Only noticed today that during the recent floods we have lost our front license plate, (tabian lek ), it has already been reported to the police , but I would like to get a new copy made on the island instead of going through the hoops with the transport department, as my wife needs to drive to Surat in the next couple of days.

Does any one know where I can get this done, preferably in the Hua Thanon / Lamai area.

I lost mine too. The police department should have had a list of found ones , the transport department also have one.

I had to order mine from the transport department, 3 months for a duplicate. When I left & drove through Nathon got stopped. Lucky I had the letter & receipt explaining the payment & reason for duplicate. I was then told ok, but move the back plate to the front.

So as long as she has the paper work with her & the plate on the front, shouldn't be a problem.

yep put the back plate on the front. i've also had temporary plates made at local shops rather than wait months for the real thing. had mine made directly opposite that new university in chaweng. first they print out a paper copy which they then put inside a frame and install, then call you a week later with a "real" plate.

Joe sounds like a real fake plate oh well copy every thing in Thai

yep put the back plate on the front. i've also had temporary plates made at local shops rather than wait months for the real thing. had mine made directly opposite that new university in chaweng. first they print out a paper copy which they then put inside a frame and install, then call you a week later with a "real" plate.

They can't call you with a real plate Joe. These are only issued by the Land Transport Department.

Joe sounds like a real fake plate oh well copy every thing in Thai

you do realize that there is an entire industry set up throughout thailand to provide people with plates rather than waiting for months for a "real" plate and possibly getting one or more 2k baht fines in the process?

no, probably not. it is much easier to make snide comments when you are hiding behind a key board.

yep put the back plate on the front. i've also had temporary plates made at local shops rather than wait months for the real thing. had mine made directly opposite that new university in chaweng. first they print out a paper copy which they then put inside a frame and install, then call you a week later with a "real" plate.

They can't call you with a real plate Joe. These are only issued by the Land Transport Department.

true, this is why i put quotes around the word "real". since they don't use any stickers identifying an actual vehicle, there is literally no difference between a fake "real" plate and the real deal issued by the transport department. i guess the only difference is that you don't need to wait 3 months and visit every bureaucracy in samui 4 times in the process.

yep put the back plate on the front. i've also had temporary plates made at local shops rather than wait months for the real thing. had mine made directly opposite that new university in chaweng. first they print out a paper copy which they then put inside a frame and install, then call you a week later with a "real" plate.

They can't call you with a real plate Joe. These are only issued by the Land Transport Department.

true, this is why i put quotes around the word "real". since they don't use any stickers identifying an actual vehicle, there is literally no difference between a fake "real" plate and the real deal issued by the transport department. i guess the only difference is that you don't need to wait 3 months and visit every bureaucracy in samui 4 times in the process.

There is an embossed seal on the new real ones. You can get fined for not having this seal....youi can get jailed and fined heavily for having a fake seal.

yep put the back plate on the front. i've also had temporary plates made at local shops rather than wait months for the real thing. had mine made directly opposite that new university in chaweng. first they print out a paper copy which they then put inside a frame and install, then call you a week later with a "real" plate.

They can't call you with a real plate Joe. These are only issued by the Land Transport Department.

true, this is why i put quotes around the word "real". since they don't use any stickers identifying an actual vehicle, there is literally no difference between a fake "real" plate and the real deal issued by the transport department. i guess the only difference is that you don't need to wait 3 months and visit every bureaucracy in samui 4 times in the process.

There is an embossed seal on the new real ones. You can get fined for not having this seal....youi can get jailed and fined heavily for having a fake seal.

interesting info, good to know. having said that, none of any of our plates around here have any embossed seal visible to the naked eye. my impostor plates don't even have a fake seal, embossed or not so i guess i'm in hot water now!

regardless, the normal and official plating process here, especially in the case of a replacement plate, is completely absurd. no surprise then that the thai's have developed a much more efficient black market for these plates. i didn't even know it existed until we needed the plate for an office vehicle and staff took me to the shop. now i see them regularly and operating completely in the open.

also, i've put thousands of km's on my motorbike in the last 4 years and not one of those km's was there ever a license plate on my bike. one of the little endearing quirks about samui that i really like haha.

So you learned something to-day Joe " "

Joe sounds like a real fake plate oh well copy every thing in Thai

you do realize that there is an entire industry set up throughout thailand to provide people with plates rather than waiting for months for a "real" plate and possibly getting one or more 2k baht fines in the process?

no, probably not. it is much easier to make snide comments when you are hiding behind a key board.

If you have the letter from the Transportation Department why on earth would you pay fines?

Joe sounds like a real fake plate oh well copy every thing in Thai

you do realize that there is an entire industry set up throughout thailand to provide people with plates rather than waiting for months for a "real" plate and possibly getting one or more 2k baht fines in the process?

no, probably not. it is much easier to make snide comments when you are hiding behind a key board.

