Red Licence Plate On Car

[silverdales]

Whilst wondering around Bangkok last week I see a Lamborghini on red plates whizzing past me with a well to do Thai driving, is this a government or diplomatic plate?

Just wondering asked GF - whats a licence plate!!

[BigPanda]

red just means the car is newly registered by the owner.

Would be surprising that government licenses a Lamborghini...

[Spoonman]

New registration.

[silverdales]

Ah OK - Thanks lucky boy!

[Mario2008]

Temporary license plate for a new car, till the owner registres the car and gets a normal license plate. Of course some people take ages to get a normal license plate, so they can show everybody they have a new car.

[theoldgit]

And it shouldn't be driven on the roads after about 18.00.

[Lannatyne]

...and my wife insists that, 'legally', cars with red plates aren't allowed on the roads after dark. If correct, bizarre.

[theoldgit]

The thinking behind it is that the police are supposed to be able to check that any driver is legally able to drive that car, at night they cannot access the dealers records - that's what I was told anyway.

[Mario2008]

Not sure that is corect. You will have the papers to show the car is registered and insured, etc.

[theoldgit]

Yes, but the red plate belongs to the dealer I think it's not registered at that stage, as well as not driving out of hours you are not supposed to drive it out of the area, though you can permission to make a specific journey out of hours and out of the area from the vehicle office who will endorse the book you get with the red plates.

Not sure about the insurance but I would have thought you were right on that.

[offset]

Normally the dealer charges a deposit on the number plate to make sure it is returned and it can take upto 6 weeks to get it changed

Edited November 15, 2009 by offset

[PoorSucker]

And it shouldn't be driven on the roads after about 18.00.

...and my wife insists that, 'legally', cars with red plates aren't allowed on the roads after dark. If correct, bizarre.

Correct, you are not alloyed to drive any vehicle after dark with red plates.

Fine 2000 baht. (was on my driving license test)

[allane]

But, what do the GREEN licence plates indicate ? I never think to ask, when I am with a Thai person who might know ?

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Let me try, from memory:

Black on white: regular passenger cars

Green on white: Pick-up trucks

Blue on white: People carriers, minivans, etc.

Black on yellow: taxis

Green on yellow: tuk tuk taxis and similar taxi vehicles

Red on white: tuk tuks and similar vehicles that are NOT taxis

White on blue: diplomatic

White on Green: Airport taxis / limos.

Then there's bigger yellow plates for buses.

Some trucks seem to have yellow plates too, don't know why this is.

Correct, you are not alloyed to drive any vehicle after dark with red plates.

Fine 2000 baht. (was on my driving license test)

Right. And red plates on a Lambo, at any time of the day or night: NOBODY stops that guy.

[Dontdisturb]

License plates on thai cars

[Thanyaburi Mac]

Let me try, from memory:

Black on white: regular passenger cars

Green on white: Pick-up trucks

Blue on white: People carriers, minivans, etc.

Black on yellow: taxis

Green on yellow: tuk tuk taxis and similar taxi vehicles

Red on white: tuk tuks and similar vehicles that are NOT taxis

White on blue: diplomatic

White on Green: Airport taxis / limos.

Then there's bigger yellow plates for buses.

Some trucks seem to have yellow plates too, don't know why this is.

Correct, you are not alloyed to drive any vehicle after dark with red plates.

Fine 2000 baht. (was on my driving license test)

Right. And red plates on a Lambo, at any time of the day or night: NOBODY stops that guy.

Here's some more details, downloaded December 2007, and the url is still good for photos.

Mac

License plate info

photos at the url

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

Thai Car License Plates:

Below are pictures of license plates, which where randomly taken around the country, and some of the details that go with them. These vehicle registration plates stay with the car when the car is registered to a new owner. Company registered vehicle license plate: 2 Green letters and 1, 2, 3 or 4 green digits, on a white background.

temporary, dealer issued, license plates for car: Black letter(s) and 1, 2, 3 or 4 black digits, on a red background. Driving with this type of licence plate does have some restrictions. More on the new rules coming soon

temporary, dealer issued, license plates for a truck: 5 white digits, on a red background. Driving with this type of licence plate does have some restrictions. More on the new rules coming soon.

Most common passenger car license plates: 2 black letters and 1, 2, 3 or 4 black digits, on a white background.

Personnel transport license plates: 2 blue letters and 1, 2, 3 or 4 blue digits, on a white background.

Diplomatic car license plate. No further information available (yet).

The Royal Family's or Royal household license plate. 3 white letters in Thai script and 4 white numbers in Thai script on a black plate.

Navy license plate. 5 white numbers in Thai script on a black plate.

New!! Recently several Thai provinces, like the southern Songkla province show on the left, have started issuing license plates with a colorful design background. Currently this type of background is only available for the license plates that are bought in the departement of land transportation' s auctions and not for common license plates.

New!! Chiang Mai provincial license plate.

New!! Rayong provincial license plate.

New!! Khon Kaen provincial license plate.

Official backgrounds of the new provincial license plates in Thailand:

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[Maejo Man]

....and of course, red on white are police vehicles

White Thai numerals on a black background are army vehicles.

The Thai airforce have blue on white...The list goes on...

Black on red are "trade" or "intrim" plates, and by law are not supposed tp be used after sunset, or driven out of your municipality.

[kmj]

If you travel outside your district on red plates you have to fill in your travel book before leaving or pay the fine 2000 if you get stopped, or you can trade your red plates in for B&W ones at any time and get a whopping 4,000B refund... I did as I couldnt be bothered keep filling out the travel book...

[deathstardan]

Talking of license plates...

I have very recently bought a brand new Yamaha Nouvo and of course I have to wait a few weeks for the registration. What are the laws regarding driving it now? At the moment I carry a document from the garage, my insurance and my Thai license.

