Proposals to take aging cars off Bangkok streets denied

[webfact]

Aging cars ban on Bangkok streets denied

BANGKOK: -- The Metropolitan Police Bureau (MPB) today dismissed a post in the social media that aging cars will be banned from Bangkok streets.

The post which was widely shared also said aging cars will be allowed if owners agree to pay car tax similar to new cars.

Coming out to deny the car ban post is Pol Maj Gen Adul Narongsak, deputy commissioner of the MPB.

He said it was groundless that the MPB will soon ban the driving of aging cars of 7-10 years on Bangkok streets, but will allow if car owners agree to pay higher tax similar to tax imposed on new cars.

In fact, he said the police had such a plan three years ago as the idea was derived from Japan.

But such a plan had been shelved as the police realised of the trouble the people would have.

However he said the police have only an idea to ban public buses whose engines are over 20 years as old bus was found to be a reason of traffic jams when it went out of order on the street.

He said the police have already sought cooperation from the Land Transport Department and the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority to look after the aging buses.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/content/150521

-- Thai PBS 2016-02-11

[Pib]

He said it was groundless that the MPB will soon ban the driving of aging cars of 7-10 years on Bangkok streets, but will allow if car owners agree to pay higher tax similar to tax imposed on new cars.

Giggle, giggle....expect well over half the vehicles on Bangkok streets and Thailand roads are 7 to 10 (and older)...that would indeed cause people to come out into the streets to protest. Trying to get a new charter passed would be the least of the govt's worries then.

Sure hope the Finance Ministry don't hear about this proposal to increase vehicle taxes as they'll want to do it....any new or higher tax is a good thing as far as they are concerned as it increases tax revenue.

[trogers]

The older the car, the cheaper the road tax. Speaks volumes, doesn't it?

And the purpose of this issue is...?

[leeneeds]

cough ! cough ! sputter ! please just bring in a system to take soot spewing vehicles off the road until serviced or condemned ,

a sticker attached to the windscreen so that defective vehicles have a time period to fix or face stronger penalties,

once the grace time has expired they are not allowed to drive the vehicle on the road unless fixed,

so many filters just need a changing,

[Buffy Frobisher]

The Singapore system is by far the best: you pay upfront for a license to buy a car (COE - Certificate of Entitlement), then when you buy the car you are told exactly what you will be paid for the car in 10 years when it comes off the road. At 10 years you can hand in the car and take the payout, or you pay a higher tax to keep said 10yo car on the road for another year if it passes a roadworthy. And that repeats every year. What the COE does, which this month is costing SGD$ 38,610 for anything 1.6 litres and above or SGD$46,651 for anything under 1.6 litres, plus the high duties on cars, is cause you to look after the car better because it's a valuable asset. And because every car must have a roadworthy check after 3 years to be re-registered, there are no smoking ol' wrecks on the road. Yes, costs a lot to run a car down there, but at least the air is clean when Indonesia is not on fire. Thailand could learn a thing or two if they opened their minds and closed their pockets.

[trogers]

cough ! cough ! sputter ! please just bring in a system to take soot spewing vehicles off the road until serviced or condemned ,

a sticker attached to the windscreen so that defective vehicles have a time period to fix or face stronger penalties,

once the grace time has expired they are not allowed to drive the vehicle on the road unless fixed,

so many filters just need a changing,

Why? Are you staying next to a main road?

[seajae]

they need to do something about some of the vehicles, when you see single or dual cabs that have the carry area rusted out and actually have the 2 sides tied together so they dont sway outwards its a worry or when you see the amount of smoke pouring out of the exhaust pipes while the engine revs its guts out and barely does anywhere you have to wonder how they have been allowed on the roads. Many of the cars/bikes/buses.trucks on thai roads are well and truly unroadworthy and lead to accidents but what can they do, people, simply refuse to do anything about it, would be great if they made all vehicles have tail lights and headlights on of a night so you could actually see them from a distance instead of nearly running into them on dark roads/streets

[Thian]

I don't think most cars in BKK are older then 10, citybuses SURE ARE! And they blow huge fumes of black smoke

Many taxi's even don't have proper brakes or can't open the windows...That's vely dangerous krab. Same as drivers without a license or insurance or light.

