I am in the process of coming to live in Thailand and hopefully this time next year I will be sorted. I was wondering if anyone has imported their own bike when they came over.

I have a 2003 XT600E with quite a lot of mods and really don't want to get rid of it. It would be a great bike for over here. If I container the bike over from the UK it might be cheaper than selling and starting again?

IMG_1243 by Wayne 66, on Flickr

Apologies if this thread is in the wrong area

Any sensible ideas

Thanks

Caps,

Phil from Rideasia forum brought his KTM here. I believe it is on a temporary import so he has to take it out of the country and back in.

Not really sure but I do remember his write up was very detailed. Check it out.

If you do a search you will see numerous instances resulting in the same outcome/suggestion......

Don't do it. Thailand stopped the import of 2nd hand vehicles a few years ago and if you got one over, it's neigh on impossible to get it registered.

Sell it and buy something over here. That's what most of us do/did.

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As Dilligad said, safe yourself the trouble and endless headaches with the authorities, because in the end you'll have spent a lot of money and will ride an unregistered bike, which can be impounded at any time. It's just not worth it.

Lots of info on the subject on this forum.

Caps,

Phil from Rideasia forum brought his KTM here. I believe it is on a temporary import so he has to take it out of the country and back in.

Not really sure but I do remember his write up was very detailed. Check it out.

Cheers Scott

I am a member of the site, will take a look

1) First importing a secondhand / used motorcycle into Thailand is not possible anymore.

2) Importing your foreign motorcycle by using the temporary import rules is also an option that should be avoided. The Thai government is working on new rules for the temporary import of motorcycles… Imagine you ride a 1.5 million Baht motorcycle in Thailand with foreign license plates and by some new rules you cannot get a stamp for renewal to stay for your foreign motorcycle…

The best advice for people who want to ride in Thailand is:

SELL YOUR MOTORCYCLE IN YOUR COUNTRY AND BUY A MOTORCYCLE IN THAILAND

Sorry for the all capital letters.... but maybe people will read it ...

Sure some motorcyclists have a lot of themselves in their machine, but as others have suggested, importing is likely to be more hassle than it's worth.

The Thai powers that be seem to be tightening up on bringing motor vehicles into the the country, temporarily or permanently. You are likely to find yourself jumping through all sorts of hoops, and be hit with various fees.

Thailand has a fairly wide range of motorcycles available now compared with only a few years ago. Better to get something suits your needs within the country than bring something that suits your style in the UK. Probably cheaper in the end too.

Thanks for the answers guys

Caps

Stay there with your bike, that scenery is stunning..your going to miss it

Stay there with your bike, that scenery is stunning..your going to miss it

Yes it was, but not the UK, Slovenia on my 8 week Balkans Trip just before Christmas 2015

For the record, it IS POSSIBLE, but I would not recommend it.

You would need to have EXCEPTIONAL Thai contacts and even then, it would involve lots of tea money / bribes whatever and at the end of the day you would more than likely have a grey book not a green book. I have no doubt there are still Thai people with the right contacts who are able to do it - I have a friend who had sterling contacts and was able to bring in container loads that were not even opened at the docks.... it just depends who you know.

• As has been mentioned, since those manufacturing motorcycles in Thailand ramped up their big bike production some 10 years? ago they obviously have a vested interest in protecting their investment.
• The good news is that there are sooooo many more 'big bike' models available now than 10 years ago, you could almost argue things have changed for the better.
• While the 'quality' used big bike market is still far behind the US/UK etc, it is improving and you can actually get a lot for B300,000 IMHO.

The best thing to do would be to check sites like Thai Visa classifieds, Bahtsold, Dirt Track Thai etc. to get an idea of how much it would cost to get something similar to what you have at home.

This is obviously a very, very, old ad, but I certainly think you can find bikes similar to these if you are prepared to be a bit patient.

Anyway, just my 2c.