Can I Purchase

[platinum-thai]

Can I buy a new truck in thailand on a non-immigrant, category (O), multiple entry visa ( family visit visa). or do I need to make a work visa.

[Maestro]

Can I buy a new truck in thailand on a non-immigrant, category (O), multiple entry visa ( family visit visa). or do I need to make a work visa.

See http://www.thaivisa.com/own_car_thailand.0.html, but I don't know how up-to-date this information is.

More likely, getting insurance cover will be a problem. One reads all kinds of different stories here and there seems to be no standard rule. Others who have gone through this experience will hopefully tell you about it.

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Maestro

[Thaipwriter]

Can I buy a new truck in thailand on a non-immigrant, category (O), multiple entry visa ( family visit visa). or do I need to make a work visa.

yes you can!

the certificate of residence showing your address is always the more difficult part.

get this from your embassy for 1500 Baht ish.

Immigration do a free version but this is not straight forward to get.

You could of course just put the vehicle in the name of a Thai national instead.

Or you can put it in my name, I'm 100% honest you know

[platinum-thai]

Thankyou Thaipwriter I hope this solve the problem, I am going to try this first thing monday. I have had my Toyota Hilux vigo 4door 4X4

for 16 days now and just love the thing! paid cash upfront and got the insurance now to get rid of the red plate. Can't understand the sales

person not knowing all I had to do was go to the embassy. if this doesnt work maybe I can put it in your name.

[tomallison]

On recent purchase of a new car in my name. I showed cofirmation of my home address on a form entered, signed, and stamped at my local Immigration office. This is an easy, quick and no cost method.

[naka]

No work permit required !

As tens of thousands of folks on retitement visa's have cars.

Just get the residency form (Approx Bt 120) from immigration before you buy.

Naka.

Edited June 4, 2006 by naka

[andreasbkk]

What about the insurance cover?

[platinum-thai]

Update.

Today I went to the thai immigration office to get a certificate of residence and they told me my non-immigrant multible entry type O visa is a 90 day visa not a 1 year visa.

They said I would have to upgrade to a 1year visa and to do this.

So I went to plan (. Went to the U.S. Embassy and swore before the consul of my address, and to request to the thai authority to issue me a thai drivers license.

Then I took that document for a cretified thai translation.

So now I will go see about getting a thai license. Hope they have English?. After that, take that sworn embassy document and translation to Toyota...

andreasbkk - the insurance is already on the truck.

What do you guys think! will this work?. WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT???.

[shotover]

I currently have a one year multi-entry non-Imm O certificate based on retirement that was issued in September 2005.

This past March, I went to the Suan Phlu Thai Immigration office to request a Certificate of Residence to use as a basis for getting my Thai drivers license renewed.

The Thai Immigration officials told me they would not issue me a residence certificate letter because my passport did not have a '90 day reporting form' in my passport.

I had not done a 90 day report since the visa was issued because I frequently travel outside Thailand, and in fact, had arrived back in Thailand from a trip to the USA only 5 days before requesting the residency letter.

I politely requested that the officials check with supervisors, and 4 officials of higher ranks confirmed that I must have a 90 day report note in my passport before they would issue a residency letter.

Additionally, these officials insisted that the owner of the condo building where I reside (I have a 6 month lease and pay rent monthly) is required to report to Thai Immigration EACH TIME I stay overnight outside Bangkok, even if I go down to Pattaya for one day!

I presume this is a requirement rarely followed by owners/managers of apartments and condos, as they would normally have no knowledge of the comings and goings of their tenants renting on a monthly basis.

[eugengeri]

I currently have a one year multi-entry non-Imm O certificate based on retirement that was issued in September 2005.

This past March, I went to the Suan Phlu Thai Immigration office to request a Certificate of Residence to use as a basis for getting my Thai drivers license renewed.

The Thai Immigration officials told me they would not issue me a residence certificate letter because my passport did not have a '90 day reporting form' in my passport.

I had not done a 90 day report since the visa was issued because I frequently travel outside Thailand, and in fact, had arrived back in Thailand from a trip to the USA only 5 days before requesting the residency letter.

I politely requested that the officials check with supervisors, and 4 officials of higher ranks confirmed that I must have a 90 day report note in my passport before they would issue a residency letter.

Additionally, these officials insisted that the owner of the condo building where I reside (I have a 6 month lease and pay rent monthly) is required to report to Thai Immigration EACH TIME I stay overnight outside Bangkok, even if I go down to Pattaya for one day!

I presume this is a requirement rarely followed by owners/managers of apartments and condos, as they would normally have no knowledge of the comings and goings of their tenants renting on a monthly basis.

Dear shotover

A MULTI-ENTRY 'O' visa simply allows you to VISIT Thailand, for up to 90 days, AS MANY TIMES AS YOU WISH in 1 year.

the other one what the immigration want to see from you is a ONE YEAR 'EXTENSION' FOR A NON-IMMIGRANT 'O' VISA.

So don‘t mix this together.

[Maestro]

these officials insisted that the owner of the condo building where I reside (I have a 6 month lease and pay rent monthly) is required to report to Thai Immigration EACH TIME I stay overnight outside Bangkok, even if I go down to Pattaya for one day!

It looks like these immigration officials just returned from a refresher course on Thailand’s Immigration Act but misunderstood a few things they were taught:

1. Condo owner’s duty:

Section 38 : The house – master , the owner or the possessor of the residence , or the hotel manager where the alien , receiving permission to stay temporary in the Kingdom has stayed , must notify the competent official of the Immigration Office located in the same area with that hours , dwelling place or hotel, within 24 hours from the time of arrival of the alien concerned. If there is no Immigration Office located in that area , the local police official for that area must be notified.

