Number plate issuing & regulations

[bluesofa]

I’m afraid I’m not a regular visitor to this sub-forum, so I don’t know if this has cropped up in the past?

I’m interested if anyone knows what rules the DLT has about handling the numbers in the plates themselves. Not what is required to have one issued, but how does the system work regarding what numbers and letters are used?

 

Firstly, are the numbers issued on a province by province basis, or are the issued numbers unique nationally?

Obviously the issuing province is written below on the plate, but I wondered if someone is Rayong might have the same number plate as someone in Chiang Mai, for example (apart from the province name of course)?

 

To try and explain in more detail:

I don’t know how many vehicles are on the roads in Thailand, but purely in the category for vehicles, issued with Thai consonants in the number plate, up until recently the numbers/letters were issued like this: กก 1234.

So for two consonants and four digits, I make it 42 x 42 x 9999 giving about 17.5 million combinations. That’s assuming I’ve got the maths correct!

If issuing is only on a province basis, then surely that would be enough registrations available?

I see that in the last few years all provinces have now added an additional single digit at the front, thereby increasing the capability by nine-fold. I’ve seen some Bangkok registrations around here in the north-east, and it seems they are up to digit four with the initial first digit.

 

[transam]

Folk can have the same number...

[bluesofa]

1 hour ago, transam said:

Folk can have the same number...

Thanks for the reply.

If that's so, and the numbers are issued at province level, that begs my next question:
Just how many registrations must they be getting through in Bangkok alone, by the estimate in the first post, doesn't that make it something in the order of 17 million small vehicle registrations per year?

Surely I must be missing something here?

 

[transam]

Dunno....We wanted number "1" on our bike, on a white plate it cost 500bht, it seemed that number was taken but we could have it the next month....Which we did....

[bluesofa]

2 minutes ago, transam said:

Dunno....We wanted number "1" on our bike, on a white plate it cost 500bht, it seemed that number was taken but we could have it the next month....Which we did....

 

That seem reasonable, as you'd just have to wait for the next block of digits to come round after incrementing one of the Thai consonants to the next one that follows it.

So if you'd missed the number you wanted by only one digit, then it would be 9998 registrations later.

My wife requested a specific number and had to wait for it to appear just the same.

 

[KhunBENQ]

Number plates are issued by province.

So of course numbers alone repeat over and over.

 

But there is a lot of "magic" behind the numbering which brings down the number of possible combinations.

One is they simply don't use all consonants for readability.

Don't ask me for the details. But if you know Thai script there are consonants looking so similar it does not make sense to use them.

I once read about it. Maybe I find it.

A couple of two consonant combinations make up for some ugly swearwords.

Excluded.

Even worse (don't know whether this is the case in all provinces):

here at our region they assign certain starting consonants to certain vehicle types.

Plain useless but a fact (here).

 

The available numbers for Bangkok (9 million reg. veh.) have long run out.

Instead of doing a real and lasting reform they have added a single digit at the start.

I am quite sure I have already seen "5"

 

 

[bluesofa]

Thanks for the info KhunBENQ.

I understand what you say about readability and not using all the consonants. I have noticed that there are some consonants I have not seen on number plates, yes. Also offensive words, that makes sense too. So that instantly brings down the combinations available to be used.

What consonants do the assign for particular vehicles? It's not a useless fact at all! I notice that taxis use ท (T for taxi) as the first consonant. I can't think of any others offhand.

When you said " The available numbers for Bangkok (9 million reg. veh.)", did you mean that's the number of registered vehicles in Bangkok, or maybe the number plate combinations available?

Perhaps I'm just a really sad git to even find this interesting, but TV is the best place to try. I might just get lucky!
 

[KhunBENQ]

The latest I heard from a friend: 9 million vehicles registered with Bangkok number plates.

A you know (fortunately) many of them are actually not driving in Bangkok mainly but scattered all over the country (something to do with leasing/fincancing companies?).

And even in a much less motorized province like ours (Khon Kaen) they seem to run out of valid/allowed signs.

The motorcycle of wife's sister has a leading "1".

