Big bikes - super expensive in Thailand?

[ricku]

I've heard that imported vehicles from USA and Europe are super expensive in Thailand, due to some kind of "luxury tax"?

Is that true? And is it the same with big bikes from Japan?

What is the street price for a new Honda Shadow Phantom or Kawasaki Vulcan 900? I'm not in Thailand right now, so its a little bit hard for me to check. Perhaps someone in here can enlighten me on this matter.

Edited August 12, 2013 by ricku

[Spoonman]

Imports into Thailand are expensive due to "Import" tax no matter the origin whether it be the USA, Japan or the Moon.

[ricku]

Imports into Thailand are expensive due to "Import" tax no matter the origin whether it be the USA, Japan or the Moon.

I see. But exactly how high is the tax? Someone just told me the tax is "ridiculously" high, and "out of place" for a poor country like thailand.. Whatever they meant by that.

How much cut will the thai government want from me on a bike that costs $10.000 in the US?

Edited August 12, 2013 by ricku

[Spoonman]

Imports into Thailand are expensive due to "Import" tax no matter the origin whether it be the USA, Japan or the Moon.

I see. But how high is the tax? Someone told me it is "ridiculously" high, whatever they meant by that.

How much cut will the thai government want from me on a bike that costs $10.000 in the US?

approx $11,300.

[ricku]

Imports into Thailand are expensive due to "Import" tax no matter the origin whether it be the USA, Japan or the Moon.

I see. But how high is the tax? Someone told me it is "ridiculously" high, whatever they meant by that.

How much cut will the thai government want from me on a bike that costs $10.000 in the US?

approx $11,300.

Wow. I'm quite speechless right now.

Thanks for the info anyway.

[Hili]

btw a kawasaki vulcan you dont have to import they are available locally for "reasonable" prices. Its 497500 BHT.

[RubberSideDown]

New sportbike prices for bikes 600cc and up that aren't locally manufactured are roughly double US MSRP.

Edited August 12, 2013 by RubberSideDown

[ricku]

My gosh. This must mean that thai people are super rich.

/sarcasm off.

Silly government.

btw a kawasaki vulcan you dont have to import they are available locally for "reasonable" prices. Its 497500 BHT.

Thanks man. It is still a bit on the overpriced side, but at least it is better than 700k BHT. Where did you get these numbers btw?

Edited August 12, 2013 by ricku

[mania]

My gosh. This must mean that thai people are super rich.

/sarcasm off.

Silly government.

btw a kawasaki vulcan you dont have to import they are available locally for "reasonable" prices. Its 497500 BHT.

Thanks man. It is still a bit on the overpriced side, but at least it is better than 700k BHT. Where did you get these numbers btw?

[mania]

My gosh. This must mean that thai people are super rich.

Actually Thai bikers are very upset about it too.

They also know why the prices are high & who profits

This is in Thai but you still get the message

It is a well done video IMO

[poanoi]

My friend wanted to import a new american bike to thailand,

he phoned the company to know the price, and it would become twice as expensive for import.

IIRC the bike went for about $15k in US, but would be over 30k when he got it in thailand.

Edited August 12, 2013 by poanoi

[ricku]

Great vid Mania, and yeah I understood most of it, even though I don't understand the language. I feel very sorry for thai bikers.

Poanoi, well that is utterly crazy! I wonder if Thailand is alone in the world with this bizarre system?

Edited August 12, 2013 by ricku

[B1ade]

Its just the way it is over here, they actually raised the tax on imported bikes 8 months ago to 123% - http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/606038-new-vehicular-excise-tax-rates-depend-on-co2-emissions-from-2016-thailand/

I bought a new ducati 848, cost 900,000 baht, just over double what it would have cost in the UK, i put it off for ages due to the price, it was hard to justify, eventually i crumbled!

Edited August 12, 2013 by B1ade

[ll2]

My gosh. This must mean that thai people are super rich.

/sarcasm off.

Silly government.

btw a kawasaki vulcan you dont have to import they are available locally for "reasonable" prices. Its 497500 BHT.

Thanks man. It is still a bit on the overpriced side, but at least it is better than 700k BHT. Where did you get these numbers btw?

it is all about supporting the local production of motorcycles and forcing manufacturers to invest in thailand than importing bikes from somewhere else, discouraging buyers to get an import and trying to find ways to sponsor the debts from rice scheme.

lets say, they take it from rich and give it to the poorer people but in a twisted way.

yes, we suffer at the end!

Edited August 12, 2013 by ll2

[Spoonman]

My gosh. This must mean that thai people are super rich.

/sarcasm off.

Silly government.

btw a kawasaki vulcan you dont have to import they are available locally for "reasonable" prices. Its 497500 BHT.

