Motorcycle import permit Thailand
 

I am starting to plan for a tour to Thailand for 2 to 3 months.

I am a Malaysian and have a Malaysian registered motorcycle.
Plan to enter Thailand and go from South Thailand to North Thailand.
I did Northern Thailand in 2022 on a rented bike and had a blast.

I found out that entering Thailand from the land border, you only get a 30 days import permit for the vehicle. Is there a possibility to get at least 60 to 90 days or longer?

As Malaysian is part of ASEAN, I don't need a visa to enter Thailand but it is also for 30 days only.

I plan to do Thailand in 2 sections. Somewhere between 30 to 45 days mark, leave the bike in Thailand and then either fly/take the train to Penang, Malaysia and then fly back to Kota Kinabalu. Then go back to Thailand after a few weeks to pick up the bike and complete the tour.

How can I get a longer vehicle import permit in Thailand? And can I also get a longer entry stamp for myself?

I also have to figure out where to store the bike for a few weeks if I decide to pause the tour for a few weeks.

Thanks
:scooter:

I am not sure about the bike mate

But you can apply for a tourist visa from the Royal Thai Embassy in Kualalumpar and you can get 60 days I believe. Once in country you can extend this for 30 days just before it runs out. The price was 1900 baht when i last did it, which was a few years ago.
https://kualalumpur.thaiembassy.org/en/index

The embassy may also be able to give you info on the bike

Ref the bike, You could possibly leave it here for a few weeks.

Cheers

Wayne

Morning mate.

I have left a PM at the official FB page of Royal Thai Embassy at Kuala Lumpur as it's the public holidays here for Chinese New Year.

Appreciate the offer of leaving my bike at your place for a few weeks.
I did look at your place but my plan is to go all the way to Mae Sai again (most Northern part of Thailand) and ideally leave the bike somewhere nearer to Chiang Mai as that would be about 50% of the tour.
Then come back and pick up the bike to complete the balance by riding East to Nan again and slowly go back to Malaysia.

Anyway, have to wait for the reply from the Thai Embassy.

:scooter:

Mae Sai is nice, I was right up there in 2014

No worries, the offer is there if you need it mate

Wayne

Wayne,

Appreciate the offer again!

Thanks.

I recently went through all this with an Australian registered bike. As far as first entry goes I believe an agent is necessary to obtain the requisite Temporary import Permit from Bangkok which usually has a 5 day turnaround time. Although the agent I used did it in 2 hours and required payment only after I had successfully entered Thailand.


Renewal after the first 30 days does not require an agent ( and $250 fee despite what my otherwise helpful agent claimed). As my 30 day visa on arrival visa expired I renewed at the Chiang Mai immigration office as per normal with a legislated fee of THB 900 (I think, but my memory hazy). With that 30 day extension for myself in hand I rode the bike to Chiang Rai customs just this side of the Friendship Bridge Border Crossing and personally requested a 30 day extension of the bike TIP to match my visa extension.


The additional 30 day TIP was processed and given to me for free within about 30 minutes. Easy Peasy.


And he Customs staff also helpfully explained the reality behind some agent bullshit people seem to believe (as I did). Vehicle TIP’s are always only granted for 30 days maximum, less if your visa has less than 30 days left. So if you only had 14 days on your visa they’d only give you 14 days TIP extension for your vehicle.

But, the exciting good news was that there is legally no limit to the number of times you may request both a TIP or a subsequent extension to your TIP. Commonly agents say your vehicle may enter Thailand only twice per calendar year. Or they say only one entry and one extension because law limits foreign vehicles to 60 days per calendar year.


The Chiang Rai officials explained to me that they work to enforce the legislation and that legislation has no limit on either number of TIP’s or TIP extensions BUT each is limited always to a maximum of 30 days.


I’m not sure what would happen if you got a 60 day tourist visa from the Thai embassy in your country and then tried to obtain TIP. I suspect it would still be 30 days but you would extend it at Customs office halfway through your two month visa.

Thanks for the info.

Much appreciated.

Update:
No FB PM reply from Thai embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

I sent an email instead to the Kuala Lumpur Thai Embassy.

:scooter:

That’s not very good, let’s hope you get a reply from the email

Wayne

If I don't get a reply from the Thai Embassy at Kuala Lumpur I will try to call the embassy and see if I can make some headway.

I still have an alternative plan of crossing into the Indonesian border at Kuching, Sarawak to Pontianak, West Kalimantan and rent a bike to go all the way to East Kalimantan.
ha....ha......

Have not received any reply from the Thai embassy at Kuala Lumpur despite 2 emails.
I have also tried calling the KL embassy but no one answers the phones.

