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Home » Reader question » Reader question: Importing a European car into Thailand
Reader question: Importing a European car into Thailand
Dear readers,
I want to import a European car into Thailand, it is 10 years old, 1.600 kilos, 2.0 liters, purchase price 4.000 Euro.
Does anyone have experience with this and can help or point me in the right direction?
Yours faithfully,
Jan
No personal experience with it, but did some research.
The value you paid for it here is irrelevant in Thailand. It is based on a book value that they have in their own price list, unless it concerns a model that was never delivered there, or something exotic. Then you can negotiate or look at other sources.
http://www.customs.go.th/wps/wcm/connect/custen/individuals/importing+personal+vehicle/importingpersonalvehicle
You have to calculate that shipping from the Netherlands will cost you about 1000 euros.
I came to the conclusion that importing a car into Thailand is just not really worth it, selling your European car there and buying a new one here is easier and more interesting. Don't you have a hassle with customs, teamoney and other hassle.
And in Thailand you drive on the left, ie English configuration.
Driving on the left, not always. There are plenty of right-handers here. Certainly all buses on the main road. And… the rest is a bit in between.
Hi Jan,
In my opinion the costs are higher than your purchase amount,
Plus that I will be surprised if you can get it insured here in Thailand, since your steering wheel is on the "wrong" side.
Save yourself a lot of misery and buy another car here.
LOUISE
You are right Louise. The costs are so high that it really makes no sense. Even more so, that the costs can only be determined in advance (approximately) if you send copies of your purchased car papers to the Thai duane in advance. This can be done via an international forwarding agency, for example MAAS, which also has an office in Thailand. I went through that trajectory-ie. dry : so just ask everything how it works and what it costs. . . . . DO NOT START !!!
In answer to your further question : YES . . . you get insured a car with the steering wheel on the European side in Thailand. That is not a problem at all. Greetings
Hello Jan
I have had to deal with it, I only had a bare body. Cost 2000 euros
Transport costs are not too bad Rotterdam Bangkok 600 euros.
but then it comes under the table 200.000 bht paid plus import duties 80.000 bht.
The bodywork was delivered to me at 4 o'clock in the night.
You are not allowed to import cars or parts into Thailand
I've learned never to do it again
French
Sorry French. You are indeed allowed to import cars in Thailand, for example. No problem. As long as you pay what is required at the duane. And that's a gambling game - I can't call it anything else.
The same car is always cheaper new and/or used when purchased in Thailand.
Don't start here buy one that is designed for heat, has air conditioning and imports are very expensive for this price range.
So sell and buy one here.
First check carefully whether a car that is 10 years old can be imported at all.
Twenty years ago when I wanted to bring my seven year old BMW from the Netherlands
called me as limitn 3 years. In addition, you have to pay import duties that are 100% or more of the
can be new value. It also differs whether you take the car as part of your household effects with you at immigration or whether you already live here. All this added to what has been said in the first responses
has already been mentioned what concerns the paperwork and paying the "extra" can only lead to the conclusion: don't do it!
In any case, you must have a permit prior to the import – sometimes two – otherwise you will also receive a fine……….
See the following relevant text from the Thai Customs website:
Used / secondhand vehicles need to obtain an import permit from the Foreign Trade Department of the Ministry of Commerce, Tel. 02-5474804. For the vehicles with the weight less than 3500 Kgs., the importer needs to obtain an import permit from the Industrial Standard Institute as well.
Warning For the importation of used/secondhand vehicles, an importer needs to obtain an import permit from the Foreign Trade Department of the Ministry of Commerce before the arrival of the vehicles; otherwise he/she shall be liable to a fine equal to 10 percent of the price of vehicle but not less than 1,000 Baht, or exceeding 20,000 Baht.
Criteria for a Permanent Import of Used/Secondhand Vehicles
An importer is eligible to import only ONE used/ second hand vehicles for personal use.
In case where the importer is a nonresident, he/she is required to stay in Thailand for at least ONE year and present a non-immigrant visa issued by the Immigration Bureau, the National Police Office together with a work permit issued by the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare at the time of importation.
What you state here is not correct from A to Z. May I ask which clown, who does NOT live in Thailand, imports a car there? In addition, a work permit is issued. = work permit required ? I think you have copied part of the legislation for –business cars– with special equipment on board e.g. a measuring car?.
I don't think it is difficult to find a pensionario with a work permit who also wants to import a car?. Why a prior import permit? So this is about whether that vehicle may be imported at all? Imagine every Thai Mercedes Benz importer (car from Maylasia) should do this with every car. Before he is through with that, Mercedes has already changed the model twice.
Please read it again before responding. The information comes directly from the Thai Customs website, I didn't make it up myself.
As we all know and which has been talked about very often here in TB and messages have also been written, there are at least 2 different versions of many (almost all?) laws and regulations in Thailand. The law or rule as it stands on paper and (2) how the serving Thai official explains these rules. We have clearly read here in TB how certain laws were enforced during the Bangkok shutdown.
