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Number plates and license plates of vehicles in Thailand

By Editorial
Posted in Traffic and transport
Tags: ,
March 16 2025

In an appendix of 'Bangkok Post' I came across an interesting article a while back about the meaning of the different license plates in Thailand.

If you ever find yourself in a traffic jam, you should try how many of each type you can spot. There are six different number plates for vehicles in Thailand. The color and/or font size differ. They are intended for this:

  1. Red with black letters/numbers: agricultural machines, such as tractors.
  2. Green with white letters/numbers: tourism sector, such as shuttle buses and tour buses.
  3. Yellow with black letters/numbers: rental vehicles and vehicles for paid passenger transport (taxi).
  4. Blue with white letters/numbers: vehicles representing international organizations and vehicles of special parts of foreign embassies.
  5. White with black letters/numbers: passenger vehicles.
  6. White with black letters/numbers and a horizontal line: vehicles of diplomats.

I understand that there are also such things as garage license plates and temporary license plates? Also seen regularly in Thailand: no license plates.

If you have additions? Reply!

– Repost message –

Number of times read: 6.646

67 Responses to “Vehicle number plates and license plates in Thailand”

  1. Martin says up
    9 June 2011 on 04: 14

    The red and black plates are the garage plates; if you have the vehicle put in your name, you get the white plates….

    • Fred says up
      9 June 2011 on 08: 01

      Red with black letters Martin, but that's probably what you meant ;-)

    • ThailandGanger says up
      9 June 2011 on 09: 36

      As you say, when you buy a vehicle you first get temporary plates, the red ones with the black letters. But I've also seen them driving around with the green on a car that had just been bought and which later had the white plate. It must be a case of TIT. Everything is possible. Or is it different per province? I have no clue.

      • Sake says up
        11 September 2012 on 17: 21

        When I bought a new car, I drove for 2 months with a red license plate.
        I also got a ticket because you are not allowed to drive at night with a red license plate, something I didn't know (400 bath). After 2 months I got a regular white license plate.

        • Frank says up
          11 September 2012 on 20: 20

          With that red plate you are also not allowed to have any passengers with you.
          Just the driver and a copy of your final plate request. (white).

          Frank

          • Sake says up
            12 September 2012 on 07: 50

            I didn't know that about any passengers, they didn't say anything about it at the check, just that I wasn't allowed to drive at night. Now have white plates, so problem solved.

          • Piet says up
            15 January 2014 at 14: 09

            I drove around without plates for about 3 months after buying a new car.
            then you do not have the objections of the red plates (garage plate). you can just drive and also take passengers. After 3 months the leaves were ready white with black letters. I have a 4 drs pickup.

            • Hans says up
              10 July 2023 on 03: 48

              that is absolutely incorrect because without plates you are not allowed on the road. just because you got through that period without color cracks doesn't mean it's allowed.

            • marc van holm says up
              17 March 2025 at 09: 55

              me too, same system, after two months the white number plates

          • conimex says up
            10 July 2023 on 04: 59

            Frans, you must write down every trip you make in that booklet, if you are stopped, you will not be fined if you drive outside your province, officially you are not allowed to drive in the dark hours, but like everything in Thailand, you will only be standing held at a checkpoint.

          • Peter says up
            10 July 2023 on 06: 19

            Those passengers are nonsense.
            Can you demonstrate this?

        • gerard says up
          15 January 2014 at 14: 03

          Then you got away well because the legal fine is 1500 baht, and moreover you have to record every trip!!!

          • Frans says up
            9 July 2023 on 22: 38

            How does that work then? If you have recorded every journey, you will not be fined?

            • William Korat says up
              10 July 2023 on 07: 37

              Dear Frans, this topic is a bit behind, see link.
              It is usually the owner of the vehicle and not the official.
              And it costs a little more these days if you feel like you can make the rules.

              https://ap.lc/M0AjO

    • Henk says up
      10 July 2023 on 05: 20

      You may wonder why it still takes so long in Thailand to receive the license plates.

