By: Anonymous: Scott ()  Sunday, 08 April 2012 @ 09:26 PM ICT (Read 3666 times)  

Hello,

I wish to tour Thailand this July (2012) for three months (tourist vias) but need to know the regulations when I have the motorcycle shipped to Thailand.

Thanks in advance for your guidance. I only found information on 'importing' motorcycles but nothing about what paperwork and costs invovled for just touring and then leaving at the end of my tourist visa.


Kind Regards,

scott

By: Big Guy (offline)  Monday, 09 April 2012 @ 06:48 AM ICT  

Hello Scott

Unless you have your own very special needs for importing a bike for your tour, why not rent one? Many places will rent some very well maintained machines right from a 110cc scooter all the way to a Kawasaki Versys all dressed with saddle bags etc. Bikky in Chiang Mai will do a deal on a scooter for about $50 a week. Tony's Big Bikes is a little more costly but they have lots of bigger bikes and they too will cut an excellent deal for monthly rentals.

Times are tough in the tourism business right now and I'm sure that you will get a good price anywhere if you are willing to deal and not accept the first offer. You could easily set it up by email before you arrive.

Don't forget to get into the mountains where there are many beautiful rides away from the typical tourist spots. Bring, buy or rent a GPS and a Thai phrasebook and you'll be just fine.


Good luck in the Land of Smiles. If you haven't been here before, you're about to enter a new phase in your life!

   

Big Guy


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By: Big Guy (offline)  Monday, 09 April 2012 @ 06:54 AM ICT  

Further, here is what I found on the Royal Thai Consulate General Vancouver website. It looks like you can bring in your bike without posting a deposit if you personally guarantee that the bike will be removed at the end of your stay. I have no experience with this and don't know anyone who has done it, but you do see a few 'tourist' bikes on the road in the north so it is not impossible.

One caution: Don't mess with Customs or Immigration and think that they will go easy or cut you some slack in any given situation. Obey the rules to the letter because in the last five years Thailand has tightened up considerably with having farangs obey the Immigration and Customs laws. You'll hear tales of phantom visa runs and 'special duties' paid to (illegally) import big motorcycles, but these arrangements are from another era, and thinking that the same situation exists now will get you into trouble as many sad sacks still discover every month when their bikes are confiscated and they are deported and banned.

www.thaicongenvancouver.org/cms/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=140

Temporary Import of Personal Vehicles
The temporary import of personal vehicles (e.g. car, motorcycle, yacht, sports boat, or fishing vessel) into Thailand by residents of another country is typically allowed for a maximum of six months, with the vehicle remaining registered in its country of origin.

Travelers may bring their personal vehicles into Thailand without payment of taxes and duties provided that their visit to Thailand is short and the vehicle is removed from the country at the conclusion of the visit.

To facilitate the tax and duty free entry of personal vehicles, the travelers are required to place a cash deposit or bank guarantee covering the full amount of liable taxes and duties with Customs. The deposit will be refunded when the vehicle, and all fittings and accessories imported along with the personal vehicle, leaves the country at the end of the trip.

Prior to importing a vehicle, importers are required to closely follow Customs' regulations and conditions on temporary imports of personal vehicles as described below:

Documentation
The documents required for temporary vehicle import include:
A Temporary Import Declaration Form along with 5 duplicates;
A Vehicle Registration Certificate;
An Identification card and passport of the owner of the vehicle;
A Letter of Attorney, in cases where the operator of the vehicle does not own the vehicle;
An application form for the temporary import of the vehicle;
A proforma invoice or invoice;
A Certificate of Legal Entity;
A Re-Export Contract; and
Other relevant documents (if any).
It is also required that all fittings and accessories imported along with the personal vehicle leave the country at the end of the trip along with the vehicle. If this is not done, the importer may be subject to a fine and the vehicle and its contents could be seized.

Import Clearance Procedures
Before the vehicle is released from Customs' control, an importer/agent must submit a Temporary Vehicle Import Declaration Form and all supporting documents, including a cash deposit or bank guarantee covering the full amount of liable taxes and duties, to the Customs office at the port of entry. Please follow the process described below:
The importer/agent submits the Temporary Import Declaration Form and all supporting documents to the Customs office at the port of entry;
Customs verifies the Temporary Import Declaration Form and all supporting documents, assigns the Declaration number, and then arranges a cash deposit or bank guarantee covering the full amount of liable taxes and duties;

The importer/agent places the cash deposit or bank guarantee with the Cashier Division in the Customs Department;
The importer/agent presents the receipt issued by the Cashier Division to Customs for the release of the vehicle; and
Customs inspects the vehicles and personal goods, then returns one copy of the Temporary Import Declaration Form to the importer/agents.
Please note that the importer is required to retain the copy of the Temporary Import Declaration Form and return it to Customs upon leaving the country.

