End of the road: Thailand tightens up rules on foreign tourist vehicles

[cumgranosalum]

OK , I know there have been some significant issues with long convoys of Chinese cars and camper vans and the assorted issues with camper vans parking en masse at tourist attractions and popular spots and then just dumping their rubbish and worse... no need to go into further details.

The inclusion of motorbikes in this does make one scratch ones head and wonder why but the main motorcycle traffic into Thailand is from Malaysia and Singapore and they aren't affected here ....... however once again it is great example of " Ready Fire Aim"..... I wish the Land Transport Office in coming up with this would have devoted the same energy to regulating and cleaning up the minivan taxi/ transport industry here .... especially in the hot spots ( Phuket/ Krabi/ Samui)....the threat to tourism and pure data on numbers of people killed by this largely unregulated and lawless association of Minivan transport companies and their ill trained, often over tired and quite often drugged to the eyeballs drivers is immense.

Barely a week goes by when you don't read about minivan skidding off the road and the associated carnage and all of us have seen the breakneck speed at which allot of these drivers go at .......... This tightening up on rules here is a soft option .. why ?? .. because they can actually enforce it via border control/ immigration..... tackling the real issues that Land Transport should be looking at well that might have to come another day .....

Ps. before anyone comments I have seen the recent press re restricting the minivans in their long haul scope some but alas without solid training, education, vehicle safety checks and monitoring systems in place this is akin to Canute and the waves .

.

" no need to go into further details." - yes there is!

I've seen "convoys" of Chinese vehicles and I'd like to see some thoroughly researched analysis of the effects they have. This is, of course, of no interest to the Thai authorities who never base any decisions it would seem on scientific principles.

Even if these "convoys" were shown to be a real a nuisance, how does this represent a rational solution? Surely a solution would be to break up the convoys or insist on smaller groups travelling together.

The truth is that the Thai authorities are not prepared for anything like this - they don't have the tools to deal with it and rather than bother, they take the usual Thai response - "no have".

In the end Thailand will in a the near or far future have to admit foreign traffic and they will need to cope with it; just as we have in Europe...it isn't a great problem and if Thailand went to Europe they'd soon get informed of the real problems and how to deal with them - again Thailand’s history of listening to advice from outside is limited.

There is a major change in the region and it is coming from the middle-classes of those countries - these people are educated, have money and influence - it would be a good idea for the Thai authorities and the authorities of other countries to look at what is going on and listen to the people - rather than be motivated by their own self-interest, greed and xenophobia..

.

.

.

PS - Minivans have not been restricted yet - it is just another example of ill-researched, poorly conceived ideas by the authorities

Convoys of foreign vehicles should be given a police escort (actually they should be compulsory) as is the case in Vietnam for example.

Thailand does NOT have to admit any foreign traffic other than that it has a proper agreement with. It's the same in Europe - the reason you see Portuguese registrations in say Switzerland is because a European wide agreement on the exchange of traffic rights was implemented and entered into force - just that it happened as early as the 50s.

Educated people with money are also generally time poor. Unless they're rich Lao from Vientiane driving down to Udon for shopping, they'll be flying into Bangkok and perhaps maybe rent a high end luxury vehicle with chauffeur to drive them around.

Your analysis is ill-conceived and largely based upon trying to compare Europe to South-East Asia thinking the same standards, rules and regulations etc. should apply here too just because it happens to work in Europe. Err...no. Not quite.

Also, rather than attack Thailand you might want to reserve more criticism for Myanmar, Vietnam and China. All these countries make it VERY difficult and expensive to drive there, much more so than these new regulations Thailand is putting into place. 10 days advance notice is nothing compared to the 30 days Myanmar needs or the 3 months China needs (which suggests Chinese officials are either highly incompetent, lazy or just stupid if they need 3 months to prepare for the arrival of one foreign registered car).

Just "attacking" Thailand doesn't mean I approve of the other countries' p[policies.

Thailand however is the one engaged in a great big step backwards.

Your knowledge of Europe seems a bit scant.

