Is It Worth 70K For Green Book?

[loserlazer]

Man tit, yes. You might get away with it for a while, yes.

But how long?

Some people posted here regarding impounded harleys nowadays, on the group runs by tha way!

Besides - i m stating here for third time - they just passed a bill about a ban on second hand imports so soon police will realize it and they will figure out 10.000 s instead of 300 s. i want you think about how much they can ask if they realize this money cow or how much you might need to pay? Especially in dirty pattaya:D

On top of that, what i heard they will start to check old records of big bikes and their green books if they have. If they find something illegitimite - 'hey this is Thailand' - they create problem for sure man.

I dont recommend any unregistered bike in Thailand unless you drive it only for track days and/or on the back of a truck-_-

Good luck man or just get the greenbook if you can.

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[Plucky]

I would get rid of it straight away. Police confiscate them all the time. Seriously you need to heed my advice.

Thankfully the gods have smiled on you and I have a Mio 125 you can have in exchange. No need to thank me I'm just glad to be able to help.

[NomadJoe]

Tony, you asked 'Would you ride an unplated / unregistered vehicle in your home country?' and 'What makes you think you can get away with it here?'

Would you ride as fast as you do in your home country as you do here? What makes you think you can get away with it here?

The answer is the same, this is Thailand and not America, England, Australia etc etc

.....Back home you go to jail for 20 over in some states.

And you lose your bike.

[simple1]

Really don't understand why the OP hasn't bothered to obtain a Thai driving license. No insurance, then if an accident occurs you will have to negotiate with the police for victim compensation. If you have the appropriate insurance the company rep does this on your behalf.

You mentioned paying 200k baht for bail bond is no issue for you. Until you pay the cash you will be held in police cells, not a pleasant experience. Bail bond will require the police informing immigration, who in turn put a stop on your passport until legal proceeding/payments is completed. Immigration also inform your Embassy so you cannot claim to have lost your passport and obtain a replacement. Also if you don't have a driving license any tea money costs will increase. No matter how good a driver you are, shit does happen through no fault of your own - at a minimum get a license so you're legal

Edited September 12, 2012 by simple1

[Bung]

^

that's interesting some more detailed info would also be useful like what bike ,insurance company,details of accident other party's involved,area of Thailand,how long ago etc

For starters 500 bht for insurance seems ridiculously cheap.

Wouldn't surprise me if this was many many years ago but the way things are today I wouldn't count on insurance paying out anythingfor these unregistered bikes.

P.s

Bit of a strange post with 2 paragraphs contradicting each other

We are all new and green here at some point.

[siampreggers]

Really don't understand why the OP hasn't bothered to obtain a Thai driving license. No insurance, then if an accident occurs you will have to negotiate with the police for victim compensation. If you have the appropriate insurance the company rep does this on your behalf.

You mentioned paying 200k baht for bail bond is no issue for you. Until you pay the cash you will be held in police cells, not a pleasant experience. Bail bond will require the police informing immigration, who in turn put a stop on your passport until legal proceeding/payments is completed. Immigration also inform your Embassy so you cannot claim to have lost your passport and obtain a replacement. Also if you don't have a driving license any tea money costs will increase. No matter how good a driver you are, shit does happen through no fault of your own - at a minimum get a license so you're legal

From what I've seen not having a DL isn't a major deal when involved in an accident.

I know where I come from if you have an accident and don't have a DL you're screwed, the insurance is automatically N/A and you are automatically at fault for the accident.

From what I've seen here it doesn't interfere in any of that should an accident take place, the only thing is an extra 400b fine or whatever for not having one, everything else takes place as normal (for Thailand).

That said I have a 5 yr DL and advise others to get one, to have a Thai ID at the very least and to be able to show the coppers at police checks which usually gets you through a lot faster when coupled with a bit of polite Thai banter.

[BigBikeBKK]

Really don't understand why the OP hasn't bothered to obtain a Thai driving license. No insurance, then if an accident occurs you will have to negotiate with the police for victim compensation. If you have the appropriate insurance the company rep does this on your behalf.

You mentioned paying 200k baht for bail bond is no issue for you. Until you pay the cash you will be held in police cells, not a pleasant experience. Bail bond will require the police informing immigration, who in turn put a stop on your passport until legal proceeding/payments is completed. Immigration also inform your Embassy so you cannot claim to have lost your passport and obtain a replacement. Also if you don't have a driving license any tea money costs will increase. No matter how good a driver you are, shit does happen through no fault of your own - at a minimum get a license so you're legal

From what I've seen not having a DL isn't a major deal when involved in an accident.

