ChaangNoi Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 I'm sure this is a bad idea but I'm not really sure why or what laws are in place to prevent this. What is to stop someone from buying a higher end car in Laos or Myanmar get it registered there and then drive it in Thailand? I understand someone would need to take it back to Myanmar or Laos every 30 days but is that really the only thing? With the import taxes being so high this seems like a decent way to do it assuming it is legal. Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seedy Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 I think 6 months is the maximum time. There are bikes here in the North with Laos plates, need to do a border crossing twice a year. Same for cars coming in from Malaysia / Singapore. Now how many times you can do it ... ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChaangNoi Posted March 31, 2015 Author Share Posted March 31, 2015 Now how many times you can do it ... ??? I don't know personally, it is why i started this thread. Also I thought it was every 30 days but 6 months is so much better. Tour companies must be able to go in and out all the time. That might be the path to go? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seedy Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 The guy here has a KTM, Laos registered in his name. He just gets it in as a tourist. Back across the border, Back into Thailand. Seems painless. But ... 'seems' sometimes has a way of coming back to bite you ! Altho he has been doing it for a few years. Nice bike. Would love to own it. But ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwonitoy Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 In one word money A standard Toyota vigo in Laos is approx. twice the price of Thailand, according to the van driver we hired last time across. A high end car would be more money in Laos than here, plus then you're got the left hand drive in a right hand drive country. I know you can drive Laos cars in Udon and border areas with the real window sticker but I've never seen them further into the country, Maybe not allowed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChaangNoi Posted March 31, 2015 Author Share Posted March 31, 2015 Well, what about China? I see all sorts of high end Chinese cars here in Chiang Rai. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony5 Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 The Chinese cars are Chinese people of course. If you idea was viable there would be many around already, or do you think your the first one who got that idea? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IMHO Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 In one word money A standard Toyota vigo in Laos is approx. twice the price of Thailand, according to the van driver we hired last time across. A high end car would be more money in Laos than here, plus then you're got the left hand drive in a right hand drive country. I know you can drive Laos cars in Udon and border areas with the real window sticker but I've never seen them further into the country, Maybe not allowed? Cars are waaaayyyyyy cheaper in Laos. You have been given bad info. The big problem is, the steering wheel is on the wrong side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChaangNoi Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share Posted April 1, 2015 If you idea was viable there would be many around already, or do you think your the first one who got that idea? Not at all. Also I never said I had a good idea, I said I wanted to know why it was a bad idea. You clearly have no clue either. Everyone else in this thread has been trying to help :/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChaangNoi Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share Posted April 1, 2015 Cars are waaaayyyyyy cheaper in Laos. You have been given bad info. The big problem is, the steering wheel is on the wrong side. I did look at the tax rate and it is way lower than Thailand. I'm going to assume the same for Cambodia as I know a farang in Chanataburi has an H1 and a SL 500 with Cambodian plates driving around. I think that might be a who you know type thing as he has been in that area for a while and made lots of money. Then again, who knows.... Anyways if anyone know why my idea is bad, I'd love to learn why. Thx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJH77 Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 In one word money A standard Toyota vigo in Laos is approx. twice the price of Thailand, according to the van driver we hired last time across. A high end car would be more money in Laos than here, plus then you're got the left hand drive in a right hand drive country. I know you can drive Laos cars in Udon and border areas with the real window sticker but I've never seen them further into the country, Maybe not allowed? Cars are waaaayyyyyy cheaper in Laos. You have been given bad info. The big problem is, the steering wheel is on the wrong side. Many Mukdahan Businessmen who have also opened either a