How to buy a bike??-the Legal side

alrikki

alrikki

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Aug 29, 2008
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Does anyone know all the legal technicalities of buying a bike?
how I can put a bike in my name? It's a 2000 250cc
I have the green book, tax and insurance etc is paid until september.
I have a year's non=O visa, and the house rental agreement. I can get the 500 baht form. I live in Chiang Mai

Do I need documents from the former owner?
He's an expat, lives in chiang mai, bike is now in his name in the green book, but the bike has rayong plates.
I have a letter from him to say I bought it.
So do I have to go to Rayong to transfer to my name, or plates ?
Do I have to take the bike to Rayong?
Or can I do it in Pattaya?
Or can I do it all in Chiang Mai?
What more paperwork do I need?

I was told at the registering office in chiang mai that I need a copy of the owner's passport, visa, work permit and housing contract. Is that true? He's out of the country now
 
johngooding

johngooding

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Sep 4, 2007
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You can do it in Chiang Mai.
The office that you have been to has already told you what you need.
Many other posts on this board have already detailed this process.
Good luck
 
alrikki

alrikki

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Aug 29, 2008
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thats the problem- if the chiang mai office was correct, I can't get all the documents
 
monsterman

monsterman

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Oct 17, 2006
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You can change ownership in CM get new book keep CM plates
then when you move to another Province you can ask to change plates there .
 
alrikki

alrikki

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Aug 29, 2008
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monsterman wrote: You can change ownership in CM get new book keep CM plates
then when you move to another Province you can ask to change plates there .
Click to expand...
does that mean I can keep the Rayong plates?
 
M

madjbs

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Apr 10, 2006
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You can do the entire process from CM, but, you will need the following documents:

-Ownership transfer form (signed by previous owner)
-Letter of attorney X 2 (one for moving province, one for buying/selling, both must be signed by previous owner)
-Moving Registration province form X 2
-Copy of previous owners and your passport, visa, entry stamp (all signed)
-Either copy of previous owners and your work permit or original residency letter from your embassies or Thai immigration.

The letter you have from him is not needed at all, and wont be of any use.

Good Luck
 
alrikki

alrikki

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Aug 29, 2008
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madjbs,
what is the letter of attorney? Is it a form?
Where do I get all the forms from?
 
M

madjbs

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Apr 10, 2006
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You don't have to have a housing contract or a work permit. You must have a work permit OR a letter from your embassy or Thai immigration.

You might get lucky and be able to complete the process without one but they are the official rules nevertheless and they are enforced in Bangkok as well as many other provinces (according to reports).

I don't know how they are in Chiang Mai but when I bought a car there a couple of years ago they weren't yet enforcing the new rule which states you need the copy of work permit or embassy letter from the previous owner, in order to transfer the ownership.
 
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madjbs

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Apr 10, 2006
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You have to remember that if you do get lucky and manage to register a bike while on a 30 day entry stamp or without being able to supply the embassy/immigration form, you open yourself to all kind of possible problems when you want to sell the bike.

Eg. You manage to register a bike in "province X" while on only a tourist visa and without supplying (or being able to) any of the proper documents. You then sell the bike to someone who takes the bike back to their home in Bangkok. That person will then be unable to register the bike in Bangkok as they wont have the copy of your Non-I visa, or recent embassy/immigration letter, which are all required. End result, they have a bike stuck in your name and end up having to bring the bike back to province X etc...

This situation very nearly happened to me when buying a car. At the time I didn't know the regulations as well and the previous owner was insistent that he didn't need to give me this and that. Well, in the end he did have to and I had to get all the documents sent from Australia. By this time his Visa had expired in the photocopy which created further problems, special approval from someone senior had to be granted for the transfer to be completed.
 
johngooding

johngooding

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Sep 4, 2007
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madjbs wrote: You don't have to have a housing contract or a work permit. You must have a work permit OR a letter from your embassy or Thai immigration.

.
Click to expand...
Also a yellow tabien baan does the same job. These documents all confirm your address and obviously the authorities require an address to be able to put on their records for the keeper of the vehicle. Not sure how the good captain managed that, maybe he had the letter from immigration.
Regarding the power of attorney. It is a standard form available from the vehicle registration office and also online. It requires a low value postage stamp to be affixed. The document is signed by the owner to say that he is giving you permission to submit the documents for the sale, even though he is not present. If he accompanies you on the visit to the registration office, it is not needed. The power of attorney only applies to the one specified vehicle transaction, for change of province if neccessary and then change of ownership.
 
gobs

gobs

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Feb 8, 2007
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"I don't know how they are in Chiang Mai..."

Through my own experience some months ago, and on a "regular basis", they are enforcing law and process here in CNX too!
Nothing particularly "strong", but just "right straight"...
 
monsterman

monsterman

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Oct 17, 2006
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Immigration office will issue the letter for 200 Baht , in pattaya this take 2 hours one is for vehicles and driving license they also do one for opening bank accounts
 
M

madjbs

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Apr 10, 2006
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Different rules for different offices. In Bangkok they are free but take a month to be issued. Also, they won't normally give you one unless you have a Non-I visa and do the 90 day reports.
 
M

madjbs

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Apr 10, 2006
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Yep, the exact same thing happened to me in Bangkok when buying a car. It would have been seriously bad if I had ended up with a car which I was then unable to sell again. Thankfully I got approval from some guy in an office and they let me do the transfer.
 
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