I know where I come from if you have an accident and don't have a DL you're screwed, the insurance is automatically N/A and you are automatically at fault for the accident.

From what I've seen here it doesn't interfere in any of that should an accident take place, the only thing is an extra 400b fine or whatever for not having one, everything else takes place as normal (for Thailand).

That said I have a 5 yr DL and advise others to get one, to have a Thai ID at the very least and to be able to show the coppers at police checks which usually gets you through a lot faster when coupled with a bit of polite Thai banter.

You should probably read the fine print in your insurance policy. Chances are your insurance company is not liable for a claim if you are driving / riding without a license.

[smedly]

I just wonder why you bought the bike without the green book, I wouldm't even look at a bike without one, also there are 2x ways to get a green book, genuine and one transfered form another bike where the numbers don't match up, the latter is a no no and would not cost 70k

Also consider that at some future time (I'd say near future) it may not be possible to get a green book for a bike like this (imported in bits) and the resake value of such a bike woud be drastically reduced. This on all the other points made above

IMHO I would have insisted the shop het the green book before purchase then negociate a price or walk away, there are plenty of good second hand bikes (and new) for sale where you would not be asking these questions or have any future issues

Just my opinion mate and no offence intended.

[therealmrbrightside]

Really don't understand why the OP hasn't bothered to obtain a Thai driving license. No insurance, then if an accident occurs you will have to negotiate with the police for victim compensation. If you have the appropriate insurance the company rep does this on your behalf.

You mentioned paying 200k baht for bail bond is no issue for you. Until you pay the cash you will be held in police cells, not a pleasant experience. Bail bond will require the police informing immigration, who in turn put a stop on your passport until legal proceeding/payments is completed. Immigration also inform your Embassy so you cannot claim to have lost your passport and obtain a replacement. Also if you don't have a driving license any tea money costs will increase. No matter how good a driver you are, shit does happen through no fault of your own - at a minimum get a license so you're legal

Yes, I understand the risks..I have 2 passports and ways and means. But my original OP was asking if it was worth obtaining a green book, and surprisingly nobody has mentioned that it will be more difficult to sell. That point seems blatantly obvious now tho lol

[therealmrbrightside]

@ Smedly -

When I saw the bike in the shop I didn't care about the green book. I have had 2 bikes in the past with green books but had never needed to show them to police, so thought that maybe it makes no difference apart from when coming to sell it again.

Apologies if my replies are one sided, but obviously I want to justify not paying 70k for a green book. I appreciate everybody's constructive advice.

[jbrain]

Really don't understand why the OP hasn't bothered to obtain a Thai driving license. No insurance, then if an accident occurs you will have to negotiate with the police for victim compensation. If you have the appropriate insurance the company rep does this on your behalf.

You mentioned paying 200k baht for bail bond is no issue for you. Until you pay the cash you will be held in police cells, not a pleasant experience. Bail bond will require the police informing immigration, who in turn put a stop on your passport until legal proceeding/payments is completed. Immigration also inform your Embassy so you cannot claim to have lost your passport and obtain a replacement. Also if you don't have a driving license any tea money costs will increase. No matter how good a driver you are, shit does happen through no fault of your own - at a minimum get a license so you're legal

Yes, I understand the risks..I have 2 passports and ways and means. But my original OP was asking if it was worth obtaining a green book, and surprisingly nobody has mentioned that it will be more difficult to sell. That point seems blatantly obvious now tho lol

But when your passport is confiscated,you can not leave the country with a passport that doesn't have an entry stamp.

[taninthai]

You seem to think you have ways around everything so I will give you simple answer to your question is it worth getting a green book?

Answer if 100% you can get one now get it anytime in the future could be 2 months or 2 years it may/will become impossible to get books for these bikes and they could all be completely impossible to take them on the roads without losing them you are then left with a bike looking pretty sitting in your garage which is impossible to sell or use as they say in Thailand up to you

Edited September 13, 2012 by taninthai

[skybluestu]

You seem to think you have ways around everything so I will give you simple answer to your question is it worth getting a green book?

Answer if 100% you can get one now get it anytime in the future could be 2 months or 2 years it may/will become impossible to get books for these bikes and they could all be completely impossible to take them on the roads without losing them you are then left with a bike looking pretty sitting in your garage which is impossible to sell or use as they say in Thailand up to you

More likely 20yrs than 2yrs!