shop or small extension of their business in Savannakhet have cars purchased in Laos. Like a 15 Million Baht Mercedes in Thailand can be had for 5 Million in Lao. They drive backwards and forwards with no problem at all. Add to that the Cheap cigarettes, Wine, Whisky Etc and I sometimes wonder why I am this side of the river. I have Thai friends with Porches and Merc Sports cars and I must admit I get a bit Jealous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wabothai Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 steering wheel on wrong side is same as playing Russian roulette and then with one bullit missing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChaangNoi Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share Posted April 1, 2015 I do understand the issue related to the steering wheel on the wrong side of the car. I also understand that the car would need to go back and forth over the boarder or be stored in Laos for long term. However if I'm going to save 10 to 15 million Baht on the car, that would allow me to set up a business and residence in Laos. This seems like a win win as I am very close to the boarder of both Myanmar and Laos. I'm also not even that far away from China. So there is nothing in the law to prevent this? Also with ASEAN stuff opening up it seems to me this wont change anytime soon. Thanks for all of your thoughts on this so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomtomtom69 Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 I do understand the issue related to the steering wheel on the wrong side of the car. I also understand that the car would need to go back and forth over the boarder or be stored in Laos for long term. However if I'm going to save 10 to 15 million Baht on the car, that would allow me to set up a business and residence in Laos. This seems like a win win as I am very close to the boarder of both Myanmar and Laos. I'm also not even that far away from China. So there is nothing in the law to prevent this? Also with ASEAN stuff opening up it seems to me this wont change anytime soon. Thanks for all of your thoughts on this so far. If you live not far from Myanmar you should know that Myanmar cars aren't allowed to leave the border town they entered Thailand in. They can only stay either one day (if entering from Myawady to Mae Sot) or perhaps up to 7 days (if entering from Tachilek to Mae Sai) and then they are restricted from leaving the border town. The same restrictions affect Thai cars going to Myanmar. So your plan to buy a Myanmar registered car and drive it in Thailand won't work. Unless you live in Myanmar and want to do shopping in Mae Sai, but then you won't even be allowed to travel to Chiang Rai. You'd actually be better off doing it the other way round, as it's more likely you'd be allowed access to Myanmar with a Thai car, plus you could also drive throughout Laos, Malaysia and Singapore. Even Cambodia is accessible through some border checkpoints with a Thai car. Laos would work - Lao cars can drive throughout Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and even Sipsongbanna, Yunnan province, China and sometimes further with permission. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomtomtom69 Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 In one word money A standard Toyota vigo in Laos is approx. twice the price of Thailand, according to the van driver we hired last time across. A high end car would be more money in Laos than here, plus then you're got the left hand drive in a right hand drive country. I know you can drive Laos cars in Udon and border areas with the real window sticker but I've never seen them further into the country, Maybe not allowed? A standard Vigo is only marginally more expensive in Laos than in Thailand. I've been car hunting in Laos and enquired about the prices of many major makes and models, from the Ford Ranger to the Hyundai Tuscon to the Toyota Landcruiser. While the latter is very expensive, it isn't any more expensive than a Landcruiser sold in Thailand. Also, you get models you won't see in Thailand like the Ford F-150 and F-250, imported straight from America. Sure, they're expensive, but a lot cheaper than they would be if you could find them in Thailand. Lao cars can drive anywhere in Thailand. There is a reciprocal agreement with Thailand on this. You will occasionally see them in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and throughout Isarn, including regularly in Khon Kaen. Nothing to do with the "border areas" the simple fact is most Lao will not go beyond Udon because they have no need to. Why would they drive to Bangkok when all the shopping, medical stuff etc. can be done in Udon, which is a mere 40min drive south of the Lao border? Also, a secondary reason is that for travel further than Udon, Lao citizens need a passport whereas just to Udon and Nong Khai a border pass is sufficient. But...I have driven Lao registered cars from Vientiane to Bangkok, to Mae Sot, Lampang, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai back into Laos and from Bangkok to