What's in a number plate?

[Terry]

So – What’s in a number plate?

A lot of stupid logic it seems…………………….

Around 13 years ago Mrs.T and I bought our first new car here in Thailand – we still have it – a nice little Honda Civic with around 220,000Km on the clock and still going strong. It was bought at Honda in Petchaburi (No Honda dealer here in Hua Hin at the time). The plate carries a ‘Petchaburi’ Province label together with the registration.

We were told a little later on that to have a Petchaburi plate was ‘good’ as our friends the traffic police don’t stop Petchaburi plates for fear of encountering any member of the infamous ‘Petchaburi Mafia’.
What self-respecting Mafia bod would be seen dead driving a Civic was always a question that rang in my mind.

!4 months ago we treated ourselves to a new Accord (As related elsewhere on the forum). This was bought at Honda Hua Hin and at the time we were offered the choice – Petchaburi, Bangkok or Prachuab plate. My reasoning was that as we were buying it in Hua Hin then it should have a Prachuab plate. I have subsequently been told that this was a bad move – as cars from Prachuab province suffer faster rusting as they are exposed to the sea air – hence they depreciate faster………………………

BTW – the Civic doesn’t have an ounce of rust on it – just 13 years of normal wear and tear in Prachuab Province, so the prachuab plate theory appears to be a load of borrox as well…………..

Now Mrs.T has her new Captiva – and it seems that, after being given the choice again, she has ordered a ‘Bangkok’ plate to replace the stupid red one. ‘Bangkok’ plates apparently help cars to retain their value longer……………..

So – What’s in a number plate? I ask.
1) Why do we have to have the Province identified on the plate?
2) If a car is to be registered by the owner – why is a choice offered (Yes and extra fee is paid, so there is money to be made obviously). But surely the car should be registered where it is bought
3) Where is the logic in all this?

Confused? – so am I

[huahin4ever]

You're not the only one that's confused. And why should BKK registered cars retain their value better? IMHO a car driven more or less only in big city traffic is a poor choice to a car driven on long trips. I have always been told that, start/stop type of driving wears the car out much more than continuous running over longer periods.

[Frank Hovis]

Why do we have to have the Province identified on the plate?

This one is easy, you need the province because they use the same letter/number combination in different provinces.

I've seen a car (in Tesco's old Underground car park) with the same number plate as mine (except theirs was a Bangkok reg), same model, same colour. I was slightly taken aback as I initially thought someone had moved my car about three parking slots along.

Doesn't seem like a great idea to me.

[STEVE G]

We were told a little later on that to have a Petchaburi plate was ‘good’ as our friends the traffic police don’t stop Petchaburi plates for fear of encountering any member of the infamous ‘Petchaburi Mafia’.

It's funny you should mention that Terry, when I bought my truck some years ago my partner was given the choice of where to register it and chose Petchaburi for a similar reason, she said that the town is famous for producing hitmen and so no one would dare to steal it up in Issan.

[SunandFun]

If you sell the vehicle, do you have to go to the Province it is registered in to do the transfer of ownership? That would be the only reason I could see to select close by or where the vehicle will be.

Second question would be, "if you sell a vehicle, how likely would the buyer be Thai?" If selling to A foreigner, they are going to use "logic and common sense" rather than "plate registration philosophy."

[STEVE G]

"if you sell a vehicle, how likely would the buyer be Thai?"

I imagine quite likely seeing as it's in Thailand.