D-tracker Stopped Twice This Morning By Bib - Chiang Mai

[Fishenough]

Stopped twice this morning at different in town checkpoint and both times asked for my bikes invoice. Both times after (quickly) producing both Thai license and green book/registration copy, was told that I could be fined for not producing a copy of my invoice. Both times I was sent on my way with only this warning, though each time I did polity inform the officer that bike was bought new in Chiang Mai and not an import. This morning was a surprise because I haven’t been pulled over in at least 6 months and 10,000kms’.

Caution out there for big bike owners; maybe this is the start of another big bike crack down.

Cheers

[imaneggspurt]

Do you have a plate on the bike ?

[LivinLOS]

Meaning they are stopping plated bikes sold through main dealers new and threatening issues..

The madness continues.

[nikster]

Do you have a plate on the bike ?

yeah - do you have a license plate?

if yes, then that's ridiculous behavior of the bib. if no, then no complaints here...

[LivinLOS]

Do you have a plate on the bike ?

yeah - do you have a license plate?

if yes, then that's ridiculous behavior of the bib. if no, then no complaints here...

Well its not ridiculous if we can now expect them to want to check every big bike for page 18 tax info.. They wont know which ones are dealer sold verses grey import from looking at the bike.

My Bandit has it but my Blade doesnt.. My blade however is a 95 blade and was inspected and released as it wasnt a post 97 bike.

What annoys me is because of Thai officials corruption its current owners who face the problems.

Secondly the ONLY way they seem to process this is with page 18 info, yet page 18 info on main dealer sold bikes lacks this info (sometimes ?? always ??) Perhaps Tony could see if the Kwaker supplied main dealer obtained legit book has a page 18 tax paid stamp ?? Otherwise how do they tell those bikes as OK ??

I could also mention that a story like this is in the gazette on the 22nd of the month (in print today) with a deadline of the 25th.. Sure makes it easy to suss this out and get it sorted under the deadline !!

[Fishenough]

Yes I have a plate, I'm the original owner with bike having been bought new here in Chiang Mai beginning of the year, and I have a Thai motorcycle license with current address on it.

Yes it is ridiculous. I was frustrated as just couldn't bear the risk of buying an imported motorcycle, when I arrived in Chiang Mai; therefore have greatly reduced choices available. Luckily enough, and too my surprise the D-Tracker turned out to be a near perfect bike for me; though a WR250sm would have been my first choice.

[imaneggspurt]

Yes I have a plate, I'm the original owner with bike having been bought new here in Chiang Mai beginning of the year, and I have a Thai motorcycle license with current address on it.

Yes it is ridiculous. I was frustrated as just couldn't bear the risk of buying an imported motorcycle, when I arrived in Chiang Mai; therefore have greatly reduced choices available. Luckily enough, and too my surprise the D-Tracker turned out to be a near perfect bike for me; though a WR250sm would have been my first choice.

Red or white,? i ask as in 20 years of travelling in thailand ive never been asked for papers on a white plate,,,, Edited September 25, 2009 by imaneggspurt

[Fishenough]

Red or white,? i ask as in 20 years of travelling in thailand ive never been asked for papers on a white plate,,,,

White.

[Beacher]

Perhaps a bike matching the description of yours was stolen recently.

[LivinLOS]

Secondly the ONLY way they seem to process this is with page 18 info, yet page 18 info on main dealer sold bikes lacks this info (sometimes ?? always ??) Perhaps Tony could see if the Kwaker supplied main dealer obtained legit book has a page 18 tax paid stamp ?? Otherwise how do they tell those bikes as OK ??

Just digging in the old threads where I posted Page 18 scans.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Customs-Duty...tml&hl=page

And Tony already confirmed.. Legit Kwaker sold bikes lacking the same page 18 stamp that customs insist MUST be there !!

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?s=...t&p=2759988

Man LivinLOS,

Thanks to you I don't ever want to ride my bike to Phuket wink.gif tongue.gif laugh.gif My page 18 is blank, my Green Book is in a safe

Also confirmed that BMW bikes dont have this stamp.

[Fishenough]

Maybe, but tourist season is starting and rental D-Tracker, KLX, ER650n and now Ninja 650r will be more common buzzing around town.

Maybe my decal upfront makes the bike look like it may be a rental, and I guess now you'd better be carrying all your paper work on a rented bike. Good to know as I was hoping to try out a ABS Ninja this weekend.

[Kf6vci]

It's time to think "let's buy legal insurance" or retain an attorney who is tough like an ingrown toenail.

The time will come that some of us will have bikes confiscated.

One can only imagine the BiB becoming more daring once they lick blood and get away with confiscating bikes.

i bet many love to upgrade from what they are riding.

[LivinLOS]

The time will come that some of us will have bikes confiscated.

Down here lots of us already have..

The way they ransommed them back, the way they pluck numbers from thin air.. the whole system is as you would guess kinda distasteful.

[davidgtr]

Today is 25th September, the amnesty deadline when you were supposed to have paid the 3% excise tax, after which the bike could be seized if there was no evidence of payment? One would think a legal registration book would suffice to prove your bike is legit, but perhaps not in some cases. Time will tell.....

Edited September 25, 2009 by davidgtr

[LivinLOS]

One would think a legal registration book would suffice to prove your bike is legit, but perhaps not in some cases. Time will tell.....

Thats the whole ugly issue tho isnt it.. That even if you have a green book this excise tax is still due.. All the bikes they were impounding over this down here were not unplated bikes, they had books, but they still demand more.