Pakse and into Vietnam on a number of occasions. I also saw a Lao registered Lexus parked near Muang Thong Thani in Bangkok just 2 days ago. I've also seen Lao plated cars driving or parked in places such as Major Ratchayothin, Siam Square (twice), near Mega Bang Na, on the eastern outer ring road and numerous times in Nakorn Ratchasima, Saraburi etc. There are also daily buses operating the Bangkok-Vientiane and Bangkok-Pakse routes. Every second day a Lao bus operates the route, apparently, based on a reciprocal agreement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomtomtom69 Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Now how many times you can do it ... ??? I don't know personally, it is why i started this thread. Also I thought it was every 30 days but 6 months is so much better. Tour companies must be able to go in and out all the time. That might be the path to go? It's 30 days but you may be able to extend up to 6 months at customs in Bangkok. Possibly the same procedure for Thai cars leaving, only they have to request the permission from customs before leaving if the intended period of stay outside of Thailand is more than 30 days at a time. It could also be that Lao customs will fine car owners or operators that take their vehicles outside of Laos for more than 30 days at a time. It would thus be best to seek advice from Lao customs on this one, unless you go back and forth every 30 days as many people do. In Vietnam, particularly central Vietnam one sees many Lao plated cars doing exactly this. It turns out the vast majority of the owners are Vietnamese, who reside in Vietnam, mostly in the central parts of the country such as Danang, Hue, Dong Hoi and Vinh, and they simply drive their cars back to Laos every 30 days. However, in the recent past Vietnam customs has gotten hold of this "scam" to bypass the much higher customs duties on Vietnamese vehicles and may now require that a Lao plated vehicle, if not in the owner's name (i.e. a company car) be driven by a Lao citizen. Foreigners and Vietnamese can't drive them in - Vietnamese may be allowed if they present a letter stating they work for a company in Laos and they are on official business in Vietnam, but otherwise no. Not sure if this is applied at all Lao-Vietnam border checkpoints but I encountered it in October 2012 at the southernmost Phu Keua/Bo Y checkpoint. However, if you were to purchase a pickup truck in Vietnam, I have found that prices are not any more expensive than in Laos, so the above may no longer be necessary. Sedans are still way more expensive, but pickup trucks are only marginally more expensive than their Thai counterparts, for example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChaangNoi Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share Posted April 1, 2015 Great info guys, thanks! Okay so Myanmar is clearly out. Also tomtomtom69 just answered my other questions I posted here. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oztaurus Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 last month in Savannakhet I saw a Yamaha Nuovo (2nd hand of course) for sale, 10,000 baht, Viet registered with papers to allow you to drive in Viet, Laos and Cambodia - Add Thai to the list and if i didn't live in Samui I could have been tempted - even just to leave it with a friend in Laos and use it when i travel there, for $300 it would save a fortune on ripoff Laos tuk tuks over time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomtomtom69 Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 The Chinese cars are Chinese people of course. If you idea was viable there would be many around already, or do you think your the first one who got that idea? They could also be foreigners resident in China. But from what I've read recently, many of these Chinese cars are rented, not owned by the operators and rented specifically for the purpose of driving into Laos and Thailand (Vietnam and Myanmar don't allow Chinese cars in). But there are a couple of minor restrictions on Chinese cars, including that they may only drive in for tourism related purposes, possibly only through 2 Thai-Lao checkpoints (the 1st and 4th Friendship Bridges), often come in convoys and must return to the border on the same day etc. and obviously wouldn't be of much use for someone who lives in Thailand as they may only be allowed outside of China for such and such period (probably 30 days as usual), besides China is not a direct neighboring country of Thailand so I would kill that idea. Lao registered cars are best for use in upper Thailand if you don't mind that your vision for overtaking/passing will be compromised by the steering wheel being on the wrong side. Otherwise, try a Malaysian car, but Malaysia is quite a bit further away from Bangkok or points further north/east than Laos is - however, if you're living south of about Prachuab Khiri Khan than a Malaysian car is the way to go. Cambodian cars should work too, but I think officially they aren't supposed to leave the border province they entered in, although in reality there's nothing