I know this sounds like I have been combining drugs and alcohol but my brother in-law just got back from going to the Chiang Mai DMV to pay for the registration on his 3 year old pickup. The officials there said that fiberglass canopies on pickups have been illegal since last October and that he has to remove it before he can register the pickup, and if he puts it back on after registering it there is a B2,000 fine if he is caught doing it.

This canopy was installed professionally by a factory and has its own air conditioning (must be thousands of them around here just like it). Has anyone else run onto this or has some twit at the DMV gone bonkers!

I doubt it....

But to clarify, what do you mean by "canopy"?

I know this sounds like I have been combining drugs and alcohol but my brother in-law just got back from going to the Chiang Mai DMV to pay for the registration on his 3 year old pickup. The officials there said that fiberglass canopies on pickups have been illegal since last October and that he has to remove it before he can register the pickup, and if he puts it back on after registering it there is a B2,000 fine if he is caught doing it.

This canopy was installed professionally by a factory and has its own air conditioning (must be thousands of them around here just like it). Has anyone else run onto this or has some twit at the DMV gone bonkers!

They told me the same thing about spot/driving lights. I had to take them off at the DMV to get registered and then put them on again after I left. Obviously no one outside the DMV cares as they are on many, many Thai vehicles.

Obviously not so easy to remove a "canopy". Hard to believe that this would be illegal as the OP says they are professionally installed and also abundant on the roads of Thailand. Bit Tit!

I guess you are talking about one of those Carry Boy things that just about every Thai with a pick up has ?? Still plenty on the streets in Bangkok so if its true the reaction has been slow. Mind you, they have a helmet law , a seatbelt law , a mobile phone law ...even a law against leaving the engine running whilse your car is parked up....and none of them are enforced with the draconian efficiency you find in England.

I know this sounds like I have been combining drugs and alcohol but my brother in-law just got back from going to the Chiang Mai DMV to pay for the registration on his 3 year old pickup. The officials there said that fiberglass canopies on pickups have been illegal since last October and that he has to remove it before he can register the pickup, and if he puts it back on after registering it there is a B2,000 fine if he is caught doing it.

This canopy was installed professionally by a factory and has its own air conditioning (must be thousands of them around here just like it). Has anyone else run onto this or has some twit at the DMV gone bonkers!

Sound like this one needs more investigation. I have no idea if the claim is correct or not, but I am aware that lower registration costs are incurred for vehicles with the fibreglass canopy, thus the reason why all government vehicles come with the canopy installed. This appears to be one of the civil service money generating schemes of yester-year!!! What the DMV might be doing is asking your brother-in-law to take it off so they can register his pickup in a higher per annum fee bracket, thus ripping him off big-time!

OK, I just talked to my b-inlaw. He says that the law only applies to 4x4 pickups not 2x4. The law says that:

1. if the 4x4 pickup is less than 7 years old there is no problem.

2. when it becomes 7 years old you have to have it safety certified.

3. It is the vehicle safety department that inspects them that says that the caryboy type topper causes the 4x4 pickup to be over its carrying capacity (in this case 1,000 kgs).

4. the solutions are to take it off, register then put it back on each year or change from a white registration to a blue one thereby generating a higher registration fee.

He is currently checking into the third possibility which includes lots of people with torches and pitchforks!

OK, I just talked to my b-inlaw. He says that the law only applies to 4x4 pickups not 2x4. The law says that:

1. if the 4x4 pickup is less than 7 years old there is no problem.

2. when it becomes 7 years old you have to have it safety certified.

3. It is the vehicle safety department that inspects them that says that the caryboy type topper causes the 4x4 pickup to be over its carrying capacity (in this case 1,000 kgs).

4. the solutions are to take it off, register then put it back on each year or change from a white registration to a blue one thereby generating a higher registration fee.

He is currently checking into the third possibility which includes lots of people with torches and pitchforks!

.......... and add to the above: canopy roof higher than the pickup's roof, or the sides of the camopy extend out beyond the sides of the pickbody - then take it off or hope the officials just turn a blind eye to it (which is often the case).

...the solutions are to take it off, register then put it back on each year ...

...take it off or hope the officials just turn a blind eye to it (which is often the case).

What officials? The ones in the air-conditioned office? Nobody ever comes to look at my pick-up parked in the baking sun when I register it every year.

I think if your vehicle is older than 5 years you need to get a inspection certificate before you can pay the road tax for the next year. If there are changes to the vehicle that are not shown in the blue book for the description or weight limit then I think it will not get a passing grade on this inspection and then you cannot get your annual sticker.

I had been pulled over twice. TW was told the 'CarryBoy' has to be registered, I believe the charge is 50 Baht, the BiB said it can be done on renewal of the annual license. Now they know I have been informed they do not pull me over any more. Of coarse that's not to say I could get stopped in another locality.

I believe the mechanical inspection is required after 7 years not 5 as someone has stated.

I think if your vehicle is older than 5 years you need to get a inspection certificate...

...I believe the mechanical inspection is required after 7 years not 5 as someone has stated.

OK, so next year I'll have to check this with my insurance agent who does the registration for me. My pickup has a few "Carry Boy" bits stuck on it.