I'm not "comparing" Europe, I use it to show a system that works quite well - you can't compare the US as I pointed out as it is a single nation.

however ASEAN (or AEC0 are based on the idea of free trade - this cannot happen without the appropriate communication systems in place.....free movement of labour is very unlikely in such an undemocratic bunch of countries, but without transport there will be no such thing as free trade - it will be a non starter - this includes road transport (as said they are even building the roads) and furthermore trade is not just the movement of heavy goods, it is the movement of skills and ideas which travel best on roads in connected communities.......this again has been shown in the EU.

Any comparison is nothing to dio with in fake concepts of race or culture, they are down to straightforward cause and effect.......is this region wants a free trade area then they need free-ranging movement of people and foods by road....period

[cumgranosalum]

There was talk earlier on of New Zealand's attitude to foreign drivers.....this article seems to reiterate my suspicions..

roadshttp://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff-nation/assignments/share-your-news-and-views/13529003/Tourists-drivers-an-easy-scapegoat-for-problems-on-NZ-roads

"New Zealand has one of the worst road death tolls in the developed world. We have some of the most treacherous roads, coupled with poor road safety design."

[Tomtomtom69]

Well, I kept a house in Thailand to leave my motorbikes for intercountry travel, well that just <deleted> that, time to sell the house and never return. The hell with Thailand, I have just about had it. I now live in Philippines and whilst they have their moments, a bloody dream compared to LOS.

Umm...maybe the Phils is better than Thailand in some ways, but how does your experience relate to driving a foreign tourist vehicle in Thailand? BTW show me one foreign registered vehicle in the Phils. Couldn't spot even one? Nope well of course not, it's an island nation.

Nobody is stopping you from driving your THAI registered motorbikes from intercountry travel, in fact, the roads are about to become a little bit safer as a result.

[Tomtomtom69]

OK , I know there have been some significant issues with long convoys of Chinese cars and camper vans and the assorted issues with camper vans parking en masse at tourist attractions and popular spots and then just dumping their rubbish and worse... no need to go into further details.

The inclusion of motorbikes in this does make one scratch ones head and wonder why but the main motorcycle traffic into Thailand is from Malaysia and Singapore and they aren't affected here ....... however once again it is great example of " Ready Fire Aim"..... I wish the Land Transport Office in coming up with this would have devoted the same energy to regulating and cleaning up the minivan taxi/ transport industry here .... especially in the hot spots ( Phuket/ Krabi/ Samui)....the threat to tourism and pure data on numbers of people killed by this largely unregulated and lawless association of Minivan transport companies and their ill trained, often over tired and quite often drugged to the eyeballs drivers is immense.

Barely a week goes by when you don't read about minivan skidding off the road and the associated carnage and all of us have seen the breakneck speed at which allot of these drivers go at .......... This tightening up on rules here is a soft option .. why ?? .. because they can actually enforce it via border control/ immigration..... tackling the real issues that Land Transport should be looking at well that might have to come another day .....

Ps. before anyone comments I have seen the recent press re restricting the minivans in their long haul scope some but alas without solid training, education, vehicle safety checks and monitoring systems in place this is akin to Canute and the waves .

.

" no need to go into further details." - yes there is!

I've seen "convoys" of Chinese vehicles and I'd like to see some thoroughly researched analysis of the effects they have. This is, of course, of no interest to the Thai authorities who never base any decisions it would seem on scientific principles.

Even if these "convoys" were shown to be a real a nuisance, how does this represent a rational solution? Surely a solution would be to break up the convoys or insist on smaller groups travelling together.

The truth is that the Thai authorities are not prepared for anything like this - they don't have the tools to deal with it and rather than bother, they take the usual Thai response - "no have".

In the end Thailand will in a the near or far future have to admit foreign traffic and they will need to cope with it; just as we have in Europe...it isn't a great problem and if Thailand went to Europe they'd soon get informed of the real problems and how to deal with them - again Thailand’s history of listening to advice from outside is limited.

There is a major change in the region and it is coming from the middle-classes of those countries - these people are educated, have money and influence - it would be a good idea for the Thai authorities and the authorities of other countries to look at what is going on and listen to the people - rather than be motivated by their own self-interest, greed and xenophobia..

.

.

.

