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Registration, Tax and Insurance
These are the three basic requirements for motor vehicles to be operated on public roads in Thailand.
Registration
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The Motor Vehicle Act of Thailand (1979) requires that you register your motor vehicle at the Department of Land Transport, which is under the Ministry of Transport and Communications. Upon completion of registration, you will receive a registration book and a license plate. Driving an unregistered motor vehicle is subject to a fine not exceeding 10,000B.
Typically, the registration process takes at least a few months. For cars, usually, a temporary red license plate is issued, which imposes restrictions that one can only drive the car during the daytime (not at night) and one cannot cross over the provincial boundary without prior permission. For motorcycles, however, the temporary license plate is rarely issued, which means that one is forced to ride the motorcycle without a license plate for a long time. In such a case, the rider is required to carry the receipt for registration application.
The law also requires that you carry a photocopy of the registration book when driving a motor vehicle, and show it to a competent police officer upon request. Failure to do this may cause a fine not exceeding 1,000B. There are two spread pages in the registration book where it states the first registration date, license plate number, engine serial number, frame serial number, your passport number, your address, your birthday, etc., together with your signature at the bottom. Copy these pages. Reduced copy is accepted. (ref. Legal Documents)
If you carry the original registration book, you don't need a photocopy. But having both the bike and the registration book stolen at the same time assists the thief to transfer the bike ownership easily, so you want to keep the registration book safe at home.
The registration book proves the ownership of the bike. Other than at police checkpoints, there are certain situations where the display of the photocopy of the registration book is required. Like, for example, when you lose a parking receipt at a parking lot, you will most likely be asked to produce a photocpy of the registration book, together with your ID card.
Documents required for registration
In case you want to buy a motorcycle which has already been registered in Thailand (transfer of ownership), or buy an unregistered motorcycle at a motorcycle shop (fresh registration), you need to prepare following two documents:
- Passport / Visa
- Address Certificate
Until a few years ago, a foreigner was required to possess a work permit to register a motor vehicle in Thailand. This requisite was somewhat eased later to possession of a non-immigrant visa (of any kind). Moreover, since 2001, a foreigner with a tourist visa can register a motor vehicle in his own name. One thing you should bear in mind, however, is that Thai government officials are often unaware of recent changes in laws and regulations. So, if you're asked to present a work permit to register a motor vehicle, you must remind them that a tourist visa is good enough.
A foreigner must also produce some kind of official proof of his address in Thailand. Usually, this takes the form of an "address certificate" issued by your embassy in Thailand. Here's a catch. Embassies of some countries, like Japan, issue address certificates only to non-immigrant visa holders. The U.S. embassy, as I hear, issues address certificates, or "affidavit of residency" as they call it, to just about anyone with a US passport upon request.
An alternative is to get an address certificate from a local Immigration Office. In Bangkok, this requires possession of a non-immigrant visa, anyway, and the fee is 500B, which is cheaper than getting one at your embassy. The situation - and the fee - vary in other provinces. Immigration Offices in Pattaya and Phuket , for example, are known to issue address certificates to those with only a tourist visa.
Registering in someone else's name
This is a common practice among foreigners who have difficulty providing necessary documents. Legally, it is difficult to claim ownership against the registered owner in case of dispute, so you'd want to ask someone you think you can trust.
It is advisable that, if you intend to drive a motor vehicle in someone else's name for an extended period, you ask the registered owner to write up a letter of consent, allowing you to drive the vehicle. This is not a legal requirement and there's no fixed format, but it should be written both in English and Thai, should convey a touch of authenticity, and should be attached with a photocopy of the owner's ID card, countersigned by the owner himself.
Floating Transfer
This is one way to assure your ownership over a motor vehicle registered in someone else's name. You ask the registered owner to sign a blank "registration transfer form" (official form) and keep it in a safe place, together with the registration book. This way, you can register the vehicle in your own name when you have necessary papers, or you can sell the vehicle later, together with the registration book and the blank registration transfer form signed by the registered owner. To avoid future disputes, you also want to keep the sales contract and receipt of payment. (ref. Legal Documents)
Tax
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In Thailand, the tax term of a motor vehicle starts on the first registration day and lasts for one year. Thus, each motor vehicle has its unique tax due date every year.
The annual tax for a motorcycle is 100B, regardless of its engine displacement. You must pay the tax before the due date; Otherwise, you will be charged extra 1% tax in arrears per delayed month. You can pay the tax from three months before the tax due date.
To pay the vehicle tax, you need to bring the registration book to a local Land Transport Office. You also need to bring either the current insurance policy or insurance sticker for presentation. There are five Land Transport Offices in Bangkok (ref. Land Transport Office Map), and each province has at least one such Office. Or you may choose to pay at a post office. Upon payment of tax, you will receive a tax sticker.
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Update: As of September 2004, you need to present a compulsory insurance policy whose expiratory date is NOT before the next tax due date. This usually means that you need to pre-extend the compulsory insurance so that its expiratory date matches the tax due date. You can do this at the Land Traffic Office, if you don't mind extending the compulsory insurance with the government-chosen insurance company.
From the fifth renewal of the tax sticker for motorcycles (seventh renewal for cars), you must have your motorcycle inspected at an authorized inspection site, and turn in the Certificate of Inspection upon paying the tax (Private Motor Vehicle Inspection).
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Example of Inspection Schedule
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May 1996 ... registered
May 1997 ... 1st renewal
May 1998 ... 2nd renewal
May 1999 ... 3rd renewal
May 2000 ... 4th renewal
May 2001 ... 5th renewal (requires inspection)
May 2002 ... 6th renewal (requires inspection)
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I haven't been able to confirm the following: 1. Legal penalty for not attaching the tax sticker on your bike 2. Whether it is illegal to drive a motor vehicle right after its tax expires, or it is permissible to drive such a vehicle for a certain period of time, like for three months. |
Insurance
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As in many other countries, the automobile insurance system in Thailand is two-tiered:
1. compulsory insurance
2. additional (optional) insurance.
This chapter deals with the compulsory insurance.
The Protection for Motor Vehicle Accident Victims Act (1992) stipulates that the owner of a motor vehicle takes out insurance on the said motor vehicle with an authorized insurance company. Failure to do this is liable to a fine between 10,000B and 50,000B. Notice the responsibility falls on the "owner" and not the "driver," unless the vehicle is under hire-purchase contract or temporarily imported from abroad, in which case the responsibility falls on the driver.
There are more than a dozen authorized insurance companies in Thailand which offer the compulsory insurance. As the contract is prescribed by the law, all insurance companies basically offer the same benefits and premium rates.
Upon taking out insurance, you receive an insurance policy and an insurance sticker. The law requires that the owner adhere the insurance sticker on the motor vehicle. Failure to do this is liable to a fine not exceeding 2,000B. Notice, again, that the responsibility falls on the "owner."
When you buy a motorcycle at a motorcycle shop, the shop will usually arrange for the insurance. But not all motorcycle shops are insurance agencies, and you may not be able to extend the insurance at the same shop. Some alternatives are:
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1. directly visit the insurance company,
2. extend the insurance at the Land Transport Office - whether with the government-chosen insurance company or, when available, with another insurance company whose agents are in wait around the Land Transport Office,
3. pay at a post office.
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| I haven't been able to confirm the Ministerial Regulation which describes how you attach the insurance sticker on the motor vehicle. Probably, for a car, you must adhere it on the front windshield, and, for a motorcycle, wherever it can be seen clearly. The question arises for a motorcycle with a front windshield, as there's a chance that the Regulation says "for a motor vehicle without the front windshield, adhere the sticker wherever it can be seen clearly." |