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[taninthai]

You seem to think you have ways around everything so I will give you simple answer to your question is it worth getting a green book?

Answer if 100% you can get one now get it anytime in the future could be 2 months or 2 years it may/will become impossible to get books for these bikes and they could all be completely impossible to take them on the roads without losing them you are then left with a bike looking pretty sitting in your garage which is impossible to sell or use as they say in Thailand up to you

More likely 20yrs than 2yrs!

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You really think that with the big manufacturers now starting to come into the Market here the pressure is on and it's gonna happen sooner than you think.

[skybluestu]

You seem to think you have ways around everything so I will give you simple answer to your question is it worth getting a green book?

Answer if 100% you can get one now get it anytime in the future could be 2 months or 2 years it may/will become impossible to get books for these bikes and they could all be completely impossible to take them on the roads without losing them you are then left with a bike looking pretty sitting in your garage which is impossible to sell or use as they say in Thailand up to you

More likely 20yrs than 2yrs!

Sent from my GT-I9003 using Thaivisa Connect App

You really think that with the big manufacturers now starting to come into the Market here the pressure is on and it's gonna happen sooner than you think.

You said it will be completely impossible to take them on the roads, perhaps it will become very difficult to ride them without getting fined in BKK and some tourist towns but never completely impossible and not within 2yrs. And as for the rest of Thailand which makes up the majority of this very large country, 20yrs or so for sure.

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[taninthai]

It is already difficult to ride them in bkk and other tourist towns and it certainly ain't gonna get any easier I really don't know why people with bikes without books bother to come on the forum as they all find it difficult to accept that one day these bikes are gonna be unusable and unsellable already with these bikes they are hard to sell as you can see just from this topic everyone has said they wouldn't touch a bike without a book it could only take one serious accident like someone hitting and killing a hi.so with one of these bikes and the rules could be changed the next day I don't really care all my bikes here are legal I can ride where ever I want in Thailand and am not shitting myself every time I see a policeman.

[Beardog]

You don't see many unplated bikes in Bangkok, and the ones you do see are invariably being ridden by cops or folks with the right BiB connections.

It's actually surprising to see how many coppers ride around on unplated CB400's.

Wonder how they got them.

I just passed on a CB 400 that looked great but the owner would not show me the bike till 6PM & was hesitant to go down to the DMV with me to transfer the bike. And it supposedly had a valid green book.

The deal was to dicey for 170,000 baht. & it only takes one time for the coppers to decide they fancy your ride & remove it forever while you have nothing. No green book & a DMV transfer to switch names . NO MONEY PERIOD!

[JonnyF]

It is already difficult to ride them in bkk and other tourist towns and it certainly ain't gonna get any easier I really don't know why people with bikes without books bother to come on the forum as they all find it difficult to accept that one day these bikes are gonna be unusable and unsellable already with these bikes they are hard to sell as you can see just from this topic everyone has said they wouldn't touch a bike without a book it could only take one serious accident like someone hitting and killing a hi.so with one of these bikes and the rules could be changed the next day I don't really care all my bikes here are legal I can ride where ever I want in Thailand and am not shitting myself every time I see a policeman.

Same for me, a bike that I cant ride to certain areas (especially huge, popular areas like Bangkok, Phuket etc.) is kind of a waste of time. Plus the worry about accidents, cops, resale etc. Don't see the attraction of bookless bikes, a lot of them aren't even particularly cheap...

[snarky66]

Might be useful to know what shop you purchased it from. 70,000 is a good price for a green book. As other posters have said if you decide to do it you need to move sharpish. 1/2 down & half on delivery is standard.

[therealmrbrightside]

Might be useful to know what shop you purchased it from. 70,000 is a good price for a green book. As other posters have said if you decide to do it you need to move sharpish. 1/2 down & half on delivery is standard.

Teera motorcycles in Pathumwan BKK.

[BigBikeBKK]

Might be useful to know what shop you purchased it from. 70,000 is a good price for a green book. As other posters have said if you decide to do it you need to move sharpish. 1/2 down & half on delivery is standard.

Teera motorcycles in Pathumwan BKK.

Sucker!