Thanks man. It is still a bit on the overpriced side, but at least it is better than 700k BHT. Where did you get these numbers btw?

it is all about supporting the local production of motorcycles and forcing manufacturers to invest in thailand than importing bikes from somewhere else, discouraging buyers to get an import and trying to find ways to sponsor the debts from rice scheme.

lets say, they take it from rich and give it to the poorer people but in a twisted way.

yes, we suffer at the end!

High import taxes has been around a lot longer than the rice scheme so not sure why you are using that as an excuse.

[ricku]

My gosh. This must mean that thai people are super rich.

/sarcasm off.

Silly government.

btw a kawasaki vulcan you dont have to import they are available locally for "reasonable" prices. Its 497500 BHT.

Thanks man. It is still a bit on the overpriced side, but at least it is better than 700k BHT. Where did you get these numbers btw?

it is all about supporting the local production of motorcycles and forcing manufacturers to invest in thailand than importing bikes from somewhere else, discouraging buyers to get an import and trying to find ways to sponsor the debts from rice scheme.

lets say, they take it from rich and give it to the poorer people but in a twisted way.

yes, we suffer at the end!

Then they should be more flexible and make exceptions on the stuff that isn't produced in Thailand.

As far as I know, there aren't any manufacturers of chopper / cruiser style bikes in Thailand, and I think its the same when it comes to sport bikes.

Edited August 12, 2013 by ricku

[poanoi]

Thailand has extremely ineffective taxes, many if not most are not taxed at all, while more yet default on tax evasion

doable due to extreme levels of corruption.

Yet they need revenue somehow, and luxury consumer tax is one of the few fair taxes that are politically doable,

so all in all i think it is a needed and justifiable tax.

Edited August 12, 2013 by poanoi

[yankee99]

My friend wanted to import a new american bike to thailand,

he phoned the company to know the price, and it would become twice as expensive for import.

IIRC the bike went for about $15k in US, but would be over 30k when he got it in thailand.

Which is still way cheaper then buying a import from Ap honda or kawasaki big bike...

[yankee99]

My gosh. This must mean that thai people are super rich.

/sarcasm off.

Silly government.

btw a kawasaki vulcan you dont have to import they are available locally for "reasonable" prices. Its 497500 BHT.

Thanks man. It is still a bit on the overpriced side, but at least it is better than 700k BHT. Where did you get these numbers btw?

it is all about supporting the local production of motorcycles and forcing manufacturers to invest in thailand than importing bikes from somewhere else, discouraging buyers to get an import and trying to find ways to sponsor the debts from rice scheme.

lets say, they take it from rich and give it to the poorer people but in a twisted way.

yes, we suffer at the end!

Really then why are locally produced triumphs so expensive?

[JonnyF]

It's protectionism. Not sure how they get away with it to be honest. It would be quite amusing to see the outrage over here if countries retaliated and decided to tax Thai imports such as Thai rice to their countries at 1xx%.

PS this money isn't going to the poor. The poor are on the production lines of Thai factories earning 300 baht a day. The real money from these deals ends up in suitcases and handed to the people who make the deals. This is probably the main reason I can't bring myself to pay 8xx,xxx for the bike I really want...

[dave_boo]

My gosh. This must mean that thai people are super rich.

/sarcasm off.

Silly government.

btw a kawasaki vulcan you dont have to import they are available locally for "reasonable" prices. Its 497500 BHT.

Thanks man. It is still a bit on the overpriced side, but at least it is better than 700k BHT. Where did you get these numbers btw?

it is all about supporting the local production of motorcycles and forcing manufacturers to invest in thailand than importing bikes from somewhere else, discouraging buyers to get an import and trying to find ways to sponsor the debts from rice scheme.

lets say, they take it from rich and give it to the poorer people but in a twisted way.

yes, we suffer at the end!

Really then why are locally produced triumphs so expensive?

My understanding is the BOI zone they're produced in is not considered 'local' and the bikes produced in that zone are 'imported' into Thailand.

[dave_boo]

It's protectionism. Not sure how they get away with it to be honest. It would be quite amusing to see the outrage over here if countries retaliated and decided to tax Thai imports such as Thai rice to their countries at 1xx%.

PS this money isn't going to the poor. The poor are on the production lines of Thai factories earning 300 baht a day. The real money from these deals ends up in suitcases and handed to the people who make the deals. This is probably the main reason I can't bring myself to pay 8xx,xxx for the bike I really want...

Last year they exported less than 200 000 tonnes of rice to Japan which at current prices is some 3 billion baht. Interestingly the US imported twice that amount. I didn't see any numbers for Italy/Germany/England, but if just those two importing countries would practice fair play Thailand would lose some 9 billion baht a year. And the much larger pool of farmers, who elected the current administration, would be the hardest hit. Running ad campaigns stating that the reason there's so much surplus rice is because there's an unfair trade situation and if there was a fair trade situation the 'little man' could have sold more AND brought that Western big bike down to reasonable pricing just may produce results.