stopping them as I've seen Cambodian vehicles in Bangkok on at least 3 occasions, all in the past 2 years. Last year I even saw a westerner drive a Phnom Penh plated SUV on the expressway near Khlong Toey in the direction of Bang Na. But Lao vehicles are better still as they are officially allowed everywhere in Thailand, they can get third party insurance, their number plates look similar to Thai ones so there is less likelihood of being hassled by police etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomtomtom69 Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 last month in Savannakhet I saw a Yamaha Nuovo (2nd hand of course) for sale, 10,000 baht, Viet registered with papers to allow you to drive in Viet, Laos and Cambodia - Add Thai to the list and if i didn't live in Samui I could have been tempted - even just to leave it with a friend in Laos and use it when i travel there, for $300 it would save a fortune on ripoff Laos tuk tuks over time Viet plates can't enter Thailand and the Cambodians won't allow it in if crossing directly from Laos despite what the registered papers say. To take a Viet registered vehicle directly to Cambodia depends on the border crossing and may cost a lot of money, hence I haven't seen many Viet vehicles outside of the immediate border regions of Cambodia. Also, it's becoming harder of late to take Viet motorcycles into Laos with Lao customs starting to refuse them entry - I would never buy a foreign registered vehicle in this region outside of the country it is registered in, it's a recipe for disaster. Viet vehicles are only supposed to be in Laos for 30 days at a time. You can easily find a Lao plated motorcycle for $300 for sale, look harder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToddinChonburi Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 How would you register this vehicle without a Laos address ? I do know the tax you would pay to bring it into Thailand is very high. if you want to keep in Thailand. How would you get your yearly tax sticker ? I looked onto bringing my car from America. Probably would still be sitting at customs. LOL I think I would talk to a lawyer about this to make sure you have all the facts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToddinChonburi Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Thai's order the car in parts and then it is assembled here. There are some places that do this BUT there has been a recent crack down on this practice by the Military so just beware. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomtomtom69 Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 How would you register this vehicle without a Laos address ? I do know the tax you would pay to bring it into Thailand is very high. if you want to keep in Thailand. How would you get your yearly tax sticker ? I looked onto bringing my car from America. Probably would still be sitting at customs. LOL I think I would talk to a lawyer about this to make sure you have all the facts. You could probably do it quite easily with just a hotel address, or find a local Lao or expat foreigner willing to help out. I think permission to register a car using a Lao address has to be granted by the Phunyai baan, but this is just a formality. Or you could register a business and then get black on white "business" plates instead, rather than the black on yellow "private" plates you normally get (which is the exact opposite of Thailand, since black on white is for private cars, while black on yellow is for public transportation and business etc.) This thread is about bringing a Lao plated car into Thailand temporarily, while maintaining Lao registration. There has been no talk of permanent importation into Thailand. American plated cars can easily be brought into Thailand on a temporary basis. It's a completely different story if you wanted to drive it in permanently, but temporarily is no problem. I parked next to a Texas registered SUV, brought in via Malaysia when I was in Mae Sai just over a year ago. My vehicle was brand new at the time and I had to take a picture of the car and me next to it - it's not everyday you see a US plated vehicle in Thailand! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomtomtom69 Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Great info guys, thanks! Okay so Myanmar is clearly out. Also tomtomtom69 just answered my other questions I posted here. Thanks No worries, glad to help. One more issue with Myanmar, even if you lived there would be the travel restrictions applied to all foreigners (doesn't matter if you're a tourist or an expat resident): there are still plenty of places foreigners can't travel to, or through. For example, if you were resident in eastern Shan State, say in Tachilek opposite Mae Sai, you could only legally drive up to Mongla on the Chinese border and back. Any overland travel west to the rest of Myanmar say Mandalay or Inle Lake, as well as Naypyidaw, Yangon etc. is prohibited due to rebel bandits and concerns about insurgency on the Kengtung to Taunggyi road. Even locals rarely take this road and