Sukhothai DLT- Difficult to Transfer Ownership?

[Billy Baht]

Need some advice. I'm buying a used CBR250 that is registered at Sukhothai and the current owner also lives there. I was hoping to change the green book into my name and keep the same number plate. The seller says they are a pain to deal with and I'd be better off to register the bike here in Pattaya where I live. He is however willing to go with me to the Sukhothai DLT.

I was hoping to avoid the experience I had last year when I purchased a used CBR150 at Korat. Took three trips to Chonburi DLT and three month wait for number plate. Grrr!

 

[johngooding]

Have no idea about Sukhothai office, but normally the easiest transaction for ownership is to go with the owner to the office where it is registered. As you say your name goes in the book and the plate stays the same. Some offices will do everything the same day, some like Chiang Mai, ask you to return the next afternoon to pick up the book. Thats just to give them time to make the entry in the book due to the large number of transactions they get every day. As long as your paperwork is in order, they should not be able to make it too difficult for you, but it would probably help to take a Thai with you who can complete the transfer form in Thai. In Chiang Mai office they only ask you to enter your name and sign, they do all the rest for you. If Sukhothai is difficult then maybe they want the form completed by you. Good luck with the transfer, do let us know how it goes

 

[Billy Baht]

Hi John! What you are telling me is what I've heard from several other folks. The owners says Sukhothai is a real pain but has has agreed to give it a try any way. I picked up my Residence Letter from Pattaya Immigration, so I feel I'm prepared. I think I can complete the forms too; I've kept copies of my previous "Power of Attorney" & "Vehicle Transfer" forms too

Last year I bought a used CBR150 registered in Korat, and while the staff there were helpful, it was my mistake since I forgot my Residence Letter in my rush to get up there.

Thanks for your feed back John; I will report back

 

[johngooding]

I am sure you will be fine. You will not need the power of attorney form if the owner goes with you. Only your residence letter, signed copies, in blue ink in case they think it is a copied signature, of your passport face page and valid visa stay page, and of course the owners signed copies of his paperwork, no residence letter should be needed for him.

 

[Billy Baht]

Yes, no Power of Attorney letter is required when the seller is present. I was thinking of Plan "B", registering in Chonburi

I agree with you John, it should be a straight forward transfer; however, the seller says that his personal experiences have been difficult. He told me the last vehicle he transfered there, the DLT staff called the police and his land lord to verify his address in Sukhothai. Perhaps he made some one angry? Or he did not have the Residence Letter and they were actually being helpful?

In any even, he is willing to go with me to the DLT office for the transfer. I WILL check the serial numbers and Green Book carefully. Thailand, never boring, Ha!

To be continued...

 

[cdrw]

Billy Baht...
This experience I had (below) may not be relevant to your bike transfer, but I suggest you transfer the bike's registration at the license bureau in Chonburi, which may prevent a future problem, should you later sell the bike. Unlike your past experience with Chonburi they no longer have a long wait due to lack of new Thai license plates.

https://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/showthread.php/32587-Changing-a-bike-s-license-plate-to-your-province?highlight=phuket+f650gs

 

[Billy Baht]

Thanks for that info. You have to love Thailand, government agencies not accepting each other's forms, 555!

The current owner does seem like a honest person and is not the least bit hesitant to go to the DLT with me, so that is a good indicator.

We should meet up for a beer some time

Billy

 

[Billy Baht]

John, you the man! Worked out fine, both of us had the proper documentation and Sukhothai DLT entered my name in the Greenbook in less than two hours, including time out for lunch break!

I think the sellers previous unhappy experience was because he did not have a Residence Certificate (Despite his address on his work permit.) Any way, the seller was a great guy, picked me up at the bus station, then after I test drove the bike, he took me to Garden Guesthouse, a really nice GH. I chose the 400 baht AC bungalo and was really happy with the room.

Looking through the Greenbook, they entered my name as the new owner, listed the seller as the previous owner and also noted on two seperate pages that the bike hasw been moved to Chonburi (My address) I still have the Sukhothai number plate so when I sell the bike, I'm wondering if and when I sell, can the new buyer and I go to Chonburi DLT and do a transfer there? Probably would involve new Chonburi number plates if the prospective buyer resided there.

Any way, I really like the new bike; yesterday I rode around Sukhothai and saw the temples- impressive! This morning I headed north for Chiang Mai on the 101 and 11, but only made it to Lampang becauwe of rain. Man was I soaked, ridding without rain gear...