[mania]

OT I know but,

I was pretty amazed to recently see the farmers get 15,000 baht per tonne on that govt deal. Which at first hearing

that I thought it a quite low price given the work.

But even more surprised to hear that is supposedly close to twice the market rate? I am not sure if that is correct

But also that the cost to produce to the farmers is about 5-6000 baht per tonne

Hard life by the sound of it.

Edited August 12, 2013 by mania

[ricku]

I did some digging and found something about tax on japanese big bikes going down 5% every year until it gets to just 5% in 2017...? True or too good to be true?

Link: http://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/showthread.php/37032-The-Wheel-Deal-Bike-Production-and-Taxes

This was posted 11 months ago. Check the link to the story in Bangkok Post as well.

According to the third poster in the thread, the declining import tax is the result of the Free Trade Agreement between Thailand and Japan.

Edited August 12, 2013 by ricku

[dave_boo]

OT I know but,

I was pretty amazed to recently see the farmers get 15,000 baht per tonne on that govt deal. Which at first hearing

that I thought it a quite low price given the work.

But even more surprised to hear that is supposedly close to twice the market rate? I am not sure if that is correct

But also that the cost to produce to the farmers is about 5-6000 baht per tonne

Hard life by the sound of it.

And that's why Thai rice being 12% or higher than other Asian rice.

[yankee99]

I did some digging and found something about tax on japanese big bikes going down 5% every year until it gets to just 5% in 2017...? True or too good to be true?

Link: http://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/showthread.php/37032-The-Wheel-Deal-Bike-Production-and-Taxes

This was posted 11 months ago. Check the link to the story in Bangkok Post as well.

According to the third poster in the thread, the declining import tax is the result of the Free Trade Agreement between Thailand and Japan.

Yes the import tax goes down but they have another tax. I think its a excicse tax or something. I cant find the article but taxes went up sharpely on big bikes between 2012&2013

[RubberSideDown]

I did some digging and found something about tax on japanese big bikes going down 5% every year until it gets to just 5% in 2017...? True or too good to be true?

Link: http://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/showthread.php/37032-The-Wheel-Deal-Bike-Production-and-Taxes

This was posted 11 months ago. Check the link to the story in Bangkok Post as well.

According to the third poster in the thread, the declining import tax is the result of the Free Trade Agreement between Thailand and Japan.

Yes the import tax goes down but they have another tax. I think its a excicse tax or something. I cant find the article but taxes went up sharpely on big bikes between 2012&2013

Yup- there's another bump in the tax rate coming before the end of this year, I believe.

[B1ade]

I did some digging and found something about tax on japanese big bikes going down 5% every year until it gets to just 5% in 2017...? True or too good to be true?

Link: http://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/showthread.php/37032-The-Wheel-Deal-Bike-Production-and-Taxes

This was posted 11 months ago. Check the link to the story in Bangkok Post as well.

According to the third poster in the thread, the declining import tax is the result of the Free Trade Agreement between Thailand and Japan.

Yes the import tax goes down but they have another tax. I think its a excicse tax or something. I cant find the article but taxes went up sharpely on big bikes between 2012&2013

It went up to 123% in december 2012

[yankee99]

I did some digging and found something about tax on japanese big bikes going down 5% every year until it gets to just 5% in 2017...? True or too good to be true?

Link: http://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/showthread.php/37032-The-Wheel-Deal-Bike-Production-and-Taxes

This was posted 11 months ago. Check the link to the story in Bangkok Post as well.

According to the third poster in the thread, the declining import tax is the result of the Free Trade Agreement between Thailand and Japan.

Yes the import tax goes down but they have another tax. I think its a excicse tax or something. I cant find the article but taxes went up sharpely on big bikes between 2012&2013

It went up to 123% in december 2012

I didnt realize it was 123%. I thought it was on a sliding scale based on engine size...

[B1ade]

I did some digging and found something about tax on japanese big bikes going down 5% every year until it gets to just 5% in 2017...? True or too good to be true?

Link: http://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/showthread.php/37032-The-Wheel-Deal-Bike-Production-and-Taxes

This was posted 11 months ago. Check the link to the story in Bangkok Post as well.

According to the third poster in the thread, the declining import tax is the result of the Free Trade Agreement between Thailand and Japan.

Yes the import tax goes down but they have another tax. I think its a excicse tax or something. I cant find the article but taxes went up sharpely on big bikes between 2012&2013

It went up to 123% in december 2012

I didnt realize it was 123%. I thought it was on a sliding scale based on engine size...

Actually you're right, its from 800-1000 cc at 123%, here is a quote from a news site:

"Meanwhile, the ministry also proposed to Cabinet raising excise taxes on imported luxury motorbikes to 123 per cent for 800-1,000cc cylinder capacity from the current 103 per cent. The new tax rate takes effect today.

The measure is expected to help the government gain more revenue of some Bt150 million. The ministry said those able to purchase such bikes are wealthy enough to pay higher taxes. (MCOT online news)"