Overseas students abusing rights

Representatives of four luxury-car importing companies called on the Justice Ministry yesterday to look into reports of Thai overseas students allegedly abusing their right to bring cars into Thailand without having to pay fees and 200-per-cent taxes like proper importers have to.

They alleged that the students then sell the cars off at a cheap price.

The group led by Thas Nilmongkol submitted the complaint to Justice Minister Pracha Promnok and brought along some Ferrari, Porsche and Lotus models that might have been involved in the alleged importing scandal.

Thas said the scam began with people wanting to purchase luxury cars at a cheap price without caring whether it was imported legally or not. Therefore, he said, some took advantage of the legal loophole that allowed Thai students or citizens living overseas to bring their cars back home tax-free provided they can prove that they have owned it for at least a year and a half.

Once the car is brought back, the owner then needs to obtain permission from the Commerce Ministry's Department of Foreign Trade, Customs Department, Thai Industrial Standards Institute and the Land Transport Department.

Thas claimed that some state officials conspired by forging documents to help the car owner look qualified for permission. This procedure allowed the owner to pay just 30 per cent of the car's value in fees and taxes, in comparison to the 200 per cent paid by importers, and that the car can then be sold off in three years.

Thas said some students or citizens living overseas sold this right, and in some cases, they didn't even see or own the car. He said such abuse was damaging the car-import business and forcing the country to lose huge amounts from fees and taxes.

Plus, he said, it did not help if some state officials also conspired in forging documents that identified the cars as second-hand vehicles in order to cut down on taxes and fees. He claimed that at least 100 such cars were smuggled into Thailand every year.

Pracha, meanwhile, said that he would have Office of the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission look into this allegation, adding that the commission already had some information about this practice.