Driving to Vietnam through Laos; do we need to own our car?

[Watthanaya]

Hello!

Living in Khorat/Buriram Province (right on the border, back and forth all the time) and would like to drive to Vietnam with family. We are hoping to go through Savannakhet and travel through to the Quang Tri Beach in Vietnam.

I currently don't have a car but we are planning on taking my cousins. The are about half through paying it off.

Some people say you can't go through the borders if you car isn't paid off, others say with the right documentation you can.

Please help

[hansnl]

As long as you do not have the car ID (the green book) you can not obtain the pink book.(vehicle carnet)

That means you are not able to export the car temporarily.

Forget it.

[nicton]

As long as you do not have the car ID (the green book) you can not obtain the pink book.(vehicle carnet)

That means you are not able to export the car temporarily.

Forget it.

Anyway with a right-hand driven car they don't let you enter Vietnam. Forget it once more.

[phuketrichard]

you can NOT take a thai registered car into Vietnam unless ur own some kind of a group tour

The PURPLE book is your cars passport an only used/needed for Laos.

[Watthanaya]

Wow! Thank you for all the help/advice!

This is confusing though because while studying SEA economics in university we talked about this new highway being built for middle class families in Issan to be able to travel…my professor even said he drove there with his wife?

[chainarong]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

Wow! Thank you for all the help/advice!

This is confusing though because while studying SEA economics in university we talked about this new highway being built for middle class families in Issan to be able to travel…my professor even said he drove there with his wife?

Unless you own the car you wont get a vehicle Passport out of Thailand, Lao is L/H drive.

[Tomtomtom69]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

Wow! Thank you for all the help/advice!

This is confusing though because while studying SEA economics in university we talked about this new highway being built for middle class families in Issan to be able to travel…my professor even said he drove there with his wife?

Unless you own the car you wont get a vehicle Passport out of Thailand, Lao is L/H drive.

I believe you can obtain permission from the bank to obtain a vehicle passport to drive your car out of the country temporarily - many people have managed to do so, but it could be dependent upon your payment history (basically no defaults, always on time) and explaining you'll only take the car out for a few days, something like that. Also, a power of attorney is needed to drive a vehicle that is not in your own name out of the country, but for a simple trip to Laos you may not be asked for anything more than the purple vehicle passport. However, in order to obtain a purple vehicle passport in the first place, a power of attorney from the bank is needed.

I've done it many times in the opposite direction (Lao car on finance in company name driving to Thailand) and all I needed was the yellow vehicle passport - for the first trip I had a power of attorney I didn't use and later on I stopped bothering to obtain powers of attorney knowing that Thailand easily allows vehicles from other countries to be driven across it's borders.

Vietnam is a different story. I managed to enter once with the Lao car I was driving but then suddenly 8 months later and at the same crossing, armed with power of attorney, vehicle registration, Vietnamese driving license, a phone call to the owner of the vehicle who spoke with customs they just wouldn't budge - they claimed they didn't care who the vehicle was registered to, but no Vietnamese or third party foreigners could drive the Lao car across - only a Lao citizen could. It seemed like a stupid rule, which they made up as they went along. Long story short after exchanging a few harsh words, I drove back to Laos and hoped Vietnam would be subject to the same restrictive rules as they apply to others - they are. The Thais and Chinese refuse entry to Vietnamese vehicles, whilst the Cambodians make it so complicated it's virtually impossible too, except if you have high government connections.

[Tomtomtom69]

you can NOT take a thai registered car into Vietnam unless ur own some kind of a group tour

The PURPLE book is your cars passport an only used/needed for Laos.

I posted a thread about this in November last year.

Vietnam has introduced new rules for the entry of foreign registered vehicles as follows:

Commercial vehicles registered in Laos and Cambodia can continue to enter Vietnam as before.

Private vehicles registered in Laos can also continue to enter Vietnam.

Private vehicles registered in Cambodia now seem to be denied, unless they come on a tour with lead vehicle as an escort and itinerary mapped out in advance.

The same goes for left-hand drive private vehicles from other countries, including China, Europe or any other country, meaning the entry of foreign registered vehicles into Vietnam, which was never very large in number has now slowed to a trickle, because who wants to follow a guide for hundreds or thousands of km and the nuisance and expense it entails when travelling through a foreign country that is actually very popular with tourists (albeit very few of these tourists drive themselves)?

Arriving in a Thai vehicle is now almost impossible even on a group tour - they've banned that since December 25.

With any luck these measures are only temporary before AEC comes into force and Vietnam may be forced to open up unconditionally to all ASEAN registered vehicles at least, including RHD Thai, Malaysian and Singaporean cars.

PS See this article:

http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/2013/11/new-rules-for-self-drive-holidays/