  2. Okko says up
    9 June 2011 on 05: 23

    At the bottom of the license plate is the province in Thai where the vehicle is registered.
    The examples are Bangkok license plates.
    If you write down a number, for example to report to the police, you must also know the province, otherwise the vehicle and the owner cannot be traced.
    If you can't read Thai, a picture is the best way.

  3. Gringo says up
    9 June 2011 on 06: 59

    I like the county designation. On weekends and holidays you will see the many cars from Bangkok here in Pattaya.
    You can also see where the car comes from in Europe, including Germany, France, Italy. Until 1952 this was also possible in the Netherlands (E = Overijssel, G = North Holland, etc.). Now you can only extract the age of the car from the number plate. I am sorry!

    • Hans G says up
      9 June 2011 on 18: 29

      On weekends you see cars from Bangkok almost everywhere.
      I think that's about the only city where the weekend is celebrated.
      We also work 7 days a week.
      But I like to see them, because they take dozens of kilos of our fruit with them.

      what does the wide red bar on the number plate of a motorcycle mean?

      • rene says up
        12 September 2012 on 04: 11

        If you drive around here in Chiangmai and only look at the number plates, you think you are driving in Bangkok, both during the week and during the weekend. And because of the band, they are not cheap cars or trucks. Many Bangkokians buy land and build houses here. This drives the price of land up. And that is not appreciated by the locals.

        • theowert says up
          10 July 2023 on 08: 10

          They are used to the dirty air and do not want to miss it on their days off.

  4. Gringo says up
    9 June 2011 on 07: 06

    I have heard that when you buy a new car in Thailand you can determine the numbers yourself. Does anyone know how that works?

    • peterphuket says up
      9 June 2011 on 08: 06

      @Gringo, Yes you can and you can arrange that during the purchase of the car, there are provinces that then have license plates with very nice backgrounds, such as Phuket, which has Laem Promthep (the southernmost tip of Phuket) on the license plate, but beware , you have to open your wallet for such a record and then count on thousands of Euros if you want a special song.
      The very special numbers, such as 0007, are sold by the province at auction.

    • Louise van der Marel says up
      15 January 2014 at 12: 34

      Hi Gringo,

      You can get any number combination you want.
      Just pay extra for this.

      If you want to have the number 1, for example, it seems to cost an extra bag of money.
      And with a number of number combinations, which are wanted by the Thai, a very generous amount is also calculated.
      Acquaintance of ours bought his birth day and month.
      No idea what this costs.
      Will ask sometime.

      Greetings,
      LOUISE

      • Erik says up
        17 March 2025 at 15: 04

        I had a new number plate in Belgium "1 then three letters and then back 111". (not ordered, this combination just came by mail) When I once went to a Thai festival, almost all Thai took lots of pictures of my number plate. When I asked why, the answer was: "For the lottery"

  5. HenkW says up
    9 June 2011 on 12: 25

    Still missing the army vehicles (brown with only Thai numbers), the police vehicles (brown with normal numbers) and the motorcycles (3 letters 3 numbers).

    • Piet says up
      15 January 2014 at 14: 17

      my motorcycle has recently been registered, has 1 number then 2 letters and 4 numbers. no in chiang mai
      no is 1กฆ 6100
      but this is probably because the old numbers with 3 letters are 3 digits out.

  6. Chang Noi says up
    10 June 2011 on 10: 37

    I've rented quite a few cars and so have my friends, but never had that one yellow license plate. I think that is for vehicles that have a permit for professional passenger transport (in my opinion, for more than 5 or 6 people). But as you can see in reality, this is being done quite nicely.

    Red license plates with black letters are temporary license plates in my opinion. But I think only Pattaya uses that measure in reality.

    Embassy staff can therefore have 2 different types of plates … handy.