[MaiChai]

Guess the government needs to pay police a decent wage otherwise they will always need other ways to top up their income. But I guess the government don't have the money, what with borrowing all that money to pay government employees?

[MJP]

Maybe, but tourist season is starting and rental D-Tracker, KLX, ER650n and now Ninja 650r will be more common buzzing around town.

Maybe my decal upfront makes the bike look like it may be a rental, and I guess now you'd better be carrying all your paper work on a rented bike. Good to know as I was hoping to try out a ABS Ninja this weekend.

Don't worry. At least you've got a nice house.

[Fishenough]

Don't worry. At least you've got a nice house.

Finally got it set up the way I want it; the rent is to expensive though.

[CanInBKK]

Today is 25th September, the amnesty deadline when you were supposed to have paid the 3% excise tax, after which the bike could be seized if there was no evidence of payment? One would think a legal registration book would suffice to prove your bike is legit, but perhaps not in some cases. Time will tell.....

Sorry to sound so out of touch, but what excise tax is this? Is this for all bikes in addition to the annual road tax?

Thanks.

[Fishenough]

To quote another paste, note highlighted first sentence. Have been pulled over once more since the 25th. -

Phuket Excise Office closes big bike loophole

Phuket Gazette Sept 21, 2009

PHUKET: The Phuket Excise Office says big bike owners have until September 25 to pay excise on motorcycles assembled from parts – or face hefty fines.

Motorcycles subject to prohibitive tariffs have long been assembled from parts by ‘grey market’ operators in order to avoid paying the tax.

Now excise officials insist the owners of such vehicles – not the builders – must pay anyway.

Surat Saengnet, of the Phuket Provincial Excise Office, announced in a meeting at Phuket Provincial Hall that “anyone who owns such vehicles – which are mostly big bikes such as Harley Davidsons – will have to pay an excise of 3.3 percent of the vehicle price.”

Owners who pay up before the deadline will not be fined.

Those who fail to do so and get caught will be “fined from two to ten times the tax amount,” Mr Surat said.

Another official at the Excise Office explained that “owners must provide documents showing their vehicles’ engine and body numbers, as well as invoices and receipts for parts.

“These documents are sent to the Excise Office’s Value Pricing division, where a figure for the value of a vehicle is established. The tax rate is set from that,” she said.

The official said the rate charged is “the same as that for new bikes. Also new motorbikes imported from abroad must pay excise tax.”

“Excise tax has been collected since 1997,” said Surat, “but we concentrated on motorcycles in shops. Now we will be much stricter, checking all of them.”

Normally, spare parts imported from abroad are taxed according to the tariff on spare parts – which is significantly less than the rate for completely assembled vehicles.

Parts assembled into completed four-stroke motorcycles are subject to excise tax of 3 percent; two-strokes pay 5 percent.

Over the last three months, some 400 persons have been caught with motorcycles that evaded the excise.

Nicky’s Handle Bar and big bike shop owner Somneuk ‘Nicky’ Phonkaew told the Gazette, “I have just one such bike and it has already been taxed. If you follow the rules, you don’t have any hassles.”

Wanlop Inthanop of the Phuket Land Transport Office said, “Parts assembled into motorcycles must be examined by the Thai Industrial Standards Institute of the Ministry of Industry in Bangkok. They receive certification only if they meet the institute’s standards.”

After passing that hurdle, owners must pay the excise tax – and only then will the Land Transport Office allow them to register their vehicles.

[LivinLOS]

Today is 25th September, the amnesty deadline when you were supposed to have paid the 3% excise tax, after which the bike could be seized if there was no evidence of payment? One would think a legal registration book would suffice to prove your bike is legit, but perhaps not in some cases. Time will tell.....

Sorry to sound so out of touch, but what excise tax is this? Is this for all bikes in addition to the annual road tax?

Thanks.

My understanding is the excise tax is now being collected on all bikes imported post 97 that were brought in as parts.. If you cant prove it was brought in whole, you dont have the import papers from a decade ago that no one was told to keep or it doesnt have this information recorded on page 18 of the green book, they are trying to claim it (at least on Phuket they are).

See other threads on page 18 green book info.

[CanInBKK]

I see, thanks!!

[Sojourner]

“Excise tax has been collected since 1997,” said Surat, “but we concentrated on motorcycles in shops. Now we will be much stricter, checking all of them.”

This confirmed by the Dept. Land Transportation in Chiang Mai that anyone with a tambien motorcy (green book) that dates the year of the bike to be pre 1997, page 18 does not have to display that excise tax was paid and no invoice papers need to accompany copies of the green book.

[LivinLOS]

“Excise tax has been collected since 1997,” said Surat, “but we concentrated on motorcycles in shops. Now we will be much stricter, checking all of them.”

This confirmed by the Dept. Land Transportation in Chiang Mai that anyone with a tambien motorcy (green book) that dates the year of the bike to be pre 1997, page 18 does not have to display that excise tax was paid and no invoice papers need to accompany copies of the green book.

Sad fact is tho.. Even if you have a bike of pre 97, if you dont have the pre 97 book (and lets face it, in 12 years its likely to have had a new book at some point) they say it might have been imported AFTER its manufacture date.

I have a 95 Blade.. Its pre 97.. But Phuket would still demand money (if I didnt have a special clearance letter) as they demand the 95 issued book. Nice as when you get a new book on Phuket they keep the old one !!