How to bring a Thai registered car to Laos

[kuifje]

I am driving a Thai registered car. Because the car is financed, it is in the name of a family member. I would like to bring this car to Laos because I will be there temperary for some months.

What are the requirements at the border (Nong Khai).

What kind of documents are needed from family member to allow me to drive this car abroad.

Insurance for Laos ? How to arrange this ?

[MobileContent]

If I am correct you can only bring cars to Laos that are fully financed and you have the green book.

[kuifje]

If I am correct you can only bring cars to Laos that are fully financed and you have the green book.

Maybe. But I can't believe that all the cars crossing the border are fully paid !

Normally cars have bleu books! (motorbikes have green books)

I see many company cars, from sales or service people crossing the border. So the cars are not in the name of the drivers, and probably not fully paid.

[Puyai]

I tried to take my car over the border, after going to the licence office to get the Thai plates, the 'T' sticker and the inspection.

The first post is right. Your car has to be paid off and the blue book in your possesion.

[crazygreg44]

first you need to go to your local vehicle registration and apply for the "purple" passbook. In order to get it issued, you need to show the car's "blue" book.

The "T" stickers will get issued together with the "purple" passbook.

At the border, you need first to get the purple passboook stamped "out" by a Thai Border officer. On the Lao side, you must pay for your visa and take on a Laos temporary insurance for the car. It must be paid fully for the intended period of stay. You will need to carry a few papers from one counter to the next until they have cleared it among themselves (!)., though.

I do however not know if any permit of stay over the 30 days one gets on a Laos Visa can be had. Should clear this with a search for more information. The permit for using the car in Laos was restricted to 30 days only on my first visit.

And yes, you must be holding the blue passbook as well, when crossing the border, as the Thai border officials want to see it.

Edited November 27, 2014 by crazygreg44

[kuifje]

first you need to go to your local vehicle registration and apply for the "purple" passbook. In order to get it issued, you need to show the car's "blue" book.

The "T" stickers will get issued together with the "purple" passbook.

At the border, you need first to get the purple passboook stamped "out" by a Thai Border officer. On the Lao side, you must pay for your visa and take on a Laos temporary insurance for the car. It must be paid fully for the intended period of stay. You will need to carry a few papers from one counter to the next until they have cleared it among themselves (!)., though.

I do however not know if any permit of stay over the 30 days one gets on a Laos Visa can be had. Should clear this with a search for more information. The permit for using the car in Laos was restricted to 30 days only on my first visit.

And yes, you must be holding the blue passbook as well, when crossing the border, as the Thai border officials want to see it.

Thanks for the clear information.

[DavidMavec]

You will get 30 days max. before you need to take the vehicle out; if you exceed 30 days you will be charged at the rate of 1000 THB per day up to a total of 10,000 THB.

[ttl]

Purple car passport presented at Thai border Mukdahan to take my fully paid car to L for 2 days.Laos

LAND TRANSPORT issuing office said that was only document required as it contains all details of blue ownership book.

Declined entry as I did not have my blue book with me.

Who is correct ??

[Tomtomtom69]

If I am correct you can only bring cars to Laos that are fully financed and you have the green book.

Maybe. But I can't believe that all the cars crossing the border are fully paid !

Normally cars have bleu books! (motorbikes have green books)

I see many company cars, from sales or service people crossing the border. So the cars are not in the name of the drivers, and probably not fully paid.

They are fully paid off but they don't have to be in the name of the driver. Companies simply issue powers of attorney authorising the temporary export of the vehicles to go to Laos. The power of attorney must specifically authorise a person and the country the car can be taken to.

Finance companies don't allow their cars to be driven outside of the country. Otherwise, I'd expect 5-10 times as many cars being driven across to Laos and other neighboring countries than is currently the case. Look at all the car parks next to the border. They are parked full of Thai cars whose owners and passengers aren't allowed to drive them into the neighboring country, so they go by public transport instead.

[Tomtomtom69]

Purple car passport presented at Thai border Mukdahan to take my fully paid car to L for 2 days.Laos

LAND TRANSPORT issuing office said that was only document required as it contains all details of blue ownership book.