[smedly]

There are 2x types of green book, pricing is vastly different for both types

60-70k baht is the correct price for a genuine original book that has been created for a new unregistered bike

30-40k baht is the usual price for a book that has been doctored from another vehicle were the registration number is changed but will not have matching engine.frame numbers etc, some unscrupulous dealers will try and con you with this and charge 70k baht for the "transfer" book, this almost happened to me until I disclosed to the falang bike dealer that I'd be checking the book when it arrived and let him know I knew what to look for, unknown to him I also knew the Thai guy he had given all my doccuments to for the book application - he quickly called him an hour after our conversation to order an original genuine book, the prices for the 2x versions are vastly different, having a transfered book and not an original can cause the same problems as having no book at all - strictly speaking the transferred book is illegal and if a proper inspection of the book and bike numbers are done you will have a problem

Edited September 15, 2012 by smedly

[taninthai]

Might be useful to know what shop you purchased it from. 70,000 is a good price for a green book. As other posters have said if you decide to do it you need to move sharpish. 1/2 down & half on delivery is standard.

Teera motorcycles in Pathumwan BKK.

Sucker!

Oh dear should have checked google or looked here before you bought the bike,don't think you will be getting a book for this bike..,.

[Richard-BKK]

There are 2x types of green book, pricing is vastly different for both types

60-70k baht is the correct price for a genuine original book that has been created for a new unregistered bike

30-40k baht is the usual price for a book that has been doctored from another vehicle were the registration number is changed but will not have matching engine.frame numbers etc, some unscrupulous dealers will try and con you with this and charge 70k baht for the "transfer" book, this almost happened to me until I disclosed to the falang bike dealer that I'd be checking the book when it arrived and let him know I knew what to look for, unknown to him I also knew the Thai guy he had given all my doccuments to for the book application - he quickly called him an hour after our conversation to order an original genuine book, the prices for the 2x versions are vastly different, having a transfered book and not an original can cause the same problems as having no book at all - strictly speaking the transferred book is illegal and if a proper inspection of the book and bike numbers are done you will have a problem

Actually the price of getting your motorcycle registered is not a good indication of authentication. For instance the average 400cc motorcycle owner would pay 40,000 THB, a 600cc owner pays about 60,000 THB and a 800cc pays 80,000 THB... And I hear that some of the over 1000cc Harley's pay around 100,000 THB.

Also when your motorcycle was officially imported by an authorish dealer/distributor you also pay much less for registering the motorcycle.

So you could say that the engine size has something to do with how much the registration would cost, while you can find proof of this on many Thai websites and forums I never ever seen this figures on paper at the Department of Land Transport.

[billd766]

There are 2x types of green book, pricing is vastly different for both types

60-70k baht is the correct price for a genuine original book that has been created for a new unregistered bike

30-40k baht is the usual price for a book that has been doctored from another vehicle were the registration number is changed but will not have matching engine.frame numbers etc, some unscrupulous dealers will try and con you with this and charge 70k baht for the "transfer" book, this almost happened to me until I disclosed to the falang bike dealer that I'd be checking the book when it arrived and let him know I knew what to look for, unknown to him I also knew the Thai guy he had given all my doccuments to for the book application - he quickly called him an hour after our conversation to order an original genuine book, the prices for the 2x versions are vastly different, having a transfered book and not an original can cause the same problems as having no book at all - strictly speaking the transferred book is illegal and if a proper inspection of the book and bike numbers are done you will have a problem

Truly speaking there is only one kind of legal green book worth having and that is the original issued by the Department of Land Transport.

Any other type IS illegal and worse than no book at all.

If you take your bike and a hookey bool to the DLT and they spot the problem YOU then have a big problem.

With no book of course that particular problem doesn't exist but others do.

When I ride my bike around there is always a photocopy of my green book with it and on a longer trip I take the original too.

The is a Thai guy around here who rides a Honda Steed 600cc with bald tyres, no tax and probably no insurance and the plare looks as though it came of an old 2 stroke many years ago but the cops don't bother him at all probably because he IS a cop but I am not willing to take a chance.

[jbrain]

Might be useful to know what shop you purchased it from. 70,000 is a good price for a green book. As other posters have said if you decide to do it you need to move sharpish. 1/2 down & half on delivery is standard.

Teera motorcycles in Pathumwan BKK.

You could have done a search for Teera motorcycles on this forum.For sure every alarm system in the vicinity of your computer would have start blaring the siren.

