Thai Cabinet Approves Ban On Imports Of Used Vehicles

[wolf5370]

motorcycles, sedans, pick-ups and vehicles that carry more than seven passengers.

So what else is left? Is Thailand the only country in the world with such a bizar law ?

I am missing something here, the Gov claims that Thailand is going to be the Detroit of Asia car manufacturing. Take that with a grain of salt. But, it is true that many cars are manufactured in Thailand and sold domestically. so why are used cars here so dam_n expensive, I mean crap boxes.

Old clapped out junk that you could easy buy for $500-$1000 in USA, Australia or Europe you have to pay $6000+ in Thailand.

In my opinion, Thailand needs the tax revenue from these kinds of items. The majority of citizens here do not pay any personal income tax. Most of the small businesses are not registered as businesses nor submit any VAT or income taxes. Therefore, tax revenues must largely come from import and excise taxes plus the VAT system. Furthermore, the lowering of taxes on vehicles will also put more pressure on the road infrastructure (even more cars) which we all know is pretty bad already.

The biggest sources of tax revenue in Thailand is VAT. Corporate income tax, excise tax, and personal income tax are next. Custom duties are less than half personal income tax.

http://www.internati...tax-trends.html

TH

You don't think import taxes at almost 50% income tax is high? I wonder how that compares globally.

[Thai at Heart]

motorcycles, sedans, pick-ups and vehicles that carry more than seven passengers.

So what else is left? Is Thailand the only country in the world with such a bizar law ?

I am missing something here, the Gov claims that Thailand is going to be the Detroit of Asia car manufacturing. Take that with a grain of salt. But, it is true that many cars are manufactured in Thailand and sold domestically. so why are used cars here so dam_n expensive, I mean crap boxes.

Old clapped out junk that you could easy buy for $500-$1000 in USA, Australia or Europe you have to pay $6000+ in Thailand.

In my opinion, Thailand needs the tax revenue from these kinds of items. The majority of citizens here do not pay any personal income tax. Most of the small businesses are not registered as businesses nor submit any VAT or income taxes. Therefore, tax revenues must largely come from import and excise taxes plus the VAT system. Furthermore, the lowering of taxes on vehicles will also put more pressure on the road infrastructure (even more cars) which we all know is pretty bad already.

The biggest sources of tax revenue in Thailand is VAT. Corporate income tax, excise tax, and personal income tax are next. Custom duties are less than half personal income tax.

http://www.internati...tax-trends.html

TH

And at 7% with virtually less than 40% of transactions (probably) being VAT taxed, shows how bad their take of taxes is in general in the country.

[Markaew]

I have a legally imported bike for sale which isn't available in the local market.............it just doubled in price

They can stop the title transfer. I have one as well and transferring the title (green book) was nearly impossible. It took all day and met resistance from a line of people but I got it through with no money passed under the table. That was a year ago.

Nonsense- if the green book was legal it's a piece of cake to transfer an imported vehicle. Wonder if the value of my Gixxer K5 and other imports might actually go UP as a result of this ridiculous new law?

Are you speaking from a voice of experience or are you speculating? If you have transferred a bike, we clearly did not go to the same place.

Edited April 18, 2012 by Markaew

[WhoopiThailand]

Used vehicles,!!! not new cars and not new parts, as some parts for BMW, Ford, Benz, etc ,come from abroad, and used to fix cars in Thailand.

[Markaew]

That's easy. People underestimate the underground economy here and the percentage it represents. Scamming foreigners out of their money. Foreigners buying/building houses for in-laws and wives and cannot have their name on the property. At the slightest whim the foreigner can be thrown out of the house they expected to retire or just live in and many are dumb enough to repeat the same thing. Not to mention the pros that have multiple boyfriends abroad collect huge sums of money. These are thousands of men bringing thousands of dollars, pounds, etc into the country. All this cash feeds this economy.

judging by your several anti-Thailand posts here, i would say you have some bad karma. a majority of the expats in Thailand are having good experiences. as a suggestion, maybe you should stop dating bargirls and ladyboys..

Thanks for your concern but I have never been down that road.

[thaihome]

motorcycles, sedans, pick-ups and vehicles that carry more than seven passengers.

So what else is left? Is Thailand the only country in the world with such a bizar law ?

I am missing something here, the Gov claims that Thailand is going to be the Detroit of Asia car manufacturing. Take that with a grain of salt. But, it is true that many cars are manufactured in Thailand and sold domestically. so why are used cars here so dam_n expensive, I mean crap boxes.

