I'm trying to find answers to questions I have about driving and registering a samlor kreuang/ tuk tuk in Thailand. I've ordered one to be built by a shop in That Phanom. there were several being built in different stages of completion the day I ordered mine. When I asked the question "how do I go about getting this registered in Thailand so that I can legally drive?" The wife's answer was "man say you don't need to register" In further questions one of the shop workers said that one farang had purchased one there and had driven it all around Thailand and he didn't need to get it registered. I'm thinking that it must be someone who lives in the Mukdahan to Nakhon Phanom area but I'm new to the area and haven't met anyone yet. So my question to the Isaan forum is have you or anyone you know purchased one of these and if so how did you or they go about legally driving one here?

Thank you in advance for any help,

Richard

A few years ago I checked out buying a Skylab , and asked at my local vechicle tax office about regestering one to use on the public roads , their answer was , not possible , then I sent an email to the manafacture where I was thinking of buying a Skylab from

this company - http://www.atipongmotor.com/eng/

and I received back this answer -

number plate and government tax for skylab by transportation department is not open for us to register yet , but customer are able to buy 3 party insurance to run on the road.

Since then I have seen many Skylabs on the roads , and every time I've managed to ask the owner ( Thai ) about registering and getting a tax sticker, they just smiled and seemed not that interested . I have to date never seen a Skylab with a number plate / government tax sticker , my main concern was being a farang , riding my new Skylab about would become a magnet for the Boys in Brown to stop me and constantly hear the words, you have no number plate or tax , that will be 1,000 Baht please and of course what happens if your involved in an accident . May be if you live in a small rural village where you are well known to the BiB , then it could be ok , only time would tell.

I never took the idea any further

Thank you ThaiLife.

If I get any more updated information on how to legally operate one I'll post it here

Maybe a tuk tuk doesn't need to be registered same as an 'Etan' or the ubiquitous 'Iron Buffalo' or 'Rot Tai' as the Thais call them. A friend of mine owns an etan and can be seen chugging around the area when it's not raining, much to the amusement of the locals. He has been stopped a few times by the police more for a laugh than anything else. It does not require a drivers licence, insurance or registration. Can only be driven on rural roads though, the tuk tuks you see in Bangkok and other cities may have to be registered.

Sorry dude! I'd go for a Harley Davidson. Nobody will ask you for any documents wearing the right colors.....

Well here with the update on my samlor quest. On Sunday the 15th I found and purchased a samlor kreuang in Na Gae. It has a 1400cc Daihatsu 5 speed engine and can carry well over 1 ton of weight in the back (so I was told. Haven't loaded that much into it yet, only 4 people from the family). On Monday I got my Yellow House Book and took the house book and the sales slip from the seller's shop that had the engine # down to the local Transportation office and was able to get insurance for 400 baht but was told that they can no longer register samlor kreuangs. They used to under a previous administration but no longer. Yesterday I drove it back to the transportation office and received my samlor kreuang driver's license. I don't have a work permit as I'm on a retirement visa and there was no problem. The written test was a bit different than what I had expected as some of the questions and answers defy logic but I answered enough to their liking in order to pass the written and the driving part was very easy. Go forward and then reverse and do a parallel park and then pull up and stop close to a curb, Pay 155 baht and done! Now the question is what will the police do when they see me coming. So far many locals have big smiles on their faces when I drive past, hope that's the same with the BIB. I carry a copy of the sales receipt (which was 84,000 baht) which shows the engine number and a copy of my insurance policy and of course my brand new samlor kreuang driver's license. I'll keep you posted when I get stopped by the BIB.

Oh almost forgot. I had originally ordered one from a shop in That Phanom but they're back logged with so many orders that they couldn't finish mine until 10 Aug at the soonest. I had given them a 2,000 baht deposit on a 80,000 baht price. Yesterday we went in to tell the owner that we no longer need them to build one for us and expecting him to say ok but you don't get your 2,000 baht back. I was totally surprised when he said ok and reached in his wallet and handed us the 2,000 baht deposit! Life is good!