Photo from the sellers ad on Bahtsold

 

[johngooding]

Good to hear all went well.
It seems to get easier to move registration between provinces. In the past you could either change ownership at the office in the province registered, or at the new owners provincial office. The second option involves 3 visits. The first one to take in the paperwork. The second one after a couple of days to take in the bike, get it checked, by now the office has transferred the provincial ownership to the new province. The third one to pick up a new plate. That whole process takes anything from less than one week, up to several months, partly dependant on availability of new plates.
When you sell, the easiest option for you is to complete your parts of the transfer form and the power of attorney form, supply signed copies of passport, visa etc and let the new guy decide where he wants to register, Sukhothai, or his province. Chiang Mai does not ask for proof of address from the seller, not sure if this is true in all provinces.

 

[Billy Baht]

The saga continues...

The Green Book is in my name. the previous two owners are delisted (as owners.)

However the receipt for transfer, 480 baht, has a red stamp saying that I must report to my new province, (Chonburi DLT, with in 15 days.

Hmmm, I was hoping to avoid the multi trips to Chonburi DLT.

Any one else have a similar experience? After my name was added to the Green Book, I thought it was a done deal...

 

[Billy Baht]

I've gone native in many areas, but I still "thiink too much..."

After thinking about the red stamp on my receipt -Must Report to New DLT in 15 Days- for adding my name to the Green Book, I duly presented myself at Chonburi DLT.It was pretty easy, they wanted copies of my passport, Green Book and an Immigration Residence Letter. Luckily Sukhothai accepted a color scanned copy of my original Residence Letter, so I didn't have to get another one. They checked the frame serial number, didn't bother with the engine number, and issued me a new Chonburi plate and tax sticker valid until March. Total cost was 125 baht and only one trip to Chonburi DLT.

When I bought the CBR150 at Korat, I made all the changes at Chonburi, total cost 415 baht, but a 4 month wait for the new tag. For the CBR250, I paid Sukhothai DLT 480 baht to add my name to the Green Book, then 125 baht at Chonburi for the new tag, issued immediately. Total cost of 605 baht

Why the 190 baht cost difference- beats me, TIT

 

[johngooding]

Part of the answer may be that putting your name in the book, so changing owne,r involves a transfer tax of 0.5% of the value they deem the bike to have, used to be that you could put the sale price on the transfer doc, but these days they look up some database and allocate a value. So as the sales price of your 150 and 250 cc transactions was probably different, that may explain the difference.
I have done transactions in provinces other than my own address province and it is a long time since I was asked to check in at my home province. I thought this was old hat before the provincial databases were all online. Maybe part of what was reffered tp as Sukhothai being difficult, or maybe a bit old fashioned.. When I bought my BMW in Chiang Mai and my address was Khon Kaen, they asked me what I wanted, plate from Bangkok or Chiang Mai, KK was not an option. So seems there are some lovable idiosyncrasies in the Thai system, but on the whole, it works and when one goes with the flow, it is generally pretty painless. Off to CM office tommorrow to transfer ownership to new buyer, plate stays CM. I expect to be there no more than 20 minutes.

 

[Billy Baht]

johngooding;292313 wrote: Part of the answer may be that putting your name in the book, so changing owne,r involves a transfer tax of 0.5% of the value they deem the bike to have, used to be that you could put the sale price on the transfer doc, but these days they look up some database and allocate a value. So as the sales price of your 150 and 250 cc transactions was probably different, that may explain the difference.
I have done transactions in provinces other than my own address province and it is a long time since I was asked to check in at my home province. I thought this was old hat before the provincial databases were all online. Maybe part of what was reffered tp as Sukhothai being difficult, or maybe a bit old fashioned.. When I bought my BMW in Chiang Mai and my address was Khon Kaen, they asked me what I wanted, plate from Bangkok or Chiang Mai, KK was not an option. So seems there are some lovable idiosyncrasies in the Thai system, but on the whole, it works and when one goes with the flow, it is generally pretty painless. Off to CM office tommorrow to transfer ownership to new buyer, plate stays CM. I expect to be there no more than 20 minutes.

Hi John, idiosyncrasies is so right, 555!. When I read the Green Book -not that I read Thai all that well- it said the bike was transfered from Sukhothai to Chonburi. But there was not an entry listing the bike in Chonburi. Now that I have a Chonburi plate, there is an entry stating the bike "resides" in Chonburi, so I'm good to go whe I sell her .

I n Pattaya I see number plates from all over Thailand and I doubt the cops would hassel me for an out of province bike as long as I had the correct papers. I was thinking more about the eventual sale and I wanted to have my papers in order. One hundred and twenty five baht was a small amount to pay for peace of mind

John, you have a lot of experience in registering bike; thanks for your input!