[leeneeds]

cough ! cough ! sputter ! please just bring in a system to take soot spewing vehicles off the road until serviced or condemned ,

a sticker attached to the windscreen so that defective vehicles have a time period to fix or face stronger penalties,

once the grace time has expired they are not allowed to drive the vehicle on the road unless fixed,

so many filters just need a changing,

Why? Are you staying next to a main road?

No just travel from work and back 120km plus a trip down BKK every few weeks,

the amount of soot belching out of this units is over the top.

[trogers]

I don't think most cars in BKK are older then 10, citybuses SURE ARE! And they blow huge fumes of black smoke

Many taxi's even don't have proper brakes or can't open the windows...That's vely dangerous krab. Same as drivers without a license or insurance or light.

This is the Amazing part that TAT was promoting, which now has been changed to Thainess.

[leeneeds]

The Singapore system is by far the best: you pay upfront for a license to buy a car (COE - Certificate of Entitlement), then when you buy the car you are told exactly what you will be paid for the car in 10 years when it comes off the road. At 10 years you can hand in the car and take the payout, or you pay a higher tax to keep said 10yo car on the road for another year if it passes a roadworthy. And that repeats every year. What the COE does, which this month is costing SGD$ 38,610 for anything 1.6 litres and above or SGD$46,651 for anything under 1.6 litres, plus the high duties on cars, is cause you to look after the car better because it's a valuable asset. And because every car must have a roadworthy check after 3 years to be re-registered, there are no smoking ol' wrecks on the road. Yes, costs a lot to run a car down there, but at least the air is clean when Indonesia is not on fire. Thailand could learn a thing or two if they opened their minds and closed their pockets.

forced banking here would be a lot harder on the people when most live day to day or week to week,

[trogers]

The Singapore system is by far the best: you pay upfront for a license to buy a car (COE - Certificate of Entitlement), then when you buy the car you are told exactly what you will be paid for the car in 10 years when it comes off the road. At 10 years you can hand in the car and take the payout, or you pay a higher tax to keep said 10yo car on the road for another year if it passes a roadworthy. And that repeats every year. What the COE does, which this month is costing SGD$ 38,610 for anything 1.6 litres and above or SGD$46,651 for anything under 1.6 litres, plus the high duties on cars, is cause you to look after the car better because it's a valuable asset. And because every car must have a roadworthy check after 3 years to be re-registered, there are no smoking ol' wrecks on the road. Yes, costs a lot to run a car down there, but at least the air is clean when Indonesia is not on fire. Thailand could learn a thing or two if they opened their minds and closed their pockets.

forced banking here would be a lot harder on the people when most live day to day or week to week,

This is Thailand. And they learn from the best of the Third World. See a family on a motorcycle? Singapore would do well to follow...

[thesetat2013]

RTP better get a grip on what they are really asking. When Thai go buy a car it gets financed. Just like everywhere. 6 years is a standard contract. Thai usually use up to half and in some cases even more than half of their salary just to make monthly payments. I have seen them do it many times.

How do the police expect their people to find the money to pay more yearly, or worse, to be forced to buy new after truly owning their cars for only a year?

[DrTuner]

My beater is now 20y old, but it's been maintained and runs better than any 4y old that hasn't. Ain't the age.

[Jeremy50]

they need to do something about some of the vehicles, when you see single or dual cabs that have the carry area rusted out and actually have the 2 sides tied together so they dont sway outwards its a worry or when you see the amount of smoke pouring out of the exhaust pipes while the engine revs its guts out and barely does anywhere you have to wonder how they have been allowed on the roads. Many of the cars/bikes/buses.trucks on thai roads are well and truly unroadworthy and lead to accidents but what can they do, people, simply refuse to do anything about it, would be great if they made all vehicles have tail lights and headlights on of a night so you could actually see them from a distance instead of nearly running into them on dark roads/streets

A lot of motorbikes have the red tail light on the front where I live. Are they tired of life? And they look at me like I'm the moron.

