Driving with red plates after 6 pm ?

[Rinrada]

Picked up our new Toyo Champ in Bangkok about 10 weeks ago...Photo session,presentation ,good luck and all that and couple of days later drove back to CM (red Plates and book) and just made sure that wherever we went we got there by 6-00pm.which suited me

Three weeks later wife mentioned that her white plates were available ...lucky number,date.of birth or whatever and we would have to go back to Bangkok and get them.

Another return trip (overnight in Nakon Sawan) and sure enough they were ready.

Also I had a load of boxes arrive from UK (300 Kilos...Seven Seas) delivered to depot at Bangna T.King Gell Rd so all very convienent.

We have the motor on credit so seems that you have to return the "brown book" to the legal owners ...in our case Toyota until you make the final payment.

Didnt fill anything in said book.

On both trips we took new motor bikes in the back with us and only time we saw any police was at a couple of check points on the main roads where we were waved through...with polite salutes.

Also got all the usual bits as extras Liner,Tax ,Insurance etc.....plus a free Samsung Galaxy S3....something or other

Trying to post a picture but air card tooooo slooow...

[balo]

I see you all have different experiences when it comes to red plates.

I talked to my Pattaya Nissan dealer again today and they explained to me that I shouldnt worry about the brown book as long as I only drive in Chonburi.

But after 6 PM they strongly advised me not to use the car. I just hope they keep their promise so I will receive my new plates in 4 weeks.....

[Commander Tamson]

I think most Thais, and most BiB for that matter are unaware of this law.

I bought my latest car in Bangkok and drove it next day to Ubonratchathani. It was then about 3 months before I picked up the white plates [special order]. No one said anything about Red Plate restrictions and the dealer was Thailand's foremost Merc seller. Definitely no brown book!!!

So not only was I driving on Red Plates, but on Bangkok red plates in Isaan - never had an ounce of bovver! Was pulled over twice for speeding and 3 times at alcohol check points during that time and never once was the red plate issue mentioned. The speeding fines were the standard 300baht and I never drink and drive.

[RBOP]

My first car had red plates for 8 months. Drove around never got stopped by police. I was always home by 10pm however.

[kiniyow]

You should be able to drive anywhere at any time with a Red Plate....Why Log in any trips or do anything special..The Vehicle was legally bought and your waiting for the White plate to be issued...

my friend had a very bad accident at night on a red plate and it cost him a lot of money to buy his way out.

If he had no insurance sure it would cost big time...What did the red plate have to do with an accident at Night? Buy his way out? You bet is not insured...

[mjsansai]

Red plates = don't drive after 6 PM, but generally they seem to accept 7 to 8 PM as people are still getting back from work.

Red plates = log every trip in the brown book when going out of your province (Chonburi). Within Chonburi you should be fine.

Red plates = if you want to drive at night you have to get special approval from the DMV to do so. You need to get approval for EVERY trip.

That's it

Technically It''s Sun- up to Sun- down not 6PM but I am just quibbling

[Tchooptip]

And what about red plate for motorbibe? Nothing special?

[NanLaew]

You should be able to drive anywhere at any time with a Red Plate....Why Log in any trips or do anything special..The Vehicle was legally bought and your waiting for the White plate to be issued...

my friend had a very bad accident at night on a red plate and it cost him a lot of money to buy his way out.

If he had no insurance sure it would cost big time...What did the red plate have to do with an accident at Night? Buy his way out? You bet is not insured...

Because regardless of when the red plate law was promulgated or whether it is 100% enforced, it is still on the statutes. Think it through, if the red-plated driver had NOT been driving illegally at night, the accident would never have happened.

As the OP can see, the experiences with red plates (and no plates) is varied regardless if you are in or out of province. Nobody has posted anything here just to make things up and your experience may be something very similar or totally different. All input is valid!

I would just add that red plates WITHOUT a brown book would make me nervous since that could indicate illegal or 'cloned' red plates and from what I have heard, if a traffic stopping cop reckons they are illegal, there's more to be paid than 200 baht. Red plates that are legally issued always have a matching brown book; it's more of a log book for the plates as much as a trip log for the red-plated vehicle.

Happy (daytime) driving!

[Commander Tamson]

Have a look around you next time you're out and about. And clock all the red plates you see, at anytime of day and night. Especially since the first car scheme was introduced. If there seriously was tea money for the BiB in this, would they be so prevalent?

Maybe of course that since there are so many new cars on the road, word has been passed down thru the ranks to turn a blind eye to that law.