For me and all TB readers, what matters is how Thai laws are explained and enforced at the time I invoke them. Don't assume that a Thai official is going to step back in favor of an expat. You will be cheated there.
If you import a cool or top-restored car and the official classifies it as new, I want to know what you will do. You will not do anything, because you will no longer be able to get this car out of Thailand. He's in -duane- range. There he will stand until you pay what he demands. Don't start a lawsuit. You never get that old that you still experience that result.
I'm talking about -Thai reality- here in TB and not about Thai rules and laws. With such car actions you are delivered to the Thai arbitrariness. So that's not nonsense at all, just Thai real-time reality!!
We can talk about all kinds of rules and costs here, but have I not seen any well-founded duane rate here?. I want to do that right here.
Checked on the site of the Thai duane. This Thai site lists ALL goods that you can import, including cars. View on. lgtf.customs.go.th, under Section XVII vehicles etc. , then Chapter 87, Vehicle etc. from code 87.0323.41. Import costs are 200%. In 2011, other, higher rates were mentioned to me (Exporter firm MAAS BV). The position of the document is 2050 (2007). After that, the Thais apparently did not find it necessary to adjust the rates on that site or they are still recent?. Could also be - but contrary to what MAAS says.
There you read that it costs 200% of the NEW value. This NEW value establishes the Thai duane based on the cost of an equivalent vehicle/model. . . in Thailand. The Thai duane is not interested that you charge a Dutch (Belgian) purchase more that you bought the bruise for only € 1000, for example. That (200%) is only the import tax. Then VAT will be added and costs of paperwork and so on. Then just lubricate the beamer, otherwise it will take months before you get an OK.
TIP: It is best to import a used ambulance vehicle. It only costs 30%.
don't start it, as you can read in previous comments, don't do it
Importing a car will cost you - in addition to transport - about 200% of the value. So you don't even have to start math. And besides: the paperwork you have to go through………is probably enough of a deterrent in itself.
Just don't think about it any further. Do not. Would be my advice.
Don't start. The word -old car- does not know the Thai duane. I calculated it with a Mercedes. New price (without VAT) 45.000. Transport + insurance approx. 2800 Euro. Import costs approx. 356% over the Thai new value for an equal model. If that version is just not for sale in Thailand, the duane does what he thinks is good. If you buy the same model in Thailand, it only costs 4.850.000 Baht and your steering wheel is immediately on the right Thai side.
This model is also for sale as an import from Malaysia. But that it's a clock in miles and not in km. In addition, the Mercedes refuses to give (free) service to a Benz imported from Maylasia. This is only possible with cash payment.
If your car is finally on the quay in Thailand and you are not at all satisfied with what happened financially, you may NOT return it in the same container without payment. Your car is on Thai territory and cannot be exported just like that.
Any way you look at it… you are . . the cigar !!! (smile). TIP: buy a used or new one in Thailand = cheaper.
@ top martin In a well-known fraud case last year, new luxury cars were imported from England and reported as second-hand in order to be entitled to lower import duties. So apparently that category does exist. Another trick used was to enter the car in parts. Customs officials were bribed for both tricks, so I wouldn't advise anyone to do it that way. Bangkok Hilton is not a hotel.
I agree with you right away dear Dick. But as you say, duane people were bribed. That means, in addition to the guessing game amount on the car import duties, to which the bribes must be added. I think we agree that this is not the right way?
On the other hand, I also see the Bangkok Hllton (prison) as an advantage. During that time of your stay there you can learn the Thai language well. . (smile). However, there are also other, more enjoyable ways to learn that language.
The term 'old car' – as you call it – is well known by Thai customs, top martin. Check out the Customs website mentioned above, and you'll even see a list of percentages by which the value is reduced as the car ages. So don't sell nonsense.
Incidentally, that does not alter the fact that imports are not exactly attractive, especially in view of the permits that you first have to get, as I mentioned above.
However you look at it or get used to it, you don't get sorted out about how, what where because "people" don't know it here either. We have tried to import a Mercedes Unimog converted into a motorhome, because we drove 30.000 km from the Netherlands to here. 18 countries in 14 months. OK. the car was from 1980, so an oldie, but …. then it comes … .. hey … .. a mercedes and big and beautiful hupa. 240% tax of current values. Yes, and who determines the values and that is indeed what matters, it is just how “people” see it. Fortunately we were able to sell the Unimog and it was shipped to New Zealand. So also our advice: Don't do it !!!!.
Thank you for your/your message. You are painting what I (and other sober-minded people) have said here in TB. You are linked to the arbitrariness of the Thai duane = extradited. Thai laws and rules are then of no use to you. Can you wave on the quay next to your import car with the Thai rules in your hand to impress the duane - it won't help you
Just buy a car in Thailand and you are rid of all nagging, arbitrariness and wrong steering, etc. Even if the Thai import duties were 0%, I would still not import a car from Europe.