[ThaiKneeTim]

Age is immaterial, the roadworthiness is the determining factor in wether a vehicle should be allowed on the road. A well maintained vehicle could last more than 10 years while a one year old vehicle could be unfit to use!

As a deterrent for corrupt vehicle test stations the vehicle examiner should receive a hefty prison sentence if a vehicle goes on to kill after issuance of a corrupt certificate.

Last year I viewed a vehicle offered for sale, it wasn't old but it was literally held together with string and sticky tape, the young owner couldn't understand why I was so pissed off.

Living, as I do, in Smallsville Thailand I get to see some outrageous wrecks being used, and of those is the gf's father's pickup, I've seen better vehicles in UK scrapyards!

[bark]

The cars should be made to pass harder safety checks as they get older. If they set a age limit, they could stop vintage cars from driving on Thai roads, making them worthless.

[JonnyF]

A strictly enforced annual maintenance test and emissions test would work (assuming you couldn't just buy the certificates after failing the test).

[kiwikeith]

The older the car, the cheaper the road tax. Speaks volumes, doesn't it?

And the purpose of this issue is...?

What they should be doing is Warrant of fittness checks every six months for cars and bikes over 6 years old, every six months for older cars and once a year for the newer ones.

They should have to go to government testing stations and undergo a proper test, that would generate jobs and revenue, and might solve all the shiite heaps running around strung together with wire and no lights.

[trogers]

The cars should be made to pass harder safety checks as they get older. If they set a age limit, they could stop vintage cars from driving on Thai roads, making them worthless.

This article pertains to solving a Bangkok problem only, and not the whole country.

BMA can only effect rules within Bangkok. What should they do?

[Ulic]

The Singapore system is by far the best: you pay upfront for a license to buy a car (COE - Certificate of Entitlement), then when you buy the car you are told exactly what you will be paid for the car in 10 years when it comes off the road. At 10 years you can hand in the car and take the payout, or you pay a higher tax to keep said 10yo car on the road for another year if it passes a roadworthy. And that repeats every year. What the COE does, which this month is costing SGD$ 38,610 for anything 1.6 litres and above or SGD$46,651 for anything under 1.6 litres, plus the high duties on cars, is cause you to look after the car better because it's a valuable asset. And because every car must have a roadworthy check after 3 years to be re-registered, there are no smoking ol' wrecks on the road. Yes, costs a lot to run a car down there, but at least the air is clean when Indonesia is not on fire. Thailand could learn a thing or two if they opened their minds and closed their pockets.

I do agree there is a lot to be learned but as I understand it Thais pay a whopping

big tax on cars already, and a seven year old car is not that old. That said all

vehicles, trucks and busses in particular spewing black exhaust out a tail pipe

should have to pass a strict emissions test. No pay-off-cheaper to keep it

on the road and pay the fine when caught. Just my opinion.

[guzzi850m2]

Some trucks/buses are smoking badly from the exhausts and should be forced to get it fixed right away.

Some places in EU they got those buses that hardly pollutes, I wish they could start using those and the air will improve a lot.

[a10ams]

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh !!!!

[bazza40]

The Singapore system is by far the best: you pay upfront for a license to buy a car (COE - Certificate of Entitlement), then when you buy the car you are told exactly what you will be paid for the car in 10 years when it comes off the road. At 10 years you can hand in the car and take the payout, or you pay a higher tax to keep said 10yo car on the road for another year if it passes a roadworthy. And that repeats every year. What the COE does, which this month is costing SGD$ 38,610 for anything 1.6 litres and above or SGD$46,651 for anything under 1.6 litres, plus the high duties on cars, is cause you to look after the car better because it's a valuable asset. And because every car must have a roadworthy check after 3 years to be re-registered, there are no smoking ol' wrecks on the road. Yes, costs a lot to run a car down there, but at least the air is clean when Indonesia is not on fire. Thailand could learn a thing or two if they opened their minds and closed their pockets.