PS - Minivans have not been restricted yet - it is just another example of ill-researched, poorly conceived ideas by the authorities

Convoys of foreign vehicles should be given a police escort (actually they should be compulsory) as is the case in Vietnam for example.

Thailand does NOT have to admit any foreign traffic other than that it has a proper agreement with. It's the same in Europe - the reason you see Portuguese registrations in say Switzerland is because a European wide agreement on the exchange of traffic rights was implemented and entered into force - just that it happened as early as the 50s.

Educated people with money are also generally time poor. Unless they're rich Lao from Vientiane driving down to Udon for shopping, they'll be flying into Bangkok and perhaps maybe rent a high end luxury vehicle with chauffeur to drive them around.

Your analysis is ill-conceived and largely based upon trying to compare Europe to South-East Asia thinking the same standards, rules and regulations etc. should apply here too just because it happens to work in Europe. Err...no. Not quite.

Also, rather than attack Thailand you might want to reserve more criticism for Myanmar, Vietnam and China. All these countries make it VERY difficult and expensive to drive there, much more so than these new regulations Thailand is putting into place. 10 days advance notice is nothing compared to the 30 days Myanmar needs or the 3 months China needs (which suggests Chinese officials are either highly incompetent, lazy or just stupid if they need 3 months to prepare for the arrival of one foreign registered car).

Just "attacking" Thailand doesn't mean I approve of the other countries' p[policies.

Thailand however is the one engaged in a great big step backwards.

Your knowledge of Europe seems a bit scant.

I'm not "comparing" Europe, I use it to show a system that works quite well - you can't compare the US as I pointed out as it is a single nation.

however ASEAN (or AEC0 are based on the idea of free trade - this cannot happen without the appropriate communication systems in place.....free movement of labour is very unlikely in such an undemocratic bunch of countries, but without transport there will be no such thing as free trade - it will be a non starter - this includes road transport (as said they are even building the roads) and furthermore trade is not just the movement of heavy goods, it is the movement of skills and ideas which travel best on roads in connected communities.......this again has been shown in the EU.

Any comparison is nothing to dio with in fake concepts of race or culture, they are down to straightforward cause and effect.......is this region wants a free trade area then they need free-ranging movement of people and foods by road....period

I know a whole lot about Europe but it shows that you know virtually nothing about ASEAN and developing countries in general.

You are still trying to get your point across that just because it works in Europe it will work here. And that all of a sudden ASEAN countries will have the infrastructure to cope, just because AEC started.

That is absolute nonsense.

Most of Europe (certainly western Europe) was more developed in the 1960s than most of ASEAN is today, in 2016. They have agreements on road transport they worked out and implemented in the 1950s and actually adhere to.

Europe has a continent wide insurance system for all cars, trucks, buses and motorcycles. ASEAN isn't even close to negotiating one.

Europe drives on the same side of the road throughout the mainland. OK, I know this needn't be a big deal, as Irish and UK cars often go to the mainland and vice versa. However, in ASEAN you have the southern part driving on the left, and the eastern and western parts on the right. This causes some safety concerns, at least for some governments (Vietnam is a good example).

Europe has far more roads, highways, expressways and facilities to serve motorists than ASEAN countries do.

Europe has excellent medical facilities and ambulance services that can be relied upon in case of an accident. ASEAN countries have an extremely basic ambulance system and apart from Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore (and a couple of expat oriented hospitals in Danang, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh) the rest of the region has only very basic medical facilities where you are unlikely to be able to be treated in the event of a serious accident. If you make it to the hospital at all. And as we know, driving standards are very poor in most countries in the region except Singapore.

Europe has more or less standardized road signs and traffic signals - ASEAN does not. In Vietnam, there are barely any road signs whatsoever, Thailand doesn't know what speed limit signs are (except on the expressways), while Laos and Cambodia don't know how to construct useful distance and direction signs.

Most Lao and Cambodian roads would best be described as "tracks" by European standards. Europe had better roads in the 1940s than the main highways of these two countries now. Not a single meter of expressway exists in Laos or Cambodia. Germany already started building it's autobahn in the 1930s.

