How to pay Road Tax in Thailand?

Now… time of the year when my road tax expires. For vehicles to be driven in Thailand, you need two things pasted on your car. One is a small orange square label that is a mandatory 3rd partly insurance plan offered by the government. The other is a bigger square label, big and red, with 2550 on it.

The 3rd party insurance is necessary to protect the innocent incase you decided to stampede a bunch of Thai beggars walking the roads selling garlands or that irritating dark kid who, out of nowhere, appears and wipe your windscreen with dirty drain water at traffic lights.

The 2550 label is actually a yearly road tax matter. Although the year we know today is 2006, Thais have a fantastic calendaring system and all government systems recognize 2550. Without these two items on, you will be making many of the traffic policemen happy.

To get your vehicle renewed, drive near JJ market and look for the big English words that read Transportation Bureau or something. Turn in via the only entrance open and good luck. Imagine yourself on the planet of Tatooine in Star Wars. All signs within are but a bunch of curly strokes and muddle.

With some luck, you will end up in Building 2 where the receptionist will be yakking at 150% the speed of speech but your language processing within that brain of yours is only at 10% efficiency. Then a whole bunch of white forms will be trusted into your hands and yes, they all look Tatooine to me. Bring a Thai friend, save all the trouble. Make sure you bring someone brainy along and he/she should be able to fill them up and you just have to sign for. Then drive car into Lane 1 or 2 for inspection. After that, park your car somewhere, which is if you can ever find parking space. Back into Building 2, submit forms and wait. Then be ready to receive more alien forms and you will be told to go to Building 4 level 4. Take a stroll under the big hot sun, via the parking lots to Building 4 some 200 meters away. That’s when you get more Tatooine forms. Give to Thai friend. Later, you will be redirected back to Building 2. And then after some more waiting, you will be told to go to Building 4 again. Expect to get more forms. And then finally when you submit all the forms, you will be told you got some external documents amiss and have to come back another day. So, the day would have been gone by then. Go home have beer. Better luck next time.

How to pay Road Tax in Thailand? My reply, is I don’t f**king know. I don’t even have any idea what was going on and what’s with all the walking between Building 2 and 4. All signs on building, all forms, all sample forms, all staff, all Thai. Even parrots that I encounter in Thailand speak only Thai. So to all you English speaking only species, you wanna live in Thailand, live like a Thai? Learn Thai, that’s the only way, Thailand does not have any thoughts for catering to the minority of us. And the words “systematic”, “organized”, “efficient” and what not, cannot be translated to Thai because there are simply no such things and such words here. The only places where you can find good English directions here are the touristy places where the money leaves your pocket.

Don’t get me wrong with all my whining. I love Thailand.