Thai Cabinet Approves Ban On Imports Of Used Vehicles

[nietzche]

In the U.S. someone working at McDonalds can afford to buy and operate a car. In Thailand, a car is seen as the ultimate luxury and status symbol??

Another useless policy that puts everyday necessities even further out of reach of the average Thai.

You can buy a BMW in the U.S for a little over 30k. It's about 3 times that here in Thailand.

As the standard of living of those in the rest of Asia is increasing rapidly, Thailand falls further and further into the stone age.

One step forward, five steps back!

[SGD]

I would seriously reconsider any idea of buying a second hand vehicle unless it was foreigner owned. You may be buying a car that looks like new on the outside but the engine never had the oil changed or checked. Quite likely it ran out of oil and has engine damage. Thais just don't think about maintenance. Turn the key and go. When it dies then walk away.

I was once in the Isuzu garage getting a 5k oil and filter change on my vehicle when a Thai was refusing oil or a filter as they cost money and just wanted the stamp in the book for their pride and joy. I was surprised they bothered going at all.

[Tanaka]

Look I don't profess to be an expert on economics.

But thishis just seems plain ludicrous.

Can someone explain the reasoning to me behind this decision.

It doesn't seem to make any sesne.

Of course it does not. There is no such thing as making sense or common sense here.

[metisdead]

A profanity post has been removed.

[transam]

Give me a <Snip!> break. What impact, if any, does the governments decission to forbid import of used autoparts, have on your lives here ? Yes I guessed it, none ! But another excuse for a little farang-whining and Thai-bashing.

BTW I am actually one of the few persons impacted by the new law (not a law yet), as I renovate old armyjeeps and has until today bought replacement-engines from Japan. But life goes on, and is what we make of it.

Think it's a bit more than parts eh. As for Thai bashing, where you come from, can YOU restore any ride YOU want, can you buy any ride you like. Yes / No , cos in LOS you cannot.

Edited April 18, 2012 by metisdead
Profanity edited out of quoted post.

[osiboy]

If you can´t stop the corruption in customs department, just ban import of used cars and the problem is solved. Not?

Thailand will never move up from their third world status, as long as they are not willing to fight corruption.

competing on a level playing field would help too , ....how long will western govt;s put up with this xenephobia from the land of miracles ?? , ...........not content with exporting their japanese cars they also want their own people to pay overpriced cars ,.... and with little choice,... any colour as long as its black !

[soi41]

^^ YES. (I'm afraid to write any more, as you can see the post you quoted, has been removed as profane??) Third time today, so I'm out !!

[transam]

^^ YES. (I'm afraid to write any more, as you can see the post you quoted, has been removed as profane??) Third time today, so I'm out !!

Good luck with your classic car.

Is it a 68 Charger with a 426 Hemi ? If it is, l will be round to buff your shoes.

[metisdead]

^^ YES. (I'm afraid to write any more, as you can see the post you quoted, has been removed as profane??) Third time today, so I'm out !!

Perhaps you should re-read the forum rules and in particular:

3) Not to post in a manner that is vulgar, obscene or profane.

[Thai at Heart]

Who the hell is going to certify that all the parts in a new car are new? Who is selling a brand new vehicle containing old parts?

So they are banning fraud? What if I advertise a car and it is made with recycled parts? This is illegal even though I havent hurt a soul?

Nonsense law description or reporting

[RigPig]

Am I allowed to cut and paste from the newspaper ?

If not this is what I read today,

The government has banned the import of used body parts for passenger cars and motorcycles to prevent tax evasion while the Transport Minister has banned the registration of cars assembled fro spare parts

Oh fiddle sticks...

Does this really mean I cannot import spare parts for my Audi anymore?

Not second hand ones anyway new parts should be ok

[marquess]

The title is a bit misleading it should mention that it is parts and not the cars.

[transam]

I read it as cars, oh well. Read again when on coffee eh.

[majhiggins]

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

This is pretty obiously it's call supply and demend.

In the 'west' you have generally weathier people, who have been told time and time again the new is better and they can afford it, so they buy new often, this leaves plenty of second hand cars in a devaluted market place for them.

In Thailand you have alot of people on very very very basic wages, they still need cars, most people can afford to purchase new ones, or even near new, they have to WAIT until it's been handed down 4-5 times before they can get move up from a motorbike.

