Hi from DC! and... how to import a bike?

[dcstrom]

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Hi All,

I'm in Washington DC right now but planning a RTW trip soon, leaving probably March/April 2012. South America first, then probably Africa and working my way (by some currently unknown route) over to Thailand.

The thinking currently is to stay there on a retirement visa. I'm originally from Australia, love Thailand and it's close enough to Oz that I can visit easily.

The main unanswered question I have is, how to (affordably) bring my Super Tenere into Thailand under these circumstances?

Thanks for your help - for info on the Super Tenere visit my blog at http://supertenere1200.com

Trevor

[schackster]

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G'day Dcstrom , there is currently another Australian friend in Chiang Mai who has recently managed to bring his V-strom over from Oz. I'll try and get him to respond as to how he did it. From what he said it wasnt all that difficult .. take care and welcome

[johngooding]

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Its not so difficult to bring in a foreign registered bike to Thailand. Its fine if you intend to tour and leave again. The problem comes if you wish to settle here, and get a Thai registration plate, tax, insurance etc for long term use. There are a number of postings on this forum about that, but the general conclusion seems to be that it is no 'affordable' route to do this 100% legally, there are various grey channels people use and obtain a plate.

[dcstrom]

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Its not so difficult to bring in a foreign registered bike to Thailand. Its fine if you intend to tour and leave again. The problem comes if you wish to settle here, and get a Thai registration plate, tax, insurance etc for long term use. There are a number of postings on this forum about that, but the general conclusion seems to be that it is no 'affordable' route to do this 100% legally, there are various grey channels people use and obtain a plate.

Yeah I checked on the Thai customs site, and as far as I can tell it would cost over 200% of the value of the bike to bring it permanently. But are you saying it's possible to keep it foreign-registered, but perhaps leave the country with it, and bring it back again, every couple of months? Or something like that...

Trevor

[dcstrom]

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G'day Dcstrom , there is currently another Australian friend in Chiang Mai who has recently managed to bring his V-strom over from Oz. I'll try and get him to respond as to how he did it. From what he said it wasnt all that difficult .. take care and welcome

Thanks, would appreciate hearing his story...

Trevor

[johngooding]

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Yeah I checked on the Thai customs site, and as far as I can tell it would cost over 200% of the value of the bike to bring it permanently. But are you saying it's possible to keep it foreign-registered, but perhaps leave the country with it, and bring it back again, every couple of months? Or something like that...

Trevor

Yes it is possible, to bring in a bike in with a valid foreign registration, on temporary import. One then must do as you say and leave the country on a regular basis, or apply for an extension of the temporary stay. I have no personal experience of this, so cannot give you any more info, except to confirm there are people in Chiang Mai who keep bikes here on that basis. Seems like a lot of trouble to me, and if you do overstay, the fines are heavy and if too long overstay the bike could be confiscated.

[Davidfl]

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Try this for some more info too

http://www.gt-rider.com/motorcycles-...-into-thailand

[dcstrom]

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Try this for some more info too

http://www.gt-rider.com/motorcycles-...-into-thailand

Ah thanks - that what I was looking for. I'm planning to be in Thailand on a retirement visa, but from this thread it seems you can only get the bike in (without the customs fees) on a tourist visa. Seems a bit complicated, given I'd still want to switch to the retirement visa, but sounds like it's doable.

Any more questions, I'll take to that thread.

Trevor