I emailed the Thai consulate at Penang just now and got a reply in 5 minutes!
Have emailed back asking for more information.

Hopefully the Thai consulate at Penang will respond back promptly.

That’s not very good and does not bode well for tourism in Thailand which they are so keen to promote

Wayne

Spot on mate!
So annoying that the KL embassy does not reply emails nor answer phone calls.

I have made traction with the Penang consulate though.
Someone replied to my email and informed that I can apply for a 60 day visa and if i wish to stay longer at Thailand I can request for extension at any local immigration office.
I have replied and asked how long does it take to issue the visa.

As to the Malaysian registered motorcycle entry into Thailand, that person told me to check with the KL embassy for accurate information.
I then asked if there is any other Thai government department I can email for clarification since the KL Thai embassy doesn't reply emails.

Another way to solve all my issues with this trip is to limit my tour to 30 days only. Which means I have 15 days to go North and then another 15 days to loop back South to return to Malaysia and cross the border.

:mchappy:

What about doing what SeniGreg did, he renewed his veh paperwork at Chiang Rai Customs, reply #6

Mate,

I was thinking of that too as per your last post.
I decided to send an email to the Thai customs at Bangkok asking for guidance on this matter. It would ease my mind if I had official correspondence from the Thai authorities.

And the Thai consulate at Penang informed me that the 60 days visa takes 3 working days. I emailed them back asking if there was any difference in terms of processing time if I did the visa at the Thai embassy at KL or Thai consulate at Penang.

I already have the cost to ship my bike via RORO from Kota Kinabalu to Port Klang and the cost in going to increase from March onwards. :thumbdown:

I have also contacted the insurer for my bike and I am able to get comprehensive insurance while the bike is at Thailand and the extra premium doesn't seem too expensive at this point.

jeiger:funmeteryes:

Things seem to be coming together slowly but surely

Wayne

Ok. I think I worked this out for you since I have some similar needs to leave the bike in one country while I exit to deal with some business in another.

You need a freight forwarder prepared to store the bike in their Bond Store (like a big duty free warehouse for companies importing/exporting non-dutiable goods and 99 % of the ****-arounds we face with bikes stem from them being dutiable imports).

You need a written storage agreement from the freight forwarder the commences before the end of your Temporary Import Permit (TIP).

You also need a hotel booking for the date you want to return to get your bike and continue your trip, proof of funds (income is what they look for, not savings) with very current date, a written and realistic 30 day max post-pick-up itinerary that ends with you exiting Thailand to Malaysia at Bukit Kayu Hitam. You can get this extended for freee for another 30 days later.


You then take your all that, but especially the storage agreement to your nearest Thai Customs Office and ask them for something like:

1. A 30 day TIP extension specifying the bike in storage and an itinerary that shows it in storage for less than 30 days and the written reason "Family Emergency in Malaysia". You could conceivably try your luck for longer than 30 days but I doubt it would fly.

ANY CUSTOMS BROKER/FREIGHT FORWARDER WORTH HIS SALT SHOULD BE ABLE TO MANAGE GETTING YOUR BIKE INTO HIS BOND STORE AND KNOW THE RIGHT GUY AT CUSTOMS TO GET FOR FORM SIGNED.

Return, collect your bike, immediately proceed to different customs office and ask for new 30 day extension with new itinerary specifying "Further Tourism". If you apply for 2 MONTH TOURISM VISA (Not Visa on Arrival typically used by Malaysians) you'll find it''s extendable by several months with a Thai sponsor.

CAVEAT: This is a plan pieced together by my past, current, and future problems in Thailand and Malaysia - it has not been tested in full. But change your Malaysian citizenship to my Australian and touring country with temporary exit needed from Thailand to Malaysia and I am in the middle of organising this procedure for myself.

It's likely gonna cost a few Ringgit for me and plenty of Baht for you.

Also, nobody calls an embassy for consular matters. You turn up an take a number and queue or you trust your agent to sort it out during lunch at at KTV after work with his mate working there.

Hi
I have mor or less the same problem for leave in Thailand my own bike plate france for same month, for return after to restart the trip...
First, if can I have same agent's address for importation permit...
After, if someone know a way to leave the bike there ( or in Laos or in Cambodja if more simple), after a TIP... the pecuniary ' s fine could be very expensive?
Could have a "tecnical" way ( need of spare to refix the bike) or health ( urgent need to came back to france) ?
Or same "fixer"?!?
Thanks

One thing more: in thai, on the passport will be some notice that I have imported a bike? I said, for the evenience of go back by plane, leaving the bike there..
Thanks again

Hi, what was the agent that you used to enter Thailand?

Are you riding into Thailand from Malaysia?

Many have entered Thailand from Malaysia land borders without using an agent.