Registering your Car in Thailand

This article begins with the usual disclaimer that laws in Thailand can change on a day to day basis and like every thing else here, depends where you go, who you see and what day of the week. The information provided is based on a consensus of personal experience.

To register a car in your own name you'll need the following:

Passport: copies of the photograph page and current visa page of your passport, a car can registered with any visa, tourist, non-immigrant "O" "B" or retirement visa. (all copies must be signed)

Work Permit: Copies of every page of your work permit (all copies must be signed). For those without a work permit read below.

Embassy Letter: For people without work permit you'll need to visit your embassy and get a notary document confirming your name and address in Thailand. Typically these documents cost around 1,500 Baht and are easy to obtain, just explain to your embassy that you are purchasing a car and need the notary document for registration purposes. The immigration department can also issue a similar document.

To register a car in your Thai spouse's name you will need:
Copies of their Thai ID card and a copy of the house registration document "Tabien Baan". We will provide the all the other relevant documents to sign.

To register a car in a company name you will need:
A copy of the company registration papers, copies of the identification card, and house registration papers of the owner/owners of the company if the owner/s is Thai, or copies of the work permit/s and passport/s if the owner/s of the company is foreign. Also bear in mind that all transfer and registration costs are double if a car is registered in a company name, and also the annual tax is doubled.

Car Title Document (Lem Tabian):
Every used car comes with a blue registration book this book contains information on the amount of owners a vehicle has had, and also shows if all taxes have been paid on the vehicle. If a car is under any form of financing then the finance company will keep the "blue book" until all monies have been paid, if a seller of a car can't produce the blue book, buyer beware. If you finance a car, the finance company will in turn hold the title document until you have paid back in full all monies borrowed to purchase the car. It is then usually the finance companies’ responsibility to transfer the title of the car into your name.

If you have updated information or anything you would like to add to this article, please contact Cars4Thais.com and thanks for helping us provide the best information available on the web!