph red plates in Chonburi and other provinces red plates in Bangkok so if it is still against the law I don't think it is one they enforce any more, unless of course the officers needs a little tea money.

Edited February 28, 2008 by jackbox

[Farma]

I found this September 28, 2002 reply to a question on red plates in the Phuket Gazette issues/answers page. There may have been changes to the law since then.

http://www.phuketgazette.net/issuesanswers...ails.asp?id=391

“New cars are issued with red plates and are allowed to be driven only between sunrise and sunset because none of the registration information for that car has been registered with the government yet.

You are allowed to drive your car at night only when it has been issued white license plates.

If you see new cars with red plates being driven around at night unchecked, it is because we are being lenient; it is not a right. However, if you travel in other provinces, you will pass many police checkpoints where officers may not be so lenient.

The Phuket Provincial Transportation Office (PPTO) can issue white plates for cars in less than two hours. However, the delay comes from the dealer in providing all the correct details and documents to register the car.

That said, if you would like to drive your car at night or in another province, you can contact the dealership that sold you the car and have the dealer apply to the Chief of the PPTO on your behalf for permission to do so.

Please note that you will need to provide specific details of where and when you want to drive the car.

If the Chief of the PPTO grants you permission, he will sign in the car registration book both his permission and how long his permission will stand.

For more information, please contact Pathai Puchadapirom, Chief Registrar of the PPTO. Tel: 076-211019 ext 22.”

Saturday, September 28, 2002 Terayout Prasertphol, Technical Officer, Phuket Provincial Transportation Office."

[wca01]

This regulation from 2002 is practically outdated and is not enforced. YOU NEVER WILL HAVE A PROBLEM AT PRESENT TIMES WITH A RED PLATE, whether during night nor during day!

WCA

[Cuban]

YOU NEVER WILL HAVE A PROBLEM AT PRESENT TIMES WITH A RED PLATE, whether during night nor during day!

You can be sure that exceptions will apply dependent on the whim of the person that has stopped you.

So we are back to the old argument of being stopped at 1am on an empty road somewhere and paying a few hundred Baht "farang tax" or debating details of Thai motoring law.

[ignis]

Thai Friend has a new Pickup every 18 months [very high mileage by that time] he always leaves it in the dealership until the normal plates arrive….. say has not the time to be stopped 5 – 10 times a day every day for 4 – 6 weeks.

New truck was ordered last month, no he says he will not pick it up untill the plates have arrived..

[2long]

Red plates are trade plates and should only be driven for 'dealer purposes' such as test drives. Consumer impatience and the lenience of the system have caused new cars to come out of the showroom wearing them. There's a Merc in Central Pinklao that has had red plates on for at least a year. My neighbours have had them for over two months. I wanted ours off as soon as possible.

[North]

This regulation from 2002 is practically outdated and is not enforced. YOU NEVER WILL HAVE A PROBLEM AT PRESENT TIMES WITH A RED PLATE, whether during night nor during day!

WCA

This is simply not true !

My wife and I got stopped twice on sunday 20th. January in the evening after just passing the mountains between Kabinburi and Korat, - some 50-70 km. before Korat.

First time it was a small checkpoint, and a policeman asked for money, telling how expensive living had become these days. My wife suggested to me, that I should give him some money, but I said loud and clear (but polite): No, I don´t want to give him money !

He seemed to understand that message, and said, that we could go.

But after some 5 kilometers there was a big checkpoint, and this time they kept my thai driver´s licence and the book of the red plates and asked us to get ouf the car and talk to two police officers sitting at a table nearby.

I said to my wife, that unless they really started to threaten us with whatever I did not want to pay money because of the red plates, I also said to her, that even the rules for the red plates were printed in this book they may have been changed many times since, after all the plates and the book was 14 years old !

So we sat down at the table, I did not say anything at all, just let the wife do the talking.

And she talked and she talked, and now and then the senior officer would point at some papers and ask her to pay, but she just continued talking, and talking, and t......, after a few minutes people started line up behind us, probably waiting to pay for whatever the police wanted money for.

After some 15 minutes my wife was still talking, she told them, that she was going back home, because she had to go to work tomorrow, well maybe she gave them her life story, I don´t know, and at last the policemen gave up, there was too many people waiting, so they let us go without paying !

Later she told me, that she said to the officers, that of course we had money to pay what they wanted, but she did not want to pay !