So what happens when someone has a classic car, e.g. Mercedes W124 CE300 coupe, 1989?

[tx22cb]

The Singapore system is by far the best: you pay upfront for a license to buy a car (COE - Certificate of Entitlement), then when you buy the car you are told exactly what you will be paid for the car in 10 years when it comes off the road. At 10 years you can hand in the car and take the payout, or you pay a higher tax to keep said 10yo car on the road for another year if it passes a roadworthy. And that repeats every year. What the COE does, which this month is costing SGD$ 38,610 for anything 1.6 litres and above or SGD$46,651 for anything under 1.6 litres, plus the high duties on cars, is cause you to look after the car better because it's a valuable asset. And because every car must have a roadworthy check after 3 years to be re-registered, there are no smoking ol' wrecks on the road. Yes, costs a lot to run a car down there, but at least the air is clean when Indonesia is not on fire. Thailand could learn a thing or two if they opened their minds and closed their pockets.

If you talk to ordinary Singaporeans, most complain about the COEs.

The richer Singaporeans and the expats all support the COEs.

IMHO The Singapore policy to limit the number of cars only works due to:

a) world-class (and relatively cheap) public transport systems (as a viable alternative to private cars) which covers >90% of the island - buses, underground, light rail, taxis etc

applicable to a small geographical area like Singapore

c) zoning and country infrastructure master plans

d) wise leaders

[Assurancetourix]

" In fact, he said the police had such a plan three years ago as the idea was derived from Japan. "

The plan in Japan and especially in Tokyo which is bigger than Bangkok is very simple;

If you don't own a place to park a vehicle, you cannot buy one ;

A nephew who is working since many years in Japan as a lecturer in a big University had to sell his car when coming from the countryside to work in Tokyo .

So if the plan is coming from Japan, I'm waiting for the same extent ..

[SABloke]

cough ! cough ! sputter ! please just bring in a system to take soot spewing vehicles off the road until serviced or condemned ,

a sticker attached to the windscreen so that defective vehicles have a time period to fix or face stronger penalties,

once the grace time has expired they are not allowed to drive the vehicle on the road unless fixed,

so many filters just need a changing,

Good idea. Now, who is going to enforce your plan???

[LukKrueng]

Should be for cars older than 20 years with similar incentive as was for first time car owners

[jerojero]

Anything to reduce the number of vehicles on the streets would be welcomed!

[kurtgruen]

It's far from a joke and must be opposed, so it does not get brought up again. In Canada, you can buy beautiful 10 year old vehicles, in Mint shape for dirt cheap. My friend bought a Mercedez Convertible, 10 years old. Looked like it just came out of the showroom, for about $9000 US. It was already inspected and ready for the road in Canada with import taxes, etc. already paid.

Result of such laws in Thailand would mean, that the poor middle class would get poorer. People would loose anywhere from 30000 - 3 million Baht, because they would not be able to drive their 10 year old cars anymore in Thailand. If they follow Japans example (and don't believe they won't, if they get away with it), only the rich car manufacturers and car companies will benefit. It will be the end to many mechanics in Thailand and hundreds of thousands of people will be without vehicles.

...and what about us expats? I drive a 1995 Mazda Pickup Truck in excellent mechanical shape. Could probably sell it for close to 200000 Baht as it sits right now. If that law past, it would only be good as a plant holder. If it trickled down to motorcycles, My Harley (500000 Baht, my wife's Steed (160,000 Baht), our little Suzuki ( 20,000 Baht) and our 900 Ninja (about 100000 Baht), would all be useless ornaments in Thailand.

Remember, Thailand is the land of copy...they copied some of the toughest pollution laws already, copied drinking and driving laws, smoking laws, drug laws. If everyone does not oppose this, sooner or later, when the climate looks right to them, the Thai Government will pass this into law, too.

After all, it's always about a handful of people, working to get richer than everyone else.