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[captcraig2 120]

Hi guys! I know everybody is probably going to tell me to do a search on this topic but I tried and can find no results. I am planning on having my 1971 Jaguar limo shipped to Thailand once my wife and I make our move, does anybody know what the procedure is and how they base all the fee's associated with this process? also does anybody happen to know of a good and trustworthy mechanic in either Bangkok or Pattaya who can work on a Jag? Thanks for any help...as always greatly appreciaated!

[Emil 0]

also does anybody happen to know of a good and trustworthy mechanic in either Bangkok or Pattaya who can work on a Jag?

Try the Jag dealership that is located off the main highway that runs from Bangkok to the airport.

[Eneukman 1]

I can't answer any of your questions but you may want to consider the question of the customs duty that will be imposed. It is very high and based on the NEW value of the car. I'm assuming that it's a "classic" car hence your wish to import it into Thailand but you would need to factor import duty into the costs that are likely to be incurred.

 

Alan

[redwood13 56]

http://www.pattayatalk.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=20073

 

-redwood

[spacebass 0]

Search: 'How to import a vehicle into Thailand'

 

Search result: 'Don't even think about it'

Edited January 9, 2006 by spacebass

[deanjames 0]

Search: 'How to import a vehicle into Thailand'

 

Search result: 'Don't even think about it'

Poof, my dream of bringing my car over to thailand goes up in smoke.

 

Saying that, I know a man that knows a man...

[Gary 4,119]

Store it where you are or sell it. Some people who try to import their cars have no idea of how much duty will be. By the time everything is added up it is too late. They leave the cars in customs and the customs people "auction" them off. I marked auction because only well connected Thais can bid. It is a lucrative racket that has yet to be investigated.

[Larryst 7]

I've heard a few stories about shipping cars to Thailand. The cost to import it is way out of the line. Customs will be in line for there cash. Licensing a foreign car will be expensive. Insuring a foreign car might be a lot more. More than likely, you wouldn't be able to make it to the licensing department.

My opinion is. Store it. Sell it. Go to the jaguar place Emil mentioned and buy a new or a used one. Less headaches.

[Larryst 7]

Found this article about shipping cars to Thailand. Good luck if you send your car.

 

Car seizure part of Thai customs crackdown

 

The Customs Department is taking serious action against car smugglers, and is prepared to investigate past tax payment records on luxury vehicles, according to Chavalit Sethahmeteekul, the department's director-general.

 

``Any car owners who are aware that they have purchased their cars at cheap prices and suspect that they have not paid appropriate taxes are urged to contact the department for proper tax settlements. Otherwise their cars might be seized,'' Mr Chavalit said.

 

Yesterday, Finance Minister Somkid Jatusripitak visited the customs station at Laem Chabang port to examine 34 smuggled vehicles worth 47 million baht (including taxes).

 

Mr Chavalit said tax payment records could be checked against car registrations at the Land Transport Department.

 

Normally, an imported car cannot be registered unless taxes have been properly paid. If the owner registers the car but its chassis number is not listed on the import tax payment records of the Customs Department, it means that the car is still subject to an import tax.

 

In the 10 months to October this year, 11,690 cars were imported, with 10.1 billion baht in taxes collected.

 

Mr Somkid said the seizure of smuggled cars sent a strong signal that the Customs Department was now taking serious action against tax evasion.

 

To improve enforcement, the Finance Ministry has approved a budget of one billion baht to purchase x-ray equipment to screen cargo containers.

 

The 34 seized vehicles at Laem Chabang consisted of one Toyota Estima, eight Honda Stream vans, 20 Honda CRVs, four Toyota Harriers and one Honda Accord. They have a combined value of 15.3 million baht, not including import, excise, municipal and value-added taxes totalling 31.9 million baht.

 

The vehicles were imported in 17 containers from Japan by K-Line (Thailand) Co through Pier B3 operated by Laem Chabang Terminal Co. The manifests said the containers were empty.

 

Under the law, the shipping agent would face a fine of up to four times the value of the smuggled goods plus excise tax. However, in practice, a fine up to twice the value is usually imposed.

