Paying excise tax w/out getting license - will it get me by?

[Paul1212]

I'm planning to get a new/used motorcycle soon. From one post I've read and from talking with some Thai motorcycle guys I know, it sounds like if I just pay the excise tax (with the Sappasamit Dept. - กระทรวง สรรพสามิ&#3605, I can avoid the possibility of my bike getting confiscated by the police. One Thai guy I know - who rents and sells dirt bikes - told me that it's only the Sappasamit officials who can confiscate a motorcycle, and that if the excise tax has been paid but a license (& green book) have not been purchased, the worst that can happen is a 500 baht fine for not having a license. Does anyone know for sure if this is true?

 

[gobs]

I hear and read this already...

But I CAN'T say SURE it is so! :?
I didn't do it and I don't know someone who did it...

Why dont' you go and ask in the Sapasamit Dpt wher you live and then go and ask to the central police station?
Nothing to lose, you have not your bike yet...

Good luck

 

[lotuseater]

I was told the same thing by the police department after having my bike confiscated (2000 baht fine) the police actually told me that it would be better to just get the sticker by paying the tax because getting the green book would cost the same as ten years worth of tickets. Again, I don't know for sure and things could change at any time. I guess it really depends on where you live. This is not something I would try to pull of in Bangkok and I can only imagine that Chiang Mai will start cracking down in a couple of years.
That said, I have a couple of bikes with out green books and I plan on getting in sometime in the next couple of months and getting the stickers for them. I have been pulled over twice and both times the police told me I had no sticker, (never asked for the book, and pointed to the side of the bike not the licence plate).

I think with issues like this is it buyer beware and you have to be prepared to have some run ins with the police.

 

[Paul1212]

Thanks for your replies, gobs and lotuseater. Actually, I did ask someone I know at the local Sapasamit Dept. whether the police could confiscate my bike if I've paid the tax but don't have a license, and he said that, technically, they could confiscate it. I live in a little province where there has been no crackdown on unregistered bikes, so I don't think that asking the local police would help. The problem is that sometimes I ride to Chiangmai, where there has been a pretty big crackdown, and often go to Chiangrai, where there are signs of a beginning crackdown, so I'm wondering more about these two provinces (also Nan and Lampang, to which I travel at times).
Lotuseater - your comments were very helpful to me - thanks. Was your conversation with the police in Chiangmai? in Ampoe Muang?

 

[lotuseater]

Hi I had a bit of a conversation with one of the police officers that gave me a ticket for not having a helmet. I was wearing a helmet at the time and was trying to figure out why he had given me the ticket for having no helmet. I guess I should have just kept my mouth shut because he promptly gave me a different ticket for having no licence which was a lot more. I have also talked to one of the police officers that comes around to check on the house every so often. Both say the same thing, if you have a sticker you will be fine for now. Also Bon at Burning Bike shop in Chiang Mai says the same thing, having a ticket means you won't be stopped or will have to pay a minimal fine if you are stopped.

The crack down here has not been so bad, I don't drive my bike into the centre of town much one because there have been more police check points of late and two because I don't really like leaving it parked anywhere I can't keep an eye on it. I already have two dings in the gas tank because of scooter drivers that park right next to you not understanding that you can't get a big bike out of the same spaces that you can a little one.

Anyway, from personal experience, things have not been that bad here. The whole confiscating bikes thing from what I can tell was just a ploy to make the new police chief some quick cash. He gave a big speech about how licenced bikes were illegal and would not be tolerated any more. Then three weeks later, all of the unlicensed big bikes were given back and were back out on the streets. I can't get anyone who really knows anything to talk about it but I have to assume money changed hands and things are back to the good old wild wild east attitude that they used to be.

 

[hs0zfe]

Recently, outside Udon Thani and in SriRacha near Pattaya, I saw lots of people drive on the wrong side of the road. I would imagine, in such locations you might get away with it.

But the big uncertainty lies in the unknown future. A crackdown might turn your bike into a huge liability! I see many people sell their bikes for spare parts!

I read the cost of a NEW Green Book starts at THB 62,000. Anything but a genuine Green Book might cause trouble later on.

Be careful, everything is in flux and changing

Chris

 

[gobs]

hs0zfe wrote: "Anything but a genuine Green Book might cause trouble later on" and I agree 110%!

You can't never know what may happen! Tomorrow or in the future 3 months!.. And too many hassles on the road...
Only one way I guess: the laws WILL BE enforced! Same as helmets: it begins kindly and with time going on it becomes stronger... and can't go through...

Well IMHO,
Gobs

 

[lotuseater]

You guys raise good points. I agree, that things will eventually change but I have heard the same argument for all of my five years here now. "You won't be able to ride a bike without a licence in the near future" always the same story, "in the near future".
Now would I make an investment in a bike that was tens of thousands of dollars that didn't have a proper green book. Not a chance, however both of the unlicensed bikes that I have cost me less that $3000 (for both) I have had them for a year now, I don't imagine anything will change in the next year at least, so if in another year, things change and I can't ride them anymore, then well they have had a good run and for the amount of investment I put into them, then I am happy.
Also the OP lives out of major centers so I image one year for a complete change of the current policy is a big under estimate. (In the major centers too for that matter BKK being the exception) Also the government is not going to sit around and let millions of baht go to waste, if a policy of confiscation is ever put in place, my guess is that there will be a side policy of getting the bike registered, legal and back out on the streets quickly and easily. The police force are not going to confiscate thousands of bikes nation wide and have them sitting around in government yards rusting. It is the same reason that little scooters that have no license are left alone. Who in their right mind would pay 2000 baht to get a bike back that is barely worth that and the police don't want a bunch of junkers sitting around taking up space and costing them money.
Thats just my two cents on the matter, I am sure a lot of people are going to disagree with me on this. But hey this is a fair and open forum and both sides of the story need to be told.

Cheers.

 

[gobs]

Agree for part with you, lotus...

If, as you did, you spend some "little" money on no legit bikes, no matter. At least, if they are very nice, you can put them in the living room as decoration (if Madame is OK :roll: ) in some next year and enjoy.
Well, huh, starting them better to do it in the garden!..

But for sure buy a 200/300 KB bike without true green book, no thanks!

Many bikes for sale now without green book... And some tagged with "attractive but not so cheap" price! Time to get rid off, I guess...

Cheers