There are no caravan parks or trailer parks in Thailand (to the best of my knowledge) that could accommodate camper vans and motorhomes. While I like these kinds of vehicles and would certainly be a proponent of opening such facilities, I think the authorities should wait to open them until sufficient numbers of Thais can afford motorhomes as there is very little demand for them now - they are right to ban freeloading Chinese motorhomes altogether though as they currently don't bring in any tourism revenue and take up too much road space. After all, a Thai registered motorhome can't easily enter China. Tit for tat is the only language that works, especially when you're up against an arrogant giant like China that doesn't know how to play by the rules (again, see the GMS CBTA that China signed but refused to implement).

Finally, poor planning, bad and/or insufficient road infrastructure and increasing pollution and congestion in today's SE Asia should be enough reason to think twice about enabling any large scale influx of foreign registered vehicles. Better public transport, including linking cities and countries in the region with a reasonably fast rail network should be encouraged instead.

I strongly agree that the Cambodians and Burmese should at least have an agreement on cross border movement of private vehicles with Thailand - it would contribute to more trade and tourism and the numbers of vehicles from these countries crossing into Thailand and vice versa would probably never be very large anyway, as is the case now where most stick to the border regions (Burmese vehicles aren't allowed to travel further anyway). Beyond that, Thailand does not need any other foreign registered vehicles driving inside it's territory - although if they meet the new requirements then they can still come. Not a big deal when planning a trip to be honest.

[Tomtomtom69]

No problem for the Chinese, who will drive to other local countries and spend money there instead of Thailand.

Let's see here, which other "local" countries will let Chinese cars in?

Vietnam - hell no, need advance permission, lead vehicle, guide etc.

Myanmar (Burma) - similar, although no lead vehicle is required except for big groups

India - not a chance

North Korea - haha, in your dreams

Hong Kong - despite now having been returned to China, Chinese drivers need to obtain a special number plate, which costs as much as a car, something like $40,000 or so

Which countries will let Chinese in?

Laos.

[cumgranosalum]

"You are still trying to get your point across that just because it works in Europe it will work here. And that all of a sudden ASEAN countries will have the infrastructure to cope, just because AEC started." - that's not my point........ASEAN wants to be free trade - simple as that....there are blocks that operate borderless transport, the USA and Europe are the most notable - to suggest that pure physics is different in ASEAN shows you don't have A clear perspective on this topic.

If AEC or ASEAN want to operate free trade they need free movement transport - the Chinese are building roads for this all over the world.....if they want free trade they HJAVE to implement it and Europe which has a HUGE range of infrastructure and includes DoL and DoR as well is a good example - if your have rad any of my posts opver the last few years you will know that road transport is not dependant on perceptions of "culture" it is a prerequisite for trade.

time and again people cite the facts that at present access agreements or lack of, appear to be lopsided - that is of course the norm with any treaty/agreement between two countries - there have been world agreements of road transport but what is needed now is an acceptance that free movement is needed and this needs to begin with a liberalisation of the relative border controls.....and YES Europe is a good model yto follow - it's no good ignoring the history of transport in Europe and YES it can and should be applied to S.E. Asia.

In the end a large scaler influx is not and never has been the case - the establishment of a regional agreement would mean the amount of vehicles should in the end be 2 way and they are brining trade - not just a load of extra vehicles you actually get a mix instead of reloading or changing tractor units at borders....the time svaed is colossal.

​the Eu agreement is of course not just restricted to member states either - other countries that weren't or aren't have agreements that progressively easy the flow of traffic....this move by Thailand -is one the face of it a step backwards - it really is completely irrelevant whether the agreements are 50/50, or bargaining gets other goals and incentives outside of traffic movement......this would be the first step .........in Asean eventually one would like to see a uniform system and negotiated agreements with neighbours such as India and China.

integration of traffic in Europe is advanced but still not complete, and it has taken over 40 years - but the progress was up until now in one direction - there still are/have been differences - e.g. commercial transport weight limits, qualities of roads, laws regarding tachos, enforcement etc etc but basically the system works - i think many people are unaware of how the system has developed over the years - they might come to appreciate that if UK leaves the EU and has to re-negotiate all those agreement.