 

Last month, officials searched a house in Soi Vacharapol in Bangkok and found two Mercedes Benz S28C sedans, two Benz E200 sedans and two Benz 180 sedans with a combined value before tax of about seven million baht.

 

It was claimed that the vehicles had been brought from the Lat Krabang industrial estate for repairs before being exported to Laos via Nong Khai province in northeastern Thailand. However, the vehicles were never exported. The officials seized the cars for tax evasion.

 

It is estimated that tax evasion on vehicles costs the government about 10 billion baht a year, with some customs officials conspiring with smugglers.

 

Source: Bangkok Post Dec 7, 2002

[captcraig2 120]

I wonder what the options would be if my Thai wife brought the car home in her name? she will of been on the title for over the 18 month period.

 

 

Just curious how it would work with the farang out of picture!

[Larryst 7]

I wonder what the options would be if my Thai wife brought the car home in her name? she will of been on the title for over the 18 month period.

 

 

Just curious how it would work with the farang out of picture!

Probably a lot of money. Cars imported into Thailand is expensive. For duty & customs. Licensing a imported car would still be expensive. Because, not made in Thailand. I don't think it would not matter if it was in her name. The bottom line is money, money, money. It depends on how much you want to pay and how much of a headache do you want.

[irishman 0]

Doesn't make any difference who is trying to import it. The have import duties and luxury tax structures that make it absolutely rediculous to try and import a vehicle. My 2004 Nissan 350ZX which was purchased in the States for about $35000 would have cost about $80,000 to import. Of that total, only about $3000 was for the shipping. The idea is to make it come out the same as if you bought the car here. If you try and buy a new 350ZX here, you will pay over $100,000 for a new one. The only cars that are about the same here and in the States are the cheaper pick-ups.

 

Cheers

[captcraig2 120]

Thanks for all the info guys.....guess my ride will be staying in the States....Too bad though I sure would of enjoyed cruising the soi's with her.

[The Mook 105]

Trade it in for Baht Bus.

[Leebanon 2]

yeah, some folks think, they are smart, while bringing their car to Malaysia,

and import only the parts of the car to Thailand.

 

But the custom is even smarter.

 

 

Customs officers at the Bangkok Harbour impounded four disassembled cars of a Japanese make which were declared as used parts.

 

SMUGGLERS BEWARE

 

Customs officials believe they are starting to win the cat and mouse game at international ports and border crossings, and the government has made nearly two billion baht in recent years from the auction of impounded cars, writes SUPRADIT KANWANICH

 

Two Ferraris, both with a starting price at over 9 million baht, were among the 204 cars put on the auction block by the Customs Department in its first auction of the 2006 fiscal year. There were also two Jaguars, a Maserati and more than 50 Mercedes Benz. Hundreds of car fans and second-hand dealers crowded onto the small lot behind the department's headquarters on Sunthon Kosa Road on the morning of October 26, looking for a four-wheeled bargain. Nearly all of the cars offered were high end, only a handful were less than two years old.

 

 

At the end of the bidding, which was done verbally, 189 cars were driven off at a cost to the buyers of 251 million baht. The rest will be offered again later. Yuttana Yimgarund, director of the Land Enforcement Division (LED) of the Customs Department, told Sunday Perspective that the cars had been brought into the country illegally, or else confiscated at the border. In fiscal year 2005 police confiscated 382 cars, while Customs officers took possession of 72 cars. In 2004, police nabbed 527 cars nationwide and Customs officers 103 cars.

 

Thailand has strict regulations regarding the import of used cars (see sidebar), and imposes very high import taxes on used cars that are allowed into the country. The import fee for cars with engines less than 2000 cubic centimetres is 137 percent of the car's value, as assessed by Customs officials judging from the factory price, depreciation and actual condition of the cars. The fee rises to 200 percent of the value for cars between 2-3000 cc, and more than 200 percent for cars with engines over 3000 cc.

