Driving from Thailand>Cambodia>Vietnam

[TenDreams]

Hi, asking for a friend of a friend. He has first class insurance and wants to drive to Cambodia and Vietnam - anyone know if this is doable, and if insurance will cover his car in these places? Cheers

[Tomtomtom69]

For either of these countries, you would either need local insurance or there is no coverage at all. Asia is not like Europe - there are no regionwide insurance policies for cars, the only ones that exist cover only the country you are in and that's it.

Cambodia offers vehicle insurance only to Thai registered buses and trucks as part of a bilateral agreement. This is not applicable to private vehicles. Private vehicles will not have insurance coverage.

Your friend will need to enter Cambodia at either the Chong Chom/O'Smach crossing in Surin province or the Khlong Yai (Hat Lek)/Koh Kong border in Trat province. In both locations, Cambodian customs might tell your friend he can't drive outside of the border province entered. In reality (unless this has recently changed in response to the new Thai laws that went into force on 27th June that restrict Cambodian cars from driving outside the Thai border province entered) there is nothing stopping him from driving wherever he wants and exiting elsewhere (back to Thailand). Exiting for Laos seems to be OK too, though sometimes the Cambodian customs guards come up with their own interpretation of the rules and try to prevent you - the key is they are fishing for money.

Other entry points are not possible except with a carnet. Sometimes Pong Nam Ron/Pailin (Prom) is OK but only for local travel up to Pailin. Reports from another member, Phuketrichard suggest that this border is a no go for entry now. I have been there and saw plenty of Thai vehicles crossing, though that was more than 2 years ago. To avoid uncertainty and in order not to waste time, stick with either Chong Chom or Hat Lek.

Note that at Koh Kong, Cambodian customs will also charge a 100 Baht / day fee (some officials try to charge 150 now, but most only ask for 100) and ask you how long you would like to spend in Cambodia. They will then keep your Thai customs temporary export form (the passenger manifest you can keep). Of course it's always possible to exit at another crossing and declare this form lost - personally, I don't like doing that so everytime I've entered at Koh Kong I've also exited there.

Vietnam is another story. Just like Thailand now requires of most foreign registered vehicles (except those with which it has bilateral agreements, diplomatic/official and local vehicles) Vietnam requires advance arrangements made prior to entry. This means going on a tour.

Best to contact a Vietnamese travel agency and explain your friend's situation. All the permits must be sought at least 15 days prior to entry and a guide must accompany the driver throughout the trip. If you use the search function, not long ago a member, edh69, made an enquiry about driving into Vietnam and was actually told no guide is necessary anymore BUT advance notice is still required and you have to pay a fee to a travel agency for all the permits, insurance etc. and need to stick to the entry/exit points you specify, as well as the itinerary given to the travel agency.

Edited July 9, 2016 by Tomtomtom69

[TenDreams]

Thank you very much!

[phuketrichard]

Heading to Osmach in a few days after a few days up here on the mekong relaxing :-)

[Deli]

ASEAN doesn't work

[Roota]

ASEAN doesn't work

ASEAN works fairly well for most of the things they set out to do -- read the charter -- but taking private vehicles across borders without the usual international formalities was never one of those objectives.

Anyhow it's gradually getting better. It wasn't that long ago that it was very difficult to drive between Thailand and Malaysia. Now it's effortless. So give it some time.

[ozyjon]

If you need to rent a car, i have an idea.

[balo]

What about Malaysia ?

[BORRISGOODENUF]

Hi, it is nigh impossible to drive into Vietnam. The only way is within an organised caravan. Vietnam believes that those whom drive right hand drive cars are not capable of the reverse. How ever, I would suggest this: "don't even think about it".

Driving into Laos is no problem after obtaining a car passport from Thai Immigration, that is as far as you can go.

Good luck!

[phuketrichard]

Malaysia and Laos you buy insurance at the border, Vietnam... impossible unless on an expensive sponsored tour

both run about 800-1,500 baht .for 30 days

i just entered Cambodia at Osmach ( south of Surin) yesterday, no problems, NO INSURANCE

for Laos u need the purple car passport book ( make sure u get it stamped at immigration leaving thailand, entering Laos, leaving Laos and entering Thailand)

for Malaysia u need a paper which is the translation of ur cars blue book, also need 2 stickers which are the english translation of ur thai number plate one the front and one on the rear bumper and u may only have tinted windows LESS than 40% and they do check at the border.

It wasn't that long ago that it was very difficult to drive between Thailand and Malaysia

BS;been driving to Malaysia with thai car for over 25 years

The paper for Malaysia and the cars purple passport are obtained at the motor vehicle dept where u pay u yearly tax ( NOT IMMIGRATION)

ASEAN LOL

Edited July 16, 2016 by phuketrichard

[Tomtomtom69]

ASEAN doesn't work

ASEAN works fairly well for most of the things they set out to do -- read the charter -- but taking private vehicles across borders without the usual international formalities was never one of those objectives.

Anyhow it's gradually getting better. It wasn't that long ago that it was very difficult to drive between Thailand and Malaysia. Now it's effortless. So give it some time.

I first drove from Thailand to Malaysia in 2003 and it was as easy as it is now. I heard that even way back in the 1970s (before I was born) Thai and Malaysian vehicles were crossing each other's border and up until the late 1990s, only the Thai-Malaysian border was regularly crossed by private vehicles.

Laos has allowed Thai vehicles in quite freely since 1997 and 1999, for private vehicles and commercial vehicles, respectively, based upon the signing of a bilateral cross-border agreement.

Since June 27th, the Thai government now requires advance permission for the entry of all foreign registered private vehicles (aka vehicles brought in for the purposes of tourism and other short-term purposes). Exceptions are countries with which a bilateral agreement exists with Thailand - i.e. Laos, Malaysia and Singapore. Diplomatic vehicles or those brought in for official purposes and local Cambodian and Burmese vehicles traveling in the local border area and returning across the same border are also exempted.

All of this has occurred since AEC 2015 went into effect. As you say though, taking a vehicle across an international border was never one of the ASEAN objectives.

Just yesterday though, the Bangkok Post ran an article on the easing of rules for commercial vehicles across the 6 nation Greater Mekong Sub-region (GSM) that includes China but excludes Malaysia. This means from December 1 onwards, it may be possible to catch one bus from Thailand to China or from Vietnam to Thailand.

Edited July 18, 2016 by Tomtomtom69

[matcube]

Any recent update on travelling a Thai owned and driven car into Cambodia? Anywhere can one obtain official (or reliable) information? If not possible "on the spot", is there a way to obtain a "permit"?

 

Thank you.

[bberrythailand]

Hello,

 

Can we drive to cambodia then to laos from cambodia ? or are we only allowed to cross to Laos from Thailand ?

With a Thai car I own, of course.

 

By the way, do you know how long we can stay in Cambodia with a Thai car ?

 

Thank you.

[my friend I]

Can drive from north of Stung Treng to Lao. Have plenty of USD for entering Lao.

Service fee.