Scandal brewing as 100 of Thailand's new NGV buses are held by customs

[Langsuan Man]

I wonder if the Army had to pay duty on the Ukrainian Personnel carriers that they bought or the AR 15's recently purchased  ?

 

Or does Thai International pay customs duty on airplanes ?

 

Why is one part of the government charging another part of the government as if they were a private individual ?

 

 

[waldroj]

"...a second lot of 145 vehicles was due to arrive today and there was no where to park them as the lot was full with the first consignment..."

 

You would have thought the junta would have instructed Customs to use different coloured tape !!! 

 

[CheshireFarang]

No mystery here. These are Sunlong Buses 100% made in China. You'd think somebody might have thought about changing the badges.

[zakk9]

The buses all have Sunlong logos and it says Sunlong on the side of each of them. Sunlong is a Chinese bus manufacturer based in Shanghai. In theory, they could be manufactured under license in Malaysia, but my guess is that the chances for that are rather slim.

 

[Oziex1]

3 hours ago, jonclark said:

Good on customs. 

If this is tax evasion to the tune  1.2 million x 489 then that is a lot of money missing from the state coffers. 

 

If it isn't then at least they are making sure that all irregularities are investigated and clarified before allowing entry. Actually doing their job. 

 

Yes doing there job.

 

 Unfortunately I am just too cynical maybe they're using a little leverage for their own gain,  I could be wrong.

[zaphod reborn]

Customs didn't get their cut on this deal.

"We'll invent an aura of irregularity.  Our giks are needy."

[GiantFan]

Apply internationally recognized rules of origin.  You can't just slap on the wheels in KL and say it's Malaysian made.

[siam2007]

3 hours ago, trogers said:

The irregularity is straightforward. Why would the ship that originated in China not stop and unload in Thailand before sailing on to Malaysia?

 

Perhaps bunker oil is cheaper in Malaysia?

 

 

You obviously either did not read properly or do not understand what "VIA" means

[zakk9]

22 minutes ago, Langsuan Man said:

I wonder if the Army had to pay duty on the Ukrainian Personnel carriers that they bought or the AR 15's recently purchased  ?

 

Or does Thai International pay customs duty on airplanes ?

 

Why is one part of the government charging another part of the government as if they were a private individual ?

 

 

The buses are imported by the private company that won the contract. It's a normal business deal. Anybody who imports goods from China to Thailand will have to pay duty, and yes, I believe that goes for Thai Airways as well. Military material is probably another matter, since it's imported directly by the armed forces, but I don't know.

[loong]

Quote

Khanit said he was being charged 300,000 baht a day to park the vehicles at the port

That's 3,000 Baht per day for 1 vehicle. That must be the most expensive car park in Thailand!

[Yann55]

3 hours ago, The Old Bull said:

I do not want to make a judgement but will watch how this one plays out.Either he is dodging the taxes or has run out of brown envelopes.

 

Or more likely, both.

[Yann55]

21 minutes ago, loong said:

That's 3,000 Baht per day for 1 vehicle. That must be the most expensive car park in Thailand!

 

I was in the import/export business for many years, and fyi, in Europe it's the same.

 

There is set time for you to clear out your goods, and it's a very short time. If the clearing takes longer, whatever the reason, you are charged storage rent and the price is beyond rip off.

[trogers]

33 minutes ago, siam2007 said:

 

 

You obviously either did not read properly or do not understand what "VIA" means

 

Next the VIA is San Francisco port...

[thai3]

4 hours ago, craigt3365 said:

I can't find the article, but I'll keep trying.  Basically from an industry magazine outlining how corrupt the customs department is.  If you've ever had to deal with them, you'd understand.  No fun.

 

Had a middle ranking customs officer live at old condo. He was known as mr big, had 4 condos and several vehicles including military style ones, not bad on his 'wages'.

[Thailand]

3 hours ago, worgeordie said:

I hope they dont end up in a field somewhere, with those Fire Engines,

and left just to rot away,if they were made in Malaysia,the Customs only

has to ask where the factory is located,and send a reliable officer to check

it out.maybe too easy.

 

regards worgeordie

Logic? 

[siam2007]

16 minutes ago, trogers said:

 

Next the VIA is San Francisco port...

 

 

okay as you are obviously indeed completely clueless, I explain it to you. The ship went from China to Thailand VIA Malaysia. means, it stopped at Malaysia on its way to Thailand.

[Golden Triangle]

Two phrases come to mind while reading this, No.1 The best laid plans of mice and men.

 

And No.2 Which I think is more fitting to Thailand, Piss up and Brewery.

 

I thank you.

[Asiantravel]

bureaucratic nonsense that even Sir Humphrey Appleby would be proud of

[impulse]

1 hour ago, GiantFan said:

Apply internationally recognized rules of origin.  You can't just slap on the wheels in KL and say it's Malaysian made.

 

Seems pretty simple to visit the Malaysia facility and see if they're even capable of doing what they claim.  Then follow the assembly documents to see what was done where, and by whom.  