So, Supply of Second hard cars is scarse (relavity) plus Demand for Second hard cards is high (relavity)... PUSHING up the prices!

If you look at the second hard market overall in Thailand is much higher for most products than the west.

Please excuse my bad spelling.

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.

The law od supply and semand doesn't apply in Thailand! Whenever supply exceeds demand, the price should fall till a level where enough people can afford it to create demand. Look at the housing situation here. There are vacant properties all over the place yet compared to the average Thai's wages, the houses in the cities are as expensive as Manhatten. I read a report that over 20% of residential space in Thailand is vacant. Why doesn't the market value collapse till peole can buy, like in the west? Remember when tourism was really in the dumps because of the BKK riots? Pattaya and all the other resort areas were ghost towns but a friend of mine who went down for a few days said the rents were as high as ever. This economy defies all logic. A car lot near my house has a 10 year old Mercedes E220 for sale for 799,000. It's been there for over 3 years with that same price!

[finnomick1]

ban imported cars to prevent street racing? I think that's a bit of a stretch. I thought the police are supposed to prevent reckless driving.

Well, the post actually mentioned large engined motorcycles being used for street racing but I get your point. Instead of banning the import of cheap second hand vehicles, maybe they should ban the manufacturers new car adverts such as the one I've just watched on prime time tv. The 3 Toyota Vios in the advert are clearly being raced, in fact the male driver indicates to the female driver that they should race. Maybe this is why the majority of Thai drivers need to be the one in front ?

[majhiggins]

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.

I got this right off of a Thai government website in 2009. My father had just died and I was back in the states and wanted to bring a ton of household goods over in a shipping container. I found that you could bring 1 20-foot shipping container (no limit on weight) and one vehicle, motorcycle or car, and there was no 6-month rule. So long as you had a valid visa to remain in the kingdom, you could keep your vehicle. I didn]t want to bring a vehicle but I did bring a house full of furniture. Only cost $2500 for the sea-land container shipment and it went through customs like a breeze.

[finnomick1]

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.

I was looking through the Thailand Customs and Excise import duty website the other day. If anyone is interested, you can import a tank, ambulance or fire engine at 0% import duty. A helicopter rushes you 5% import duty. Not that many of us will be importing these types of vehicles, but doesn't it say something about Amazing Thailand's weird and wonderful laws......and the people that dream them up.

[siampolee]

I see no reason to worry if you have a desire for a foreign car, Johnny Cash has the answer for you, see below.

Edited April 18, 2012 by siampolee

[transam]

i see no reason to worry if you have a desire for a foreign car, Johnny Cash has the answer for you, see below.

Hmmmm, l don't recommend his ''body man''.

[Unkomoncents]

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.

They can't afford them. That's the funniest part. If you peak your head into the parking lot of any of the concrete hovel/studio buildings around Bangkok you notice immediately that the lots are full of 1 million baht plus pickups, all brand new. I had a Taiwanese factory owner tell me that people in Thailand routinely pay a fortune for their cars because they know that's all anyone will see (so they gain face). These people return home each evening to a concrete floor and an old fan to keep them cool at night though. And then there's the whole loan shark issue (debt), which is one of the many ways Thais fundamentally distort basic economics.

[cowslip]

Protectionism at its most bizarre and stupid!

Yet again Thailand should be ashamed of themselves.

[cowslip]

Still, if people are wiling to pay the asking price for a used car, it does boil down to supply and demand. There are hundreds if not thousands of used cars for sale on Phuket. If the used price is too high, people will just buy new. Oddly, as with property here, some owners would rather not sell than lower the price...weird. Guess they really don't need the money.

THis is of course utter nonsense - it's not down to market price at all the price is set by the government market restrictions - and people HAVE to have a vehicle.

[Evolare]

Yeah its quite odd,

However I know from reading the news in thai that this is something that has been pushed to the government

by the car manufacturers who build cars in thailand that suffered from the floods... with Toyota on point...so dont buy Toyota!

I guess this is so that the car manufacturers dont move their factories away from thailand...after all this government is far from brilliant.

however I feel, its not the end of the world as we know it because...

cars not included in the ban are: (drumrole please)

Convertibles, Coupes, Stationwagons and 6/7-seated vans, suv's, crossovers and panel trucks.