Old clapped out junk that you could easy buy for $500-$1000 in USA, Australia or Europe you have to pay $6000+ in Thailand.

In my opinion, Thailand needs the tax revenue from these kinds of items. The majority of citizens here do not pay any personal income tax. Most of the small businesses are not registered as businesses nor submit any VAT or income taxes. Therefore, tax revenues must largely come from import and excise taxes plus the VAT system. Furthermore, the lowering of taxes on vehicles will also put more pressure on the road infrastructure (even more cars) which we all know is pretty bad already.

The biggest sources of tax revenue in Thailand is VAT. Corporate income tax, excise tax, and personal income tax are next. Custom duties are less than half personal income tax.

http://www.internati...tax-trends.html

TH

And at 7% with virtually less than 40% of transactions (probably) being VAT taxed, shows how bad their take of taxes is in general in the country.

Can you provide a link that shows VAT is not collected on 60% of the required transactions? You had better be sure you understand the law and how VAT is reported and collected first before posting anything.

You could start by listing your personal transactions in which you think VAT should have been collected and was not.

TH

[asupeartea]

I see lots of t money in this: for people with contacts, the writers of such things, the passers of those written items, those implementing and overseeing the process, blinders for inspcturrs, for friends of these people, local lw enforcment, certificatios, decertification of rivals, etc.

[sirchai]

"The initiative is viewed as being beneficial to domestic auto-makers as well as for the sake of public safety because ministry officials say many illegally assembled vehicles, especially motorcycles with large engine sizes, were being used for street race."

I see Chinese 125cc tablet motorbikes coming back as there won't be any more good second hand Japanese bikes. Time for all bikers now to buy a brand new Harley.

Live To Ride. Ride To Live.

Edited April 18, 2012 by sirchai

[merlen10002]

I spent 50 years in the motor trade in Australia, buying and selling new and used cars with some very big motor dealers, and being a motor dealer with my own dealership, I know a lot about the importing of used cars from other countries, Australia went through this and now dealers can only import used cars that are sold new in Australia, the problems with importing used cars from another country and a model or type of car that is not sold in the country is many, the main one is parts, if the imported car has an accident or needs a replacement part, no dealer in that country will carry parts for a car not sold new in that country, to get parts from an overseas country is a huge problem some times taking months or not getting parts at all,

the imported car would bought overseas for lot less than a similar type of car, size and age, that could be bought for in the country it is being imported to, if you try to sell the imported car the dealers will pay less than they can buy another one from overseas, that means a huge loss if you sell the car, making the car almost unsaleable,

another big problem is stolen cars or Cut & Shut cars, Cut & Shut is when two cars are damaged, one with a front end and one with a rear end damage, the two are cut in half and the two good ends put together to make one car, insurance in Australia is very difficult to get on imported second hand cars, don't know about about here,

most people would not know what they were buying with a used car, most people think they know about cars because just owning a car makes them experts but that is far from the facts.

I would not buy a second hand car that is not sold new in any country, there are a lot more problems but this just a few.

[asupeartea]

Did I miss anybuddy? <g>

[connda]

Stupid!

[NanLaew]

Sorry but I disagree. Most second hand car prices are high , not because of supply or demand, but because sellers think their car is still worth the same price they paid for it three years ago, in to days market. Put simply the seller wants to sell it today for roughly the same price he / she paid for it. The concept of depreciation has yet to visit these shores.

Correct. The first and only level of car depreciation in Thailand is when the owner replaces the red plates with the white ones.

[hellodolly]

I can understand the protectionary taxes that are charged for vehicles that compete with vehicles that are made here but &lt;deleted&gt; let us import our sports cars and luxury cars! No car company doing manufacturing in Thailand currently makes anything comparable. Thailand...land of crappy cars.

I believe luxury cars are also covered. They are still considered a sedan,

Also antique vehicles,

Not sure about sport cars. I wonder if one would be able to bring in a 1980 Corvette.

At any rate the import of used vehicles will hit mainly the people moving into the country that want to bring their old car.

But it will sure play hell with replacement parts.

[mortenaa]

Are you speaking from a voice of experience or are you speculating? If you have transferred a bike, we clearly did not go to the same place.

I can speak from a general point of view, and my experience with different government agencies in Thailand. I guess a "gift" was expected, but not delivered. Meaning does who actually presented gifts were to go first in line. Or maybe they just didn't like you?