Am I breaking the law by driving it now? Because I keep being told different things and it's only a matter of time before the B.I.B try to wet their beaks when they see me driving with no plates....

DsD.

[PattayaParent]

Normally the dealer charges a deposit on the number plate to make sure it is returned and it can take upto 6 weeks to get it changed

If you pay a deposit to the dealer you should get a brown registration book which allows you to drive the vehicle in other provinces. The dealer wants this book and the plates back when he chanes the registration to the blue book.

If you don't pay a deposit you just get red plates which the dealer doesn't want back and you can't drive the vehicle in any province.

[LooseCannon]

....

Right. And red plates on a Lambo, at any time of the day or night: NOBODY stops that guy.

Colour co-ordination is very important when I take the Murcielago out for a spin.

oh - stopped by beautiful women all the time.

[Eff1n2ret]

And it shouldn't be driven on the roads after about 18.00.

...and my wife insists that, 'legally', cars with red plates aren't allowed on the roads after dark. If correct, bizarre.

Correct, you are not alloyed to drive any vehicle after dark with red plates.

Fine 2000 baht. (was on my driving license test)

Not disputing your interpretation of the law, but in practice, it doesn't seem to matter. On one of our previous holidays we picked up our hire car from Suvarnaboom, and it was a brand new car, with red plates. I recall the hirer indicating some registration documents and saying that on no account should we lose them, or there would be a penalty of several thousand baht. Apart from that he mentioned no other restrictions as to daytime only use, or keeping to a restricted area. We drove it down to Rayong, used it day and night, and went to Udon Thani and back.

Now here long-term, we are due to pick up our new car from the dealers tomorrow. I'm told the red plate is theirs, and it is they who arrange the permanent registration, the fee for which appears on the invoice, and it takes about 4 weeks.

[Dpolenz]

And it shouldn't be driven on the roads after about 18.00.

...and my wife insists that, 'legally', cars with red plates aren't allowed on the roads after dark. If correct, bizarre.

Correct, you are not alloyed to drive any vehicle after dark with red plates.

Fine 2000 baht. (was on my driving license test)

Not disputing your interpretation of the law, but in practice, it doesn't seem to matter. On one of our previous holidays we picked up our hire car from Suvarnaboom, and it was a brand new car, with red plates. I recall the hirer indicating some registration documents and saying that on no account should we lose them, or there would be a penalty of several thousand baht. Apart from that he mentioned no other restrictions as to daytime only use, or keeping to a restricted area. We drove it down to Rayong, used it day and night, and went to Udon Thani and back.

Now here long-term, we are due to pick up our new car from the dealers tomorrow. I'm told the red plate is theirs, and it is they who arrange the permanent registration, the fee for which appears on the invoice, and it takes about 4 weeks.

It does matter,i have seen people fined because of this before,you were just lucky.

[sanook2me]

Not disputing your interpretation of the law, but in practice, it doesn't seem to matter. On one of our previous holidays we picked up our hire car from Suvarnaboom, and it was a brand new car, with red plates. I recall the hirer indicating some registration documents and saying that on no account should we lose them, or there would be a penalty of several thousand baht. Apart from that he mentioned no other restrictions as to daytime only use, or keeping to a restricted area. We drove it down to Rayong, used it day and night, and went to Udon Thani and back.

Now here long-term, we are due to pick up our new car from the dealers tomorrow. I'm told the red plate is theirs, and it is they who arrange the permanent registration, the fee for which appears on the invoice, and it takes about 4 weeks.

Yah...No bother when I was driving after dark everynight for months with my new red plates.... went through alot of check ups as they used to do a regualar stop and bribe at the top of my soi....never ever stopped me...more interested in the poor motorcyclists....

I'm sure some posters on here will have different views or massive extortion bribery stories...as always...however my experience only this year was hassle free..

[costalot]

License plates on thai cars

Have to disagree with the green on white description. These ones can be on any 2 door car (suzuki jeep) or pick-up, and are cheaper to tax. There are limitations however, if overtaking on a dual carriageway, you MUST return to the near side lane immediately.

[Soutpeel]

Not disputing your interpretation of the law, but in practice, it doesn't seem to matter. On one of our previous holidays we picked up our hire car from Suvarnaboom, and it was a brand new car, with red plates. I recall the hirer indicating some registration documents and saying that on no account should we lose them, or there would be a penalty of several thousand baht. Apart from that he mentioned no other restrictions as to daytime only use, or keeping to a restricted area. We drove it down to Rayong, used it day and night, and went to Udon Thani and back.

Now here long-term, we are due to pick up our new car from the dealers tomorrow. I'm told the red plate is theirs, and it is they who arrange the permanent registration, the fee for which appears on the invoice, and it takes about 4 weeks.

Yah...No bother when I was driving after dark everynight for months with my new red plates.... went through alot of check ups as they used to do a regualar stop and bribe at the top of my soi....never ever stopped me...more interested in the poor motorcyclists....

I'm sure some posters on here will have different views or massive extortion bribery stories...as always...however my experience only this year was hassle free..

Are sure the fine is THB 2000 ??....I have only ever been pulled over once for driving on red plate (in BKK) and the BIB wouldn't take the bung and ended up up in Bang Na copshop and the fine (a real one) was THB 300 or there abouts...this was only about 3 years ago...

In my experience the red plate rule only seems to be enforced in BKK, have driven in many other provinces on red plates and the BIB dont seem to be interested...or may be its just my handsome face..

[Mosha]

What makes me laugh is the unmarked police vehicles, usually white. Complete with police number plates What though are the Black and White police vehicles?

[geriatrickid]

License plates on thai cars

Good idea for a poll. Roi et has the nicest plate