Temporary import statistics of foreign vehicles in Thailand (January 2023 plus the cumulative total since 2016)

Temporary import statistics of foreign vehicles in Thailand 

     Currently, a number of foreign tourists wanting to travel in Thailand request permission to bring their foreign cars into the country. The Department of Land Transport has collected statistics on authorized cars entering the Kingdom (January 2023), which found that a total of 54 cars and 56 drivers had been permitted.

     1. The number of authorized vehicles classified by office:

- Chiang Rai Transport Office: 45 cars;
- Chiang Mai Transport Office: 7 cars;
- Bangkok Transport Office (Area 5): 2 cars.

     2. Types of authorized vehicles:

          - Motorcycles: 14 (25.93%);
          - Passenger cars: 40 (74.07%).

     3. Countries where the vehicles were registered:

          - China: 37 (68.52%);
          - Vietnam: 15 (27.78%);
          - Canada: 2 (3.70%).

     4. The number of authorized vehicles entering and leaving the country classified by customs checkpoints: 
          Entering checkpoints:
               - Chiang Khong: 35 cars;
               - Nong Khai: 11 cars;
               - Tha Li: 4 cars;
               - Aranyaprathet: 2 cars;
               - Ladkrabang: 2 cars.

          Exiting checkpoints:
               - Chiang Khong: 38 cars;
               - Aranyaprathet: 15 cars;
               - Tung Chang: 1 car.

     Upon consideration of the types of vehicles that had been authorized to enter and exit the customs checkpoints, it was found that motorcycles had shown the highest number of entries at the Chiang Khong checkpoint and exits at the Aranyaprathet checkpoint. The vehicles with the highest number of entries and exits at the Chiang Khong customs checkpoint had been passenger cars. 

The number of authorized vehicles classified by tour operators who had applied for permits were as follows:

     - Thai Huan Yu International National Travel Service, Ltd., had 1 motorcycle and 16 cars, totalling 17 vehicles (31.48%);

     - C&C Travel had 13 motorcycles and 2 cars;

     - Zhen Wei Tour Co., Ltd., had 13 cars;

     - Thai Scenery Tour had 7 cars;

     - Khiri Travel Co., Ltd., had 2 cars. 

     The number of authorized vehicles reported entering the country during January 2023 came to a total of 38 vehicles (70.37%), and during February 2023, the total was 16 vehicles (29.63%).

     Furthermore, based on the statistics of temporarily imported vehicles into Thailand from the accumulated data between 27 June 2016 and 31 January 2023, the figures indicate that there were 5,349 authorized vehicles and 5,593 drivers. The following numbers of authorized vehicles are categorized by office:

     - The Chiang Rai Transport Office had the highest number of authorized vehicles, with 2,483 vehicles (46.42%);
     - Bangkok Transport Office Area 5 had 1,639 vehicles;
     - The Chiang Mai Transport Office had 1,126 vehicles;
     - The Sa Kaeo Transport Office had 61 vehicles;
     - The Ubon Ratchathani Transport Office had 31 vehicles.;
     - The Loei Transport Office had 9 vehicles.

     In February 2018, the highest number of licensed vehicles was 643. When considering the types of vehicles, it was found that passenger cars had received the highest number of licenses, accounting for 71.94%, followed by motorcycles at 25.07%, trucks at 2.84%, and, finally, mobile homes at 0.15%.

     Furthermore, it was discovered that the highest number of licensed vehicles were registered in the People's Republic of China, with a total of 3,365 vehicles (62.91%). The second highest was vehicles registered in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, with 922 vehicles (17.24%), and finally, there were those vehicles that were registered in the Republic of India, with 210 vehicles (3.93%).  

Source: Department of Land Transport, 1032 Phaholyothin Road, Chomphon Sub-District, Chatuchak District, Bangkok 10900,

Tel. +66 2271 8888.