    White with green lettering is an argri vehicle. Eg. a 2-door pickup truck. Something like a gray license plate (does that still exist in NL?).

    I think there are many more combinations of a certain color plate with different colored letters on it. I think Royal family also has its own type of license plate. Erh handy because you will never be arrested.

    Chang Noi

  7. johnny says up
    10 June 2011 on 18: 04

    Nah… a mess

    Of course white with green letters! Truck plates
    Narrow red plate, black letters: Police
    Black plate with white letters: from the state, eg defense
    Yellow plate with black letters: crazy Dutchman

  8. Richard says up
    14 June 2011 on 05: 15

    White with black lettering is for 4 doors and white with green lettering is for 2 door vehicles.

  9. lexphuket says up
    11 September 2012 on 10: 32

    Here in Phuket they usually use red plates with black lettering for new cars. But at the moment you see a lot of cars without plates: the red ones are gone

    • marcel says up
      11 September 2012 on 12: 15

      you can also drive without plates then you get a paper that it is in your name you do not have to buy red plates and after 2 months you get your own number. white plates with green letters is for uotoos who are not allowed to go faster than 80 km

      • smeets dirk says up
        15 January 2014 at 11: 40

        Have a pick-up with white plate and green letters and can therefore assure you that it has nothing to do with speed at all. How you come to here is a mystery to me, because if you look closely, all two-doors have a white background with green letters and a four-door with black lettering

        • marcel says up
          16 January 2014 at 07: 28

          Certainly has to do with speed, just look at the signs along the highway, these 2-door pickups are only allowed to drive 80 km per hour. And also matters with the road tax, I myself had a two-door, which was also much cheaper in the road tax.

  10. conimex says up
    11 September 2012 on 10: 42

    Last week I replaced my red number plates with plastic plates, the new plates are still being made.

  11. Ruud NK says up
    11 September 2012 on 10: 53

    You can mount the red plate on your car. But it's not necessary. I think the red plate also gives some restrictions, such as no driving in the dark, and a speed limit.
    The province in the license plate indicates the province where the car was purchased. So it says nothing about where the preparer comes from. For example, a friend drives a car she bought in KhonKean. She works and lives in Nongklhai and is from Chaiyaphun. The first 5 months she drove without a license plate, because she didn't want a red one.

    • conimex says up
      11 September 2012 on 17: 00

      That does not always have to be the case, you can buy a car in Chonburi and have registration plates with Bangkok put on it.

    • smeets dirk says up
      15 January 2014 at 11: 44

      you are also not allowed to leave your province with a red license plate and don't forget to fill in your booklet

  12. support says up
    11 September 2012 on 10: 56

    Both my Thai neighbors here in Chiangmai bought a new car about 2-3 months ago. Both have been driving without license plates all this time. It is not clear to me why the police accept that. You will get into a collision with a car without a license plate. Are you done with it if the owner does not want / cannot identify himself normally.
    Especially if the collision was caused by him/her.

    I'm going to ask them how it is.

    • alex says up
      13 September 2012 on 06: 51

      I live in Hang Dong near Chiang Mai and I bought a car 5 years ago and drove without a plate for 3 months. Is quite normal here

  13. peter says up
    11 September 2012 on 10: 59

    red plates with black letters and numbers are trade plates. they are put on new cars with real license plates pending. it does limit your movements. as long as you have these plates you can only drive at certain hours. that is why it is often driven without plates. in certain cities this is punishable, but eg in chiang mai this is tolerated by the police as being a new car or motorcycle. however, if you go further away, you can get into trouble and be fined for running out of plates again. pppppffff tit

  14. Pim says up
    11 September 2012 on 14: 06

    With red plates you are not allowed to leave the province where you bought it without a special permit until your own number is available.
    White with blue is taxi transport.
    White with black is a four-door.
    Green with white is a two-door car.
    Tax is paid according to the number of doors.
    The police and army have their own color number plates, while yellow and black are also used for certain buses.
    Without license plates, are often cars where the red plates are currently in use and there are not enough of them in stock.
    This is precisely the case now because of the large purchase of new cars by the 100.000.- Thb that a Thai receives who now buys his first new car.
    This is subject to certain conditions .
    It is striking that my dealer now has 3x as many employees.

