a foreign registered Car in Thailand - is it that easy?

[MaaTini]

there is a Person, who is selling his UK registered Car here in Thailand

http://classifieds.thaivisa.com/automotives-vehicles/cars/2003-nissan-x-trail-231173.html

he states:

...This is the catch: It's UK-registered, so to transfer ownership you have to have a UK address to receive the certificate of registration. It enters Thailand on a temporary import up to 6 months, so has to leave the country for the permit to be reset. I've never had any troubles at the border and this can be done virtually indefinitely......

if it would be that easy, many more People would own foreign registered Cars here in Thailand

so I doubt, that this can be done "virtually indefinitely"

what you say?

[TTSIssues]

I would imagine insurance would be "interesting", plus things like road fund license (UK tax disk) and annual MOT which I would assume would be needed too. But hey, it's an interesting idea if it works! Keen to hear what others think.

[WarpSpeed]

Well I've suggested this approach several times before not surprised someone took advantage of it. Not sure why the insurance would be a problem the insurance company doesn't really care about it's origins or registration but who knows for certain? If it's old enough it only qualifies for minimal government insurance anyways..

[Skint]

For sure your gonna get tugged by the BiB if its noticed to be here more than 6 months even though you get round it with visa runs there is every chance they would take it of you and charge the import tax.

[steveromagnino]

I know people running on Malaysian plates doing the same thing here. Mostly doesn't work out financially unless the car is from Langkawi. Means you need to do a monster drive to Malaysia or somewhere else and leave the car there from memory, every 3 months (possibly every 6).

No issues with cops, insurance is foreign and no doubt might start to be an issue if you started regularly having accidents.

[Sophon]

While what he is doing may technically be legal (I don't know if it is or not), it is clearly taking advantage of a loophole and against the spirit of what the temporary import is intended for. So if buying the car what would you do with it if (probably more a question of when) they decide to close this loophole?

And if it's already illegal today to keep a car here long term on a temporary import permit you could be hit with some serious taxes and fines.

Sophon

[Langsuan Man]

While what he is doing may technically be legal (I don't know if it is or not), it is clearly taking advantage of a loophole and against the spirit of what the temporary import is intended for. So if buying the car what would you do with it if (probably more a question of when) they decide to close this loophole?

And if it's already illegal today to keep a car here long term on a temporary import permit you could be hit with some serious taxes and fines.

Sophon

And aren't people who do visa runs doing the same thing ?

Or people who own houses in company names ?

Thailand, Land of Loopholes

[Sophon]

While what he is doing may technically be legal (I don't know if it is or not), it is clearly taking advantage of a loophole and against the spirit of what the temporary import is intended for. So if buying the car what would you do with it if (probably more a question of when) they decide to close this loophole?

And if it's already illegal today to keep a car here long term on a temporary import permit you could be hit with some serious taxes and fines.

Sophon

And aren't people who do visa runs doing the same thing ?

Or people who own houses in company names ?

Thailand, Land of Loopholes

Yes, to a certain degree, but those people are not doing it to avoid paying tens (or hundreds) of thousands of baht in taxes and VAT. What loophole do you think they have more incentive to close, the one where the Thai state is cheated out of significant taxes, or the one where basically no-one is getting hurt?

Sophon

[WarpSpeed]

Well IF the vat was legitimate and not OTT and primarily utilized to buy the local customs guy to get himself a new house then more likely people wouldn't attempt to use loopholes.. Anyway AGAIN, the OP's topic queries on the loophole which does exist and is currently available for exploitation should he choose to do so.

Edited July 17, 2013 by WarpSpeed

[Lancashirelad]

It would be interesting to see how easy (or not) it would be to drive it back into (say) Malaysia when the 6 month expires if the new owner does not have residency in Malaysia.

I don't see that the vehicle can remain in a permanent state of flux for ever.

Also be interesting to learn how it got to Asia in the 1st instance.

Anyone who buys it might be buying more of a liability than an asset, unless of course your plan is to return it (be it by land or sea) to the uk.

It reminds me of this topic:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/542230-grey-import-registration/

[overherebc]

I know one guy who brought his Range Rover into Thailand when he moved his business base here, He did the border shuffle for three years I think before he started getting let's call them strong suggestions from the BIB and border customs to change things. He ended up selling the car in Malaysia and buying here as that was a lot easier than trying to get the car legal in Thailand.

Believe a couple of times only the paperwork went to Malaysia and back to Thailand but that was obviously with local contacts both sides.

Edited July 22, 2013 by overherebc