Hi,

Am negotiating to buy a car from a friend of a friend, who is moving back to Australia.

One thing I don't understand is that while he owns the car, the car is actually in the name of a Thai national. What is the reasoning behind this? The person who is selling the car is on an O Visa, which I thought allowed them to have cars in their name?

I'm wanting to drive into Malaysia on occasion, so I would assume this would not be possible if the car wasn't in my name?

Thanks,

You can have a car in your name on any visa... You just need to show proof of address in Thailand (i.e. letter from immigration or your embassy).

There is no logical reason I can think of not to put the car in your name if you are paying for it all.

Some may initially place the car in their Thai partners name if going the finance route etc.. thats the only reason I can think of.

What I did was to have the car in my company name! No Thai's involved it's an option you may want to consider if you have probs!

I purchase a new pickup and was going to put it in my name, but my wife would have to co=sign if for any reason I didn't pay she would. And if something did happen to me and the pickup was in my name she would have many problems trying to sell it and pay off the loan. So I put the pickup in her name until the loan is paid off and then switch it to my name.

You should NOT pay for a car that is not going to be in your name, especially if you want an uncomplicated life.

It is a very simple and easy process for a foreigner to obtain legal title to a car here, and visa status is irrelevant.

If the car is in the name of a Thai National you must be sure that you pay that Thai National at the time of transfer, and NOT the “friend of a friend”, otherwise you leave yourself open to fraud – not uncommon here, especially by “ friends of friends” !!

The “friend of a friend” has no legal title to the vehicle and hence no right to receive payment. It should be left up to the Thai National to subsequently pay the “friend of a friend”. Of course, if this is a legitimate deal then everyone should be more than happy to proceed on this basis. If they are not, then best advice for you is to walk away from the deal

You have been warned!!!