Bangkok police want cars older than 10 years off the streets

[phitsanulokjohn]

This government dont know what to be up to next.

[newermonkey]

Ridiculous... I agree vehicles in rough or dangerous condition should be off the roads but what about my vintage 1929 Rolls Royce, which is in perfect condition !

All they need to do is enforce the rules already in place, is that so hard.

[Docno]

This is exactly what is done in Singapore. It's very rare to see a car older than 10 years here because the expense doesn't justify it. The exception is the occasional vintage car one sees on the roads. If you have the money to buy/restore a vintage car, you can afford the additional cost of owning a car that's more than 10 years old. The policy improves safety and cuts down on pollution, though it clearly impacts the poor more than the rich. These sorts of things are never easy to balance (though, stepping back from the immediate issue, one can restore some balance through a fair taxation system, etc.).

[flyingdoc]

It is far more important to get unroadworthy cars, trucks and buses off the road, than declaring an age limit.

Why not introduce an actual realistic MOT Test, as in the U.K, after 3 years old, then any vehicles which fail, may not be used on the roads any longer?

My last so-called MOT was a farce, testing only the windscreen washers, then 2 days later I collect my Road Fund licence, and attach it to my windscreen ! Useless! I may have a conscience about my vehicle, and keep it properly, but many others don't !

[epicstuff]

cant see how the age of a car effects traffic?????????????? some crazy logic.. nice how they use a picture of a 30 year old junker to demonstrate the issue.. I frequently used 10 year old cars in my youth never looked like that one.......

Maybe They should spend more time enforcing how to use what is already there. tougher tests to get licences in the 1st place after several professional lessons. would be a good place to start.

I never really understood the congestion charge in London, as I got out when they came in but I think that probably makes more senses and fairer..

Maybe make taxi drivers take the 'knowledge' would be another good one, or at least make sure they know how to drive before giving them a licence, and do something about the busses ,,,,give them a bus lane or something so they don't piss about all over the place trying to cut in on each other for an extra couple of 12 baht fairs. or what ever the rate is nowadays.....

[tingtong]

Another populist idea that no action will follow....

[culicine]

Why don't they have a yearly safety inspection on any vehicle over 5 years old and make a reasonable decision if the vehicle is safe for the road or not. Oh wait this is Thailand and this is too simple of a solution

They have yearly inspections for vehicles but they are very lax. I think they just test the brakes lol. You could be a rusted out piece of junk and still pass.

[epicstuff]

Ridiculous... I agree vehicles in rough or dangerous condition should be off the roads but what about my vintage 1929 Rolls Royce, which is in perfect condition !

All they need to do is enforce the rules already in place, is that so hard.

yes... totally ridiculous you should be paying 4 x the tax... not the same......

[Bagwan]

Why don't they have a yearly safety inspection on any vehicle over 5 years old and make a reasonable decision if the vehicle is safe for the road or not. Oh wait this is Thailand and this is too simple of a solution

There is such yearly inspection on all vehicles over 7 years I believe, whereby the vehicle is inspected for all safety and mechanical roadworthiness,

That is what the book says. Unfortunately reality is different.

When I take my 12 year old truck down to the body shop to renew my road tax and insurance I hand the keys over to the friendly owner who deputes one of his lads to drive it round the corner to the testing station. In about 15 minutes my truck is returned, all documentation completed. The whole procedure is a joke. Even the testing station opposite the Vehicle Licencing Centre by the International school off of road 36 fails to reach the required standard of inspection.

[MMarlow]

i have an 8 year old fortuner owned since new its in perfect condition so i can only drive it 2 more years .also have a 16 year old benz but with a 2 year old toyota camry engine thats also perfect so i should scrap them now >>>> the picture in the opening post of the bent clapped out car is around 30 years old ,i would say almost all cars that our 10 years old are still in pretty good nick as they are still worth quite a lot of money........

How do you get a front-wheel drive Camry engine to operate in a Benz? The Benz is RWD, isn't it?

[soi41]

Take it easy guys!

Khun Adul was ordered by Mr T just last week, to do something to put the police in a better light!

This was the best he could come up with? He has hit the headlines, so mission accompliced!

Tomorrow it is business as usual.

[connda]

Now, there's a great plan to keep the poorer segment of society off the street.