If you have the letter from the Transportation Department why on earth would you pay fines?

because, and this comes straight from several different policemen on samui, "if you don't want to get stopped and pay a fine, park your vehicle until you get a new plate".

of course they told that to my thai staff in thai but the point should still get through. the transport department and the "police" do not cooperate, do not work together, and any fines and/or bribes paid to one do not necessarily transfer over to the other.

So, it would seem Rooo's policmen aren't aware that they shouldn't be cooperating

I lost mine too. The police department should have had a list of found ones , the transport department also have one.

I had to order mine from the transport department, 3 months for a duplicate. When I left & drove through Nathon got stopped. Lucky I had the letter & receipt explaining the payment & reason for duplicate. I was then told ok, but move the back plate to the front.

So as long as she has the paper work with her & the plate on the front, shouldn't be a problem.

So, it would seem Rooo's policmen aren't aware that they shouldn't be cooperating

I lost mine too. The police department should have had a list of found ones , the transport department also have one.

I had to order mine from the transport department, 3 months for a duplicate. When I left & drove through Nathon got stopped. Lucky I had the letter & receipt explaining the payment & reason for duplicate. I was then told ok, but move the back plate to the front.

So as long as she has the paper work with her & the plate on the front, shouldn't be a problem.

i think if you ask rooo to expound, they may, if pressed, offer a 24 hour and even in some cases (policeman is a relative/friend/drinking buddy/ couple hundred baht under the table) up to a 7 day grace period. far short of the 3 months required to obtain a new legit plate. i'll bet a few satang that anyone trying to use that letter after even a few days will be fined. my staff are my staff because they have friends and family in literally every office on samui and this was the route that they chose, so far i've seen no evidence to disagree.

Make sure you put the rear No plate on the front if indeed thats the one you have lost, as this should go a long way to stop you getting stopped in the first place

I lost mine too. The police department should have had a list of found ones , the transport department also have one.

I had to order mine from the transport department, 3 months for a duplicate. When I left & drove through Nathon got stopped. Lucky I had the letter & receipt explaining the payment & reason for duplicate. I was then told ok, but move the back plate to the front.

So as long as she has the paper work with her & the plate on the front, shouldn't be a problem.

yep put the back plate on the front. i've also had temporary plates made at local shops rather than wait months for the real thing. had mine made directly opposite that new university in chaweng. first they print out a paper copy which they then put inside a frame and install, then call you a week later with a "real" plate.

Thanks for the advice guys.

As it is a company car, so I need a report of the company minutes ( plus company papers ) requesting the new plate, to submit to the Transport Dept, before they will issue a receipt for the issue of the duplicate plate. We already have the Police report, and didn't have time time today to do anymore,

Have changed the plate to the front, and have copies of everything, so we'll have to take our chances.

Got mine from Land transport office waited a few months i think 3, but had covering letterf from LT office as cover. same as now changing car to chon buri number plate have to wait a month but again have covering note from office, police will accept this. although in Samui i was never stopped in the 3 months so no worries.

So, it would seem Rooo's policmen aren't aware that they shouldn't be cooperating

I lost mine too. The police department should have had a list of found ones , the transport department also have one.

I had to order mine from the transport department, 3 months for a duplicate. When I left & drove through Nathon got stopped. Lucky I had the letter & receipt explaining the payment & reason for duplicate. I was then told ok, but move the back plate to the front.

So as long as she has the paper work with her & the plate on the front, shouldn't be a problem.

i think if you ask rooo to expound, they may, if pressed, offer a 24 hour and even in some cases (policeman is a relative/friend/drinking buddy/ couple hundred baht under the table) up to a 7 day grace period. far short of the 3 months required to obtain a new legit plate. i'll bet a few satang that anyone trying to use that letter after even a few days will be fined. my staff are my staff because they have friends and family in literally every office on samui and this was the route that they chose, so far i've seen no evidence to disagree.

As I said I got stopped at the big check point in Nathon, the policeman read the whole letter, conferred with his superior, then informed me this is fine, but to put my back plate on the front.

The letter is a legal document, to obtain it you must have first filed a police report , it is in lieu of the plate, you are even allowed to drive your car on the mainland.

The problem I see with fake plates, besides being an illegal activity,is in case of an accident, what happens when they check? Insurance ?

Didn't bother reporting a lost plate, what happens if it's found & used by someone else say in a robbery or involved in an accident?

As you mention your staff have friends & family in every office, good on them , I love the advise they give, just want to see how it will stack up in a court of Law. The advise I have since got is from the LTO & the Police, so I much prefer basing my reliance in these sources.

ah yes the virtuous and ethical thai police. that's a great source of info. just so there isn't any more confusion, we're not using fake plates, we're using a reproduction plate on the back of the vehicle as the very legit real plate has been moved from back to front. the reproduction plate is exactly that, a reproduction of the original. nothing new has been created and any diligent officer of the law will find that the plates match up with anything they might find in their database.

the issue isn't one of bogus plates, it's of having NO plate on the back or front of your vehicle. it takes 3 months to obtain a replacement after filing police reports and visiting each office on the island at least once. the reproduction plate which is placed on the back after moving the legit plate to the front. the reproduction plate goes a long way towards avoiding having any involvement with thailands finest should you find yourself in a traffic stop. have your letter and no plate and you will still be pulled over, questioned, asked for some pocket money and later sent on your way, possibly a few baht lighter.

there is an entire industry here fully functioning to avoid the 3 month wait and traffic stops. these shops are located in every city in thailand, and run by thai's. there must be some reason for that.

