AEC allows freer travel of personal cars

[webfact]

AEC allows freer travel of personal cars

Bangkok, 15 February 2016 (NNT) – The Department of Land Transport has made known that the formation of the ASEAN Economic Community has allowed for the simplification of regulations on traveling by personal car between neighboring ASEAN countries.

Deputy Director-General of the Department of Land Transport Jirut Wisanjit explained that Thai citizens can apply for an Automobile Passport that would allow them to use their personal car to cross the border into the Kingdom’s neighbors. At present, Lao PDR and Cambodia have allowed the issuance of the passports to both sedans and pick-up trucks while Vietnam only allows pick-up trucks to apply for the pass. Other ASEAN countries are currently brainstorming applicable regulations.

Drivers are advised that they must also possess their vehicle registration alongside car passports while traveling abroad.
The department is currently drafting regulations to allow temporary usage of automobiles from other ASEAN nations in the Kingdom.


-- NNT 2016-02-15

[Asiantravel]

oh no! I hope Thai drivers realise they won't be able to drive to Beijing and hope to get away there with driving on the wrong side of the road against the traffic

[clockman]

Learning curve for Thai drivers.

[ratcatcher]

oh no! I hope Thai drivers realise they won't be able to drive to Beijing and hope to get away there with driving on the wrong side of the road against the traffic

Since many Thai drivers already know how to drive on the right, they will fit right in. There won't be too many I am sure, what language will they sapeak? Thai?

[canopus1969]

Errrr this is news ? Hate to let the The Department of Land Transport know, but have been doing this for a long time

[Walter Travolta]

Shame its only Sedans and pick-ups. Touring through Cambodia and Vietnam on a 3 wheel chopper really appeals to me

[Pib]

I thought the new regulations was suppose to be in place before AEC implementation on 31 Dec 15. Oh well.

By the way, here is an overview of AEC implementation schedule running through 2030....it will be like watching grass grow.

AEC Implementation Schedule.pdf

[Lee4Life]

I have a Passport for my Thai vehicle, but I'm guessing that the passport in the article is different?

[callaway]

See a few Cambodian number plates in Surin in the last few months. Generally on pretty good cars. Last one I saw was a Porsche Boxter.

[taony]

I saw a car with Chinese plates recently, left hand drive and everything. Was driving up Phayathai Road and left onto Phetchaburi Road in morning rush hour.

[lordblackader]

I saw a car with Chinese plates recently, left hand drive and everything. Was driving up Phayathai Road and left onto Phetchaburi Road in morning rush hour.

Come to Chiang Mai, one in every four cars seems to have them lately, also known as a blue plate menace.

[ianf]

oh no! I hope Thai drivers realise they won't be able to drive to Beijing and hope to get away there with driving on the wrong side of the road against the traffic

I don't think China is part of Asean???????

[ikke]

oh no! I hope Thai drivers realise they won't be able to drive to Beijing and hope to get away there with driving on the wrong side of the road against the traffic

You actually mean driving on the right side .....

[Scott]

Do they allow Driver's Licenses from these countries or do you have to have an international license?

[Sheryl]

There have been many threads on this in the Cambodia forum and some quite recent reports. Most Cambodian border crossings will not let cars through, only 2 known exceptions. And no place using these car passports yet, though they do in Laos.

[peridot]

I saw a car with Chinese plates recently, left hand drive and everything. Was driving up Phayathai Road and left onto Phetchaburi Road in morning rush hour.

A shopkeeper told me they now ferry cars from China down the Mekong, so they don't have to drive all the way from China. There are sure a lot in Chiang Mai now. I also saw two Japanese SUVs this week.

[paulchiangmai]

I saw a car with Chinese plates recently, left hand drive and everything. Was driving up Phayathai Road and left onto Phetchaburi Road in morning rush hour.

Come to Chiang Mai, one in every four cars seems to have them lately, also known as a blue plate menace.

Yesterday morning I managed to get in amongst a convoy of them heading out of C/Mai presumably back to China. Must have been about 50 of them, many expensive cars in the convoy, Range Rovers etc. Almost all had their hazard lights going continuously and all were driving in the fast lane. In the afternoon I came across another convoy heading towards China, about 20 this time.

[Strangebrew]

Does passport have picture of car on it and tire prints? And who signs car name? Oh do you have to pay for re entry stamp too?

