Importation

[rkennell]

I am researching the possibility of importing my H-D mortorcycle to Thailand. I do not live in Thailand at present. I would transfer ownership of the bike to my Thai wife, ship the bike to Thailand in her name, and have her clear customs. I am looking for advice and bike shops in Thailand who could potentially help. I have checked out the customs web site and understand the basic requirements. However I do need to know roughly what the duty charge will be. The way I see it, the only way to get a proper answer would be to visit customs in Thailand and ask what the blue book value would be and what the duty charge would be. I would appreciate advice from anyone that has already went through this procedure, or from anyone who can direct me to a bike shop or a knowledgeable person on the subject.

[thaicbr]

RK. do not even attempt this it will not work. Customs will just keep putting the price up until your import licence expires then its theirs. Just sell it in your home country and buy one here, it will work out cheaper in the end. Many people have tried this but none have succeeded in doing it without paying a HUGE amount in duty.

Allan

[tattoodrob]

what if he had it taken apart and sent in bits like all the big bike shops do?........he could write out his own invoices( or get some help from his local bike shop ) for the bits and put down cheap prices then the tax/duty is not so high and when all the bits are here then put it together and pay for getting the green book done here .........surely this is cheaper than spending near 1 million baht for a newish one already here.

I dont think the Customs guys are so interested in stealing or holding up the bike parts as they too lazy to put it together when they can just steal the next one shipped in thats already whole!

[Netfan]

Pick a day you have nothing else to do and do a search, here and gt-rider. Unless you want to wait anywhere from 3 months to a year to get the bike out of customs (+ pay, what is it - 80% duty), then wait another 3 - 6 months for book and plate, take Allan's advice and sell it in the US, then buy here with a book and plate. Once you find the bike here, if the book is good, you are on the road and legal in no time.

[Sojourner]

The bike needs to be titled in your wife's name and she has to have owned it for at least a year and a half before importing it to Thailand. She must show a driver's license from the same State (Country) as the bike's registration. She must be able to prove she actually lived in the country of the bike's registration. She must take all of this info to the Ministry of Commerce in BKK and get a letter of permission to import a used bike. Then you can begin the process with Customs, getting them in the loop BEFORE ever thinking of crating it up and shipping it over. If you attempt to do it and you are declaring yourself as the owner then you must already be living here, permanently, and follow the same procedure I outlined above. Customs agents are not stupid and can smell a bike that's been broken down into little pieces even when they are shipped in seperate boxes and on seperate ships. I went through it all myself several years ago. With the availability again of big bikes in Thailand that can be easily registered or transfered, I wouldn't bother trying to bring anything over. Buy one here and trick it out over a period of time.

[LivinLOS]

The bike needs to be titled in your wife's name and she has to have owned it for at least a year and a half before importing it to Thailand. She must show a driver's license from the same State (Country) as the bike's registration. She must be able to prove she actually lived in the country of the bike's registration. She must take all of this info to the Ministry of Commerce in BKK and get a letter of permission to import a used bike. Then you can begin the process with Customs, getting them in the loop BEFORE ever thinking of crating it up and shipping it over. If you attempt to do it and you are declaring yourself as the owner then you must already be living here, permanently, and follow the same procedure I outlined above. Customs agents are not stupid and can smell a bike that's been broken down into little pieces even when they are shipped in seperate boxes and on seperate ships. I went through it all myself several years ago. With the availability again of big bikes in Thailand that can be easily registered or transfered, I wouldn't bother trying to bring anything over. Buy one here and trick it out over a period of time.

Have you actually done this, or just heard about it..

Because I tried to investigate this 'get out clause' for my wife who had lived overseas and was told it would not work, that it was only for very well connected Thais, ministers and military, and anyone else could simply forget it and would just get the run around.. There was no way out of the mega taxs.

[Sojourner]

The bike needs to be titled in your wife's name and she has to have owned it for at least a year and a half before importing it to Thailand. She must show a driver's license from the same State (Country) as the bike's registration. She must be able to prove she actually lived in the country of the bike's registration. She must take all of this info to the Ministry of Commerce in BKK and get a letter of permission to import a used bike. Then you can begin the process with Customs, getting them in the loop BEFORE ever thinking of crating it up and shipping it over. If you attempt to do it and you are declaring yourself as the owner then you must already be living here, permanently, and follow the same procedure I outlined above. Customs agents are not stupid and can smell a bike that's been broken down into little pieces even when they are shipped in seperate boxes and on seperate ships. I went through it all myself several years ago. With the availability again of big bikes in Thailand that can be easily registered or transfered, I wouldn't bother trying to bring anything over. Buy one here and trick it out over a period of time.

Have you actually done this, or just heard about it..

Because I tried to investigate this 'get out clause' for my wife who had lived overseas and was told it would not work, that it was only for very well connected Thais, ministers and military, and anyone else could simply forget it and would just get the run around.. There was no way out of the mega taxs.

Yes, I brought in a Honda Night Hawk 750. I was the owner and importer. The exemption to the law regarding used bikes and cars is geared around Thais that go abroad to study or work and buy a bike or car while they are there and want to bring it home. They try and include foreigners who have moved here to live permanently too. Your first (and maybe last stop) will be the Ministry of Commerce. If they issue you the letter, there are no runarounds after that.

[Kf6vci]

A Thai friend is doing this - but then he hasn't heard of the whereabouts of his Harley in weeks.

My own attempt to bring a 1 of 400 limited edition Yamaha SR 500 failed miserably. San Diego dog workers charged way more than the shipping from Germany cost. the Customs said it needs to be out of the country after 1 year. The NHTSA (?) insisted on a crash test. Although the SR 500 was sold in the U.S. for years...

Life is too short, just forget it!

That Kawa 650 for 225,000 Baht is pretty appealing in case a new legal Harley is too dear over here.

Good luck!

Chris