Vehicle Registration Plates of Thailand Ian Fuller - Wednesday, 09 September 2009 Page 1 An illustrated guide to the current (post 1997) vehicle registration plates (license plates) of Thailand. Ian Fuller, September 2009. Version 0.2 Private and Company-Owned Vehicles 1. Passenger Car • Not more than 7 passengers. • White plate with black lettering. • Two Thai letters followed by 1 – 4 Western numerals. • Province name centred at the bottom of the plate. • Special backgrounds available for some provinces. • Owners may bid on auspicious numbers. Illustrations Figure 1 - Passenger Plate 2. Greater Than 7 Passenger Microbus and Passenger Van • White plate with blue lettering. • Two Thai letters followed by 1 – 4 Western numerals. • Province name centred at the bottom of the plate. • No special backgrounds available.
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Vehicle Registration Plates of Thailand
Ian Fuller - Wednesday, 09 September 2009 Page 1
An illustrated guide to the current (post 1997) vehicle registration plates (license plates) of Thailand.
Ian Fuller, September 2009.
Version 0.2
Private and Company-Owned Vehicles
1. Passenger Car
• Not more than 7 passengers.
• White plate with black lettering.
• Two Thai letters followed by 1 – 4 Western numerals.
• Province name centred at the bottom of the plate.
• Special backgrounds available for some provinces.
• Owners may bid on auspicious numbers.
Illustrations
Figure 1 - Passenger Plate
2. Greater Than 7 Passenger Microbus and Passenger Van
• White plate with blue lettering.
• Two Thai letters followed by 1 – 4 Western numerals.
• Province name centred at the bottom of the plate.
• No special backgrounds available.
Vehicle Registration Plates of Thailand
Ian Fuller - Wednesday, 09 September 2009 Page 2
Illustrations
Figure 2 – Greater than 7 Passenger Microbus / Passenger Van Plate
Figure 3 - Truck with a Microbus / Passenger Van Plate
3. Van and Pick-up Truck
• White plate with green lettering.
• Two Thai letters followed by 1 – 4 Western numerals.
Vehicle Registration Plates of Thailand
Ian Fuller - Wednesday, 09 September 2009 Page 3
• Province name centred at the bottom of the plate.
• No special backgrounds available.
Note: Many light trucks have Passenger (Type 1) plates.
Illustrations
Figure 4 - Van & Pick-up Truck Plate
4. Motor Tricycle (Tuk-Tuk – Private Use)
• White plates with red lettering.
• Two Thai letters followed by 1 – 4 Western numerals.
• Province name centred at the bottom of the plate.
• No special backgrounds available.
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Ian Fuller - Wednesday, 09 September 2009 Page 4
Illustrations
Figure 5 - Private Use Tuk-Tuk
5. Interprovincial Taxi
• None registered in Bangkok as of 31 December, 2008.
Note: I don’t know these plates.
6. Urban Taxi
• Yellow plates with black lettering.
• Two Thai letters followed by 1 – 4 Western numerals.
• Province name centred at the bottom of the plate.
• No special backgrounds available.
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Ian Fuller - Wednesday, 09 September 2009 Page 5
Illustrations
Figure 6 - Urban Taxi Chonburi (Pattaya)
7. Fixed Route Taxi / Song Theaw
• Yellow plates with blue lettering.
• Two Thai letters followed by 1 – 4 Western numerals.
• Province name centred at the bottom of the plate.
• No special backgrounds available.
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Ian Fuller - Wednesday, 09 September 2009 Page 6
Illustrations
Figure 7 - Fixed Route Taxi - Song Theaw
8. Motor Tricycle Taxi (Tuk-Tuk)
• Yellow plate with green lettering.
• Two Thai letters followed by 1 – 4 Western numerals.
• Province name centred at the bottom of the plate.
• No special backgrounds available.
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Ian Fuller - Wednesday, 09 September 2009 Page 7
Illustrations
Figure 8 - Tuk-tuk
9. Hotel / Airport Taxi
• Green plate with white lettering.
• Two Thai letters followed by 1 – 4 Western numerals.
o Hotel taxis have prefixes ��, ��
o Airport taxis have prefixes ��, ��
• Province name centred at the bottom of the plate.
• No special backgrounds available.
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Ian Fuller - Wednesday, 09 September 2009 Page 8
Illustrations
Figure 9 - Airport Taxi
Figure 10 - Hotel Taxi
10. Tour Taxi
• Green plate with white lettering.
• Two Thai letters followed by 1 – 4 Western numerals.
• Province name centred at the bottom of the plate.
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Ian Fuller - Wednesday, 09 September 2009 Page 9
• No special backgrounds available.
Illustrations
Figure 11 - Tour Taxi?
11. Rental Car
• Prefix ��, ��
Note: All the rental cars I have seen have Passenger (Type 1) plates. According to the
Department of Land transport (DLT) there are only 98 vehicles registered in this class in Bangkok.