[pstbkk]

Does passport have picture of car on it and tire prints? And who signs car name? Oh do you have to pay for re entry stamp too?

No, you don't need to pay re-entry fee because sometimes you can not even leave, so it is impossible to re-enter.

I have been to Laos by car - no problem

A two weeks ago tried with Cambodia - Cambodians asked for 300 USD to let me in.

[impulse]

oh no! I hope Thai drivers realise they won't be able to drive to Beijing and hope to get away there with driving on the wrong side of the road against the traffic

Even if they drove on the wrong side, they'd fit right in.

[sapson]

How about motorbikes into Laos is that easy enough, if you had the green book with you but it was still in the ex girlfriends name, Im guessing you would not be allowed out of Thailand even with a letter of consent.?

[Tomtomtom69]

I saw a car with Chinese plates recently, left hand drive and everything. Was driving up Phayathai Road and left onto Phetchaburi Road in morning rush hour.

Come to Chiang Mai, one in every four cars seems to have them lately, also known as a blue plate menace.

Yesterday morning I managed to get in amongst a convoy of them heading out of C/Mai presumably back to China. Must have been about 50 of them, many expensive cars in the convoy, Range Rovers etc. Almost all had their hazard lights going continuously and all were driving in the fast lane. In the afternoon I came across another convoy heading towards China, about 20 this time.

2 days ago I was driving from Lampang back to Bangkok. Counted 33 of these menaces between Den Chai and Singburi, by far the most ever. When I was in Chiang Mai a few days earlier I counted "only" 12 plus one more in Lampang.

However, on Feb 12 a Thai language news story came out that the Land Transport Department is likely to make it more difficult for foreign registered vehicles to enter Thailand soon, in response to the large numbers of Chinese cars seen driving freely in Thailand, many of them causing accidents, driving badly all the while Thais wishing to drive to China need to receive advance permission before they are allowed to cross the border.

The new regulations, when they're implemented are likely to apply only to non-ASEAN vehicles (although the report did not seem to make the distinction, however, I can't imagine that Thailand would restrict ASEAN registered vehicles from neighboring countries with which they already have existing agreements as that would backfire badly - Thailand however does not need nor benefit from Chinese vehicles driving within it's borders and that is what the new regulations are about).

Since the report is in the Thai language, I believe I'm not allowed to link it here. However, to summarize, here are some of the key points identified (for the reports do a search on Thairath, the Land Transport Department website and other sources from the past week:

1) There may be a limit imposed on the number of foreign registered vehicles allowed to cross the border, particularly at Chiang Khong (this from a new article posted 2 days ago)

2) Advance permission will be required to bring in a foreign registered vehicle to Thailand. Permission must be sought from the Land Transport Department

3) Travel itineraries must be produced

4) A copy of the driver's drivers licence must be produced

5) Insurance must be purchased

6) There may possibly be further requirements to be announced later

It is unclear when the new regulations may be put into place, but I can imagine it could be fairly soon. After the Malaysians restricted Thai minivans from entering it's territory, the Thais quickly responded by banning Malaysian and Singaporean tour buses from travelling beyond Songkhla, the first time this was done in 39 years.

Given the social media outcry about Chinese cars driving freely in Thailand, clearly I think this "honeymoon period" will end soon.

[Tomtomtom69]

I saw a car with Chinese plates recently, left hand drive and everything. Was driving up Phayathai Road and left onto Phetchaburi Road in morning rush hour.

A shopkeeper told me they now ferry cars from China down the Mekong, so they don't have to drive all the way from China. There are sure a lot in Chiang Mai now. I also saw two Japanese SUVs this week.

I counted a total of 54 Chinese cars and 2 motorcycles in various places between Bangkok and Chiang Mai during the period from Feb 10 to Feb 15, by far the most ever. I only spotted 1 Malaysian car and 1 Lao car during this period, which is normal considering these vehicles are normally only seen in large numbers near their respective border, but it's also strange in a sense that one now sees more vehicles from a third country [China] driving in Thailand than those from neighboring countries. Must be a first as I can't imagine one would ever see more Canadian vehicles driving in say El Paso, Texas than Mexican ones.