In my opinion she was the hero of the day, but had I been alone, I could have had big truble. They were actually asking for 2000 baht because of the serious offence !

So, you can have problems with red plates, at least in that area!

I am looking forward to get the white plates !

I have been stopped two more times this year at the exact same checkpoint, one time they claimed I was driving too fast, the other time they claimed I was driving in the right lane, but none of it was true, and I refused to pay any money and both times they let me go.

North

[kiakaha]

I went to AVIS once, and got a car...they gave it to me with red plates would you believe, and said that if i get stopped, to pay the police and get a receipt and they will reimburse me(for the money not the inconvenience)...hahaha....and this is AVIS in Bangkok. I told them they were a bunch of inept useless fools and demanded a new car with white plates.

[sungod]

I went to AVIS once, and got a car...they gave it to me with red plates would you believe, and said that if i get stopped, to pay the police and get a receipt and they will reimburse me(for the money not the inconvenience)...hahaha....and this is AVIS in Bangkok. I told them they were a bunch of inept useless fools and demanded a new car with white plates.

Love it!!!

If it was any other way, then I'd move to another country.

[Jalla]

This regulation from 2002 is practically outdated and is not enforced. YOU NEVER WILL HAVE A PROBLEM AT PRESENT TIMES WITH A RED PLATE, whether during night nor during day!

WCA

This is simply not true !

My wife and I got stopped twice on sunday 20th. January in the evening after just passing the mountains between Kabinburi and Korat, - some 50-70 km. before Korat.

First time it was a small checkpoint, and a policeman asked for money, telling how expensive living had become these days. My wife suggested to me, that I should give him some money, but I said loud and clear (but polite): No, I don´t want to give him money !

He seemed to understand that message, and said, that we could go.

But after some 5 kilometers there was a big checkpoint, and this time they kept my thai driver´s licence and the book of the red plates and asked us to get ouf the car and talk to two police officers sitting at a table nearby.

I said to my wife, that unless they really started to threaten us with whatever I did not want to pay money because of the red plates, I also said to her, that even the rules for the red plates were printed in this book they may have been changed many times since, after all the plates and the book was 14 years old !

So we sat down at the table, I did not say anything at all, just let the wife do the talking.

And she talked and she talked, and now and then the senior officer would point at some papers and ask her to pay, but she just continued talking, and talking, and t......, after a few minutes people started line up behind us, probably waiting to pay for whatever the police wanted money for.

After some 15 minutes my wife was still talking, she told them, that she was going back home, because she had to go to work tomorrow, well maybe she gave them her life story, I don´t know, and at last the policemen gave up, there was too many people waiting, so they let us go without paying !

Later she told me, that she said to the officers, that of course we had money to pay what they wanted, but she did not want to pay !

In my opinion she was the hero of the day, but had I been alone, I could have had big truble. They were actually asking for 2000 baht because of the serious offence !

So, you can have problems with red plates, at least in that area!

I am looking forward to get the white plates !

I have been stopped two more times this year at the exact same checkpoint, one time they claimed I was driving too fast, the other time they claimed I was driving in the right lane, but none of it was true, and I refused to pay any money and both times they let me go.

North

Same here North, Kabinburi is the place to go if you want to get stopped with red plates. Funny, your post is as it should have been written by myself

[BigSnake]

How true ALL

[Farma]

I learn something new every day. I was under the impression all new cars were issued red plates and then white ones.

A relative recently bought a new car and wasn’t issued red plates. The car was driven for 2 weeks during the day and at night with journeys into neighbouring provinces without plates. The police just waved them through checkpoints. I guess it all depends on where you live.

White plates were issued 2 weeks after purchase. I asked why they never had red plates. They replied it was due to the car ownership being in their name. They had paid cash and not used finance.

[sungod]

I learn something new every day. I was under the impression all new cars were issued red plates and then white ones.

A relative recently bought a new car and wasn’t issued red plates. The car was driven for 2 weeks during the day and at night with journeys into neighbouring provinces without plates. The police just waved them through checkpoints. I guess it all depends on where you live.

White plates were issued 2 weeks after purchase. I asked why they never had red plates. They replied it was due to the car ownership being in their name. They had paid cash and not used finance.

Not disagreeing with the above post, just that there seems to be no uniformity. I have bought 3 vehicles in my name, all with cash, also know friends who have done the same. I have always had red plates from 2 weeks to a month, just depends how long they take to register it.