  15. William Van Doorn says up
    11 September 2012 on 15: 18

    As far as the contrast and thus the legibility of color combinations are concerned: red with black contrasts poorly (couldn't be any worse). Black on yellow: couldn't be better. (That was also the reason in the Netherlands at the time to switch from black to yellow).

  16. conimex says up
    11 September 2012 on 17: 33

    Recently I was arrested by the police, he thought that after driving with my red plates for 6 weeks, I had to file a tax return,

  17. Sake says up
    11 September 2012 on 18: 09

    I recently drove around with a red license plate for 2 months when I bought a new car. Also got a ticket because you are not allowed to drive at night with a red license plate (400 bath). I didn't know it was not allowed, but with a red number plate you also receive an instruction guide and on closer inspection it indeed stated that driving at night is not permitted.

  18. Roel says up
    12 September 2012 on 05: 09

    Correction on red license plate with black letters/numbers.

    You do not have to purchase a red number plate when purchasing a new car, but then the car is not insured because this is a plate that belongs to the dealer and you also buy your first year of insurance from the dealer. So all around for that matter.
    Red plate is valid for up to 3 months and only in the province where you bought the car. You can buy a document for 3000 THB so that you can drive throughout Thailand, you will get that 3000 THB back from the dealer when the normal plates are delivered.
    Red plate is not that you are not allowed to drive at night or that you are not allowed to drive fast, it is just a temporary plate that your car is insured by/at the dealer. The red number plates are registered, so that the police can find out exactly where and to which dealer the plates belong.

    Incidentally, more has been registered here, think carefully about that, including fines if you do not pay, then you cannot pay the horribor and tax later, first the fine then the rest.

  19. Matthew Hua Hin says up
    12 September 2012 on 05: 35

    As far as I understand there are major supply problems for new number plates at the moment. I know people who have been waiting 6 months for the final plates. So it's kind of strange that the police fined it.
    Driving with red plates is indeed subject to some rules, but in practice it is generally overlooked. As far as insurance is concerned, it is never a problem. Cars that are insured first class and drive with red (or without) plates are simply insured, 24 hours a day and everywhere in Thailand.

    • Sake says up
      12 September 2012 on 07: 43

      Now that you're talking about insurance, is it true that you can't cross the border with a Thai car? or is it a myth? I heard that it is not possible to travel to Cambodia or Laos by car or to Birm, does anyone know more about this?

      • Matthew Hua Hin says up
        12 September 2012 on 08: 07

        yes, you can just cross the border to surrounding countries with a car registered in Thailand (although I'm not entirely sure about Burma). However, the car insurance is not valid outside Thailand, but you can buy it at the border. This requires some paperwork to be brought along.

        • Sake says up
          12 September 2012 on 08: 38

          thanks for quick response, do you have experience? What paperwork should I bring?

          • Matthew Hua Hin says up
            13 September 2012 on 04: 22

            If you send me an email at [email protected] can i send a sample back.

          • John Dekker says up
            15 January 2014 at 00: 35

            You go to the same office where you registered your car and 'buy' a kind of passport. You can pick that up later with the new number plates and two decals, one for the windshield and one for the rear window with hideously large T.
            The license plates then contain Western instead of Thai letters.
            Cost? 1.000 Thb per year.
            I have one too.

      • smeets dirk says up
        15 January 2014 at 11: 50

        You can cross the border with your car, but then you have to request a booklet for your car, which you can only get if your car has been paid off in full

    • Kees says up
      12 September 2012 on 09: 32

      Thank you Matthieu, this is useful to us! I also drive around with red plates waiting for white ones, and nobody really seems to know what is allowed and what is not. On some forums it is also simply stated that you would not be insured - luckily that has now been debunked because that was the only thing I would really worry about. Those few hundred baht for the police, well, we're used to that.

