Quote by: RP in BKK

Hi all,

I am thinking of importing Royal Enfield Thunderbird Twinspark from Mumbai, India - the cost to buy is only a fantastic 60,000thb!!
However, being Thailand - I cannot get any real info on importing such a bike - any advice would be appreciated!

The first thing that comes to mind when you want to import a motorcycle from India is that you will need the Royal-Enfield Thunderbird Twinspark that meets the European Euro 3 or 4 environmental exhaust emission norm.

Of course you need to pay import duty, which is – if I'm correct - 60 percent, over that you need to pay 30 percent Excise Tax, plus 10 percent Interior Tax and finally 7 percent sales tax....

I was told, by and Indian sales person of a Royal Enfield dealership in India, that the local “Indian” models don't comply with the strict European emission standard and Thai emission rules which are sometimes even more strict then in the EU (its called the EURO3 plus norm).

Second to get the motorcycle legally registered in Thailand the bike has to be tested for road safety, which will set you back for about 50,000 THB, exhaust emission testing per test is about 30,000 THB, and the final registering fee is probably around 50,000 THB (so a total of extra cost of 130,000 TH.

Quote by: RP in BKK

Hi..Many thanks for this - what an overpriced hassle!!
Wouldn't it be great if Thailand actually made things easier for people to do such things?
It really is ludicrous, they do seem to put a barrier on everything here.
For example; emissions? What a joke - as any bus rider or pedestrian knows here in the Big Mango.

Oh well - forget that then! And once again, many thanks for help and advice.

Cheers

The emission rules in Thailand are not much different than in Western countries. In Thailand, same as in most countries around the world new rules only apply for new vehicles.

For instance if you bought a car in Europe in 1990 it needed to comply with Euro II emission rules, currently if you buy the same type of vehicle it needs to be Euro III emission standard but the car you bought in 1990 can still be used (as long it still pass the yearly safety inspection)..

The same rules apply for Thailand, most the trucks and buses that produce black smoke are from a time that Thailand had no or very light vehicle emission rules... So until this vehicles fail the safety inspections or do not pass the emission rules from the time they where registered they can be legally used on the Thai road... (many want to change this rules, but Thailand signed a United Nation agreement on what is and what's not legal on the road).

Quote by: Red Ride

Quote by: RP in BKK

Hi..Many thanks for this - what an overpriced hassle!!
Wouldn't it be great if Thailand actually made things easier for people to do such things?
It really is ludicrous, they do seem to put a barrier on everything here.
For example; emissions? What a joke - as any bus rider or pedestrian knows here in the Big Mango.

Oh well - forget that then! And once again, many thanks for help and advice.

Cheers

So you want the bike you want at the lowest price, I understand

However Thailand wants the jobs and factories set up here in Thailand to give jobs to the people. And though you don't like it, I think it is very smart of them for looking out for their people and that is why unemployment is under 1% here

Yes, I absolutely agree in those terms - however, very few people here pro rata population bother to pay any kind of income tax - which may be the reason for over inflated excise duties.
But what is wrong with business enterprise? The crux of which is the crucial import/export of goods/services and commerce. They do not actually make any Enfields here (The subject of the thread) - so what is wrong with making the ease of importing of any commodity simpler and more cost efficient?
I Exported many products from here to the UK for a retail venture a few years ago - that was simply plain sailing. Importation of worldwide goods is essential to every market economy - I just view it as pure greed to be honest.
However. 'Nuff' said! Many thanks for all comments and advice - interesting discussion!