[fstarbkk]

1 hour ago, Langsuan Man said:

I wonder if the Army had to pay duty on the Ukrainian Personnel carriers that they bought or the AR 15's recently purchased  ?

 

Or does Thai International pay customs duty on airplanes ?

 

Why is one part of the government charging another part of the government as if they were a private individual ?

 

 

 

I think the duty is owed by the importer of the busses (a private company) and not the government. If he's liable for the extra duty for Chinese made products, his profit will be significantly affected.

[lostinisaan]

The container ship carrying them to Thailand originated in China and went via Malaysia.

 

           

He made clear that the importer must post a 4 million baht surety for each of the buses if it wanted the buses to be released from the port.

Meanwhile, Deputy Transport Minister Omsin Chivapruek said that BMTA might cancel the deal with Bestrin if the company fails to deliver the buses within December 29.

He noted that officials were suspicious that the assembly plant in Malaysia had the capacity to assembly 100 NGV buses within just a week after arrival in Malaysia from China.

 

However, customs authorities found the buses were not manufactured in Malaysia as claimed but come from China, and should not be subject to the tax exemption, Mr Chaiyut said

https://www.aseanbreakingnews.com/2016/12/customs-impounds-100-ngv-buses-amid-duty-doubts/

  You can't make such things up, can you? 

 

http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/customs-officials-suspect-importer-of-ngv-buses-has-evaded-import-taxes/

Edited December 7, 2016 by lostinisaan

[electric]

Something very puzzling about this Customs duty issue. I'll explain.

 

Bangkok Post story dated 4th Dec "First batch of air-conditioned NGV buses arrive"

 

quote - PM Prayut is happy that the bus procurement process, which was initiated in 2002, has been completed.

 

quote - Govt spokesman, Lt Gen Sansern, said the bus purchase plans did not originally come through due to scepticism about the transparency of the procurement process but the military government saw to it that the process was transparent and endorsed the BMTA's contract signing for the procurement of 489 NGV buses with Bestrin Group worth 3.3 billion baht.

 

So ... a logical person could assume from the above comments, that everything was officially hunky dory with this deal. Now a very embarrassing "not so transparent" Customs problem has arisen.

 

Surely cannot be that difficult for BMTA, Customs and Prime Ministers Office to very quickly determine exactly where the 489 buses are being built ? 

 

Whatever the outcome of this saga, it'll be hugely embarrassing for someone.

 

[worrab]

5 hours ago, trogers said:

The irregularity is straightforward. Why would the ship that originated in China not stop and unload in Thailand before sailing on to Malaysia?

 

Perhaps bunker oil is cheaper in Malaysia?

If the ship is too large to berth in Thailand then they go to Malaysia and tranship onto smaller vessels. The only reason I know this is because I had it happen to me when shipping possessions out here from UK.

[zakk9]

1 minute ago, worrab said:

If the ship is too large to berth in Thailand then they go to Malaysia and tranship onto smaller vessels. The only reason I know this is because I had it happen to me when shipping possessions out here from UK.

This is probably a regular cargo line that visits several ports on each trip.

[metisdead]

A post containing a link to Bangkok Post has been removed:

 

26) The Bangkok Post and Phuketwan do not allow quotes from their news articles or other material to appear on Thaivisa.com. Neither do they allow links to their publications. Posts from members containing quotes from or links to Bangkok Post or Phuketwan publications will be deleted from the forum.

[zakk9]

Bestlin Group is a major importer of buses from China and on their website, they claim to have imported more than 5,000 buses since the start in 2005.

 

http://www.bestlingroup.com/en#

[laocowboy2]

6 hours ago, johng said:

  classic

Probably someone forgot the brown paper package for Customs.

[laocowboy2]

20 minutes ago, electric said:

Something very puzzling about this Customs duty issue. I'll explain.

 

Bangkok Post story dated 4th Dec "First batch of air-conditioned NGV buses arrive"

 

quote - PM Prayut is happy that the bus procurement process, which was initiated in 2002, has been completed.

 

quote - Govt spokesman, Lt Gen Sansern, said the bus purchase plans did not originally come through due to scepticism about the transparency of the procurement process but the military government saw to it that the process was transparent and endorsed the BMTA's contract signing for the procurement of 489 NGV buses with Bestrin Group worth 3.3 billion baht.

 

So ... a logical person could assume from the above comments, that everything was officially hunky dory with this deal. Now a very embarrassing "not so transparent" Customs problem has arisen.

 

Surely cannot be that difficult for BMTA, Customs and Prime Ministers Office to very quickly determine exactly where the 489 buses are being built ? 

 

Whatever the outcome of this saga, it'll be hugely embarrassing for someone.

 

It's probably just that they did not get their usual cut

[impulse]

This would explain why they didn't set up a shop in Thailand to assemble them.

[PatOngo]

2 hours ago, sandgroper2 said:

From what is reported , there is nothing to substantiate your serious accusations. i sincerely hope the authorities are doing what they say they are doping and  monitoring social media. Your a fool. Why do you make things up instead of talking facts.

 

Who's doping???