  20. Innkeeper says up
    12 September 2012 on 16: 55

    http://bangkok.angloinfo.com/information/transport/driving/ Here is a lot of information about driving in Thailand and after some clicking, also about the license plates.

  21. Ceesdesnor says up
    6 February 2013 at 19: 20

    Does anyone have experience, I want to buy a buggy that I can use on public roads.
    I also have one in the Netherlands. I get so many different answers so I'm trying this way. I can buy Buggies with an EEC or COC document that are normally allowed on public roads, but maybe the rules are different in Thailand. If this is allowed, where do I request a license plate. You can also send the comments to [email protected]

  22. John Dekker says up
    15 January 2014 at 02: 37

    I have other experiences here in Chiangrai.
    Red with black: Temporary dealer registration
    Yellow with black: Buses and trucks. Digits only plus the county digit (CR = 53) in miniature
    White with black: Passenger cars
    White with green: 2 door cars usually pickups
    White with blue: Taxis and minibuses
    Black with white: Police cars or army vehicles

    Well, that was about it here.

  23. HansNL says up
    15 January 2014 at 10: 16

    And then there are also number plates without Thai letters.
    For example 10-4550 with Thailand 45 above.
    Is a so-called international number, trucks, songtaews, buses also have such number plates

    And then right now the combination Single number Two Thai letters three numbers,
    With the province designation in Thai letters below.

    So it gets more and more interesting…..

  24. Gerard says up
    15 January 2014 at 12: 07

    Really as corrupt as it gets. My neighbors have been driving through traffic without number plates for years and I see them more often. Uncle agent thinks it's fine with me too. My last new car was fitted with fake red plates by the dealer because he had run out of stock of 300 plates. Reaction? Just give uncle cop 200 baht and move on. Also here Amazing Thailand of which I sometimes think… when will this country grow up. Mi never because everyone deserves to maintain this corrupt country. By the way, you can view the entire list of license plates on the website of the Ministry of Transport 🙂

  25. Louise van der Marel says up
    15 January 2014 at 12: 22

    @

    The red number plates of the garages, which you get when a new car is bought and you have to wait or the original license plate + proof.
    Comparable to the Netherlands, which has green plates for new cars.

    LOUISE

    • Khung Chiang Moi says up
      15 January 2014 at 18: 09

      In the Netherlands we know the yellow plate with black letters that apply to all private cars.
      they are issued one after another series. You also have the blue ones that are for taxis.
      The green ones you are talking about are indeed from the garage and are often used for a test drive, or the like, officially this is not allowed by law because you travel with it on public roads and the car is administratively booked on the trading stock and there is therefore no road tax. paid for but in practice when it comes to a test drive it is not difficult to do it differently if you are stopped and you are, for example, driving 100 km from the garage in question because then you evade the tax and they have disliked in the Netherlands.

  26. janbeute says up
    15 January 2014 at 14: 18

    When I read all this it makes me dizzy again before my eyes.
    What a better working solution the system in Holland is .
    Every day, where I live, I see people who have bought a new moped or bike.
    And driving around for months without any license plate or recognition.
    Janneman also drove around for about 3 months a few years ago when I bought my new Chopper without any form of license plate.
    As an old Big Truck Apk inspector (APK 1), checking the registration certificate is part 1.
    A prerequisite before you started judging .
    And certainly at a regional service of the RDW ( National Road Traffic Service ) .
    I drive in the province of Lamphun with a second - hand bought Mitsh pickup , with a Chiangmai license plate .
    If anything ever needs to be overhauled in Thailand, the license plate system is certainly one of the priorities.
    Very complicated and does not work for a single cent.

