Nakhon Ratchasima: Customs Department To Seize Mystery Luxury Cars

[webfact]

CUSTOMS DEPARTMENT
Authorities to seize mystery luxury cars
The Nation
Nakhon Ratchasima

'Temporary LPG cylinders' found in six vehicles; cause of fire being probed

BANGKOK: -- The Customs Department says it will seize six luxury cars to check whether they were properly imported, after they were discovered abandoned on a trailer in Nakhon Ratchasima's Pakchong district.

Authorities were called to the scene on Wednesday after four of the luxury cars mysteriously caught fire; however, no one has come forward to claim the vehicles.

The trailer-truck driver said he was delivering the cars to an unknown recipient in Si Sa Ket, prompting police to suspect that the owner might be using legal loopholes to register the vehicles there.

Pol Colonel Phanu Buranasiri, deputy investigative commander of Provincial Police Bureau 3, said the Customs Department had informed the provincial bureau that it would seize the six cars for further investigation.

Phanu said police would hand over the six cars to the Customs Department after forensic crime officers had finished investigating the cause of the fire and checked the chassis numbers of the vehicles to try to identify the owners.

The Customs Department would check whether the six vehicles and their parts had gone through proper customs clearance procedures.

Phanu said the truck driver, Ekkapat Wilamart, 37, testified that he had loaded the six cars onto the trailer on Rama V Road, Nonthaburi, before heading to Si Sa Ket.

Pol Maj-General Prayad Boonsri, deputy commissioner of Provincial Police Bureau 3, has instructed the Si Sa Ket Police head office to check how many luxury cars have been registered in the province over the last five years.

Phanu said police would also check whether luxury cars in the province had been registered with the proper documents.

A source from the police team investigating the case said the LPG gas cylinders found installed in the cars were put in temporarily to avoid paying the higher rate of tax for petrol-fuelled vehicles.

The cylinders would have been removed once the cars were registered and had received their licence plates, said the source, adding the cars would have required 95-octane petrol to run.

Two licence plates of the same registration number "Nor Lor 6217 BKK" were found in an envelope behind the backseat of the white Lamborghini.

Phannipa Chokbamrung, 42, whose car is registered with the number, said she was surprised to learn from news reports that copies of her licence plate were found in the car.

She said she had nothing to do with the luxury cars and was still paying monthly instalments on her own car, which she had bought in 2010.


-- The Nation 2013-06-01

[kimamey]

I think if it were me I'd check first those cars registered in the province and then continue with as many other luxury cars as possible. I suspect this has been going on elsewhere.

[OzMick]

the plot thickens

[Thai at Heart]

The whole registration system is a joke anyway. We received two tickets from speed cameras for a car we sold 2 years ago only last month.

[OzMick]

The whole registration system is a joke anyway. We received two tickets from speed cameras for a car we sold 2 years ago only last month.

Check the date of the offences - could be the BIB are also slow.

[Thai at Heart]

The whole registration system is a joke anyway. We received two tickets from speed cameras for a car we sold 2 years ago only last month.

Check the date of the offences - could be the BIB are also slow.

Camera pictures dated last month. Seems changing the address on paper doesn't change it in the computer database they use to send automatic tickets from cameras.

[noitom]

And why aren't the police detectives going back to the loading warehouse with Ekkapat to start rounding up and arresting the dealers on up the food rather than focusing on small time folks like Phannipa whose license plate number was used in the scheme? It's like a grand theft auto and identity theft scheme. Why isn't the article mentioning the tracking of bills of lading as well as the registrations?

[dahinni]

And why aren't the police detectives going back to the loading warehouse with Ekkapat to start rounding up and arresting the dealers on up the food rather than focusing on small time folks like Phannipa whose license plate number was used in the scheme? It's like a grand theft auto and identity theft scheme. Why isn't the article mentioning the tracking of bills of lading as well as the registrations?

they afraid , this r big dogs

[Thai at Heart]

Actually putting LPG in them for registration wouldn't be illegal. Quite smart, until of course the things blow up.

Of course this would all be stopped if there was a central registration and all imported cars had to be registered on import, not on delivery to customer.

A lambo with a sisaket plate doesn't exactly hold that much cache either.

Edited June 1, 2013 by Thai at Heart

[culicine]

And why aren't the police detectives going back to the loading warehouse with Ekkapat to start rounding up and arresting the dealers on up the food rather than focusing on small time folks like Phannipa whose license plate number was used in the scheme? It's like a grand theft auto and identity theft scheme. Why isn't the article mentioning the tracking of bills of lading as well as the registrations?

they afraid , this r big dogs

In all likelihood very influential folks are involved, and possibly across government departments. Would like to see big heads roll, but I don't think it will happen - perhaps it's all down to an 'honest mistake'.

[Sydebolle]

IMHO the police should raid the submarine port at Rama V road in Nonthaburi, because there all those illicit cars must have been unloaded in the first place.
And Somsak, next door, might have to wait for a while as the gas cylinders he borrowed for the registration gig in Sri Saket seem unlikely to be back anytime soon; someone has to cough up the bail of THB 300'000.
All makes sense now and apart from Ekkapat and the rightful license plates owners nobody else is at fault. Latter will not be arrested as she is still in debt with a finance company for the other car she owns 8-)

[Thai at Heart]

IMHO the police should raid the submarine port at Rama V road in Nonthaburi, because there all those illicit cars must have been unloaded in the first place.

And Somsak, next door, might have to wait for a while as the gas cylinders he borrowed for the registration gig in Sri Saket seem unlikely to be back anytime soon; someone has to cough up the bail of THB 300'000.

