Scandal brewing as 100 of Thailand's new NGV buses are held by customs

[underjoh]

On 07/12/2016 at 2:24 PM, yellowboat said:

Yes there must be a manufactures part number and they must be cataloged somewhere.  Sure there were factory inspection reports and other proof of origin.  Just shows how hard it can be to do business in Thailand even when you follow the rules.  Hope Mr. Khanit has actually bought the buses in Malaysia. 

you have to show that at least 60.% of the work was done in ASEAN to qualify for the tax exemption. It may be different for buses but that's what we had to do. Customs are doing there job.

[tompelli]

On 12/8/2016 at 6:30 AM, NanLaew said:

 

The stated 40% local (Malaysian) content of these Chinese-manufactured but (allegedly) Malaysian-assembled buses is yet to be defined as qualifying as ASEAN-built. I would assume this is defined in the revised TOR for the original bid. Bestrin (the same company that has previously imported thousands of buses from China for the private sector so not new in this business) has publicly vowed to pay import duty if its Malaysian supplier is found to have placed false documentation to claim a tax exemption. I did read somewhere yesterday that the importing agent allegedly have no previous experience in importation of buses of any sort.

The "false documentation" would only benefit Bestrin on reduced duties, not the Malaysian company who are probably importing/exporting on suspended duty conditions.

[CantSpell]

100 Chinese buses from Malaysia, 300 or 400 more to be delivered... 1.2 mils a pop in potential taxes....

 

What could go wrong :) :)

 

Waiting for the next news that the son of XXX is actually main share holder of a company 

[George Graham]

On 08/12/2016 at 8:55 AM, JAG said:

"I'll ave you Butler..."

That ugly woman with the big glasses was supposed to be very beautiful in "real life" ...she wasn't.

[Rob13]

On 12/7/2016 at 1:12 PM, trogers said:

Why would the ship that originated in China not stop and unload in Thailand before sailing on to Malaysia?

 

Maybe because it passes Malaysia en route to Thailand?

[trogers]

3 hours ago, Rob13 said:

 

Maybe because it passes Malaysia en route to Thailand?

 

I see. The sailing route is China to Malaysia and then to Thailand...

 

Hmmm...perhaps I can drive from Hong Kong to Malaysia and then onwards to Vietnam?

[Credo]

It's very easy to find out if they were made in China.   Just let a couple of them out of customs, drive them around for several days and if they don't fall apart, it wasn't made in China.   

[Damrongsak]

On 12/7/2016 at 10:14 AM, billd766 said:

 

But you CAN use the term "assembled in Malaysia with parts from various countries".

My son has a t-shirt that says "assembled in the USA from foreign and domestic components".  It gets some laughs.

[Rob13]

14 hours ago, trogers said:

 

I see. The sailing route is China to Malaysia and then to Thailand...

 

Hmmm...perhaps I can drive from Hong Kong to Malaysia and then onwards to Vietnam?

 

 

You travelling somewhere in your car's a bit different from  shipping logistics. Not hard to imagine a ship leaving China, making a stop to load and unload cargo in KL and a few other places before  arriving  in BKK. 

[trogers]

23 minutes ago, Rob13 said:

 

 

You travelling somewhere in your car's a bit different from  shipping logistics. Not hard to imagine a ship leaving China, making a stop to load and unload cargo in KL and a few other places before  arriving  in BKK. 

 

That would be a chartered ship making unscheduled stops, not one of common freight.

 

The question then would be, how long would the ship has to stop in Malaysia to wait for the assembly of 100 buses, before loading them on board again for the trip to Thailand?

 

Would this be common practice in shipping logistics, to send knock down parts from China to Malaysia, and the ship berth and wait a few months for assembly work to complete,  and then load the buses back on to the ship for their trip to Thailand?

 

That's what originating from China via Malaysia means.

[Rob13]

26 minutes ago, trogers said:

The question then would be, how long would the ship has to stop in Malaysia to wait for the assembly of 100 buses, before loading them on board again for the trip to Thailand?

 

 

Too many possibilities, Chinese buses 'assembled' in Malaysia is one, just as easy to think the  customs guys didn't get their baksheesh and are making problems. Too many people on the take in SEA and China  to know for sure.

[trogers]

4 minutes ago, Rob13 said:

 

 

Too many possibilities, Chinese buses 'assembled' in Malaysia is one, just as easy to think the  customs guys didn't get their baksheesh and are making problems. Too many people on the take in SEA and China  to know for sure.

 

Thailand, herself, is a regional hub in car assembly. I doubt that ships sending in knocked down parts from other countries would berth and wait for assembly work to complete.

 

The Customs would be very familiar with such shipping documentation. The ship importing parts in, would not be the ship exporting assembled cars out...

[Rob13]

1 hour ago, trogers said:

 

The Customs would be very familiar with such shipping documentation. The ship importing parts in, would not be the ship exporting assembled cars out...

 

 

It's corruption though innit. The people involved are going to bend the rules to fit their game plan.  

[Takeprofit]

So, who knows where are these busses now?
I didn't see it on Bangkok roads...

[ratcatcher]

4 minutes ago, Takeprofit said:

So, who knows where are these busses now?
I didn't see it on Bangkok roads...

You probably won't anytime soon. Those buses are lovingly stored on land, probably in Chonburi province, lined up in a field, gathering dust and rust just like the massive fire engine fleet also stored under same conditions. It is inefficiency of a world class order.

[Takeprofit]

2 hours ago, ratcatcher said:

lined up in a field, gathering dust and rust just like the massive fire engine fleet also stored under same conditions

Sounds sad...