]

[Tomtomtom69]

"You are still trying to get your point across that just because it works in Europe it will work here. And that all of a sudden ASEAN countries will have the infrastructure to cope, just because AEC started." - that's not my point........ASEAN wants to be free trade - simple as that....there are blocks that operate borderless transport, the USA and Europe are the most notable - to suggest that pure physics is different in ASEAN shows you don't have A clear perspective on this topic.

If AEC or ASEAN want to operate free trade they need free movement transport - the Chinese are building roads for this all over the world.....if they want free trade they HJAVE to implement it and Europe which has a HUGE range of infrastructure and includes DoL and DoR as well is a good example - if your have rad any of my posts opver the last few years you will know that road transport is not dependant on perceptions of "culture" it is a prerequisite for trade.

time and again people cite the facts that at present access agreements or lack of, appear to be lopsided - that is of course the norm with any treaty/agreement between two countries - there have been world agreements of road transport but what is needed now is an acceptance that free movement is needed and this needs to begin with a liberalisation of the relative border controls.....and YES Europe is a good model yto follow - it's no good ignoring the history of transport in Europe and YES it can and should be applied to S.E. Asia.

In the end a large scaler influx is not and never has been the case - the establishment of a regional agreement would mean the amount of vehicles should in the end be 2 way and they are brining trade - not just a load of extra vehicles you actually get a mix instead of reloading or changing tractor units at borders....the time svaed is colossal.

​the Eu agreement is of course not just restricted to member states either - other countries that weren't or aren't have agreements that progressively easy the flow of traffic....this move by Thailand -is one the face of it a step backwards - it really is completely irrelevant whether the agreements are 50/50, or bargaining gets other goals and incentives outside of traffic movement......this would be the first step .........in Asean eventually one would like to see a uniform system and negotiated agreements with neighbours such as India and China.

integration of traffic in Europe is advanced but still not complete, and it has taken over 40 years - but the progress was up until now in one direction - there still are/have been differences - e.g. commercial transport weight limits, qualities of roads, laws regarding tachos, enforcement etc etc but basically the system works - i think many people are unaware of how the system has developed over the years - they might come to appreciate that if UK leaves the EU and has to re-negotiate all those agreement.

]

You have certainly made some good points but SE Asia is still decades away from the EU in terms of development of it's road infrastructure, insurance and agreements on the free passage of vehicles (it's actually more about goods transport vehicles than private cars anyway) and naturally each country still has it's own industry to protect. Since Europe is rich it can afford to open it's borders freely, while much poorer SE Asian countries have to be protectionist by nature, otherwise the richer economies soon dominate and leave the domestic industries affected with nothing.

Again you have ignored the numerous challenges in implementing any region-wide agreement due to the vast differences in ASEAN in terms of road infrastructure (quality of roads and types of roads), lack of road signs, lack of common standards on commercial truck weight limits, enforcement of road traffic laws, even just the lack of a common language on road signs in many countries where English is not seen on smaller signs, only on larger ones. Also, as I've said before, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar in particular (even Vietnam) do NOT have the road space available for a large scale influx of foreign registered vehicles. They don't have the emergency facilities if an accident happens and even for a more minor accident, as I've pointed out numerous times but you keep going off on a tangent with Europe, what about claiming insurance if an accident occurs with a foreign registered vehicle? Believe me, if you were driving a car with foreign plates in say Vietnam and cause an accident (no matter how minor) YOU will be responsible and the locals won't let you go until you've paid something (the same could also be said for local vehicles, but foreign registered ones will stand out even more). If you don't, a big mob will form and they will take the law into their own hands.

We are dealing with a completely different mindset here in ASEAN compared to Europe - these things can't and won't change overnight. IF member states can agree on a common framework, it will take many, many years if not decades. AEC started but to expect everything will be up and running straight away like you seem to infer is absolutely unrealistic. Not to mention that nowhere has it ever been claimed that AEC expects to have freedom of movement for motor vehicles across member states. I've searched long and hard and found NOTHING to support that claim.