Could become a thing of the past fairly soon though. I'm surprised that no English language news story has been published on this but since Feb 12 the Land Transport Department's announcement on Thai language media that there will soon be new restrictions for foreign registered vehicles entering Thailand (presumably only to apply to non-ASEAN vehicles) the story has been republished on other news sources and broadcast on TV. What this would mean is that Chinese vehicles would suddenly vanish as they have been taking advantage of the fact they can enter so freely. Also, it appears that many of them are coming across the Mekong as you said, not to mention they don't need to deposit a customs guarantee...well, unless the new regulations change that.

Strange, that this non story appears instead. In fact, I have noticed no difference in the regulations to take a Thai car across to another country since Jan 1. Since Jan 1, I have brought my Thai car across to Laos, which has been straight forward for years, and also to Cambodia, where I had to pay a slightly higher daily fee to the Cambodian customs at Koh Kong, compared to last year. I asked Koh Kong and Hat Lek customs about AEC but they said that it means nothing. I also asked about Myanmar and it's the same story there - no changes and no idea when there will be any changes. In any case security concerns are preventing them from allowing free entrance by car - ASEAN or AEC doesn't change the fact that they still have many conflicts particularly in the border regions, not to mention there is no system to purchase third party insurance and foreign vehicles breaking down in nowhereville, Myanmar would become an inconvenient and expensive headache for the Burmese hence they don't allow foreign registered vehicles to travel inside their borders without a guide (exceptions exist for Thai vehicles travelling in the border areas but they do so at their own risk).

[Tomtomtom69]

How about motorbikes into Laos is that easy enough, if you had the green book with you but it was still in the ex girlfriends name, Im guessing you would not be allowed out of Thailand even with a letter of consent.?

A letter of consent (power of attorney), along with the ex's ID card copy signed and dated plus the original green book and an English language translation of the green book, done at the Land Transport Department for 20 Baht are required to leave Thailand.

Yes, they will accept a power of attorney. Just make sure you are on good terms with the ex though. If she were to declare the bike stolen and implicated you, that would be a major headache.

However if you are good to go, hopefully the bike is 250cc or over as smaller bikes sometimes encounter problems being allowed to leave the country. Occasionally they are more lenient if you transport the bike on a pickup truck that you are also taking across as it then appears you will be bringing the bike back, but if you just come with the bike and it's less than 250cc, the Thais may not let you out or the Lao may not let you in. Usually the Thai side is stricter because they know what the Lao authorities will allow.

The 1st Friendship bridge (Nong Khai-Vientiane) WILL let you drive a 250cc or larger bike across. Anything smaller than that and you will have to transport it inside the back of a pickup, apply for a permit or it won't be allowed across at all.

The 2nd and 3rd Friendship bridges (Mukdaharn-Savannakhet and Nakorn Phanom-Tha Khaek) generally don't allow any bikes across no matter their size. UNLESS a permit is sought in advance. Sometimes the Lao authorities may allow a Thai bike to return to Thailand across these bridges, but the Thai authorities will NOT allow bikes to leave Thailand.

The 4th Friendship bridge (Chiang Khong-Huay Xai) will allow your bike across for 1000 Baht but requires an escort. Sometimes the bridge doesn't allow bikes across at all, but in general if you pay for the escort you're good to go.

Other crossings may or may not allow your bike across. Beung Kan-Paksan is apparently a no-go for bikes and given you need to take a ferry I wouldn't bother.

Huay Kon (Nan)-Muang Ngern should be OK but it can be a bit of a hit and miss.

Phu Doo (Uttradit) - Phu Doo (Saiyabuli) may only allow your bike to be ridden inside Saiyabuli province although it depends what you can negotiate with them. It's a new crossing, only about a year old and given that unless you are visa exempt for Laos or already have a visa you can't cross there (no visa on arrival available yet); so it's unlikely to be somewhere many people would be crossing.

Nearby Tha Li-Nam Heuang should allow your bike across but you'll improve your chances considerably if it's 200cc or 250cc or above. Chong Mek-Vang Tao in the south is similar. In both cases, if the Thais allow you to leave you aren't likely to encounter any issues on the Lao side.

[Tomtomtom69]

Does passport have picture of car on it and tire prints? And who signs car name? Oh do you have to pay for re entry stamp too?

No, you don't need to pay re-entry fee because sometimes you can not even leave, so it is impossible to re-enter.

I have been to Laos by car - no problem

A two weeks ago tried with Cambodia - Cambodians asked for 300 USD to let me in.