[Anon999]

Why don't they have a yearly safety inspection on any vehicle over 5 years old and make a reasonable decision if the vehicle is safe for the road or not. Oh wait this is Thailand and this is too simple of a solution

what is a safety inspection ? cars already have so say an inspection [MOT] after there 8th Birthday every year, or you will not get your road tax

My car is old, the paper I need to get the tax, safety inspection? I take the car to the garage, she take the book and the numbers using masking tap and a pencil.

5 mins later I drive home.......... 7 days later she calls me have the new tax come and collect. I bought my Audi A6 in 2008, was very low KM and 1 owner but 10 years old.. every year since then have taken it to a local Village Garage each year to get the paper to get the new Tax, also get the new Insurance from the same lady garage owner.. never had any sort of Inspection, or car checked.

Yes is in mint condition and now has 158k only on the clock... my 18 month old Pickup has already well passed that KM

Now I have seen car/trucks on red plates with rear lights not working or front lights only 1 headlight, they will be OK as just a few days/weeks old. also seen 20 - 30 year old cars in far better condition than 10 year old cars

Anyway I drive into Bangkok maybe 2x a year, nothing I need or want in BKK, so not going at all is no problem.

Just had the first inspection done on my Lancer after 7 years and it was fairly cursory in comparison to the UK. However, the brakes and emissions were tested and probably the lights/indicators which at least showed willing. However, as I live in a city and not a village it's probably different.

Would be a good idea if they started to look at tyres and wiper blades operation too.

Edited October 8, 2013 by Anon999

[Bagwan]

Am I the only person who doesn't understand this story? Will 10 year old cars get taxed or banned from Bangkok? Or banned if they don't pay the tax?

Owners of such cars should be required to pay a yearly vehicle tax at the rate of a new car if they want to continue driving in Bangkok, Adul added.

"It will be required that cars allowed to run in Bangkok should be no older than 10 years. All cars older than that will have to be used in the provinces," he said.

It seems perfectly fair that old cars pay the same tax as new cars - a reduction in tax for older cars is unfair.

Not if you have an older (8 years old) car as I do. Makes perfect sense to me!

What nonsense. Does your old banger take up less room on the road? Does it cause less wear and tear on the road surface? Are you not driven solely by self interest?

[mancub]

Just impounding the vehicles of anyone who doesn't have a licence ....should see a 30% reduction in traffic . ( No idea where you would put them ,of course !)

[theblether]

They should just have said they were going to target all unroadworthy cars such as that pick up pictured. The body work on that car would shred a pedestrian even in a relatively low speed collision. No one would object to dangerous vehicles being removed from the road.

The key phrase was though, "removed unless they pay full tax", as usual it's the BiB applying financial threats. They will be salivating at the thought of tea money flowing as they pull over every older car.

It's all about the money, nothing to do with congestion.

[andygunther]

This seems to be more of a class and image thing. No mention of the roadworthiness (safety) of the vehicles only removing the poor mans cars from Bangkok out to the poor mans province. I would guess clearing the majority of the vehicles of the roads would clear the way for Somchia's Merc.

I have no problem with removing any vehicle from the roads if they fail to comply with road worthy standards, and that includes 2 year old Mercs if a 10 year old vehicle is in mint or top condition then it has every right to use the same public road as the Hi So's. Adding extra taxes on vehicles based solely on a vehicles age is not fair.

If you read the whole story, the old cars only have to pay 50 % of the tax today.

[Bagwan]

This seems to be more of a class and image thing. No mention of the roadworthiness (safety) of the vehicles only removing the poor mans cars from Bangkok out to the poor mans province. I would guess clearing the majority of the vehicles of the roads would clear the way for Somchia's Merc.

I have no problem with removing any vehicle from the roads if they fail to comply with road worthy standards, and that includes 2 year old Mercs if a 10 year old vehicle is in mint or top condition then it has every right to use the same public road as the Hi So's. Adding extra taxes on vehicles based solely on a vehicles age is not fair.

Totally agree Chooka, how do they propose to deal with a vintage car that has been fully maintained to pristine standards and working condition?

This whole issue could be dealt with by applying an appropriate annual vehicle maintenance testing standard, such as the MoT Test in the UK. Vehicles that fail the test cannot get their road fund licence renewed, so they are not allowed back on to the roads until all of the problems with the vehicle have been fixed and the vehicle gets through the test successfully.

Given that the test includes a check of all side, main, hazard and brake lights, such a test in Thailand would undoubtedly result in 75% of the cars being taken off the road for light replacements...!