Export Clearance Procedures

The temporarily imported vehicle cannot remain in Thailand longer than the time constraints indicated in the Re-Export Contract. Once this time limit has been exceeded, the vehicle no longer qualifies for temporary entry and must be exported. All fittings and accessories imported with the personal vehicle must also be exported with that same vehicle. Please follow the below procedure:
The exporter/agent submits the copy of the Temporary Import Declaration Form (issued by Customs upon importation) to the Customs office at the port of exportation; and
Customs inspects the vehicle and personal goods, then returns the cash deposit or bank guarantee submitted at the time of importation to the exporter/agent.

Important Notices
Breach of Contract: Customs will confiscate the cash deposit or bank guarantee submitted at the time of importation in cases where the importer does not export the vehicle from Thailand at the conclusion of the visit within the time limits indicated in the Re-export Contract.
Extension of the Temporary Allowance: Customs may extend the time limit to allow a vehicle to remain in Thailand for up to six months of its arrival in Thailand, provided a written request is made in advance. In exceptional circumstances (e.g. mechanical problems, car accident, etc.) the time limit may be extended to more than six months but not exceeding eight months from the date of importation.

Guarantee and Security: The importer is able to place a security deposit using cash or a bank guarantee. However, for temporary imports of motorcycles , the importer is allowed to offer himself as a guarantee if the motorcycle is imported through one of three ports of entry: Bangkok International Airport Customs Bureau, Bangkok Port Customs Bureau or the Bangkok Customs Bureau.

In an exceptional circumstance, Customs may also allow the importer bringing in the vehicle through other ports of entry to offer himself as a guarantee if he is unable to place the deposit in cash or the bank guarantee.

The amount of the cash deposit or bank guarantee required by Customs is determined on the basis of all liable taxes and duties to be paid to Customs.

Imposition of Guarantee and Security: The temporarily imported vehicles cannot remain in Thailand longer than the time constraints indicated the Re-Export Contract. Once these time limits have been exceeded, the vehicles no longer qualify for temporary entry and must be exported.

When the temporary time limits have been met, or the importer provides a written notice to Customs that he does not wish to export the vehicle, Customs will impose the full amount of liable taxes and duties as indicated in the Re-Export Contract without any reduction.
In cases where the traveler/tourist temporarily brings motor vehicles or motorcycles into Thailand for a short visit through the above border points and is unable remove them within the time limits indicated in the Re-Export Contract, provided he does not intend to violate the Contract, a 100-Baht fine per day, but not exceeding 1,000 Baht in total, shall be charged from the expiry date of the Contract.

In cases where the traveler/tourist temporarily brings boats/vessels into Thailand and intends to take them from Thailand at the conclusion of the visit, but is unable to take them within the time limits indicated in the Re-Export Contract, provided he does not intend to violate the Contract, a 500-Baht fine per day, but not exceeding 5,000 Baht in total, shall be charged from the expiry date of the Contract.

The terms “yacht/ sports boat” refers to any boat used solely for pleasure or sports, but excludes those imported for commercial, military, and scientific research purposes. An owner/operator of a yacht/sports boat or fishing vessel from abroad is required to make an arrival and departure report of such boat or vessel to Customs upon entering or leaving the country as the case may be.

   

Big Guy


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By: news (offline)  Monday, 09 April 2012 @ 08:01 AM ICT  

Hello Scott,

I agree with 'Big Guy', unless you have specific/special reasons to take your own motorcycle into Thailand, otherwise just rent a Kawasaki Versys, the 650cc Versys is excellent for touring Thailand. And you save serious money on transport, insurance and administrative bureaucratic.

And if you want to visit Laos or Cambodia, you do the same thing again, just rent a motorcycle...

   

news


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By: Anonymous: Ashley ()  Monday, 09 April 2012 @ 12:15 PM ICT  

Met a fellow in Loei a week or two back who described riding his Honda CBR250R through Laos, Nan, etc. He did all the paperwork the right way, however, the Thai customs agent at the border in Vientiane informed him that as Lao customs hadn't signed the docs saying he'd brought the bike in/out of Laos, he would be unable to bring the bike back into Thailand. In the end, he paid some cash to the customs agent in question (probably that agent's goal all along) and was on his way. (Gotta say that I also found the Thai customs people at the border there to be extremely anal and "wrongheadedly picky" for no good reason..) I don't know if you're planning to cross any borders on your motorcycle trip, but I'm thinking it would be a heck of a lot better to worry about customs issues with a rented bike rather than my own. It is for this reason that I chose not to take my Ninja into Laos, leaving it in Nong Khai and taking buses/taxis just so far as Vientiane.

Not saying not to bring your own bike. Just that you should be prepared to deal with hassles here and there.

By: Alien23 (offline)  Tuesday, 31 July 2012 @ 05:23 PM ICT  

I have no useful information that either you will get motor bike with you or not. But when you apply for visa then must tell about bike to the embassy authorities. They will guide you all the essential information but i'm sure that you will enjoy Thailand tour on bike riding.


Thailand Resorts

   

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