Thai Customs say Bestrin Group admits the first 100 NGV buses originated from China

[trogers]

9 minutes ago, Sydebolle said:

The BMA is publicly governmental (ultimately Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Interior) while the customs is Ministry of Finance. Is this a case where the government charges and fines the very same government? 
No common sense country would charge duties on (public transportation) service provided for by the very same government. 
Last not least the import duties on vehicles are ridiculous; for the price of a locally assembled pick-up you get a small BMW in Europe (assembled in Germany, that is)! 

 

I would have thought BMA and BMTA are two separate entities...

[Dexlowe]

3 hours ago, colinneil said:

Well i never !!! What about all those TV members slagging off the customs officials ??/

Customs were only doing their job, and for once doing it correctly.

 

Come on Colin, old mate, be realistic. This is a country riddled with corruption. We get a dozen stories about it every day. Customs is a department notorious for corruption, and its officials regarded by all and sundry as relentlessly corrupt. Every single person bar none who has dealt with them has had to slip money under the table (including myself).

 

Even when it appears they are doing the right thing, it's only natural (with this department at least) to look for the sting, the catch.

[thaistocks]

None seem to get the point here, or care: a competent local Thai company had the concession all wrapped up on competitive bidding, only to be muscled out.

[DavidVincent]

I have heard those bus are equipped with bombs detectors GT200

[tompelli]

24 minutes ago, Dexlowe said:

 

Come on Colin, old mate, be realistic. This is a country riddled with corruption. We get a dozen stories about it every day. Customs is a department notorious for corruption, and its officials regarded by all and sundry as relentlessly corrupt. Every single person bar none who has dealt with them has had to slip money under the table (including myself).

 

Even when it appears they are doing the right thing, it's only natural (with this department at least) to look for the sting, the catch.

Can't really have it both ways? Slag them for being corrupt, but you can't slag them for applying the law. Nobody forced Belrin to submit the declaration to claim the relief from duty.

[bangkokfrog]

5 hours ago, Bluespunk said:

"Deputy Transport Minister Omsin Chivapruek, meanwhile, said that the case would be settled if Bestrin Group paid up 718 million baht for the import of the 489 buses plus 230 million baht in fines for the first 100 buses imported." 

 

Someone's Christmas just got very merry. 

 

Ho, Ho, Ho. 

Bestrin would only settle this if they were still able to make money after paying the 40% duty and 230 million baht fine. Seems like there was a lot profit in the deal, and that those in the pay-off chain will have a less than merry Christmas.

[Bluespunk]

13 minutes ago, bangkokfrog said:

Bestrin would only settle this if they were still able to make money after paying the 40% duty and 230 million baht fine. Seems like there was a lot profit in the deal, and that those in the pay-off chain will have a less than merry Christmas.

I've no doubt everyone will get to dip their snout in the trough...

[SymS]

It's not the first time I hear people ship things to Malaysia first, before importing it into Thailand in order to (what I thought to be legally) avoid paying import duties. One person told me he exported garments from Indonesia to import into Thailand, but shipped them into Malaysia first since custom duties are much lower than way.

[trogers]

3 minutes ago, SymS said:

It's not the first time I hear people ship things to Malaysia first, before importing it into Thailand in order to (what I thought to be legally) avoid paying import duties. One person told me he exported garments from Indonesia to import into Thailand, but shipped them into Malaysia first since custom duties are much lower than way.

 

Sorry, but isn't the import tax rate for Indonesia the same as Malaysia, since both are part of Asean?

 

Unless, the goods are not even made in Indonesia in the first place...

 

 

[fruitman]

1 hour ago, worgeordie said:

Maybe they will return the remaining buses back to Malaysia,unload them, 

take the wheels off ,put back on again,and export again as made in Malaysia.

The only way the company can make a profit now,is not to pay the supplier

in China, trying to pull a fast one,which normally works here,has cost them big.

 

regards Worgeordie

 

Thailand has the plan to order another 2500 buses, so they better make sure these ones work perfectly and are delivered in time and hopefully they can deliver the rest as well. It's easyier to deal with the same company and have all the same buses i would think.

 

They tried to cheat the Thai government so should be happy if they end up in jail i would think. When i bring a more than a carton of cigarettes without declaring them properly i can face a 20.000 baht fine...When i drop a cigarettebutt on the street (because there's no ashtray outside the malls) i have to pay 2000 baht, happened already.

[elgordo38]

7 hours ago, barrywhite said:

Wow, the incredibly

Wow how incredibly stupid of the importer. Looks like a lose leader sale by the time fines and everything else are figured in. I wonder  how the runner up bidder feels?

[muffy]

Bangkok needs the buses , let them through free !!!

[Don Mega]

Is the Bestrin group related to the bestril group by any chance ?

 

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

 

[Mike555]

Wow. What do you know. The scumbag business owner was actually lying the whole time. Who would have thought it in this part of the world? 

[Pimay1]

I see a run on Bentleys and Benzs coming up. I expect the dealers are already stocking up.

[HiSoLowSoNoSo]

Maybe the "government" should call Volvo or Scania again

[UPDEHSOI]

10 hours ago, Bluespunk said:

Is not, not applying by definition of not applying, not evasion or not? 

Umm, not quite sure.