I've been across to Cambodia by car twice, at the two main crossings they allow cars in. 300 USD to let you in? Where was this? There is no fee at the O'Smach border, while at Koh Kong they will charge you 150 Baht / day.

Poipet wants a carnet or 10,000 USD.

If it's true that Cambodia will soon recognize Thai car passports as part of an easing of regulations due to AEC, then this may change. However, nobody knows of when this may be, so this news article is kinda the same old bs.

[Tomtomtom69]

There have been many threads on this in the Cambodia forum and some quite recent reports. Most Cambodian border crossings will not let cars through, only 2 known exceptions. And no place using these car passports yet, though they do in Laos.

As you asked over on the Cambodia forum, there may be a third crossing allowing cars to enter (Pong Nam Ron or Ban Pakkard - Prom) but only for local travel as far as Pailin and there have been reports of refusals on the Cambodian side.

In any case, neither Thai nor Cambodian customs are aware of any plans to change the regulations anytime soon.

The Thai and Cambodian governments have an agreement in place since 2012 that applies only for commercial vehicles. Private vehicles are not covered by this agreement.

The only recent addition or liberalization possibly due to AEC comes from Vietnam, which now allows 20 Thai trucks to enter it's territory through one Lao-Vietnam border crossing (Daen Savanh-Lao Bao). All the licences are held by one Thai logistics operator. Private vehicles and buses are not covered.

[sapson]

How about motorbikes into Laos is that easy enough, if you had the green book with you but it was still in the ex girlfriends name, Im guessing you would not be allowed out of Thailand even with a letter of consent.?

A letter of consent (power of attorney), along with the ex's ID card copy signed and dated plus the original green book and an English language translation of the green book, done at the Land Transport Department for 20 Baht are required to leave Thailand.

Yes, they will accept a power of attorney. Just make sure you are on good terms with the ex though. If she were to declare the bike stolen and implicated you, that would be a major headache.

However if you are good to go, hopefully the bike is 250cc or over as smaller bikes sometimes encounter problems being allowed to leave the country. Occasionally they are more lenient if you transport the bike on a pickup truck that you are also taking across as it then appears you will be bringing the bike back, but if you just come with the bike and it's less than 250cc, the Thais may not let you out or the Lao may not let you in. Usually the Thai side is stricter because they know what the Lao authorities will allow.

The 1st Friendship bridge (Nong Khai-Vientiane) WILL let you drive a 250cc or larger bike across. Anything smaller than that and you will have to transport it inside the back of a pickup, apply for a permit or it won't be allowed across at all.

The 2nd and 3rd Friendship bridges (Mukdaharn-Savannakhet and Nakorn Phanom-Tha Khaek) generally don't allow any bikes across no matter their size. UNLESS a permit is sought in advance. Sometimes the Lao authorities may allow a Thai bike to return to Thailand across these bridges, but the Thai authorities will NOT allow bikes to leave Thailand.

The 4th Friendship bridge (Chiang Khong-Huay Xai) will allow your bike across for 1000 Baht but requires an escort. Sometimes the bridge doesn't allow bikes across at all, but in general if you pay for the escort you're good to go.

Other crossings may or may not allow your bike across. Beung Kan-Paksan is apparently a no-go for bikes and given you need to take a ferry I wouldn't bother.

Huay Kon (Nan)-Muang Ngern should be OK but it can be a bit of a hit and miss.

Phu Doo (Uttradit) - Phu Doo (Saiyabuli) may only allow your bike to be ridden inside Saiyabuli province although it depends what you can negotiate with them. It's a new crossing, only about a year old and given that unless you are visa exempt for Laos or already have a visa you can't cross there (no visa on arrival available yet); so it's unlikely to be somewhere many people would be crossing.

Nearby Tha Li-Nam Heuang should allow your bike across but you'll improve your chances considerably if it's 200cc or 250cc or above. Chong Mek-Vang Tao in the south is similar. In both cases, if the Thais allow you to leave you aren't likely to encounter any issues on the Lao side.

Thanks for such a comprehensive reply!

Think the answer may be transfer the green book into my name which I guess will involve a visit together with the ex to the land transport office.

Then when the green book is in my name apply for a motorbike passport if their is such a thing?

Its only small bike and just fancied a jolly around the Savannaket area whilst doing a visa trip, but maybe local rental would be easier.