[colinneil]

7 minutes ago, Father Fintan Stack said:

And the wheelchairs donated by the British charity that were impounded for months and months by Thai customs for no import tax being paid.

 

Money number one. 

Good point FFF, sad part about that case is, there isnt supposed to be import duty on medical supplies.

[Nigeone]

No room in this field for buses ...the Fire Engines .still waiting to be put in service . Not any time soon for sure !! 

[Golden Triangle]

The whole sorry mess is just a disgusting waste of public money and a snub to the environment, there was a thread on here recently about the leaking Bangkok bus, no doubt spewing out clouds of polluting diesel fumes, I can't comment about the Fire engines as I'm not up to speed on that one.

 

These people need a good hard kick up the arse,  come on BMTA or whoever, get your fingers out and get these damned buses on the road.

[scorecard]

1 minute ago, Golden Triangle said:

The whole sorry mess is just a disgusting waste of public money and a snub to the environment, there was a thread on here recently about the leaking Bangkok bus, no doubt spewing out clouds of polluting diesel fumes, I can't comment about the Fire engines as I'm not up to speed on that one.

 

These people need a good hard kick up the arse,  come on BMTA or whoever, get your fingers out and get these damned buses on the road.

 

Yes Bangkok needs big improvements to the bus services, to reduce pollution etc.

 

One the other hand it's pretty obvious the vendor engaged in very tricky illegal dealings in terms of the buses delivered to the port and also tricky stuff to reduce taxes. Thailand seems to be starting to make gains in terms of reducing / stopping collusion, corruption, tax avoidance etc., etc. (But still a long way to go.)

 

So should the country just ignore that the bus vendor has been quite tricky, avoided taxes etc?  If the answer is yes then Thailand goes backwards a long way and actually encourages more collusion etc., etc. 

[Rancid]

On 08/12/2016 at 10:18 AM, bsdthai said:

Well, i wouldnt be going anywhere. I would chose to continue living happily in a country where i know the best interests are invested in my thai families and my families future. Currently that doesnt exist. If you have a better plan please put it forward and watch it have no effect.

Didnt the new general say that corruptuon would now be punishable by death? I remember reading something quite sone time ago on tv. maybe someone can find a link to this. Nothing happened there obviously. That would be a mass killing.

Take a look around. Scum run the country. Villege funds will go up by 500000thb per year next year but i am the one connecting people's water, fixing roads etc. Yet, public servents are putting up new houses that there is no way they could afford. 

The people are not getting what they deserve and i think we could agree on this regardless.

Drug dealers are put to death yet corruption is destroying more lives from what i see.

I have 3 people next door all dying from cancer from making charcoal that the local mayor runs a little ring where the people are allowed to illegally log to do this and they get paid peanuts. They have no idea of government assistance, not sure how to get help for health and such. Its appalling so im getting these people help and jobs for others whilst getting death threats for doing the right thing. 

 

 

The very nature of any form of government is empowering those that govern over the rest of us, that means corruption is inevitable. Democracy is usually a more tolerable system for the people but by its very nature its bought and paid for and rotten to the core.

 

In the West officials tend to tread a little more carefully, corruption is rampant but the ways of covering it are well refined. In Asia the politicians don't really seem to care about being seen as everyone knows what they are up to.

 

It is sad that so many locals get screwed by officials, is that less tragic though than all the people, soldiers & civilians that are killed daily for no reason in our wars for profit?

 

[Golden Triangle]

19 minutes ago, scorecard said:

 

Yes Bangkok needs big improvements to the bus services, to reduce pollution etc.

 

One the other hand it's pretty obvious the vendor engaged in very tricky illegal dealings in terms of the buses delivered to the port and also tricky stuff to reduce taxes. Thailand seems to be starting to make gains in terms of reducing / stopping collusion, corruption, tax avoidance etc., etc. (But still a long way to go.)

 

So should the country just ignore that the bus vendor has been quite tricky, avoided taxes etc?  If the answer is yes then Thailand goes backwards a long way and actually encourages more collusion etc., etc. 

 

I think that I commented on another thread with regard to the buses when this story originally broke, at that time I stated that the buses should be on the roads of Bangkok serving the people whilst the whole sorry mess is sorted, sue the company, imprison some executives, get the money, but get those buses bloody well working.

[BAT039]

New buslines started this week in Bangkok.  For the moment these buses are not succesful.  Passengers complaining about the old buses without aircon.

 

Yesterday Prayut ordered to the Land Transport Department (LTD) to take in service the 100 new CNG buses. (  I hope Prayut did not forgot to order the Customs Department to release the buses. )

 

 

[scorecard]

On 7/11/2017 at 1:50 PM, scorecard said:

 

Yes Bangkok needs big improvements to the bus services, to reduce pollution etc.

 

One the other hand it's pretty obvious the vendor engaged in very tricky illegal dealings in terms of the buses delivered to the port and also tricky stuff to reduce taxes. Thailand seems to be starting to make gains in terms of reducing / stopping collusion, corruption, tax avoidance etc., etc. (But still a long way to go.)

 

So should the country just ignore that the bus vendor has been quite tricky, avoided taxes etc?  If the answer is yes then Thailand goes backwards a long way and actually encourages more collusion etc., etc. 

 

Or a deal where the buses get running, but:

 

- The supplier only gets a total of say 30%? of the payment and if that makes them bankrupt etc, bad luck.

 

- The whole team, company owners, major / controlling shareholders, directors, etc, do 10 years in jail and are forbidden to ever take part any form of business dealing, start a company, advise a company, hold directorships, forbidden from any form of gov't employment, all for life, and banned from any form of political activity for life.