[wolf5370]

The biggest sources of tax revenue in Thailand is VAT. Corporate income tax, excise tax, and personal income tax are next. Custom duties are less than half personal income tax.

http://www.internati...tax-trends.html

TH

And at 7% with virtually less than 40% of transactions (probably) being VAT taxed, shows how bad their take of taxes is in general in the country.

Can you provide a link that shows VAT is not collected on 60% of the required transactions? You had better be sure you understand the law and how VAT is reported and collected first before posting anything.

You could start by listing your personal transactions in which you think VAT should have been collected and was not.

TH

How about at practically every restaurant, cafe, food stall people go to - cooked food is usually subject to VAT I believe - and I would guess that eating is a fairly high volume sale entity. How about every market stall. Many of the stalls dotted in and around any shopping mall. Mum and pop stores (which are everywhere here - I live next toa small moo ban, in which there are 4 such shops withing a 100 paces from eachother).

[Thai at Heart]

Can you provide a link that shows VAT is not collected on 60% of the required transactions? You had better be sure you understand the law and how VAT is reported and collected first before posting anything.

You could start by listing your personal transactions in which you think VAT should have been collected and was not.

TH

Every bowl of noodles that I buy for a start. Every beer I buy in my local bar for another, every bottle of coke that I buy from my local mom and pop store. Building materials in profusion. Just try and get a VAT receipt of many suppliers. It can be like getting blood out of a stone. This is why Chinese VAT is so high, because it encourages companies to keep the chain intact because claiming it back is worth it.

The law is up to 1or 1.5mn baht in revenue to register, it is a nice simple rule, but means that there is an enormous part of the Thai economy that is virtually never touched by the tax man. Throw in the entire "black" economy of the country, and Thai GDP is probably minimum 10% higher than officially reported.

[sirchai]

That's easy. People underestimate the underground economy here and the percentage it represents. Scamming foreigners out of their money. Foreigners buying/building houses for in-laws and wives and cannot have their name on the property. At the slightest whim the foreigner can be thrown out of the house they expected to retire or just live in and many are dumb enough to repeat the same thing. Not to mention the pros that have multiple boyfriends abroad collect huge sums of money. These are thousands of men bringing thousands of dollars, pounds, etc into the country. All this cash feeds this economy.

judging by your several anti-Thailand posts here, i would say you have some bad karma. a majority of the expats in Thailand are having good experiences. as a suggestion, maybe you should stop dating bargirls and ladyboys..

What's wrong with you?

Have you really understood what "Markaew" meant? Your dreams about bar girls and lady boys should be kept in your head.

Edited April 18, 2012 by sirchai

[JohnAllan]

Vehicles that carry more than seven passengers? Those are pick-ups!

And, to the best of my knowledge, Thailand doesn't have any domestic auto makers. It has foreign manufacturers with plant facilities here. As for the public safety aspect, the less said, the better . . .

[mortenaa]

How about at practically every restaurant, cafe, food stall people go to - cooked food is usually subject to VAT I believe - and I would guess that eating is a fairly high volume sale entity. How about every market stall. Many of the stalls dotted in and around any shopping mall. Mum and pop stores (which are everywhere here - I live next toa small moo ban, in which there are 4 such shops withing a 100 paces from eachother).

Better to check the facts..

Certain activities are exempted from VAT. Those activities are :

2.1 Small entrepreneur whose annual turnover is less than 1.8 million baht;

Edited April 18, 2012 by mortenaa

[JohnAllan]

I am apalled by the price of autos in Thailand. I saw a used 4-year old Mini S on a classified site for 2.9 Million! In the USA, a brand new Mini S sells for the equivalent of 700,000 baht. So, for the price of one 4 year old car, I could buy 4 brand new ones in the USA. Wealthy business owners are driving around like they are Saudi Princes when they have a mini, not realizing that it is a car that a middle class family in the US might buy for their daughter as a graduation present.

I wonder if this applies to foreigners who live here bringing their own car into Thailand. Currently, you can bring 1 personally owned vehicle here duty free 1 time.

And need to take it back out after six months.

[ShanePashen]

I have amongst my other bikes a 1977 original year BMW R100RS, I have owned this bike for 20 years, it has survived, one marriage and 4 girlfriends in that time.

I am very emotionally attached to it.

Long rides on it helped me a lot during a bitter divorce.

It's not even worth that much, maybe $5-6000 Aud.

I will never sell it.

So now I can't ever if I wanted to take it to Thailand, and explore SE Asia, so there's one dream shattered of touring on it.

Thanks Thai government in all your wisdom.