 

 

During the 2005 fiscal year, 771 impounded cars were sold at a price of 767 million baht in six public auctions. In 2004, five auctions were made for 801 cars, bringing in 470 million baht. During the 2003-fiscal year, six auctions brought in a total of 380 million baht for 376 cars. Smuggled cars normally range from six months to 10 years old, but include older collectors' items which are highly desired by the gangs' clientele.

 

TIDE IS TURNING

 

Yuttana said most of the smuggled cars enter Thailand from the south, or through Cambodia on the eastern border. He added that there are 4-5 smuggling gangs taking stolen cars from Malaysia into Thailand, using counterfeit Malaysian registration documents to enter the country as tourists. He said the gangs would either deliver the cars to buyers in Thailand or drive them up to northern provinces, cross another border, and sell them in a neighbouring country.

 

"But now there is more cooperation between Thailand and Malaysia to check the authenticity of the papers, and many stolen cars have been recovered and returned to Malaysia," said the LED director.

 

The policy of Thai authorities is of course to return stolen vehicles to their rightful owners in foreign countries. However, in some cases the gangs have legal ownership of the smuggled vehicles, and when the cars are stolen they have often been "laundered", which makes identification all but impossible.

 

The gangs are on the lookout to buy cars damaged beyond repair just to get their genuine registration papers or cut out the chassis numbers and refit them onto cars to be smuggled in.

 

However, Yuttana said that Thai authorities have gotten much better at spotting the smuggled vehicles, either at ocean ports, border checkpoints or on the road.

 

"Now it's not so easy for the car smuggling gangs. Concerned agencies are cooperating together much more, while our document and car inspection systems are increasingly effective," said Mr Yuttana.

 

He said the gangs used to smuggle the cars into Thailand in containers which were packed with other cheaper goods, but now the Customs officials at several big ports use mobile x-ray machines to scan the containers. Officials at over 40 customs checkpoints along the border nationwide have been given special training to intercept illegal vehicles. Law enforcement officials are gaining information to help track the smuggling routes and shut down the gangs.

 

As there are over 20 million cars on the roads in Thailand, it's quite hard to detect the illegal cars once they have been brought into the country. Police are confident they can spot them in routine registration checks.

 

Another way the vehicles are spotted is by officers who are specially trained to look for minor differences in the body parts of the automobiles. This is because the smugglers often dissasemble the vehicles and declare them as parts, and then reassemble them inside the country.Yuttana said that quite often not all of the parts make it to the reassembly point, so that it is necessary to mix and match a bit. He said it was essential to form up teams of officers specially trained to detect small anomalies in such cars.

 

Suntara Thaitavorn, director of Bangkok Port Customs Bureau, also told Sunday Perspective that used cars were disassembled and declared at the port as used engine and other spare parts. He said his officers must carefully check all imported items. In the past the shipping agents called the officers to check the imported items here and there in the compound of the Bangkok Port, and some disassembled autos slipped through. Now all shipments of auto parts are carefully screened in a special fenced in area. The checking of every piece is recorded by video camera to check whether it fits with the items declared in the import entry documents, and the indicated excise duty and value added tax has been paid.

 

Recently, officials found four disassembled cars from Japan worth about five million baht which had been declared as used automobile parts. As all the parts were found together, it was reasoned that the shippers were hoping to evade taxes and the strict import regulations on used cars. The cars were believed to be intended for racing, as the engines were high powered and only slightly used.

 

Suntara said there were now about 10 containers a day which contain auto parts to be checked at the Bangkok Port, but that most car smuggling these days is done overland using fake documents.

 

its auction time

Bird's eye view of the 218 smuggled cars ready for public auction in the compound of the Customs Department on October 26.

 

our son likes ferrari

High-powered cars for sale in the first row at the compound of the Customs Department on October 26 include a Ferrari 288GTO and a Ferrari 512TR. The 288GTO found a buyer for 18,010,000 baht. The 512 TR will be offered again later.

 

a good information guide :

 

Import of vehicle to Thailand

http://www.thaivisa.com/car_import_thailand.0.html

 

Import of Vehicle into Thailand through the Malaysian Border

http://www.thaivisa.com/car_malaysia_border.0.html