Furthermore, once a vehicle has passed such testing, the road fund licence should be increased significantly, as the fund should be able to support all road repairs. This could be staggered according to engine size, so as to penalise those with greater emissions and reward those who drive smaller cars. I would have no problem paying double what I currently pay for my Camry.

Much of the Road Fund Tax monies in the UK is snaffled to finance things other than road improvement and maintenance. I would support a tax based on axle weightings.

[Fullstop]

strict enforcement of traffic laws, particularly involving speeding and jumping red-light signals

Ya gotta laugh.

Actually, the other day a cop was sitting on his bike next to me at the lights. He took off through the red light. I waited an extra 3 seconds till it went green ... roared past him and waggled my finger at him. Loved it!

[transam]

Perhaps a ''controlled'' Ministry of Transport vehicle test where only a pass can keep it on the road would be of more use to thin out the traffic and for sure clean up the air.

Think you understand the word ''controlled'' in this instance, same as there are no way out of us getting a visa unless everything is in order.

[Rod3]

If wanna to manage with old vehicles, why don't simply start to deal with old buses (red, blue and even some yellow) wich has huge black smoke.

Just notice when you stay behind, this is a real matter....

[arthurwait]

Why don't they have a yearly safety inspection on any vehicle over 5 years old and make a reasonable decision if the vehicle is safe for the road or not. Oh wait this is Thailand and this is too simple of a solution

Believe it or not they do. Just the police.........

[pookiki]

I assume this apply to all the old dead beat buses.

Agree totally!! If one were to look at the number of buses breaking down in relation to the number of cars, I think the real problem would be easily identified. And more people are inconvenienced as a result. Many of the buses on the read are rolling coffins waiting to find a large pothole!

[MaxYakov]

Well who the hell thought it was smart to licence cars on a sliding scale anyway?????

The British government for one.

Dumb idea anyway. If the idea is to get cars off the road it will fail. Owners of older cars will just stump up the extra few hundred baht tax and carry on driving in Bangkok. No change .

And California for another and probably every other US State.

[Bagwan]

I don't think Pol Maj Gen Adul Narongsak really thought this through. I think having standards that allow vehicles to be on public roads sounds like a better idea.

You credit him with the ability to ponder a while, turn things over in his head, weigh up the pro's and con's of various possibilities before coming to a decision? You rate him a Super Cop? Sheesh.

[SNGLIFE]

Utterly ridiculous and impossible to enforce.

Nit and Wit occasionally drive their 15 year old truck to and from Bangkok. No way they are going to comply. If they are stopped, then they'll pay a 100-200 baht bribe and they are on their merry way until the next time.

If they are serious about reducing traffic, then jack up the tolls to 200 baht and the receipt is displayed in the windshield and good for 48 hours of driving in the city. Require residents to pay more for their yearly car sticker good for all year. That should do the trick. Daily visitors will start car pooling and using more public transportation or they will hop back on their motorbikes.

Of course, they also need to be prepared for the consequences of changing existing policy (Ha!). More people riding motorbikes means more motorbike accidents, for example. More people riding public transport means more public transport needs to be made available. You know...common sense things. Ha!

[SNGLIFE]

...oh and of course if they plan to actually enforce the law against old cars, that means they need more police spending more time doing that. Which means more check points and - wait for it - more traffic jams caused by having more checkpoints and cars pulled over and gawkers slowing traffic to look at the pulled-over cars! Duh!

[skyaslimit]

Who will be buying my old car, when I change a new one after every 7-10 years?

sent by skyaslimit using thaivisa forum mobile app.

[givenall]

Should of thought of the congestion before the government installed the first car policy. Then again, it's always patch job with this government or before. Never bother with long term planning!

He must be getting some tea money from the care makers since the sales has dropped

None of the police department ever care about traffic except how to make money from it. case and point is the way they operate the lights, never auto and always give way to motor ways, shopping traffic, etc. etc.

[Pui]

Put the tax on the fuel, them that do more miles should pay more. It's not how old the car is BUT how many miles you do in a year. Why should a car that covers 5k a year pay the same as a car that does 150k in a year.

Put more tax on fuel? I don't want to pay more for fuel, who does? Especially when the sales tax on new cars is so high.

Imports with 2litre engines 200% 3litre 300% and you want add more tax to Fuel?

in Thailand fuel is already double what it costs in neighbouring Malaysia.