I don't see any agreement with India or China anytime soon especially not China as we all know China is one big arrogant bastard who never plays by the rules and ASEAN economies are afraid of it's dominance if allowed a free pass. China builds roads and infrastructure mainly for it's benefit not for that of the host community. A recent resumption of an insurgency that was thought to have been wiped out in central Laos has targeted Chinese interests, including a Chinese mining project, killing a Chinese worker and also two Chinese tourists driving in what I assume was a Chinese registered BMW that was totaled; numerous attacks have occurred since November last year with the most recent one occurring just a couple of weeks ago. Not a good development of course, but unease at China's involvement in the economies of countries such as Laos is fuelling increasing resentment and tensions are brewing.

I support ASEAN integration but China and India play no part in this since neither country is part of ASEAN. Within ASEAN, Myanmar and Cambodia have only implemented watered down or more restricted agreements with Thailand and other neighbors, so it is of upmost importance that ASEAN agrees on a common framework first. Please stop bringing up China (and India) as they are irrelevant here. Just as Russia and Kazakhstan mean little to European rules on the exchange of traffic rights.

[Tomtomtom69]

Additional rules that have been announced in the Thai language media:

Foreign registered vehicles can ONLY travel within the province they entered, for example, Chiang Rai. For further travel to other provinces, a Thai travel operator is responsible or public transport / a hire car must be taken. Presumably this means a Thai guide must travel with the car(s) in question, just like in Vietnam, Myanmar and China.

No more convoys unless accompanied by a Thai guide and a police escort. Virtually every country in the region already has this requirement, even Malaysia. Apparently large groups of foreign cars must be accompanied by a guide and police escort. Ditto for Laos (at least in the case of motorcycles), Vietnam, China and Myanmar.

Possible additional rules for Bangkok:

NO foreign registered vehicles permitted to drive in Bangkok in order to mitigate congestion and pollution.

If found there will be a 10,000 Baht fine, the vehicle will be seized, an investigation carried out and the vehicle can no longer be driven by the tourist. It will have to be towed (placed on a tow truck) and driven to the border at the owner's expense.

Lao, Malaysian and Singaporean vehicles will be exempted.

Cambodian and Burmese vehicles travelling in border regions will continue to be allowed - but presumably Cambodian vehicles travelling to Bangkok run the risk of having their cars seized. This means the Rolls Royce with Phnom Penh plates (missing it's front plate though) that I've seen driving near the Nine on Rama 9 road and parked on the inbound side in front of a shop near there runs the risk of being seized, should this new law come into effect in Bangkok.

[cumgranosalum]

You're making the assumption that Europe had the infrastructure in place first - this is nonsense....nobody would expect that, it is an organic process....the thing is to set the targets and then develop towards them....just like europe did.......and is still doing....you certainly don't regard it as a static or pre-arranged situation.

the fact is though that regardless of culture or infrastructure the only solution is the 5 Es and they need implementation over a period of time. I feel for a start it requires a democratic government and less corruption which should weed out the enormous number of people who are currently in jobs that they are unqualified to do.....this prevents the Thai and ASEAN road safety chaps - of whom their many - from doing their jobs

[cumgranosalum]

You're making the assumption that Europe had the infrastructure in place first - this is nonsense....nobody would expect that, it is an organic process....the thing is to set the targets and then develop towards them....just like europe did.......and is still doing....you certainly don't regard it as a static or pre-arranged situation.

the fact is though that regardless of culture or infrastructure the only solution is the 5 Es and they need implementation over a period of time. I feel for a start it requires a democratic government and less corruption which should weed out the enormous number of people who are currently in jobs that they are unqualified to do.....this prevents the Thai and ASEAN road safety chaps - of whom their many - from doing their jobs.

it doesn't matter how many people in Thailand believe the earth is flat, it is only by acknowledging that it is round will the physics make sense - that is universal and doesn't depend on nebulous ideas of a static culture

Edited March 25, 2016 by cumgranosalum

[Tomtomtom69]

Well, I'm a Canadian who lives in Cambodia, and has a Cambodian-registered bike. On 20 March I start a trip with two friends on Thai-registered bikes up through KH to Laos, through Laos, and into Thailand, where they return to Chiangmai, and I return home to Sihanoukville. Guess my part of that has changed, and I'll have to ride back through Laos, spending ALL my money there, instead of in Thailand. It won't be that much, so I guess Thailand won't miss it. Not like turning away a few thousand Chinese, if I understand these comments correctly.

