Unusual Thai Number Plate

[Daffy D]

Have seen a few of these number plates on cars and was wondering what they were.

At first I thought it was just some one who had been to Europe brought back a blank plate and stuck the Thai number onto it.

But have seen quite a few now so makes me wonder if it’s something official, or perhaps it is just Thais back from Europe showing they’ve been there done that and got a plate to prove it.

Opportunity for the copy industry perhaps

[quiksilva]

I don't have any official news, but for what its worth, my staff mentioned that they can get me one, but he said that you can get booked for having one. But they do seem to have become popular recently.

[JimmyTheMook]

There are shops all over that make custom plates for cars and offer the long style like this and many others.

[Cuban]

Been discussed here before earlier this year, I guess the plate covers are made in China for export to Germany, someone has/had a pile and sold in Thailand as something pretty to stick on a car.

Also seen the same European symbol (circle of yellow stars on blue background) alongside the letters "Th" for Thailand - where I assume that the maker has no idea at all of what the circle of yellow stars means, or that Thailand has not connection with that symbol.

I think that to get your licence plate to fit these slim line holders, it needs to be cut down - their might be an issue if the embossed stamp on the plate is removed - however as vehicles continue to be allowed on not be removed from on the road if lights are broken, doors and other body parts are missing and emissions ensure that the smoke from the engine can be seen on Google Earth, I doubt that such 'pretty' licence plate holders will be the reason a driver is stopped and fined.

Likewise car national stickers (white oval with country code), should only be placed on a vehicle registered in that particular country while it is being driven in a different country. Not as a message to those following that the driver of the vehicle is from that particular country.

[LivinLOS]

I have a Euro car and the recesses on the bumpers will only take these long plates.. When I bought it with CM plates they were long ones, when I registered it here on phuket was told 'no cannot'.. I then kind of asked how in hel_l I was supposed to mount the new plates (to both the DMV and a few shops) and the only half workable answer I got was self tapping wood screws !! In fact I had to physically stop him as he set to work to tear up my bumper.

Despite being told 'no cannot' I simply went to a backstreet shop, had my Thai plate cut down and mounted behind a wide acrylic plate with side masks to look right. So far I havent ever been hit for tea money but do realize one day I might. Tho I tend to see this mod far more on beemers and mercs so maybe the cops let that slide more !!

On my plate cutting it down does chop off a very small part of a hanging letter in the 'phuket' changwat designation part of the plate.

[hkt83100]

On my plate cutting it down does chop off a very small part of a hanging letter in the 'phuket' changwat designation part of the plate.

So you are from 'phket' now.

[Daffy D]

So it's nothing official just a fun fashion thing that can get you fined

[Plus]

These are plastic clip-ons, nothing else.

[LivinLOS]

These are plastic clip-ons, nothing else.

So how does a 'plastic clip on' manage to shrink the vertical height of the origional then ???

[Plus]

It doesn't shrink anything - it's a piece of plastic with cutouts to see original numbers on the original plate.

It's longer than standard, that's why it appears to shrink the height.

I think you can see in this pic that it is indeed made from the different material placed on top of the original number.

[LivinLOS]

It doesn't shrink anything - it's a piece of plastic with cutouts to see original numbers on the original plate.

It's longer than standard, that's why it appears to shrink the height.

I think you can see in this pic that it is indeed made from the different material placed on top of the original number.

I own one !!! I dont need to look at a picture, I had to cut it !!

And it required tin snips and a grinder to 'shrink' he vertical.. You have to cut a cm or so of top and bottom to make it the same height as the EU style.. In fact it was impossible to do so without cutting a small hanging part of a letter from the changwat part.

[Plus]

I have no idea what you own exactly, but this "clip ons" are sold all over Bangkok, playboy bunny is the most popular one at the moment, replaced EU plates that were in a few months ago.

In "my" picture you can see that the original hasn't been cut at all.

I don't know what exact mechanism is there to keep it in place. I said "clip on" because I've seen a guy removing it in a second without any tools - police don't like them.

[LivinLOS]

Look at the first image in the thread..

There is no way the Thai format plate can be made that shape just by extending the sides.. Its thinner in the vertical dimension.. If you look closely at the plate you can see where they have cut out the text (which I have seen done on some but no one could do for mine) and remounted it or pressed a new plate..

The picture you show is too low res and from too much distance to see much of anything clearly.. To me that just looks like a Thai plate with extra width and not the same as the OP or the EU sized plates that have been discussed.

I can say with 100% certainty a normal Thai plate cannot be made to fit a EU / UK sized plate without cutting. I tried !!

[Plus]

I won't deny that there are might be some odd cars around that need cutting Thai plates to fit in.

Plastic clip ons I was talking about fit on any regular Thai plate on any regular car.

Generic Mistubishi Lancer in my pic certainly doesn't need any cutting.

[LivinLOS]

The OP wasnt asking about odd cars tho (Thai ones dont fit mine nicely BTW) or what Thai plates do fit on...

The plate pictured in the OP is not just a standard Thai plate with clip ons.. Look at it.. Its certainly NOT a "plastic clip-on, nothing else"..

[Daffy D]

If I had known my OP would get so complex I would have had a closer look at the plate, as it was I was just curious as to what these plates were all about.

I took the picture without getting too close, didn't want angry local on my case, but it seemed to me that the registration was plastic stick on, it did not look thick enough to be a cut regular metal plate that was stuck on.

[Rinrada]

like the look of these ..gotta get one...just like California...

also......

and the rest......

http://driving.information.in.th/license-plates.html

[LivinLOS]

Those sunset ones like like normal Thai layout / size..

Interesting to see color thing a legal DMV supplied option now ?? They say only to auctioned numbers but makes you wonder how anyone (police stop) could check that ??

[Plus]

1188 DOES look like an auctioned number.

Usually these colored plates have some "lucky" combinations on them, maybe they are all properly auctioned and then resold to the shops, and you just pick up what you like, same as you do with buying new SIM cards.

[Cuban]

maybe they are all properly auctioned and then resold to the shops, and you just pick up what you like, same as you do with buying new SIM cards.

If you flick through the car magazines you will see that companies exist that offer these numbers for sale, 20,000 Baht through to 1,000,00 Baht for a some 'lucky' Thai letters and 8888 etc.

Also telephone numbers are offered by other companies in the same publications, I think that Thailand was slow to pick up on this idea, my personal cell number is worth a bit by comparison to the numbers I see on sale, but picked mine up some years ago from a shopping center stall.

As for the pretty picture on some plates, I think you will find that only certain 'pictures' are approved and each image is tied to the province to which the plate is licenced.

I asked someone a few years ago about the different colors on car plates, he was a long term resident here and said, '...oh that's just a choice - you can have any color you like!"

[Plus]

Got a close up shot of a "clip-on" plate - this one is plain white.

[LivinLOS]

Yeah normal Thai layout on those..

Doesnt fit the wide / but short recesses on some Euro cars.

[Plus]

The car in OP had unusual plate recess, true.