Thai Govt's First-Car Tax Rebate Scheme Causing Traffic Jams

[osiboy]

You say scheme; I say scam.

for sure,.watch petrol go up in price in the next few months!

[NCFC]

I heard you get the 100k realized up front, but if you sell prior to the five year period, you have to pay the 100k back. I really want to see how this one will work. Probably split the cost with the new buyer?

Typical of the Thai government. Do first, think later.

No you do not get 100K up front, you purchase a vehicle (1.5 lt & under) then you lodge all your documentation with the tax officer prior to the 31st Dec 2012. It can then take up to 12 months to get your 100K refund. My wife's niece and nephew both took advantage of scheme and then my wife considered it but she decided against the idea as she was afraid that if it takes 12 months for the refund the government may not still be in power or the government may run out of money. The scheme is only for 1st time car owners also but many people are buying the names of sons, daughters and cousins etc. For a lot of people it is impulse buying and you may find the 2nd hand car market flooded in 12 months when the finance companies and banks come knocking at the doors of those who failed to make repayments.

And BTW it is 'up to 100k'.

A friend spent 8 hours queuing up on Thursday only to discover her new 2.5ltr pickup attracts a rebate of 13k in twelve months time.

[MESmith]

I heard you get the 100k realized up front, but if you sell prior to the five year period, you have to pay the 100k back. I really want to see how this one will work. Probably split the cost with the new buyer?

Typical of the Thai government. Do first, think later.

No you do not get 100K up front, you purchase a vehicle (1.5 lt & under) then you lodge all your documentation with the tax officer prior to the 31st Dec 2012. It can then take up to 12 months to get your 100K refund. My wife's niece and nephew both took advantage of scheme and then my wife considered it but she decided against the idea as she was afraid that if it takes 12 months for the refund the government may not still be in power or the government may run out of money. The scheme is only for 1st time car owners also but many people are buying the names of sons, daughters and cousins etc. For a lot of people it is impulse buying and you may find the 2nd hand car market flooded in 12 months when the finance companies and banks come knocking at the doors of those who failed to make repayments.

And BTW it is 'up to 100k'.

A friend spent 8 hours queuing up on Thursday only to discover her new 2.5ltr pickup attracts a rebate of 13k in twelve months time.

Presumably a 2 door pickup. Surely everyone knows the tax on those is very low.

[thaicbr]

I heard you get the 100k realized up front, but if you sell prior to the five year period, you have to pay the 100k back. I really want to see how this one will work. Probably split the cost with the new buyer?

Typical of the Thai government. Do first, think later.

No you do not get 100K up front, you purchase a vehicle (1.5 lt & under) then you lodge all your documentation with the tax officer prior to the 31st Dec 2012. It can then take up to 12 months to get your 100K refund. My wife's niece and nephew both took advantage of scheme and then my wife considered it but she decided against the idea as she was afraid that if it takes 12 months for the refund the government may not still be in power or the government may run out of money. The scheme is only for 1st time car owners also but many people are buying the names of sons, daughters and cousins etc. For a lot of people it is impulse buying and you may find the 2nd hand car market flooded in 12 months when the finance companies and banks come knocking at the doors of those who failed to make repayments.

And BTW it is 'up to 100k'.

A friend spent 8 hours queuing up on Thursday only to discover her new 2.5ltr pickup attracts a rebate of 13k in twelve months time.

Did they still do the paperwork???

Sent from my i-mobile i-STYLE Q6 using Thaivisa Connect App

[kimamey]

I heard you get the 100k realized up front, but if you sell prior to the five year period, you have to pay the 100k back. I really want to see how this one will work. Probably split the cost with the new buyer?

Typical of the Thai government. Do first, think later.

No you do not get 100K up front, you purchase a vehicle (1.5 lt & under) then you lodge all your documentation with the tax officer prior to the 31st Dec 2012. It can then take up to 12 months to get your 100K refund. My wife's niece and nephew both took advantage of scheme and then my wife considered it but she decided against the idea as she was afraid that if it takes 12 months for the refund the government may not still be in power or the government may run out of money. The scheme is only for 1st time car owners also but many people are buying the names of sons, daughters and cousins etc. For a lot of people it is impulse buying and you may find the 2nd hand car market flooded in 12 months when the finance companies and banks come knocking at the doors of those who failed to make repayments.

I agree with most of what you say but I think it's unlikely, but not impossible that the government will renage on the deal. In the unlikely event of a change of goverment before the one year wait to get the refund I can't see the incoming administration upsetting the voters straight away. I suppose it's possible the current government, if money was tight might try to wriggle out of it and blame someone else but it would be a big risk.

I also wonder what will happen to new car sales when this incentive stops. If there's a large number of nearly new 2nd hand cars coming on the market as you suggest then that could move buyers away from new cars as well.

The UK government had a scheme to promote new car sales a couple of years back. That involved a government subsidy of about the same amount but to qualify you had to give up a car over 10 years old which had to be scrapped. Seems a bit better thought out to me. New fuel efficient cars on the road and equal non fuel efficient ones off it.

[doctorproc156]

Public transport in Thailand is beyond abysmal.

If that is what you think then I very much doubt that you use it.

Yes plenty of new cars about with red plates, I have time to see them when I sit on the bus.

I've used the public transport in Bangkok quite extensively. There's no single pass (ticket) connecting the different modes of transport, buses are almost never on schedule (on certain routes such as the number 2 bus they are, I will give them that). ARL's frequency and station alignment is bad. BTS and MRT, although they are efficient, have a very limited range and do not extend to the suburbs at all, they should have extended the BTS and MRT lines over a decade ago. I lived in Bangna and there are a lot of roads (including major roads such as Thanon La Salle, Thanon Sanphawut, Thanon King Kaew) that I have to depend on taxi or motocy to get to once I get off the public transport (nothing to do with traffic, just not enough routes). A lot of the buses are old and the buses should all be 2-way and should say the destination next to it's number. Google transit is okay, but there is a lot of room for improvement. Bangkok has developed tremendously in real-estate as well as economically, but the public transport is far from par with other cities of such caliber.

Edited December 18, 2012 by anantha92