Temporarily exporting and importing Thai vehicles by land

     Travelers or tourists in a personal vehicle that is registered in Thailand and who are traveling outside the Kingdom by going through land border checkpoints may perform customs clearance by preparing a simplified customs declaration form to temporarily take the vehicle out of the Kingdom at the Customs office at the land border checkpoint, and they must bring that vehicle back within the specified period (except cars and motorcycles taken out for competition, which must undergo customs clearance by submitting the export declaration and the re-import form as normal).

Required documents along with the simplified customs declaration form

      1. For cars or motorcycles, the registration manual issued by the Department of Land Transport; in case the passenger does not own the car, a power of attorney from the owner must be presented;

     2. The passport or border pass of the person who wishes to take the vehicle out of the Kingdom, which has already been stamped by immigration officers.

Customs clearance procedures

      1. The driver takes the vehicle and the documents to the Customs officer at the land border checkpoint for the officer to inspect;
 2. The custom officer checks the vehicle and the passengers' baggage. When inspection is completed, the officer will record and issue a simplified customs declaration form and give it to the driver to keep as evidence; 

      3. The passenger must re-import the vehicle within the specified period. When the passenger returns to the land border checkpoint (whether or not it is at the same border point where the vehicle was taken out), the vehicle, together with the simplified customs declaration form given by the customs officer, must be presented to the customs officer for inspection;

       4. When the customs officer has inspected the evidence, if it is found that the re-imported vehicle matches the details in the simplified customs declaration form and does not exceed the specified period, the officer will allow the vehicle to pass through the border to return to the Kingdom, but if it is found that the passenger fails to re-import the vehicle within the time-limit, the customs officer will impose a fine of 1,000 baht per bill or take legal action if it is found that the re-imported vehicle is not in accordance with the information on the simplified customs declaration form. 

Remark: The time-limit depends on international agreements to determine which countries’ passport holders will be allowed to stay in which countries for how long.

Information as of 20 March 2020

Source: Aranyaprathet Customs House

Tel. +66 3723 0313