Driving your own car from Thailand to Vietnam?

[Tomtomtom69]

THat seems to be the general experience....however at some point they will have to change to comply with ASEAN conventions.

Is there a time scale on when this will happen ? I'm thinking more about a bike trip, it will be amazing to boot through Laos and end up in Danang in time for tea then up to the north on your own Thai registered bike.

No, there is not. The idea that AEC member countries will have to comply with some kind of imaginary regulations on cross-border transport is mere speculation and hearsay. There is absolutely no evidence that AEC will make crossing borders by car or motorcycle easier than is currently the case. A few token gestures might be made between direct neighboring countries (such as between Thailand and Cambodia and Cambodia and Vietnam), the latter recently did make it easier for each other's vehicles to pass but that's about it.

So if you're waiting to drive a Thai motorcycle into Vietnam unrestricted I suspect you'll have to wait many more years. In the meantime, you could go anytime if you register your intentions with a travel agency and then go in with a guide and permits. That can be done already as long as you apply at least a month in advance. It's not cheap though, but the more riders you have, the cheaper it gets per bike.

Tosh! as a free trade org with aims similar to the EU they will have to allow movement of goods and people...

That's a bit of a misconception. Don't make the mistake of thinking AEC will be anything like the EU, it won't be for a very, very long time, if ever. There are simply to many local interests to protect (such as protecting local transport operators from foreign competition), differences in infrastructure, road signage and levels of development before it will become realistic to have open borders for vehicles and people. In the Schengen zone on the other hand, the infrastructure, consistency with EU regulations means that it is pretty much as straightforward to drive in Poland as it is in Germany, Switzerland, Spain and Italy. The infrastructure in Europe is many decades ahead of SE Asia. Only Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore have reasonable infrastructure, everywhere else is about 30-40 years behind the rest of the region and almost 100 years behind Europe.

Don't be too optimistic because in the AEC regulations there is nothing that says it will become easier to move goods and people, no matter what you think.

[Tomtomtom69]

Then let's not even talk about Myanmar - a country with continuing conflict in some of the border areas, which have been ongoing for 50-60 years. Although many ceasefire agreements have been reached and some parts of the country are safer than they've ever been in the country's modern history (such as the south), some new conflicts have started (such as the Kokang uprising) while others have re-emerged (such as the Kachin army wars) so it will be a very long time before Myanmar can allow unrestricted entry into their country by foreign registered vehicles.

There is no way that all of a sudden almost 60 years of conflicts can just fizzle away in 5 months and the borders will open to foreign vehicles because AEC is coming. The ethnic rebel armies don't care - life is still the same struggle as it's always been.

Edited July 12, 2015 by Tomtomtom69

[Tomtomtom69]

My trusty steed.jpgThe International Driving Permit is not officially recognised in Vietnam. I like to carry a valid one though, along with an expired Australian D/L (also do this in Thailand). So long as they see your picture on an official looking document, there happy. A buddy and I hired 135cc scooters in Saigon (HMC) and rode up to Dalat, then across to Natrang, and in a round about way, made our way back to Saigon (covered 2500k's). A great experience, and looking forward to returning to do a ride out of Hanoi. We found very few Vietnamese spoke English once out of Saigon, though in the major centres those working in hotels and business houses generally new enough to get by. Hotels were definitely cheaper than Thailand. I'm also confident of a dual pricing system, especially on petrol. They simply add a zero to the price on the pump. It generally cost around 6000 VND to fill the bike, but at every place we stopped for fuel, whatever the pump price, a zero was added, so 6000VND became 60,000, hence petrol is rather expensive. Very impressed with the countryside. Hardly spotted any rubbish on the side of the road, wherever we travelled. Size matters on the roads in VN. On a bike, you simply don't rate and they will not think twice about pushing you off the road.

I would never accept that so driving in VN is off my list.

That hasn't been my experience at all - but having said that I doubt you will have much to worry about. Vietnam isn't about to see a rush of foreign motorists as they are going to continue to make it as difficult as possible for a foreigner or Vietnamese citizen driving either a foreign registered vehicle into the country or alternatively, finding a place to rent a car. Only resident locals and expat foreigners, who have to shell out some of the highest prices in the world for cars will even consider driving there.

I think the crazy traffic should prevent all but the most determined drivers anyway. Driving in Vietnam really isn't a pleasure.

[cumgranosalum]

whilst i agree a lot of it won't be any time soon, there have been several "notices of intention" in the region since the 1990s. THe main one isn't even directly ASEAN..

"Greater Mekong Subregion Cross-Border Transport Facilitation Agreement" includes China, but there are quite a few agreements now that are beginning to realise that trans-loading goods at borders is a waste of time and money, there is even a plan for an ASEAN driving licence - it has also been shown that where private vehicles can get through it benefits tourism and the car owners are spenders too. As ell as this the admission of private vehicles gives greater acces for things other than hard goods - e.g. business people and entrepreneurs bring money if they can travel easily across borders.

i won't be holding my breath though.

Edited July 12, 2015 by cumgranosalum

[Tomtomtom69]

whilst i agree a lot of it won't be any time soon, there have been several "notices of intention" in the region since the 1990s. THe main one isn't even directly ASEAN..

"Greater Mekong Subregion Cross-Border Transport Facilitation Agreement" includes China, but there are quite a few agreements now that are beginning to realise that trans-loading goods at borders is a waste of time and money, there is even a plan for an ASEAN driving licence - it has also been shown that where private vehicles can get through it benefits tourism and the car owners are spenders too. As ell as this the admission of private vehicles gives greater acces for things other than hard goods - e.g. business people and entrepreneurs bring money if they can travel easily across borders.

i won't be holding my breath though.

Yes you are absolutely right - in fact I have referred to the GMS agreement in an earlier post. I even know one of the guys involved in it's negotiation - he lives in Vientiane, Laos. However, it seems that sometimes these agreements are simply photo ops because if you read the ADB website, all looks rosy but in reality only 2 out of the 6 GMS member states have fully agreed to allow cross-border movement of vehicles as per the agreement (Thailand and Laos). Vietnam, southern China (Yunnan and Guangxi provinces) and Myanmar are noticeable exceptions in that they have not lived up to their part of the deal, while Cambodia has only partially implemented it.

I think that it probably won't be too difficult for an agreement to be reached on the entry of private vehicles into all member states, after all as you say it contributes to increasing tourism revenue. In the case of Myanmar for example, the only reason they haven't allowed it so far has been due to security issues - however, indications are that they may start allowing freer travel by foreign registered car either after the elections in November or after the implementation of AEC, at least those are the rumours.

Vietnam is just stuck in the past in some ways, though I think they are simply concerned with their lack of infrastructure and how they would be overwhelmed with foreign motorists for not allowing it so far, whereas China actually doesn't have much of an excuse anymore, especially since Chinese cars can enter quite a few countries in SE Asia with few restrictions (not Vietnam or Myanmar, except in border regions though) but Laos and Thailand are fine.

I personally am a beneficiary of the Thai-Lao agreement as I regularly drive my Thai-registered car to Laos for my business interests there, but of course, Vietnam is not an option and because I can't drive there from Thailand (except if I rent a Lao car from Vientiane which is impractical and expensive) that's one reason for me NOT to invest in that country for what I'm doing because it would drive up costs considerably.

[cumgranosalum]

Yes - I'm in Laos at present......... and sadly very near Vietnam and I won't bother trying to get in.....yet....