    Jan Beute.

    • Pim says up
      16 January 2014 at 02: 37

      Dear Jan .
      Then I'm afraid that if that license plate has not been converted you will have to pay the annual road tax in Chiang Mai.
      If there are still fines that you don't know about, you have the dolls dancing.
      You will first have to pay this before you can get the vignette from the road tax.
      After all this has been fulfilled, the insurance will only come.
      I don't want to scare you but that happened to me recently.
      Speeding in Korat, they had taken a picture of me there, they wanted me to come and pay for it personally.
      After a lot of trouble and with the help of a connection I was allowed to pay it by bank.
      Only then could I collect the vignette .
      Don't you dare drive without a valid vignette, that can cost you 2000.- Thb with every check.
      That is proof that you have paid tax and insurance .
      That is also a trick used by the Thai to steal a vignette .
      That's why I have it under my buddy seat on my motorcycle.

      • janbeute says up
        16 January 2014 at 15: 12

        Dear Pim, how did you get that story??
        We have been driving around for years and pay the road tax, and the annual simple inspection.
        Here from my own area , yes even in my own village .
        Yes, we have a real inspection station here, even with a real Dutch brake bench.
        The owner is a recognized importer here in Thailand, thanks to my help years ago, of this Dutch quality product. . So in Lamphun province with Chiangmai license plate on my Mitsch . Strada .
        Never encountered any problems.
        I don't think it matters what kind of plate you have on the car.
        Pay taxes, annual mini MOT.
        Consists of a brake test on a brake dynamometer.
        So mine on the Dutch brake tester.
        Check lighting, check exhaust gases, so check emissions.
        And very important your chassis number compared to your license plate.
        Pay money , a week later I get my sticker again which I stick on my windshield again .
        This sticker is issued at the Thai RDW in Lamphun.
        Jan Beute.

        • Pim says up
          16 January 2014 at 16: 08

          I'm not talking about an inspection, but a fine.
          The inspection comes when your car is 7 years old here in Prachuab khirikhan.
          Here at this province I have to pay my taxes, that's where the license plate comes from.
          I sold my previous car to someone from Phuket.
          He first had to have him written out here so that they could see whether there was still an outstanding fine.
          When everything was in order, he got the car in his name.
          There's plenty of rumbling just look at the cars around you.
          As a professional, did you think that they have ever been to an inspection?
          This was meant for you what can happen, it will not be the same everywhere in every province.
          It also sometimes happens that the civil servant has had a pleasant night.

  27. KhunBram says up
    16 January 2014 at 03: 53

    Garage temporary license plates are number 1 on the Red and Black list.
    You pay 10.000 bath for that and you can drive it until the off number plates are there.

  28. William-Phuket says up
    17 March 2025 at 14: 00

    Beautiful, all those 'serious' experience reactions.
    What I miss is that there is no one who wonders why a newly purchased car here in Thailand cannot simply drive out of the showroom with its own number plates?
    What is that strange restrictive red plate intermediate phase for? (only driving during the day, no passengers, not allowed to leave the province).
    Total idiocy, this Thai bureaucracy in this area.

  29. Arno says up
    18 March 2025 at 19: 13

    In April 2020 I bought a brand new car in BKK.
    The dealer arrived already with stacks of paperwork for a loan to finance the purchase.
    They were amazed when I simply paid the entire purchase price in cash at once.
    I was first given red license plates for a period of two months.
    It was no problem that my wife came along.
    I was not allowed to ride in the dark and a ride log had to be filled in/kept.
    At first I thought: “What a hassle, a trip logbook”
    But a week before I got the white license plates, I was checked at Khon Kaen while on my way from BKK to Udon Thani.
    And yes, they asked for the ride logbook.
    The officer was astonished that my wife had neatly filled in the logbook, the officer was unlucky, he didn't get a single beer cent and we were complimented on how everything was so neatly arranged.

    Gr. Arno


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