Edited April 18, 2012 by ShanePashen

[connda]

Just another way of forcing us to buy what they make here at inflated prices

Exactly. Killing the used auto import business will drive up the sales of used cars in Thailand, reducing the number of used cars available on the market. This, in their minds, will drive up the sales of new cars manufactured in Thailand. How else are they going to become the Detroit of Asia.

Do the math: The average Thai factory worker makes about 8K a month. New college grad 9K? Middle class makes 15 - 20 maybe. Prices of new trucks start around 450K. Sedans around 600K. For "cheap" new cars!

So how in hell do these people afford a new car in the first place? The streets are full of them, but how people afford them is beyond me.

Then used cars. I sold my 5 year old Honda Accord in the US for the equivalent of 250K baht prior to moving here. The same care would cost me about 800K????? Again, how in hell do these people afford a used car either.

They will never make an affordable car in Thailand. Then the poor segment of society could afford a car and the traffic would be that much worse.

[sirchai]

Vehicles that carry more than seven passengers? Those are pick-ups!

And, to the best of my knowledge, Thailand doesn't have any domestic auto makers. It has foreign manufacturers with plant facilities here. As for the public safety aspect, the less said, the better . . .

What about VANS and BUSES?

[wolf5370]

How about at practically every restaurant, cafe, food stall people go to - cooked food is usually subject to VAT I believe - and I would guess that eating is a fairly high volume sale entity. How about every market stall. Many of the stalls dotted in and around any shopping mall. Mum and pop stores (which are everywhere here - I live next toa small moo ban, in which there are 4 such shops withing a 100 paces from eachother).

Better to check the facts..

Certain activities are exempted from VAT. Those activities are :

2.1 Small entrepreneur whose annual turnover is less than 1.8 million baht;

Why check the facts? He said "... with virtually less than 40% of transactions (probably) being VAT taxed..." - and as you just stated (pointlessly perhaps) was that they don't pay VAT - so which 'fact' is incorrect? Are you suggesting that these food vendors earn more than 1.8m and do pay VAT? You seem to have implied the word "illegally", it was not said though. The taxes "could" be captured from such businesses (it would also then force them to register which is required for much smaller sums of turn over) and then tax coffers would be more level and less need to hit soft targets that damage relations and stiffle choice. VAT is unique (perhaps) as it is passed directly to the consumer - so som tam goes up 7% and the tax man gets to see black ink on his statements for a change.

[JohnAllan]

Majhiggins,

Where on earth did you hear that nonsense.

You as a forigner cannot bring 1 car into Thailand duty free, no way not ever.

You can apply to Thai commercial affairs dept and gain an import permit but it will cost you more than 5-10 times the value of the car in duty.

TTM

Not correct, but note the six month rule.

[tragickingdom]

In Thailand bureaucrats never target the roots of the problem measures are always cosmetically. That is why cleaners do such a lousy job, when the dirt is wiped under the carpet and no longer visible it is no longer there.

[tommyuk]

MARKEAW,

Pissed myself laughing at his remark on what hold up the Thai economy. Too true and if the Thai bar girls ever stopping screwing us imports from around the globe, you can put off the lights and shut the door to Thailand. They should rename this place -The Bangkok Triangle. So many people disappear into thin air.

[JohnAllan]

Vehicles that carry more than seven passengers? Those are pick-ups!

And, to the best of my knowledge, Thailand doesn't have any domestic auto makers. It has foreign manufacturers with plant facilities here. As for the public safety aspect, the less said, the better . . .

What about VANS and BUSES?

The irony of the pick-up remark obviously went over your head.

[bob4you]

Sorry, but supply and demand plays a bigger role than holding out for what you paid for it.

[Scorpio1949]

If ALL foreigners would leave this country where you get screwed cheated and robbed my every government department that sees a chance the country would be in big problems loosing a lot of money but they know we are a big community but they also know we don't want to give up our lives here. Would actually be great to see everyone moving to a better country close to here and there are better countries. I for sure am looking at possibilities being screwed so many times but one foreigner moving does not impress and most foreigners simply just like talking and complaining here in this forum and not move ...................

Perhaps letting Taksin return without any penalty will help the Taksin haters move

I guess you are one of the complainers and not a mover, having said that I have been coming here since 1970 never been riped off yet I guess you hang with the wrong people.

You just don't know you have been ripped off. Every time you buy something you are being ripped off. Double pricing.

How stupid can a response be ? I get ripped off at Tesco when I do shopping ? Further I try to avoid doing business with foreigners and most of the time my GF does the bigger shopping so what's the use of your posting ?

For your information; I never hang out dude !!!!!!!!!