[DrTuner]

7 hours ago, Don Mega said:

it is for one from china.

Ah yes, one bus, eBay, 1.29usd including postage from Schenzen. Profit!

[Bluespunk]

13 minutes ago, UPDEHSOI said:

Umm, not quite sure.

Are you not, for sure not sure or not sure you're not sure?

[fruitman]

1 hour ago, HiSoLowSoNoSo said:

Maybe the "government" should call Volvo or Scania again

 

They don't want to get involved in such situations....they sell buses, that's all. They have a very good reputation and want to keep it that way.

[scorecard]

16 hours ago, HiSoLowSoNoSo said:

Must be a first - a Thai admitting to wrongdoings. Did the manager of Bestrin Group not read the Thainess 101 book? 

 

 

Seems to me the bestrin manager / company had no hesitation to just go right ahead break the law / break the contract and thinking they could just bluff their way to the end of the process, and probably with some envelopes.

 

Big mistake.

 

 

[raro]

As some pointed out already, the customs did an excellent job, found out that the certificates of origin were phony and applied the duties and fines by the book.

Yes the winning bidder thought he's smart, but reality caught up with him. The extra costs were most probably not factored in the selling price, which probably means bankruptcy.

Yes, the parking fee at the port will also be slightly above Bali Hai car park....

Oh and the ship on anchorage with the next bunch of busses... That's easy some 20,000 USD a day to be billed to the charter... Which is our clever bidder.

As the documents were apparently doctored, criminal charges could be pressed on top.

Customs have the right to dig into the past 15 years of import declarations if they have some suspicion. I hazard a guess that someone at customs is already putting a list together.

I'm really keen on seeing how this story will develop.

[fruitman]

1 hour ago, raro said:

As some pointed out already, the customs did an excellent job, found out that the certificates of origin were phony and applied the duties and fines by the book.

Yes the winning bidder thought he's smart, but reality caught up with him. The extra costs were most probably not factored in the selling price, which probably means bankruptcy.

Yes, the parking fee at the port will also be slightly above Bali Hai car park....

Oh and the ship on anchorage with the next bunch of busses... That's easy some 20,000 USD a day to be billed to the charter... Which is our clever bidder.

As the documents were apparently doctored, criminal charges could be pressed on top.

Customs have the right to dig into the past 15 years of import declarations if they have some suspicion. I hazard a guess that someone at customs is already putting a list together.

I'm really keen on seeing how this story will develop.

 

The sad thing is that this is about the new citybuses BKK desparetely needs. Also they bought them with a maintenance-contract for several years.

 

Now i know the Thai pretty well after all those years. If you bargain and get it for that price they'll save on everything possible, like quality or anything extra you would/should have gotten. Don't expect any service or qualitywork in that case.

 

If this company goes bankrupt i guess they can forget about the maintenance for coming years or it will be done with used parts and some unexperienced engineers or so. No fun to tow a citybus in a city like BKK i would think.

 

It's really a weird story though, the company tried to fool the customs or maybe they really thought they wouldn't have to pay any importtax? In that case they could have shipped them straight from China, no need to go to Malaysia first.

 

I wished they just bought 500 new Volvo's, Scania's or Toyota's from the shelf...full price and with 10 years full maintenancecontract and get an excellent service from those companies back for that.

 

Let's see how long these buses last in the superhot BKK climate and how safe they are with their gassystems.

Also i don't understand why they ordered the cheapest ones available, i would go for quality myself and i bet all the BMTA managers do the same for their private cars. 

 

 

 

[pegman]

10 hours ago, Don Mega said:

Is the Bestrin group related to the bestril group by any chance ?

 

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

 

I found an earlier story in the BKK Post that states that in fact it is Bestlin Group not Bestrin. The procurement process started in 2002, 14 years ago. The junta took credit for finally bringing transperancy to the bidding process. I'm afraid there is likely much more to this story than what is being made public. 

[Psimbo]

maybe they can park them next to the Steyr firetrucks.

[kannot]

17 hours ago, trogers said:

 

What makes you think there is no cream through direct purchase?

never  said  there  wasnt

[HiSoLowSoNoSo]

13 hours ago, fruitman said:

 

They don't want to get involved in such situations....they sell buses, that's all. They have a very good reputation and want to keep it that way.

 

 

I am sure of that they will sell them the busses if its on their terms and no Thai style shady deals involved.

[SymS]

22 hours ago, trogers said:

 

Sorry, but isn't the import tax rate for Indonesia the same as Malaysia, since both are part of Asean?

 

Unless, the goods are not even made in Indonesia in the first place...

 

 

Actually, I don't know. He's somebody I met during a trip. I think he told me Malaysia had a free trade zone port, and going through it would lower custom duties a lot. That was in 2011, so things may have changed since then.

[BSJ]

US$200.000 is a hefty price for Chinese buses!   Maybe they got extra rust protection for their long stay at Laem Chabang!

[peergin]

Are goods that are imported for the government not legally tax/duty free? If not, should they not be? After all, if duty/taxes are levied the importer pays those fees and adds them to the price. Meaning, the government receives the fees and then pays them back to the importer because they are included in the government's buying price. In other words, the government does not gain anything. It would seem more practical if purchases for the government were tax/duty free.