Short / medium term use of Malaysian registered bike in Thailand

Jul 20, 2013
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Thought I had already posted this!

I currently live in Langkawi but may move to Krabi area in the New Year. I understand to a limited extent (never been through the process myself) the process of brining in a bike from Malaysia for a tour and that when in country you can extend stay by a month. Does anyone have experience of keeping one in Thailand for a few months?
One post said you can get a permit for bike equivalent to length of your visa – does this hold if you have a years O-A visa? I suppose that being in Krabi you could do a “bike permit” run but how feasible is this – would the Thais eventually stop you?

Welcome any help!

Must say in reading the postings the forum does sound well supported with lots of positive comments – good karma for biking in Thailand!

Thanks

John
 
Nov 7, 2007
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I know people who visa run bikes - 3 months visa, then 3 months overstay, pay overstay fee when getting a new one.

The question is why would you want to bring a bike from Malaysia. Thailand has lots of great options for buying now; on the motor show recently Honda added some 650cc inline 4s for example - and it would seem bikes are even more expensive in Malaysia than they're in Thailand. So sell your bike there, and buy one here, and forget about the hassle.

I was getting a Thai driving license yesterday and met a couple who was visa running a car for but they said Thai authorities eventually shut them down, and that was that. They had to sell their lovely Unimog Camper Van. So I think if you do that you're at the mercy of both the border officers and Thai laws.
 
Jul 20, 2013
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Nikster thanks for the response and esp the latter part re the Unimog - yes an issue if the Thais just cut you off. Unimog must make one hell of a camper. Have a Duke 690 and like it very much - light, small enough to take down narrow gravel roads, pokey with ABS and engine maps as std - do not particularly like the almost default Versys 650. The Duke is currently listed at RM46500 in MY and as far as I can tell its 660000 Baht in Thailand (getting on for double UK list at GBP6600 let alone the US price) a significant extra cost. Any suggestions as to an alternative bike would be welcome - appreciate you have to take the rough with the smooth to some extent living in a nice part of the world!

John
 

cdrw

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Oct 6, 2006
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John Aero;294812 wrote: Thought I had already posted this!

I currently live in Langkawi but may move to Krabi area in the New Year. ...brining in a bike from Malaysia for a tour...
John
You can bring your bike to Thailand, providing it is currently licensed and registered in your name.
I was unable to find any of the many posts which have already covered this topic,
so will give a brief rehash of the topic. The process is the same as when I leave Thailand on my Thai bike.

You need you Malay passport and the registration book for the bike (in Thailand bikes have a 'greenbook', showing it's registration,
which details the bike, that it's license is current and lists the owner).
When entering at the Thai border, get your visa and then go to Thai customs.

You want Customs to create a temp Import/Export document for the bike. Technically an Im/Ex doc is valid for 30-days, however
you _can_ keep you bike in Thailand for up to a max of almost 6-months. Many have done so without problems.
Your bike's info will be entered into Customs computer. They will give you a copy of the Im/Ex doc. DO NOT lose your copy as the Im/Ex
doc, as it is needed by Customs, at your departure point, to allow the bike to leave Thailand.

As you may have only a 30 or 60-day(?) visa, upon entering Thailand, at some point you will need to make a border run on your bike,
to Laos or Cambo, to obtain a new visa. At this point Thai Customs will need your copy of the Im/Em doc to allow you and the bike to
leave Thailand. When you return to Thailand you will obtain a new visa and again go through the process of getting a new Im/Ex
doc for the bike.

I hope this helps...PM me if further questions.
 
Dec 27, 2007
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People ride in Thailand on foreign registered bikes all the time. I'm told that to bring a foreign registered bike into Thailand on temporary import you are supposed to be on a TOURIST visa and that temporary import is not allowed if you are on a Non-O or Non-B visa. Someone will correct me if I'm wrong :)

As CDRW said above, you bring the bike in on temporary import and do border runs to renew the temporary import as needed. Sure, there's a risk that eventually they'll deny your request to extend the temporary import, but I've never heard of that happening to a bike, yet...
 
Nov 27, 2013
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TonyBKK;295050 wrote: People ride in Thailand on foreign registered bikes all the time. I'm told that to bring a foreign registered bike into Thailand on temporary import you are supposed to be on a TOURIST visa and that temporary import is not allowed if you are on a Non-O or Non-B visa. Someone will correct me if I'm wrong :)

As CDRW said above, you bring the bike in on temporary import and do border runs to renew the temporary import as needed. Sure, there's a risk that eventually they'll deny your request to extend the temporary import, but I've never heard of that happening to a bike, yet...
thanks for the info Tony, still looking into so much yet, can't wait to start riding there.