Declined entry as I did not have my blue book with me.

Who is correct ??

Thailand can be a little strict for taking it's vehicles out. You better have all the papers available, including the blue book even if it's not asked for.

I wouldn't trust the Land Transport Department about anything - the reality is they know only how to issue documents but don't know the individual rules at the borders. Only Laos recognizes the purple booklet and you better have both the blue book and if necessary, a power of attorney from the owner in order to cross the border. In the end not every official will ask for these additional documents, but you better have them available just in case.

The Land Transport Department also claims that the purple car passport can be used for Myanmar, Cambodia, southern China and Vietnam. Hahaha....yeah right. China and Vietnam have never allowed Thai vehicles in, car passport or not. Forget it, you won't get in except on a tour, pre-arranged with expensive permits, a guide and in the case of Vietnam, a police escort, all has to be done months in advance. You can't just show up and no amount of offering bribes, being nice etc. will help. They WON'T let a Thai car or motorcycle in, period.

Cambodia and Myanmar only allow Thai cars in near the border, but then only the blue car registration or green motorcycle registration is required. The purple car passport may eventually be accepted by Cambodia but isn't yet. And then only some borders even allow Thai vehicles in at all, and without insurance.

So the LTD is talking bulls***

In the other direction, taking a Lao car to Thailand I've never been asked for the registration and the company that hired the car to me only gives the registration if specifically requested or if going to Vietnam, where every conceivable little document is asked for. Thailand generally doesn't even ask for a power of attorney to bring a company vehicle or a vehicle registered in someone else's name across the border, if the car is NOT Thai registered. It will if you are attempting to take a Thai car out of the country though. So for a Lao car going to Thailand, only the yellow international transport booklet is asked for.

[Tomtomtom69]

first you need to go to your local vehicle registration and apply for the "purple" passbook. In order to get it issued, you need to show the car's "blue" book.

The "T" stickers will get issued together with the "purple" passbook.

At the border, you need first to get the purple passboook stamped "out" by a Thai Border officer. On the Lao side, you must pay for your visa and take on a Laos temporary insurance for the car. It must be paid fully for the intended period of stay. You will need to carry a few papers from one counter to the next until they have cleared it among themselves (!)., though.

I do however not know if any permit of stay over the 30 days one gets on a Laos Visa can be had. Should clear this with a search for more information. The permit for using the car in Laos was restricted to 30 days only on my first visit.

And yes, you must be holding the blue passbook as well, when crossing the border, as the Thai border officials want to see it.

I would try to ask customs in Bangkok (not the border) for permission to temporarily export a Thai registered vehicle for more than 30 days at a time. It may be that they can issue a special permission, perhaps up to 6 months at a time. However, at the border only 30 days is given after which there is a fine of 1000 Baht per day or up to 10000 Baht max. if you exceed that period.

To avoid this, the OP (if he can manage to get permission to get the documents he needs in the first place, which may be very difficult if the car is still financed) would need to re-enter Thailand once every 30 days and then exit again to get another 30 days each time. While the Lao authorities may grant an extension to the 30 day period, that means nothing to Thailand if they don't issue permission to leave for more than 30 days before exiting Thailand the first time.

The Lao officials won't care about your insurance at the time they are processing your paperwork, though you will need to get it as soon as possible after entering the country. The best insurer is AGL. You first get your passport stamped (at the same window as you get your car passport stamped UNLESS you need a visa on arrival, in which case you get that done first). Only then do you get your green temporary Lao import paper issued, followed by 2 stamps (it's usually 2 stamps, though it depends on the border crossing) one from customs and one from immigration, or sometimes both from customs stamped into your purple book by Lao customs.

After your booklet and passport are stamped and paperwork is completed and signed you are done and can proceed outside of the customs controlled area and THEN take care of insurance. However, at some borders insurance either isn't offered or if you arrive outside of office hours the offices will be closed. In such cases you'll have to wait until the next business day to purchase insurance in town or another location. This will depend on the border crossing.