 

A number from October 2012 (!):

Quote

As of October 31, the outstanding number of registered vehicles in Greater Bangkok stood at 7,384,934, an increase of 535,721 or 7.8 per cent from the end of last year.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/national/aec/30196243

 

The 9 million number for 2015 seems from the WiKi:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_in_Bangkok

[KhunBENQ]

And what else than WiKi could it be that I some of my memory from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_registration_plates_of_Thailand

[canthai55]

Was getting the new PCX insurance and tax. Gave the Green Book, girl in insurance office types away, stops, looks at the book, looks at the screen, looks at me, asks for my passport. Gave her the laminated copy I carry everywhere. She checked, finished the insurance form. While I was waiting for the printer to make the copy, I asked her what happened. She turned her screen so I could see - two bikes, exact same Thai characters and numbers, one me, one what looked like a Russian name. TIT

[bluesofa]

4 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

The latest I heard from a friend: 9 million vehicles registered with Bangkok number plates.

A you know (fortunately) many of them are actually not driving in Bangkok mainly but scattered all over the country (something to do with leasing/fincancing companies?).

And even in a much less motorized province like ours (Khon Kaen) they seem to run out of valid/allowed signs.

The motorcycle of wife's sister has a leading "1".

 

Yes, I'm just up the road from you in Udon. Here they also have the leading digit 1 for vehicles now. But I didn't know if that was becasue they've run out of numbers, or if it's perhaps at the insistance of the DLT nationally, part of some new system?

[bluesofa]

1 hour ago, KhunBENQ said:

And what else than WiKi could it be that I some of my memory from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_registration_plates_of_Thailand

 

Whoa, that's just great! My mistake was searching in Thai, assuming the only detailed information would be in Thai. Wiki has come up trumps.

 

[KhunBENQ]

Must be enthusiasts who dealt with this WiKi site.

 

Yesterday noticed/remembered another facet:

our scooter (from 2011) has three(!) consonants on the plate.

(while the sisters scooter from 2013? has the "1" in front of two consonants).

[Baerboxer]

Just doing one. Wifey can go on their website and reserve a number. If you want a special number then you have to pay a price. Less appealing numbers are free.

The dealer we bought the car from does all the actual work.

[bluesofa]

19 minutes ago, Baerboxer said:

Just doing one. Wifey can go on their website and reserve a number. If you want a special number then you have to pay a price. Less appealing numbers are free.

The dealer we bought the car from does all the actual work.

When my wife reserved a number it took almost a year for it to come through.

 I remember reading in the press earlier in the year that the government want to stop issuing red plates so much. They insist that from now on (ha ha!) it would be possible to get the standard plates issued within one day.
I'll await a TV member's report on that one.

[bluesofa]

28 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

Must be enthusiasts who dealt with this WiKi site.

 

Yesterday noticed/remembered another facet:

our scooter (from 2011) has three(!) consonants on the plate.

(while the sisters scooter from 2013? has the "1" in front of two consonants).

I think that just happened as each province ran out of the old format, then started the new.

[stevenl]

2 minutes ago, bluesofa said:

When my wife reserved a number it took almost a year for it to come through.

 I remember reading in the press earlier in the year that the government want to stop issuing red plates so much. They insist that from now on (ha ha!) it would be possible to get the standard plates issued within one day.
I'll await a TV member's report on that one.

A couple of years ago there were quality issues, leading to a delay of a few months. But in general the delays are caused by the dealers who do not want to register the car, because that also means they have to pay the sales tax. Normally plates are available within 30 days.

[bluesofa]

4 minutes ago, stevenl said:

A couple of years ago there were quality issues, leading to a delay of a few months. But in general the delays are caused by the dealers who do not want to register the car, because that also means they have to pay the sales tax. Normally plates are available within 30 days.

 

Ah, yes! Now you've mentioned that it's just come back to me. Someone here said exactly the same thing, that the dealers have a big part to play with that.
I still want to know if anyone has managed to get there plates within, say, a couple of days.

[Stray]

On ‎11‎/‎27‎/‎2016 at 3:58 PM, KhunBENQ said:

The latest I heard from a friend: 9 million vehicles registered with Bangkok number plates.