when they do, it tends to be in convoy. This is why even though a new Lao-Myanmar bridge over the Mekong, scheduled to open in May and therefore become the first official border crossing between the two countries won't be of much use if you intend to travel overland further than the border region as it won't be allowed. I have no idea about cars, but my hunch is only travel near the border will be permitted if you arrive by car across this border, that's if the Burmese will even allow cars from Laos in at all. For everyone else, it will operate just like the Mae Sai crossing - come with a visa or if you're visa exempt get stamped in and then you can fly to the rest of Myanmar from a nearby airport, followed by overland travel back across to Thailand if you wish. A flight must be taken from Tachilek or Kengtung to the interior of Myanmar in order to continue overland travel from there. Resident in say Yangon or Mandalay, you could however travel overland to Thailand via the Htee Khee/Phu Nam Ron crossing east of Dawei or the much closer and more commonly travelled Myawady/Mae Sot crossing and drive yourself there. But as already mentioned, your car wouldn't be going much further than 10km inside Thai territory. There is also a mafia of sorts, at least at the Myawady crossing, which means that any Burmese vehicles that want to cross the bridge must pay a "membership" fee otherwise the mafia won't allow them to cross - I'm not sure if this only applies to local vehicles or any Burmese registered vehicle. This doesn't apply to Thai vehicles going in the opposite direction, only Burmese ones, who are the main ones crossing accounting for about 70-80% of all crossings in my opinion (Thai vehicles cross in much smaller numbers and the main ones that cross are large trucks and fuel tankers, not so much small private vehicles, whereas Burmese vehicles tend to be cars, minivans and light trucks). A local friend in Myawady, who works closely with immigration on both sides recently bought a Japanese Toyota station wagon. I briefly drove it inside Myawady, it's about 10-15 years old, works fine for the conditions (although you do need to press the accelerator down a bit, especially going uphill otherwise it won't respond) and only cost about 100,000 Baht. He has previously crossed to Mae Sot, but in recent times he stopped doing so because he doesn't want to pay the mafia fee. So he just walks across the bridge now if he needs to go to Thailand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChaangNoi Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share Posted April 1, 2015 Related, some of these Laos cars are clearly in Thailand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dennnis Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 For how much you can get second hand Gallardo or F430 in Laos? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IMHO Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 For how much you can get second hand Gallardo or F430 in Laos? 5555. You've obviously never seen Laos roads Unless they were trailered to TH, you probably wouldn't want them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GordonP Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Not sure if there is a way around it, but as far as I am aware (in that my pal moved there and bought said truck just over a year ago) the Toyota Vigo, left hand drive purchased, registered and used in Laos carries about 50% tax, i.e. about THB 1.5 mio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChaangNoi Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share Posted April 1, 2015 Not sure if there is a way around it, but as far as I am aware (in that my pal moved there and bought said truck just over a year ago) the Toyota Vigo, left hand drive purchased, registered and used in Laos carries about 50% tax, i.e. about THB 1.5 mio. 50% tax is way better than 300% plus! Also I'm not sure of the price of a Gallardo from Laos but a 2009 with about 6000 KM was selling for 18,000,000 Baht in Thailand. Even at half price this seems like the way to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgtsabai Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 I'm told by Lao people that many of the very top end cars we see here in Udon/Nong Khai with Lao plates are actually owned by (intensely disliked) Chinese residing in Lao. I haven't seen a Vette yet, but did see a Camaro SS a couple of weeks ago. How in the hell they get the high compression engines on any of the very top end cars to run on available gas is anybody's guess. When I had my SS at the drag strip back in the states it ran on racing fuel, couldn't afford it all the time but the SS sure loved it. Plenty of vehicles with the rear window Lao or Thai stickers going back and forth. I understand the vehicle should be paid for but arraignments can be made with the financier, can't say for sure, but I would bet rather difficult. I have seen Chinese plates and they did look like rentals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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