I heard & read in news clippings about impounded cars being solf off at auction in Bangkok.Does anyone have any information?Seems you can pick up some bargains. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

If you are talking about the vehicles auctioned off by the Customs Department I would suggest you forget it.

The whole thing is controlled by a group of Thai buyers who do not like outsiders trying to bid; Thai friends of mine have been threatened with knives at these auctions to make them stop bidding for the most attractive cars.

Patrick

I think the customs boys and the buyers are all in this scam together. Stay away I say.

I would agree 100% with your comments,

As some of you will know i exported my car from England to Thailand and it all went pear shaped.

If you bring a nice car in then customs will up and up the price until you walk away, they are then left to get the said car for personal friends at a very low price.

After 3 price increases i was forced to walk away, my opinion of Thai customs officials i am afraid i could not put into words.

As many of you know Thailand signed up to the GATT agreement which imposes fair and transparent valuations on all imported goods, the problem is although the Thais singed this agreement it as usual does not mean they have to follow the regulations.

Mike.

Here is the link, with all the car details

http://www.biddingonandoffline.com/custom/

I find it very strange that this link is not posted in the customs website.

some really nice vehicles listed on the site......at very low prices too.

the whole thing looks benter than a dog hind leg
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/whistling.gif)

Mike, are you saying that once the car is in Thailand the customs guys play dirty so that the import tax is increased to a large figure?

If this is the case, can the car be loaded back on the boat and shipped back home?

Or do they confiscate it??

Yep Thats what i am saying, the GATT agreement means nothing to customs in reality.

You can re export your car in the alloted time that your import license is current.

But as many know it is a lot more expensive the other way.

Also when i went and saw my car for the first time customs had not only pulled it apart and damaged it they also seemed to take a shine to the sterio unit, or it grew legs and decided to explore Thailand?????

As i explained before, they decided to value mine as a 1996-7 type Supra and said the new value was 2.5million bht, when i questioned this value i then realised what they had done. I explained to them that mine was a non turbo 3.0i and dated 1990.

Customs told me to get proof on the internet of the new value of the actual car i imported, after several hours trawling the internet i found a site that gave the price new in US Dollars which is what they also asked for.

Guess what was their response, if we accept this valuation then we only give you 30% discount instead of the 70%. Welcome to Thailand.

Mike.

This post has been edited by tuktukmike: 2005-11-04 08:31:45

How sweet

Are you the same guy who opened a thread about 9 months ago about importing his old POS (2.000 EUR value) of a car and force it to custom and see what happened ? if it's you, yeah, we never heard back from you. And despite everyone telling you it was "suicidal", what were you hoping ? did you lose the car ?

Thailand, the HUB of Scams (that one they can clearly claimed it's true)

It's a pity you never recorded the conversation.Could have been worth a lot of money.Why don't you get you wife to call the corruption hotline.Mine has done it for a govt official that was trying to extract some money and it worked wonderfully. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Mike,

Very sorry to hear that you have lost your car.
Presumably it will be up for auction soon.

It would be interesting if you would post again and let us all know how the reserve price compares with the duty they were asking.

Hi Chuchok,

Getting my wife to call the hotline would do no good as she is as English as i am.

Butterfly,

I posted more than a year ago and maybe you are right???

But understand i had dealt with the Department of Foreign Trade in BKK and after showing all the documents i was given a price on agreement i could not sell or allow anyone but myself to drive for 3 years,

Was i stupid in trying, maybe. But i had all the right assurances from shipping company to DFT but if you bring in a car customs take a shine to then look out.

And to the normal punter on this site it may be hard to understand what this car meant to me.

2 years rebuilding body and engine to bring it back to its original condition, only someone who has restored cars would understand how attached you can get.

As for the car, have i hel_l given up. I will get it back even if i have to go to the auctions and face the scum there to get it.

Mike.

This post has been edited by tuktukmike: 2005-11-04 12:17:08

I will try to look for that thread. Yeah I understand you are pissed about all this. I would. But why would take such a chance if that car was so "special" for you. You didn't believe they would let you go back with the car without paying the fees first, right ? custom officials in this country are the most corrupt of all. What did you expected ? There was another guy not long ago, bragging about his 911 and willing to take the risk to bring it here just so he could show off in the streets of Bangkok. Some people just have too much money to blow or not enough "problems" in their life to let themselves be setup like this.

Just in case anyone was wondering why Butterfly's former career as a Sociologist and Clinical Psychotherapist was so brief.

I understand it's painful tuktukmike but if you want to read the predictions made in your original thread, you will see that they are dead accurate. Don't mind the jokes, you didn't keep us informed as you promised so we had to use our imagination. Despite all the jokes those disaster scenarios turned out to be all true.

Here it is to refresh your memory : http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...st=75&p=535000&

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Tuktukmike; so when are you going to import your wifes Ford Scorpio as planned? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

(sorry)

Cheers!

Oh well at least you all brought a smile to my face.

Scorps still in the UK, I am living out here full time so what was i supposed to do with the car, sell it. That would have been just as bad.

The reason i have not continued with the last post was partly due to the time i have to spend getting tuk-tuks tested in the uk, this is my first spell in ages where i can put my feet up, but not for long.

As i said i will get the car yet and for the price i want but i have been told to be patient and just hang in there.

As for the Scorp, who knows. There is a way but it would have to come in as car spares.

Anyone out there with a very very large Hacksaw???? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Mike.

any good web sites to look for used cars and does anyone have any experience with car brokers their? also, what if you brought a car into cambodia and licensed it their, and brought it into to thailand but kept the cambodian registration. i have a friend looking into bringing cars in as they are willing to work with him their. I am looking at buying a car as i have a place in phuket and will be moving over in 6 months so a car is a must in wanting to travel not just in thailand but also going outside of thailand as well. thanks as i appreciate the feedback.

Guess someone has read this post cause the auctionsite seems to be out of order now.

Tuktuk,
Is your car listed on the site?Asking price is that like starting price?
Supras seem to start at 490,000.
What sis they up your duty to?

Hi Rooo

No mine is still not listed on the site.

I have a shipping agent at Laem Chabang keeping an eye on the car and also checking with customs so i will know when it goes to auction.

This is the only way i can get my car back now as i will only have to pay less than half what customs wanted from me, but i will be bidding against the very people who took a shine to it in the first place.

I have very good contacts (Thai) who will do the bidding for me and they have assured me we will not have problems with intimidation from the local buyers.

As i said before it is all a real scam when you import your car as the import price changes on a daily basis, the lowest price i got after hours and weeks of negotiations was 648,000 plus tea money?????

I was advised by a good friend in the customs department to withdraw my interest and inform them that i no longer had any interest in the car, this i did by letting the import license expire and informing them of this fact.

Now its just a matter of wait for the car to go to auction, but i am sure someone there will be really pissed when i turn up to bid, they rely on all of us walking away so they can get the said car at a knock down price.

And before anyone tells me i must be mad to go and try and get my car back read previous posts and maybe some of you will understand my determination, win or lose i wont give up until the fat lady sings.

La Laaaaaaaaaaaaa lalalalala. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/whistling.gif)

Good on you tuk. I hope it all works out mate.

Having just followed through both the other thread.. And now this one..

What happened ??

Last comment was over a year ago..

Hope you finally got it !!