[smedly]

There are 2x types of green book, pricing is vastly different for both types

60-70k baht is the correct price for a genuine original book that has been created for a new unregistered bike

30-40k baht is the usual price for a book that has been doctored from another vehicle were the registration number is changed but will not have matching engine.frame numbers etc, some unscrupulous dealers will try and con you with this and charge 70k baht for the "transfer" book, this almost happened to me until I disclosed to the falang bike dealer that I'd be checking the book when it arrived and let him know I knew what to look for, unknown to him I also knew the Thai guy he had given all my doccuments to for the book application - he quickly called him an hour after our conversation to order an original genuine book, the prices for the 2x versions are vastly different, having a transfered book and not an original can cause the same problems as having no book at all - strictly speaking the transferred book is illegal and if a proper inspection of the book and bike numbers are done you will have a problem

Truly speaking there is only one kind of legal green book worth having and that is the original issued by the Department of Land Transport.

Any other type IS illegal and worse than no book at all.

If you take your bike and a hookey bool to the DLT and they spot the problem YOU then have a big problem.

With no book of course that particular problem doesn't exist but others do.

When I ride my bike around there is always a photocopy of my green book with it and on a longer trip I take the original too.

The is a Thai guy around here who rides a Honda Steed 600cc with bald tyres, no tax and probably no insurance and the plare looks as though it came of an old 2 stroke many years ago but the cops don't bother him at all probably because he IS a cop but I am not willing to take a chance.

didn't I just say that ?

the point I was making is that there are 2x green books - one is legal and original and the other is basically a fake and illegal, some dealers and I know of two falangs will try and charge you 60-70k for a fake if they think you don't know how to check, my book for a 1100cc bike was 60k baht, the Thai guy charged 50k baht to the falang dealer and he added 10k baht, I knew exactly what was going on because I knew the Thai guy and he tipped me off about the original falang trying to con me with a transfered book from another bike which at the time was 30k baht

The moral of the story is - make sure you do your homework before proceeding with a bike purchase here

PS there are also a lot of imported bikes around that don't have the excise paperwork which means you have no chance getting a book

Also I have never heard of the green book being cc related - who dreamed that one up ?

[masterbiker49]

Man tit, yes. You might get away with it for a while, yes.

But how long?

Some people posted here regarding impounded harleys nowadays, on the group runs by tha way!

Besides - i m stating here for third time - they just passed a bill about a ban on second hand imports so soon police will realize it and they will figure out 10.000 s instead of 300 s. i want you think about how much they can ask if they realize this money cow or how much you might need to pay? Especially in dirty pattaya:D

On top of that, what i heard they will start to check old records of big bikes and their green books if they have. If they find something illegitimite - 'hey this is Thailand' - they create problem for sure man.

I dont recommend any unregistered bike in Thailand unless you drive it only for track days and/or on the back of a truck-_-

Good luck man or just get the greenbook if you can.

Sent from my GT-P1000 using Thaivisa Connect App

I have been told(by a customs Officer) that if U are owner of any type of vehicle that has not had excise payed,they will confiscate it,Jail U & can kick U out of country never allowed to return.

Big stakes,depends how much of a betting man U are???????????

[montereyjp]

I have been riding motorcycles in Thailand for over 6 years including the one in my avatar pic and I have been stopped on numerous occasions and never I have I been ask for the green book. The one I have for the bike in the picture is in someone else's name and yes I had a hard time trying to sell it once when I thought I wanted to so I still have it... So true without the book the bike is worth less but can you make the argument is the bike worth 70K baht more if you had it? Also I have always used a motobike taxi driver to update the registration every year, I just give him the book and the money plus a 100 baht tip and viola I get a new registration which the police do look at every time I get stopped. I see many bikes for sale on the net they state the only have invoice and import papers like the original poster purchased so my question is can you get a yearly registration sticker with just this paperwork?

[jbrain]

I have been riding motorcycles in Thailand for over 6 years including the one in my avatar pic and I have been stopped on numerous occasions and never I have I been ask for the green book. The one I have for the bike in the picture is in someone else's name and yes I had a hard time trying to sell it once when I thought I wanted to so I still have it... So true without the book the bike is worth less but can you make the argument is the bike worth 70K baht more if you had it? Also I have always used a motobike taxi driver to update the registration every year, I just give him the book and the money plus a 100 baht tip and viola I get a new registration which the police do look at every time I get stopped. I see many bikes for sale on the net they state the only have invoice and import papers like the original poster purchased so my question is can you get a yearly registration sticker with just this paperwork?

How does the OP give the book to a motobike taxi if in fact he doesn't have a book? Edited September 16, 2012 by jbrain