Red plate

[ken.p]

Hi guys,
Ok, a motoring question.
I wish to buy a new Vehicle, already own a car, which we intend keeping.
Can I have the white plate transferred over to the new vehicle, from our existing vehicle.
Hoping to do this to avoid having a red plate and a lengthy wait waiting for a white plate on the new vehicle.

Then register the old car again, happy to have a red plate on that for as long as need be.

Regards Ken.

[dtaai-maai]

Why do you want to avoid the wait for the white plate? How will that affect your use of the car?

[roundeyes]

You should not drive a red plate at night ... red plates are for new cars if paid for in cash the white plate comes fairly quick if financed stays red for some time

[Frank Hovis]

You should not drive a red plate at night ... red plates are for new cars

This just isn't correct.

Red plates are for when you don't have a permanent registration plate, for obvious reasons new cars normally have red plates until they get their proper permanent ones, but you'll also get red plates if you register a car from one province in another province and have to change plates.

You can drive on red plates at night, the dealer should give you a brown notebook for the red plates and you should fill in each journey at night in the notebook.

Changes to the way cars are registered were made back in 2010 which is supposed to mean that for standard registrations (not auctioned plates) you should get the white plates within one month - I'm not sure if that is the case but that was the LTO plan.

There are a number of threads here discussing red plates

[Spitfire]

If you buy a new car, then getting the real plate (black writing on a white background for a private vehicle), should be requested as soon as possible as you are a magnet for the BIB otherwise, as the driving around of a red plate just after you've bought it has some ridiculous requirements that are flexible at the discretion of the traffic cops.......like the photocopy of the owner's piece of paper if you are making payments etc, amongst other wild ideas......like how desperate they are to fund the extra stuff they need.

Ambiguity rules until you get the real plate regardless of whether you follow their "Mickey Mouse" rules.

Having a red plate is a headache.....full stop/period.

[usual suspect]

OK..so howcome there's heaps of new pick-ups & mini-vans scooting around town with NO plates attached..???
Are they Police vehicles?..or just some local Mafia-types that think they are above the law..?? RE: Big & clever...(mmm? - that covers about 75% of drivers tho'!)

[Big Boy]

OK..so howcome there's heaps of new pick-ups & mini-vans scooting around town with NO plates attached..???

I noticed that. A neighbour had his new truck for 3 days before he received his red plates. He doesn't talk English, so I couldn't ask why.

[VincentD]

Red plates are dealership plates. It allows the dealership to transport vehicles temporarily (i.e. from port to dealer, main dealer to branch - you get the idea.) The department of transportation only issue a certain number of these plates to each dealer, so said dealer can really only have as many cars being moved around as he has sets of plates.

Now...

The customer is actually not supposed to be driving around using these plates. the BiB know this, so you can get caught at any time if running around on them. I will, however, assume that a 'handout' is given to the local Bib to turn a blind eye to this practice.

Note that sometimes the number of sets of red plates is not enough if a large shipment comes in for delivery and the dealer wants to get them off his lot. The dealer either..

1) gets extra plates made (read illegal copy) of their registration and sticks them on the delivered cars , hoping the BiB won't notice. Note that original plates have a raised embossed section somewhere near the bottom left - the copies won't have this. Or..

2) tells you it's okay to drive around without any plates for a couple of days.

Either way you're liable if you get caught whether or not you have insurance. Have some spare change at hand if you want the convenience of your new and as-yet unregistered vehicle. (It's not registered until you have white - or whatever other relevant colour - on your car.)

---------------------------

You should not drive a red plate at night ... red plates are for new cars

This just isn't correct.

As far as I know it is still 6am to 6 pm.

Red plates are for when you don't have a permanent registration plate, for obvious reasons new cars normally have red plates until they get their proper permanent ones, but you'll also get red plates if you register a car from one province in another province and have to change plates.

Perhaps, if you go through a car dealership, who actually have red plates. Otherwise, not that I am aware of. A friend who recently changed provinces, drove around with the original plates until the new ones were ready. No red plates involved.

You can drive on red plates at night, the dealer should give you a brown notebook for the red plates and you should fill in each journey at night in the notebook.

I think you're being fed pork pies(lies). It sounds like the dealership log book being handed over to you so you're liable. First I'm hearing of it.

Changes to the way cars are registered were made back in 2010 which is supposed to mean that for standard registrations (not auctioned plates) you should get the white plates within one month - I'm not sure if that is the case but that was the LTO plan.

Perhaps, as most departments have gone computerised, so processes are much faster. Note that this still deals with registration - i.e. issue of white plate - and has nothing whatsoever to do with permissions to drive around on a red plate.

[H2ODunc]

I bought a Toyota Yaris for the Missus. It came with red plates. We drove it all over Thailand both during the day and night and never had a single problem at any police check point. We had the plates for over six months till the white plates came. The red plates are temporary plates issued to the dealers and the cars and trucks you see driving around without are because the dealers have ran out of the red ones. When I bought my Triumph from BKK it came with nothing. I again rode all over Thailand and never had a problem. When asked I simply showed the receipt. There is a lot of nonsense about the red plates but don't worry.
Saying that the only place I have ever been hassled for cash and it was on a fully legit bike was HH so who knows

[chaspul]

Read in BK post the other day that they had run out of number plates and had placed an order for x amount of thousands without going out to tender. It also stated that the letters/numbers would be smaller to allow for future pans to add an extra digit.
May be this is the reason for seeing cars without number plates?

[H2ODunc]

In typical Thai fashion there is only one place that is allowed to produce the plates. Evidently there has been a defect in the last batch and has resulted in the lettering falling off hence the delay in new plates. I am also told that the dealers sometimes hold onto the cash before registering the car so you wait for the plates longer than you should.

[Terry]

The Red Plate issue is nothing new

It's been a great little earner for the BIB for years.

I can recall back in 1992 when on behalf of my UK employer we purchased some 20 Suzuki Caribbean 'Jeeps', 2 Isuzu flatbed trucks, about half a dozen pick-ups, the same number of saloons and a Mitsubishi Pajero.

All for the project that I ran, working for the State Railway of Thailand (SRT).

All came with radio telephones (Ericsson) and shiny new red plates.

I think most of us picked up 'fines' mainly for driving at night and particularly when entering the stage one expressway tolls at Din Daeng. The BIB would wait and pounce just after the toll booths.

We soon learned that by placing our SRT 'Passes' clearly in view on the windscreens, the BIB backed off.

Seems things haven't changed much.

[johnnymac]

I'm not sure if the red plates have got anything to do with whether you can drive at night or not.

Early afternoon, we got stopped in Isaan, near Korat, on a long journey to HH and were told you need to fill in the book for every journey otherwise it's a 400 baht fine. He let us off with just a warning!

Mid morning, we also got stopped on the HH bypass and were told the same thing, but had to pay 200 baht "tea money" that time.

Needless to say I was quite relieved to get the white plates and not have to deal with that one again!