So I can still bring in my spyker c8 convertible and my Range rover....if I had the money to buy them in the first place

or did I miss something here?

[transam]

Yeah its quite odd,

However I know from reading the news in thai that this is something that has been pushed to the government

by the car manufacturers who build cars in thailand that suffered from the floods... with Toyota on point...so dont buy Toyota!

I guess this is so that the car manufacturers dont move their factories away from thailand...after all this government is far from brilliant.

however I feel, its not the end of the world as we know it because...

cars not included in the ban are: (drumrole please)

Convertibles, Coupes, Stationwagons and 6/7-seated vans, suv's, crossovers and panel trucks.

So I can still bring in my spyker c8 convertible and my Range rover....if I had the money to buy them in the first place

or did I miss something here?

My thoughts are, IF, you try and import something, now, a customs guy can say thats on my ''no way'' list BUT BUT, we can come to an arrangement to solve your problem.

[Amras]

Yeah its quite odd,

However I know from reading the news in thai that this is something that has been pushed to the government

by the car manufacturers who build cars in thailand that suffered from the floods... with Toyota on point...so dont buy Toyota!

I guess this is so that the car manufacturers dont move their factories away from thailand...after all this government is far from brilliant.

however I feel, its not the end of the world as we know it because...

cars not included in the ban are: (drumrole please)

Convertibles, Coupes, Stationwagons and 6/7-seated vans, suv's, crossovers and panel trucks.

So I can still bring in my spyker c8 convertible and my Range rover....if I had the money to buy them in the first place

or did I miss something here?

My thoughts are, IF, you try and import something, now, a customs guy can say thats on my ''no way'' list BUT BUT, we can come to an arrangement to solve your problem.

No different to before/now though.....right???

They will just use different words, but same outcome...before "tax is this, oh no, we revalued it it's now this" to "on banned list, you have to pay this".

Same s*** different day...that's all.

[transam]

Yeah its quite odd,

However I know from reading the news in thai that this is something that has been pushed to the government

by the car manufacturers who build cars in thailand that suffered from the floods... with Toyota on point...so dont buy Toyota!

I guess this is so that the car manufacturers dont move their factories away from thailand...after all this government is far from brilliant.

however I feel, its not the end of the world as we know it because...

cars not included in the ban are: (drumrole please)

Convertibles, Coupes, Stationwagons and 6/7-seated vans, suv's, crossovers and panel trucks.

So I can still bring in my spyker c8 convertible and my Range rover....if I had the money to buy them in the first place

or did I miss something here?

My thoughts are, IF, you try and import something, now, a customs guy can say thats on my ''no way'' list BUT BUT, we can come to an arrangement to solve your problem.

No different to before/now though.....right???

They will just use different words, but same outcome...before "tax is this, oh no, we revalued it it's now this" to "on banned list, you have to pay this".

Same s*** different day...that's all.

No difference yes, BUT, more cash, yes.

[lee68]

i guess second hand car and bike prices aren't high enough already, so need to stomp on any possible competition

Top Gear did a piece a few months ago where the presenters bought top of the line 2nd hand cars for about 7000 pounds. Clarkson got a fantastic looking, fully loaded, high end merc that looked like new for about 7 grand so that's about 350000 baht. over here the same car would probably sell for 2-3 million.

i picked up the same merc in the uk for 6 grand,great car for a run about,just bought a nissan march here for the wife for 11 grand,the mercs nicer.

[submaniac]

I was looking through the Thailand Customs and Excise import duty website the other day. If anyone is interested, you can import a tank, ambulance or fire engine at 0% import duty. A helicopter rushes you 5% import duty. Not that many of us will be importing these types of vehicles, but doesn't it say something about Amazing Thailand's weird and wonderful laws......and the people that dream them up.

could you provide the direct link? I was looking through customs website and it's a bit of a mess. I think I could have some interesting implications about turning certain cars into ambulances and fire engines for the purpose of importing.

[MAJIC]

As the import duty paid,is often worth more than the vehicle,it seems like just another ill conceived,shoot yourself in the foot law.

[Thai at Heart]

This will not stop people going around the edge of the system one bit. Are they honestly saying it is entirely illegal to import a second hand car part?

Edited April 18, 2012 by Thai at Heart