Money??

Advocating illegal behavior is not really acceptable on this forum. I think you've stated your case enough as has rooo who, despite your protestations to the different, did not pay anything.

This has been the best bit of reading for a while on this forum one opinion to the other and back again. I think both have had fair points but I think Joe has the edge and probably slightly more correct concerning the ermmmmmm, 'pocket money'!

I don't think for 1 minute that Joe is advocating nor condoning illegal behaviour here he is simply stating the facts of life here in Thailand and nothing more. It is how things work here

In my experience I bought a motorcycle from the Triumph dealer in BKK. It didn't come with a plate and I rode it all over Thailand without any problem. I simply had the receipt from the showroom. The police that did take an interest in the bike only wanted to have their picture taken whilst sat on it. I have also looked at the plate on the car and can find no embossed stamp or anything like one so ?

I would just move the plate from the back and get a " replacement " one for the back

Money??

Advocating illegal behavior is not really acceptable on this forum. I think you've stated your case enough as has rooo who, despite your protestations to the different, did not pay anything.

noted and will be referred to the next time any post on the forum that suggests a few thousand baht to the police might help locate a missing motorbike/laptop/passport faster...

This has been the best bit of reading for a while on this forum one opinion to the other and back again. I think both have had fair points but I think Joe has the edge and probably slightly more correct concerning the ermmmmmm, 'pocket money'!

i bet 50 satang that you've just been scratched off of a few christmas lists!

<br />

<br />This has been the best bit of reading for a while on this forum one opinion to the other and back again. I think both have had fair points but I think Joe has the edge and probably slightly more correct concerning the ermmmmmm, 'pocket money'!<br />

<br /><br />i bet 50 satang that you've just been scratched off of a few christmas lists!<br />

<br /><br /><br />

Gambling is illegal in Thailand, so don't try and coerce me into something that could get me in trouble!

Ok fellows you had your fun. Just very funny that the ones that BEND the law , are always the first ones on this forum complaining about the consequences.

Joe if you wish to be pedantic about people offering rewards for return of lost or stolen items , so be it.

This forum does not condone ILLEGAL activities. If anyone has issues with this, please contact me or any other moderator or administration via PM.

I really do not understand which part of the legal & right procedure some of the members here do not understand. If you wish to advise alternative illegal methods , please do it somewhere else.

beats me why people simply dont go down to the office get a police report and a letter and thats all you need. nothings a problem until you have a problem, if your plates are a copy and its noticed at best it will be impounded, at worst you will be impounded. beats me why people always have to try and find away around the rules, then moan like hell when it goes wrong. just order real legal ones, its no big deal to do it.

Ok fellows you had your fun. Just very funny that the ones that BEND the law , are always the first ones on this forum complaining about the consequences.

Joe if you wish to be pedantic about people offering rewards for return of lost or stolen items , so be it.

This forum does not condone ILLEGAL activities. If anyone has issues with this, please contact me or any other moderator or administration via PM.

I really do not understand which part of the legal & right procedure some of the members here do not understand. If you wish to advise alternative illegal methods , please do it somewhere else.

wrong again. offering some sort of incentive to the general public in order to have possessions restored is a "reward". offering money to a police officer in order to do his job, especially under circumstances where it is thought to be the only way to have something returned, is a "bribe" and illegal.

that is not pedantic, it is concise and accurate.

Ok fellows you had your fun. Just very funny that the ones that BEND the law , are always the first ones on this forum complaining about the consequences.

Joe if you wish to be pedantic about people offering rewards for return of lost or stolen items , so be it.

This forum does not condone ILLEGAL activities. If anyone has issues with this, please contact me or any other moderator or administration via PM.

I really do not understand which part of the legal & right procedure some of the members here do not understand. If you wish to advise alternative illegal methods , please do it somewhere else.

wrong again. offering some sort of incentive to the general public in order to have possessions restored is a "reward". offering money to a police officer in order to do his job, especially under circumstances where it is thought to be the only way to have something returned, is a "bribe" and illegal.

that is not pedantic, it is concise and accurate.

Whatever you want to classify the reward as, is your prerogative. This is not the issue here. The issue is replacement number plates.

The correct & legal procedure has been stated,

NO money was ever paid by me as you insinuated. As on relying on information from your workers, so be it, you follow it , but don't post it on here as being the truth & factual.

Just because someone breaks the law & knows how to manipulate it does not make it correct. Giving the wrong advise is not right either.

The op had his question answered, let's leave it at that.