[vijer]

Only TiT could come up with nonsense like the Red Plate rules. So because you have a new car you should be restricted?!? Does that mean you're more likely to be driving a stolen car? Or in my wife's opinion red plates means new drivers, which would really be silly.

When we had our red plate we got pulled over but didn't have anything in the book, the BiB told the wife we had to write in the book anytime we were driving after 6pm. We didn't get fined though.

[deckard]

You should be able to drive anywhere at any time with a Red Plate....Why Log in any trips or do anything special..The Vehicle was legally bought and your waiting for the White plate to be issued...

my friend had a very bad accident at night on a red plate and it cost him a lot of money to buy his way out.

If he had no insurance sure it would cost big time...What did the red plate have to do with an accident at Night? Buy his way out? You bet is not insured...

Because regardless of when the red plate law was promulgated or whether it is 100% enforced, it is still on the statutes. Think it through, if the red-plated driver had NOT been driving illegally at night, the accident would never have happened.

As the OP can see, the experiences with red plates (and no plates) is varied regardless if you are in or out of province. Nobody has posted anything here just to make things up and your experience may be something very similar or totally different. All input is valid!

I would just add that red plates WITHOUT a brown book would make me nervous since that could indicate illegal or 'cloned' red plates and from what I have heard, if a traffic stopping cop reckons they are illegal, there's more to be paid than 200 baht. Red plates that are legally issued always have a matching brown book; it's more of a log book for the plates as much as a trip log for the red-plated vehicle.

Happy (daytime) driving!

Yes this is very true . I was stopped at a pay toll with a new pick up on red plates . The cop said where is brown book ? I looked at him dumb founded as the dealer never gave me one . He then invited me out of the car and said " copy red plates " pointing to it . I said I had bought it from one of the biggest Toyota dealers in Bangkok , then he showed me that there wasn't a round stamp in the bottom right hand corner pressed into the metal , outcome was he wanted 2000 bt I said "mai me" and he settled for 1000bt . I knew a car dealer and he told me afterwards that dealers are only alloted a certain amount of red plates so when they are all gone they will make (or have a stock) of copy ones if anyone wants to buy a new vehicle. So if you buy a new vehicle always make sure it is genuine with a small round stamp. Since that event I have often checked red plates while walking passed parked cars and am surprised at the amount of copies about .

[dknslowly]

Nothing at all I been stuck on red plates for 4 months now I drive all over bangkok all times of the day already on 13,000 + km's never once been pulled over for red plates after 6pm - its an old law...

Same here. My current red plate is now 8,000 km. I've had 3 red plates in the past 3 years and have never had a problem in Bangkok but neither on long trips upcountry which I've had a few.

The brown book 'should' be completed. I never bother. Whenever I get stopped (speeding, not after dark) I just roll up a single red note behind my license, hand both over & miraculously my license comes back missing the red note. Done. 20 seconds maximum. If I don't have a red one, I tell him 100 and do the same with a 1,000 note. My change comes back every time. No kidding. I never ask "how much" -that's for chumps. You set the price and its always 100. Be certain and confident of the price. (assuming you didn't run someone over in which case wait for insurance - say/do nothing).

Red book > 6pm = 100 baht.

Remember time = money for them. Cut the argument out, give them what they really want and if its finished in 10 seconds they'll just waive you on. I don't condone the corruption but putting my farang morals up for 5 years just gave me grief. The last 10 years I play the game & everyone seems happy. I light an incense stick and say a prayer for my sins. Then I sleep well.

[balo]

Yes this is very true . I was stopped at a pay toll with a new pick up on red plates . The cop said where is brown book ? I looked at him dumb founded as the dealer never gave me one . He then invited me out of the car and said " copy red plates " pointing to it . I said I had bought it from one of the biggest Toyota dealers in Bangkok , then he showed me that there wasn't a round stamp in the bottom right hand corner pressed into the metal , outcome was he wanted 2000 bt I said "mai me" and he settled for 1000bt . I knew a car dealer and he told me afterwards that dealers are only alloted a certain amount of red plates so when they are all gone they will make (or have a stock) of copy ones if anyone wants to buy a new vehicle. So if you buy a new vehicle always make sure it is genuine with a small round stamp. Since that event I have often checked red plates while walking passed parked cars and am surprised at the amount of copies about .

A stamp on the red plates ?

I can't find any stamps on my red plates..........

[stevenl]

Nothing at all I been stuck on red plates for 4 months now I drive all over bangkok all times of the day already on 13,000 + km's never once been pulled over for red plates after 6pm - its an old law...