[Tomtomtom69]

How about motorbikes into Laos is that easy enough, if you had the green book with you but it was still in the ex girlfriends name, Im guessing you would not be allowed out of Thailand even with a letter of consent.?

A letter of consent (power of attorney), along with the ex's ID card copy signed and dated plus the original green book and an English language translation of the green book, done at the Land Transport Department for 20 Baht are required to leave Thailand.

Yes, they will accept a power of attorney. Just make sure you are on good terms with the ex though. If she were to declare the bike stolen and implicated you, that would be a major headache.

However if you are good to go, hopefully the bike is 250cc or over as smaller bikes sometimes encounter problems being allowed to leave the country. Occasionally they are more lenient if you transport the bike on a pickup truck that you are also taking across as it then appears you will be bringing the bike back, but if you just come with the bike and it's less than 250cc, the Thais may not let you out or the Lao may not let you in. Usually the Thai side is stricter because they know what the Lao authorities will allow.

The 1st Friendship bridge (Nong Khai-Vientiane) WILL let you drive a 250cc or larger bike across. Anything smaller than that and you will have to transport it inside the back of a pickup, apply for a permit or it won't be allowed across at all.

The 2nd and 3rd Friendship bridges (Mukdaharn-Savannakhet and Nakorn Phanom-Tha Khaek) generally don't allow any bikes across no matter their size. UNLESS a permit is sought in advance. Sometimes the Lao authorities may allow a Thai bike to return to Thailand across these bridges, but the Thai authorities will NOT allow bikes to leave Thailand.

The 4th Friendship bridge (Chiang Khong-Huay Xai) will allow your bike across for 1000 Baht but requires an escort. Sometimes the bridge doesn't allow bikes across at all, but in general if you pay for the escort you're good to go.

Other crossings may or may not allow your bike across. Beung Kan-Paksan is apparently a no-go for bikes and given you need to take a ferry I wouldn't bother.

Huay Kon (Nan)-Muang Ngern should be OK but it can be a bit of a hit and miss.

Phu Doo (Uttradit) - Phu Doo (Saiyabuli) may only allow your bike to be ridden inside Saiyabuli province although it depends what you can negotiate with them. It's a new crossing, only about a year old and given that unless you are visa exempt for Laos or already have a visa you can't cross there (no visa on arrival available yet); so it's unlikely to be somewhere many people would be crossing.

Nearby Tha Li-Nam Heuang should allow your bike across but you'll improve your chances considerably if it's 200cc or 250cc or above. Chong Mek-Vang Tao in the south is similar. In both cases, if the Thais allow you to leave you aren't likely to encounter any issues on the Lao side.

Thanks for such a comprehensive reply!

Think the answer may be transfer the green book into my name which I guess will involve a visit together with the ex to the land transport office.

Then when the green book is in my name apply for a motorbike passport if their is such a thing?

Its only small bike and just fancied a jolly around the Savannaket area whilst doing a visa trip, but maybe local rental would be easier.

Yes, you are WAY better off changing the registration to your name especially if she's now your ex. Hopefully she won't have any objections to that. Although Thai officials will normally allow you to take a vehicle across the border using a power of attorney, if they ever tighten the regulations it's better if the vehicle is in your name because then they can't refuse you seeing you are the owner.

There is no motorcycle passport anymore. It has been replaced by the 20 Baht translation of your book known as the "Vehicle Registration Certificate" and is valid for one year, up to the date of your road tax renewal. If it's close to expiry, make sure you renew the road tax first THEN get the translation done, which usually takes no more than an hour. You can accomplish everything in one day: change of ownership, renewal of road tax, vehicle registration certificate.

If you want to ride around Savannakhet, it may be best if you cross at Chong Mek/Vang Tao and travel the approx. 270km north to Savannakhet. I know that's a fair distance but I don't know what the procedure is to secure a permit to cross at the Friendship Bridge near Mukdaharn so by the time you have figured it out you would already have crossed over at Chong Mek, which will likely let you across. As I said I am not sure about small bikes, when I asked at Chong Mek one guy was a little reluctant to allow small bikes to go across but said foreigners (westerners) are much more likely to be permitted to take small bikes across than Thais, who have been known to sell such bikes over in Lao.

If that sounds too complicated then you're better off just renting a bike locally in Savannakhet, especially if you're just there for a quick visa trip.