All makes sense now and apart from Ekkapat and the rightful license plates owners nobody else is at fault. Latter will not be arrested as she is still in debt with a finance company for the other car she owns 8-)

They don't have to be illicit. If they are privately ordered, it saves a boat load on the grey importer margin. Also, customs just evaluates the car value not the extras, that alone can run to 15% of the cars value.

This business is largely a money washing scheme anyway. These could be owned for one year and flogged on for a small loss, washing huge cash.

[chainarong]

And why aren't the police detectives going back to the loading warehouse with Ekkapat to start rounding up and arresting the dealers on up the food rather than focusing on small time folks like Phannipa whose license plate number was used in the scheme? It's like a grand theft auto and identity theft scheme. Why isn't the article mentioning the tracking of bills of lading as well as the registrations?

they afraid , this r big dogs

In all likelihood very influential folks are involved, and possibly across government departments. Would like to see big heads roll, but I don't think it will happen - perhaps it's all down to an 'honest mistake'.

What! Not another typo error.

[OzMick]

The whole registration system is a joke anyway. We received two tickets from speed cameras for a car we sold 2 years ago only last month.

Check the date of the offences - could be the BIB are also slow.

Camera pictures dated last month. Seems changing the address on paper doesn't change it in the computer database they use to send automatic tickets from cameras.

I'm sure that you'll manage to clear things up after 3 or 4 days in the cells.

[Thai at Heart]

The whole registration system is a joke anyway. We received two tickets from speed cameras for a car we sold 2 years ago only last month.

Check the date of the offences - could be the BIB are also slow.

Camera pictures dated last month. Seems changing the address on paper doesn't change it in the computer database they use to send automatic tickets from cameras.

I'm sure that you'll manage to clear things up after 3 or 4 days in the cells.

Done already. We got a copy of the paper registration and sent it to Bangkok and told them to chase the new owner.

[rfukata]

calculated delivery, purposely set on fire to destroy 4 out of 6 cars to be delivered to a customs official in Nakhon Ratchisma, case closed.

[jacko45k]

The waiting time for a new Ford truck is 3 months now so I thought a Lamborghini would arrive more quickly...... haven't seen it yet!

[lovetotravel]

I read a report on the customs department in a magazine. They said they are basically legalized corruption. Great way to sum this department up.

[TackyToo]

I wonder if they have the guts to check this one:

[thaicbr]

I wonder if they have the guts to check this one:

If they bought a couple of boxes of ear medicine with them to give to the owner... the owner wouldn't even know what was happening a few hours later.

[whiteman]

You think it is driven by a lady boy govenment officer

[SiamKitt]

When I read the story in the BKK Post..& the truck's driver told police he could unable to stop the truck because the fire had burnt through the trailer's brakes..er, excuse me, but I'm sure on a truck-trailer combo air pressure holds the trailer's brakes OFF..so I'm sure the brake pipes/seals would had melted before the fire burnt out the brake linings..causing loss of air & then 8 tyres skidding-along! (or was it one of those braked hubs over-heating that started a fire in the 1st place..??). I still think the driver's telling Porkies..??

[fakename]

Seems like it would be an easy job to check out who paid for the shipment. Im sure he had an address to deliver it to, or was it just on a dark street corner?

[kimamey]

Seems like it would be an easy job to check out who paid for the shipment. Im sure he had an address to deliver it to, or was it just on a dark street corner?

I think someone said on another thread that they were to be delivered to a filling station where they would be picked up. Unlikely they will turn up now. As for the payment that may be a lead but then again might have been cash.

[EyesWideOpen]

This is a great story !!! A interesting look at the operation of Thailand. I suspect that when the owner is found to be Mr. Really Really Big, this story will instantly fade away, Thai style.....

Am still a bit confused by the concept of torching such expensive cars.

Where would the benefit be ??? I suspect trying to get money out of an insurance company here with such suspicious circumstances, would be like trying to a rabbit back from the mouth of a tiger....

[EyesWideOpen]

I wonder if they have the guts to check this one:

There goes your long term visa....... :-)

[GentlemanJim]

well, with a shipment of what amounts in Thailand to a small fortune, a delivery driver, the vehicles, registration numbers, chassis numbers, 'books' and other documents, a delivery address (i dont believe the driver does not have the phone number of who was picking them up next), you don't actually have to be Sherlock Holmes to make progress with this case do you. It appears the need to sweep it under the carpet is much greater than to reveal who the vehicles belong to.

[EyesWideOpen]

GentlemanJim, on 01 Jun 2013 - 18:22, said:

well, with a shipment of what amounts in Thailand to a small fortune, a delivery driver, the vehicles, registration numbers, chassis numbers, 'books' and other documents, a delivery address (i dont believe the driver does not have the phone number of who was picking them up next), you don't actually have to be Sherlock Holmes to make progress with this case do you. It appears the need to sweep it under the carpet is much greater than to reveal who the vehicles belong to.

I agree, that given that body of evidence, if the police cannot figure out who the owner is, that means their fear of the owner is greater than their fear of looking like moronic bozos... At this point, I am pretty sure the cars must still have some residual value to the actual owner. If the fire really was an accident, at this point I think the Customs department will seize the cars, and the real owner will quietly buy them at a non publicized auction in a few months. Thus, face is saved all around. Well, except for the police ... :-)

[khaowong1]

I read a report on the customs department in a magazine. They said they are basically legalized corruption. Great way to sum this department up.

Maybe 30 years back, I personally knew the minisiter of commerce at that time.. the wealthiest man I had ever met. his house was actually a palace he bought from a member of the royal family.

[GottaGo]

And if you happen to own the insurance company. . .