[Jalla]

I learn something new every day. I was under the impression all new cars were issued red plates and then white ones.

A relative recently bought a new car and wasn’t issued red plates. The car was driven for 2 weeks during the day and at night with journeys into neighbouring provinces without plates. The police just waved them through checkpoints. I guess it all depends on where you live.

White plates were issued 2 weeks after purchase. I asked why they never had red plates. They replied it was due to the car ownership being in their name. They had paid cash and not used finance.

Red plates has nothing to do with finance etc, it`s a temporarly plate which belongs to the dealer. They can put it on any sold car of their choice, and is generally "borrowed" to the customer who wishes to take the car away before the corect registration is finished.

Happend to know this first hand. I just bought a new car cash, and was explained the whole thing regarding red plates yesterday when i visited the dealer to get my white plates.

[Rtwo]

From the Expat Motors website :

"There is no restriction driving a car in Thailand with red registration plates, but a few spare hundred Baht notes come in handy every now and then to keep the local boys in brown happy!!!"

1) I find that sentence to be an oxymoron (self contradictory)

2) I always thought that red plated cars could only be driven within the plate's province and between certain hours

Hailing all red plater experts, thoughts ?

The red plate together with 'log book' belongs and is registered with the dealer that you buy a new vehicle from and they buy them from the taxation authorities. They are not 'trade plates' in the British sense but temporary plates used on new vehicles whilst the new 'white' plates are being prepared. The dealer should plate the vehicle with one of their 'red' ones amending the log book accordingly before it leaves the forecourt. They'll take a deposit of around 3000 Baht from the vehicle owner and this is returned when the 'white' plates come through. Most dealers however, don't have enough red plates and don't want to buy more than they need. They frequently suggest to the purchaser that it's quite OK to drive without one although in law it definitely isn't. The reality is however that many people don't have the exta cash to stomp up for the plates (yes I know 3000 Baht isn't much but a lot of Thais live on a financial knife edge) so they readily go along with the dealers suggestion and secondly it's seen as 'cool' to be driving around in a non plated 'new' vehicle. Red plated vehicles should be driven only between the hours of sunrise and sunset and should not be taken out of the Changwat where they are registered. The law is open to 'normal' selective interpretation and the strictness of enforcement seems to vary throughtout the country. Here in Chiangmai I should think that less than 50% of new vehicles have red plates.

[sbkpeterpan]

From the Expat Motors website :

"There is no restriction driving a car in Thailand with red registration plates, but a few spare hundred Baht notes come in handy every now and then to keep the local boys in brown happy!!!"

1) I find that sentence to be an oxymoron (self contradictory)

2) I always thought that red plated cars could only be driven within the plate's province and between certain hours

Hailing all red plater experts, thoughts ?

The red plate together with 'log book' belongs and is registered with the dealer that you buy a new vehicle from and they buy them from the taxation authorities. They are not 'trade plates' in the British sense but temporary plates used on new vehicles whilst the new 'white' plates are being prepared. The dealer should plate the vehicle with one of their 'red' ones amending the log book accordingly before it leaves the forecourt. They'll take a deposit of around 3000 Baht from the vehicle owner and this is returned when the 'white' plates come through. Most dealers however, don't have enough red plates and don't want to buy more than they need. They frequently suggest to the purchaser that it's quite OK to drive without one although in law it definitely isn't. The reality is however that many people don't have the exta cash to stomp up for the plates (yes I know 3000 Baht isn't much but a lot of Thais live on a financial knife edge) so they readily go along with the dealers suggestion and secondly it's seen as 'cool' to be driving around in a non plated 'new' vehicle. Red plated vehicles should be driven only between the hours of sunrise and sunset and should not be taken out of the Changwat where they are registered. The law is open to 'normal' selective interpretation and the strictness of enforcement seems to vary throughtout the country. Here in Chiangmai I should think that less than 50% of new vehicles have red plates.

Correct ! while its an outdated law, in practice it give the Hwy robbers some leverage, If you are out of district and or driving at night they will "fine" you. One other restriction is that you are not supposed to carry anything in the bed of a pickup until the white plates are affixed.

Why do the white plates take do long? because the dealers only have to pay when the car is registered, the longer they can keep on red plates, the longer the cash stays in their pocket. The last car I brought I paid a small deposit and didn't pay until it had proper plates, that took 3 days, if I had paid all it could have taken two months.