In case the house , dwelling place , or hotel where the alien has stayed under provision of Para.1 is located within the Bangkok area , such notification must be reported to the competent official at the Immigration Division.

Making notification , in reference to the Para 1 and 2 of this Section , must comply with regulations prescribed by the Director General.

In other words, the condo owner must report your arrival, not your absence, with form TM-30.

2. Your duty when going to Pattaya:

Section 37 : An alien having received a temporary entry permit into the Kingdom must comply with the following :

...

4. If the alien travels to any province and will stay there longer than twenty – four hours , such alien must notify the police official of the police station for that area within forty – eight hours from the time of arrival.

In another tread, I remember, it has been said that if you check in at a hotel you discharge this duty by filling out the hotel’s registration form. If you rent or stay with friends, theoretically the owner of the place you stay would report your arrival with form TM-30 and you would report your presence to the police with form TM-28.

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Maestro

[shotover]

"Dear shotover

A MULTI-ENTRY 'O' visa simply allows you to VISIT Thailand, for up to 90 days, AS MANY TIMES AS YOU WISH in 1 year."

My multi-entry O-A visa, issued to me by a Thai consulate in the USA, allows me to visit Thailand for up to 1 YEAR, AS MANY TIMES AS I WISH in 1 year. If I stay in Thailand for more than 90 days without leaving the country, then I must report to Thai Immigration by the 90th day. If I leave and reenter Thailand prior to the 90 day period, then the 90 day count starts over when I arrive back in Thailand.

"the other one what the immigration want to see from you is a ONE YEAR 'EXTENSION' FOR A NON-IMMIGRANT 'O' VISA. So don‘t mix this together."

Not mixed together at all. Immigration officials NEVER mentioned a ONE YEAR 'EXTENSION' FOR A NON-IMMIGRANT 'O' VISA. They only stated repeatedly that they would not issue a Residency letter unless I had a 90 day reporting form in my passport.

[shotover]

"It looks like these immigration officials just returned from a refresher course on Thailand’s Immigration Act but misunderstood a few things they were taught"

Agree. Another example of beauracrats interepting laws without thinking of the common sense application. The Thai Immigration officials did say he expected the condo manager to know when I left Bangkok, and to report EACH return date to Thai Immigration. Seems the law does not distinguish between hotels housing transient tourists and condos/apartments housing long-term stay residents.

The condo manager did copy my passport and report my information when I initially moved into the condo, but laughed when I told him what the officials said about each subsequent departure and return.

[Maestro]

...they would not issue a Residency letter unless I had a 90 day reporting form in my passport.

Apparently, you got caught up in a prime example of bureaucracy at its best.

– With your arrival card (TM-6) you reported your address but probably this address does not get entered in Immigration’s central data base.

– The 90-day address report made with TM-47 and the change-of-address report with TM-28 get entered in the database.

– Probably, Immigration’s standard procedure is to issue a certificate of residence based on the address stored in its database.

I wonder if Immigration would accept from you a TM-47 and give you the corresponding receipt even though you have not stayed over 90 days. However, as you already have your car and wish to free yourself promptly of the restrictions imposed by the temporary, red registration plate you did the right thing and got your address confirmation from your embassy.

Good luck, and enjoy your car!

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Maestro

[eugengeri]

...they would not issue a Residency letter unless I had a 90 day reporting form in my passport.

Apparently, you got caught up in a prime example of bureaucracy at its best.

– With your arrival card (TM-6) you reported your address but probably this address does not get entered in Immigration’s central data base.

– The 90-day address report made with TM-47 and the change-of-address report with TM-28 get entered in the database.

– Probably, Immigration’s standard procedure is to issue a certificate of residence based on the address stored in its database.

I wonder if Immigration would accept from you a TM-47 and give you the corresponding receipt even though you have not stayed over 90 days. However, as you already have your car and wish to free yourself promptly of the restrictions imposed by the temporary, red registration plate you did the right thing and got your address confirmation from your embassy.

Good luck, and enjoy your car!

---------------

Maestro

Thank you maestro, i think the same, and of course, i wish shotover also good luck and that he can enjoy the car!

[Thaipwriter]

Today I went to the thai immigration office to get a certificate of residence and they told me my non-immigrant multible entry type O visa is a 90 day visa not a 1 year visa.

They said I would have to upgrade to a 1year visa and to do this.

Unless the rules have changed, or the wind is blowing in a different direction, this is wrong.

It is perfectly normal to register a vehicle (car or bike) with only a 90 day stamp in your passport.

The requirement for an extension is crappola me thinks.

Go to immigration with your completed TM30 (signed by the Thai head of house if nessacerry and with a copy of the ID card of this person)

Then fill out the residence certificate application form, not forgetting that you can get 2 or 3 letters at the same time for free if you intend to:

1. regisiter a car in your name

2. apply for a thia driving licence

3. open a bank account

Tip:

Its a good idea to always request an extra letter for a bank account, then open a bank account and stick a couple of thousand in it. Bank accounts come in handy...but they can be time consuming to open if the branch start asking for WP or residence certificates...better to have a few speare accounts open and ready for use.

Doing the above can save day long trips to immigration for those folks out in the sticks

[platinum-thai]

O.K. The Plates and Registration book came in, I must say it took some time!.

The Embassy letter worked just fine. Thanks for the help guys.