Importing vehicles

[dlfisher]

Hi folks,

A guy I spoke to swears it is not that complicated to bring your vehicle into Thailand. The way he tells me to do it is have a bill of sale at a drastically reduced price. In my case, I have some very trustworthy Thai friends, so I'm thinking I could 'sell' it to him for $500 back in Los Angeles, papers and get the tax based on that. Or for that matter, sell it to a friend there, then buy it back for $500, then send it over. I'm assuming I would need all my visa stuff straight before I did it, but with the price of wheels here being what they are, if it worked, then I still make out and I have my favorite ride with me.

Any experiences/advice would be welcome.

Regards,

David

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Your plan sounds most courageous..not well thought out but definitely courageous. Do you think Customs have no idea of the worth of items being imported ?

[Thetyim]

The Customs officier will not be interested in your invoice.

They use their own valuations.

I have visited the impounded car lot at Khlong Tuey and seen all the hundreds of confiscated cars.

Millions of dollars have been lost, don't add to it with your money.

[MaiChai]

KISS (keep it simple silly). Leave your car at home or sell it, and buy another one here. Be wary of buying 2nd hand cars in Thailand (anything is fixable where the labour is cheap). If you can afford it, buy a new car, or get a new car on finance, otherwise you will end up continuously getting the thing fixed. There is no minimal vechical safety test in TL, so any heap of rubbish is allowed on the roads.