Here's the irony. What my friends and I REALLY wanted to do was travel through Viet Nam in a loop back through Laos, etc etc, which, as I'm sure everyone on this site well knows, the Vietnamese PTB won't let you do without spending a lot of money. blah blah blah. The trip up through Laos was our second choice.

I'd be interested to know exactly when Gen Prayuth's latest little idea for making his tourist businesses "happy" starts, a crucial detail left out of the articles attached.

The latest articles I have read (in Thai) suggest as soon as the ministry responsible enters it into law as the draft is now complete - the ministry is simply considering whether it accepts the LTD's recommendation on the amount to charge (1000 Baht). It's unclear when exactly it will enter in force though it will be soon. Some previous articles from earlier this month mentioned anything from 60 days after the new law has been announced to just before Songkran, in order to stop an onslaught of Chinese cars coming in to join the festivities then although, given that CNY has long since finished and most Chinese have to work like everyone else, the numbers of tourists expected to come during Songkran would be a lot less than during CNY.

The new law also exempts Cambodian and Burmese vehicles travelling near the border, although that would probably not mean much for you if you're intending on travelling around the country.

[Tomtomtom69]

You're making the assumption that Europe had the infrastructure in place first - this is nonsense....nobody would expect that, it is an organic process....the thing is to set the targets and then develop towards them....just like europe did.......and is still doing....you certainly don't regard it as a static or pre-arranged situation.

the fact is though that regardless of culture or infrastructure the only solution is the 5 Es and they need implementation over a period of time. I feel for a start it requires a democratic government and less corruption which should weed out the enormous number of people who are currently in jobs that they are unqualified to do.....this prevents the Thai and ASEAN road safety chaps - of whom their many - from doing their jobs.

it doesn't matter how many people in Thailand believe the earth is flat, it is only by acknowledging that it is round will the physics make sense - that is universal and doesn't depend on nebulous ideas of a static culture

I'm starting to find your ramblings a bit tiring as you keep going around in circles but let me say it again:

Europe is not South-east Asia just as South-east Asia is not Europe. Of course Europe didn't have all the infrastructure in place at first - but it already worked toward integration a long, long time ago. At first you had Nazi Germany which built up the Autobahn network in the 30s, then of course some of that was destroyed during the war, as well as a lot of the infrastructure in other European countries for the same reason. Then just after the end of the war, the beginnings of what would later become the EU started and already within just a few short years after the end of the war, in the early 50s, some countries such as the Scandinavian countries started to put agreements in place on freedom of movement of their nationals and presumably, cars and commercial vehicles too. This process later expanded to the rest of western Europe and eventually eastern Europe by the time of the fall of communism. In the meantime, infrastructure was built up and agreements were enshrined in law. Meanwhile most of the EU/ECC area has a similar level of development, with the "least developed" countries such as Poland, Slovakia and even Romania still being at least as modern and developed now as some of the most developed countries in ASEAN, that is, Malaysia and Brunei.

South-East Asia meanwhile has countries like Laos and Cambodia, which have infrastructure and levels of development similar to Albania, Serbia or Moldova 20-30 years ago. Then you have epidemic levels of corruption. Then you have countries with vastly different levels of development (compare Laos to Singapore for example) and different laws, interests in protecting certain industries so it's no wonder why a common standard on say road transport is not going to become to happen here for many, many years.

I would love to see more integration here, at least among ASEAN member countries but as it stands, Thailand is finding it difficult negotiating with neighbors like Myanmar and Cambodia which just don't seem to place an importance on this issue or deep down have their own concerns. It needs to start with them and once they're on board, broadening the dialogue with say Vietnam can become the next step (although for it's part Vietnam has reached an agreement with Thailand on Thai trucks that has already been entered into force).

Logistics and public transport agreements are more likely to be pursued than agreements that would benefit tourists though and I'm fairly sure (as I've previously alluded to) that Vietnam will not easily agree to allowing Thai cars in.