URGENT: Export Permit Extension for Thai-Registered Motorbike

[Italianhawksfan]

Hi everyone, I'm faced with a weird problem and could really use some help...

 

I came to Thailand on June 1st of this year to purchase a motorbike and tour South East Asia. I bought a 2015 Kawasaki Ninja 250 off of Craigslist, transferred the green book/license plate into my name and got a Thai driver license which is valid for 2 years. After 3 months in Thailand (one 30-day exception stamp, one Cambodian border run and one 30-day visa extension) I left for Cambodia with the motorbike at the Hat Lek/Cham Yeam (Koh Kong) border checkpoint. Everything went fine except at the customs window where the customs officer gave me a document that said I had to bring the motorbike back within 30 days! The document says (in both Thai and English) that if I do not bring the motorbike back to Thailand within 30 days I will have to pay a fine of 1000 baht per day for each day that I'm late up to 10,000 baht maximum!

 

What the hell is this all about?! At first I thought it might be a scam being run out of that one border checkpoint to squeeze more money out of foreigners but I ran into a guy named Kay Kaesler, the owner of Big Bike Tours (www.bigbiketours.net), at the border and he said it's true. He said you can't take a Thai-registered motorbike outside of Thailand for more than 30 days.

 

This makes absolutely zero sense. Why restrict the freedoms of Thai residents like that? What is the reasoning behind it?

 

It makes even less sense when you consider the fact that I can't even stay in Thailand for more than 3 months out of the year now due to the new visa/border run restrictions. Also, I can't get a work visa and I don't want to get an education visa. Do the math... I can only stay in Thailand for 3 months out of the year but I can't leave for more than a month at a time? I would be forced to violate one of these laws at some point. I have also read online that if you come back 6 months late or longer, Thai customs will confiscate your motorbike!

 

This is a huge problem for me now... I was planning to tour Cambodia and Laos over a 3 month period and then re-enter Thailand, cross Myanmar and then go to India and Nepal where I would probably spend 5 or 6 months if not longer.

 

Has anyone else had this problem before with a Thai-registered motorbike or car? If so, what did you do about it? What was the solution?

 

I read online that it's possible to get an extension of the motorbike export permit. One guy said that it's possible to get a 6 month extension before leaving Thailand, but he didn't give any details as to how he got it. I tried calling the Customs Help Line in Thailand multiple times but no one ever picks up. I have also sent many emails to Customs but have not received a response. I tried to find a phone number for the Hat Lek border checkpoint but I can't find one. Does anyone know how to do this? Who do I need to contact or where do I need to go to get an extension? What is the likelihood that they will give it to me?

 

When I re-enter Thailand in about a week I will only have one more month that I can spend there until June of 2017 (I think) so I need to figure out a solution to this problem ASAP.

 

If I can't figure out how to get an extension of the export permit or Customs/Immigration won't give it to me for whatever reason, I will need to either:

 

1. Try to sell the motorbike in Thailand within one month.

 

2. Move to Cambodia and try to register the motorbike there.

 

If I'm able to sell the motorbike in Thailand I will probably move to Vietnam and try to buy a motorbike there instead and register it into my name. I have read that Vietnamese-registered motorbikes can travel freely all over South East Asia and that they are currently the only motorbikes that can cross the border into Vietnam without a licensed tour guide and written approval from the Ministry of Transportation in Vietnam. The question then would become, does Customs in Vietnam also give you an export permit for Vietnamese-registered motorbikes, and if so, how much time do you get???

 

Any help with this problem or clarity you can offer would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[ubonjoe]

10 minutes ago, Italianhawksfan said:

When I re-enter Thailand in about a week I will only have one more month that I can spend there until June of 2017 (I think) so I need to figure out a solution to this problem ASAP.

You can stay longer than another month. There is no restriction on your total stay in Thailand over any amount of time.

If you enter and get 30 days you can extend it for 30 days at an immigration office.

Your best choice would be to get a single entry tourist visa at the Thai embassy Phnom Penh. That would allow a 60 day entry that can be extended for 30 days.

 

For your questions about the permits for the bike to stay in Cambodia I am moving your post to the motorcycles forum.

If you have further visa questions please post a topic about them.

 

[Italianhawksfan]

Hi ubonjoe,

 

Do you know how long it would take to get the 60-day tourist visa at the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh? I have until September 25th to get the motorbike back to Thailand before I have to start paying 1000 baht per day in fines...

 

Also, do you know how much the 60-day tourist visa would cost if I got it from the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh?

Edited September 19, 2016 by Italianhawksfan

[recom273]

What you have is a temporary license to remove your bike from the country for 30 days .. It's temporary, anything after that would be considered in the eyes of customs - permanent. 

 

This isn't the EU, there is no free movement of goods. The other way of looking at it is Thai customs allowing your bike out for 6 months - but you need to pay Cambodian customs the full import tax? You're OK to pay 100-200% of the deemed value ? We should be thankful there is no Carnet.

 

The stories you have read, prolly on HUBB about vehicles being seized are bikes from outside Thailand that have remained in Thailand. Can you point to a source for your info of Thai bikes being seized by customs on re entry?

 

You can buy a bike in VN but without a lot of help - you can't register it in your name. I know people with VN work permits and they can't even deal with the trouble.

 

You can easily travel Laos, Cambodia and VN on a VN reg bike - in the past you could bring VN bikes to Thailand ( I have had guys stay with me in VN bikes that weren't registered to them ) but they were restricted to 30 days ( which could be extended if I recall ) but I just found out yesterday that this isn't no longer possible. The rules changed a couple of weeks back, Thais won't allow the bikes in, maybe due to the issues caused by Laos customs at the moment.

 

There is a lot of talk about the same issues you are having - Overlanders feel they are being restricted by the recent rule changes and the tightening of visa rules. 

 

It seems strange to me that someone without a long term visa would invest a lot of money in a bike with no real plan on how and where they will stay, but each to their own. 

The alternative is for the Thai DLT to say, OK, westerners without WP or 1 year extension visas are prohibited from buying vehicles.