Same here. My current red plate is now 8,000 km. I've had 3 red plates in the past 3 years and have never had a problem in Bangkok but neither on long trips upcountry which I've had a few.

The brown book 'should' be completed. I never bother. Whenever I get stopped (speeding, not after dark) I just roll up a single red note behind my license, hand both over & miraculously my license comes back missing the red note. Done. 20 seconds maximum. If I don't have a red one, I tell him 100 and do the same with a 1,000 note. My change comes back every time. No kidding. I never ask "how much" -that's for chumps. You set the price and its always 100. Be certain and confident of the price. (assuming you didn't run someone over in which case wait for insurance - say/do nothing).

Red book > 6pm = 100 baht.

Remember time = money for them. Cut the argument out, give them what they really want and if its finished in 10 seconds they'll just waive you on. I don't condone the corruption but putting my farang morals up for 5 years just gave me grief. The last 10 years I play the game & everyone seems happy. I light an incense stick and say a prayer for my sins. Then I sleep well.

So you don't condone corruption, you only encourage it.

[mogandave]

Nothing at all I been stuck on red plates for 4 months now I drive all over bangkok all times of the day already on 13,000 + km's never once been pulled over for red plates after 6pm - its an old law...

Same here. My current red plate is now 8,000 km. I've had 3 red plates in the past 3 years and have never had a problem in Bangkok but neither on long trips upcountry which I've had a few.

The brown book 'should' be completed. I never bother. Whenever I get stopped (speeding, not after dark) I just roll up a single red note behind my license, hand both over & miraculously my license comes back missing the red note. Done. 20 seconds maximum. If I don't have a red one, I tell him 100 and do the same with a 1,000 note. My change comes back every time. No kidding. I never ask "how much" -that's for chumps. You set the price and its always 100. Be certain and confident of the price. (assuming you didn't run someone over in which case wait for insurance - say/do nothing).

Red book > 6pm = 100 baht.

Remember time = money for them. Cut the argument out, give them what they really want and if its finished in 10 seconds they'll just waive you on. I don't condone the corruption but putting my farang morals up for 5 years just gave me grief. The last 10 years I play the game & everyone seems happy. I light an incense stick and say a prayer for my sins. Then I sleep well.

So you don't condone corruption, you only encourage it.

Only when it benifits them.

[deckard]

Yes this is very true . I was stopped at a pay toll with a new pick up on red plates . The cop said where is brown book ? I looked at him dumb founded as the dealer never gave me one . He then invited me out of the car and said " copy red plates " pointing to it . I said I had bought it from one of the biggest Toyota dealers in Bangkok , then he showed me that there wasn't a round stamp in the bottom right hand corner pressed into the metal , outcome was he wanted 2000 bt I said "mai me" and he settled for 1000bt . I knew a car dealer and he told me afterwards that dealers are only alloted a certain amount of red plates so when they are all gone they will make (or have a stock) of copy ones if anyone wants to buy a new vehicle. So if you buy a new vehicle always make sure it is genuine with a small round stamp. Since that event I have often checked red plates while walking passed parked cars and am surprised at the amount of copies about .

A stamp on the red plates ?

I can't find any stamps on my red plates..........

If you look on any white number plate there will be a small circular stamp indented into the metal , this is exactly the same for red provional plates .

[mogandave]

Stamping...

[redfish44]

Real red plates should have a small circle pressed into the metal with the thai letters for tiger - saw sua, and egg - kaw khai, inside (sorry not thai font on my phone).

There is an image in another thread from memory.

Red plates are dealer plates that are issued while waiting for motor reg to issue the tabien rot which states your plate number.

The threads from last year included links to motor reg sites where they stated dealers should take no longer than x(?) days to get the paperwork sumbitted snd these issued.

Last year there was a plate shortage so heaps of cars with tabien rot but no plates.

Reasons for long times on red plates relate to 3 things from memory

Dealer incompetence or laziness

Status of red plates by show offs

Wanting to delay issue of tabien rot to indicate car is newer than it really is.

On another note: we saw a lamborghini parked near us in BangNa with a black matt stealth paint job and red plates of "tiger" "puying" 5555.

No way would I want my daughter near that guy.

[ableguy]

Yes I do have a brown book but no one at Nissan Pattaya explained to me what it was for ......

Not sure what to write in there since I dont read Thai , but date and signature should probably be enough .

Write what time you start your trip , where from wnere to time you complete the trip.

[sms747]

Never seen any brown book but when we got the vios last year it had red plates on, and they gave us the white ones at the same time. Car still has the red ones on, for show I think (mrs)