A you know (fortunately) many of them are actually not driving in Bangkok mainly but scattered all over the country (something to do with leasing/fincancing companies?).

And even in a much less motorized province like ours (Khon Kaen) they seem to run out of valid/allowed signs.

The motorcycle of wife's sister has a leading "1".

 

A number from October 2012 (!):

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/national/aec/30196243

 

The 9 million number for 2015 seems from the WiKi:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_in_Bangkok

 

Thanks for the links KhunBENQ.

 

As far as Bangkok number plates are concerned, I own two vehicles with Bangkok plates (one bike and one car).  When changing ownership (green book for the bike, blue book for the car) to Buri Ram, it was not necessary to change the plates.

[KhunBENQ]

13 hours ago, Stray said:

When changing ownership (green book for the bike, blue book for the car) to Buri Ram, it was not necessary to change the plates.

Good to read another confirmation.

Some will never believe (a mate of mine made useless effort for a new plate)

 

[ib1b4]

7 hours ago, KhunBENQ said:

Good to read another confirmation.

Some will never believe (a mate of mine made useless effort for a new plate)

 

Did not work for me!                            .I recently purchased a used bike in Surin province , I wanted to  leave it registered in Surin  and keep the same number plate .  But the DLI  would only enter my name into the green book , but they gave me fifteen days to re register the bike in the province which I reside  and naturally different number plate . Plus seven days wait for the new plate .

[Stray]

13 hours ago, ib1b4 said:

Did not work for me!                            .I recently purchased a used bike in Surin province , I wanted to  leave it registered in Surin  and keep the same number plate .  But the DLI  would only enter my name into the green book , but they gave me fifteen days to re register the bike in the province which I reside  and naturally different number plate . Plus seven days wait for the new plate .

 

I understand that some provinces follow a different interpretation of the rules.

 

Whilst things may have changed since my previous vehicle purchase (over 12 months ago), I'm planning on buying another vehicle (from Bangkok, to Buri Ram) within the next couple of weeks.  After all of the paperwork is completed I'll post the outcome.

 

My apologies to bluesofa for veering off your original topic (about the process of the issuing of new plates) but, if acceptable, this seems as good a place as any to also mention transfer/change over of plates from one province, to another.

Edited November 30, 2016 by Stray
Added apology to OP.

[Stray]

22 hours ago, KhunBENQ said:

Good to read another confirmation.

Some will never believe (a mate of mine made useless effort for a new plate)

 

 

Admittedly it has been over a year since I last did this and things may have changed in that period but, as I mention in my post (above), I'll see what happens with the next 2nd hand bike I buy.

[Stray]

On ‎11‎/‎28‎/‎2016 at 4:12 PM, bluesofa said:

When my wife reserved a number it took almost a year for it to come through.

 I remember reading in the press earlier in the year that the government want to stop issuing red plates so much. They insist that from now on (ha ha!) it would be possible to get the standard plates issued within one day.
I'll await a TV member's report on that one.

 

Yes, I also read that they were no longer going to issue red plates, however, still see them being put on new vehicles.  The alternative (no plates) is very common on new and old vehicles.

 

Realistically, the issuing of a new plate, within the day, should not be difficult.  The local Land Transport Office have a number of plates on-hand and should be geared up to issue them to registered new vehicle dealers 'on demand' as a vehicle is sold and the paperwork is submitted.  Unfortunately, it seems necessary to 'reinvent the wheel' each time the process is carried out.

[bluesofa]

5 minutes ago, Stray said:

Unfortunately, it seems necessary to 'reinvent the wheel' each time the process is carried out.

Haha! Was that intentional given it's a thread about the DLT?

[Anon999]

On 29/11/2016 at 8:30 PM, ib1b4 said:

Did not work for me!                            .I recently purchased a used bike in Surin province , I wanted to  leave it registered in Surin  and keep the same number plate .  But the DLI  would only enter my name into the green book , but they gave me fifteen days to re register the bike in the province which I reside  and naturally different number plate . Plus seven days wait for the new plate .

As they say here "same, same but different! I bought my last car in BKK told the dealer I wanted to register it in my city in Isaan, no problem so I could choose a registration number.