12. Motorcycle
• White plates with black lettering.
• Rear plate only.
• Plate is square.
• Motor scooters have smaller plates but in the same format.
• Three Thai letters, the name of the province at the centre and three Western numerals
below it.
• Some plates have a red band across the middle with two Thai characters.
Note: What do the two characters in the red band signify?
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Ian Fuller - Wednesday, 09 September 2009 Page 10
Illustrations
Figure 12 - Motorcycle Plate
Figure 13 - Motorcycle Plate with a Central Red Band
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Figure 1 - Motorcycle Plates Showing the Smaller Plate Used on a Scooter
13. Road Construction Tractor
• Orange plates with black lettering.
14. Road Roller
• Orange plates with black lettering.
• Two Thai letters followed by 1-4 Western numerals.
o First prefix letter is �.
15. Farm Vehicle
• Colours?
• Two Thai letters followed by 1-4 Western numerals.
o First prefix letter is �.
16. Automobile Trailer
• Colours?
17. Motorcycle Taxi
• Yellow plates with black lettering.
• Many motorcycle taxis have private motorcycle plates.
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Illustrations
Figure 2 - Bangkok Motorcycle Taxi Plate
18. Fixed Route Bus
• Yellow plates with black lettering.
• A two numeral prefix, a hyphen (-) and a four numeral serial, all Western numerals.
• Prefixes 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 have been observed in Bangkok.
• THAILAND in small capitals centred at the top of the plate.
• Province name centred at the bottom of the plate in Thai letters.
• Two (or three) digit code for the province at the top-right corner of the plate. See
Appendix 1 for the codes.
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Illustrations
Figure 14 - Bangkok Fixed Route Bus Plate
Figure 3 - Samut Sakhon Fixed Route Bus Plate
19. Non-Fixed Route Bus
• White plates with black lettering.
• A two numeral prefix, a hyphen (-) and a four numeral serial, all Western numerals.
• Prefixes 40 and 41 have been observed.
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• Province name centred at the bottom of the plate in Thai letters.
• Two (or three) digit code for the province at the bottom-right corner of the plate. See
Appendix 1 for the codes.
Illustrations
Figure 4 - Non-Fixed Route Bus Plate
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Ian Fuller - Wednesday, 09 September 2009 Page 15
Figure 5 - Non Fixed Route Bus Plate
20. Private Bus
• Yellow plates with black lettering.
• A two numeral prefix, a hyphen (-) and a four numeral serial, all Western numerals.
• Prefixes 30 and 31 have been observed in Bangkok.
• THAILAND in small capitals centred at the top of the plate.
• Province name centred at the bottom of the plate in Thai letters.
• Two (or three) digit code for the province at the top-right corner of the plate. See
Appendix 1 for the codes.
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Illustrations
Figure 6 - Private Bus Plate
21. Non-Fixed Route Truck (Public Use?)
• Yellow plates with black lettering.
• A two numeral prefix, a hyphen (-) and a four numeral serial, all Western numerals.
• Prefixes 70-78 have been observed nationwide.
• THAILAND in small capitals centred at the top of the plate.
• Province name centred at the bottom of the plate in Thai letters.
• Two (or three) digit code for the province at the top-right corner of the plate. See
Appendix 1 for the codes.
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Illustrations
Figure 15 - 77-5804
22. Private Truck
• White plates with black lettering.
• A two numeral prefix, a hyphen (-) and a four numeral serial, all Western numerals.
• Prefixes 80-98 have been observed nationwide.
• Province name centred at the bottom of the plate in Thai letters.
• Two (or three) digit code for the province at the bottom-right corner of the plate. See
Appendix 1 for the codes.
• Note how the layout differs from the black-on-yellow plates.
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Ian Fuller - Wednesday, 09 September 2009 Page 18
Illustrations
Figure 16 – Private Truck 96-7103
Figure 17 - Private Truck 94-5551. Perhaps leased by the Bangkok Matropolitan Authority
23. Small Rural Bus
• Yellow plates with black lettering.
• A two numeral prefix, a hyphen (-) and a four numeral serial, all Western numerals.
• Prefix 20 has been observed in Chonburi.
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• THAILAND in small capitals centred at the top of the plate.
• Province name centred at the bottom of the plate in Thai letters.
• Two (or three) digit code for the province at the top-right corner of the plate. See
Appendix 1 for the codes.
Illustrations
Figure 7 - Small Rural Bus Plate in Bang-Saen, Chonburi
24. Temporary Use
• Red plates with black lettering.
• One Thai letter followed by 4 Western numerals.
• Province name centred at the bottom of the plate in Thai letters.
• Issued to passenger vehicles by a dealer prior to issue of their permanent plates.
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Illustrations
Figure 8 - Temporary Use Plate on a Private Car
Figure 9 - Temporary Use Plate on a Taxi
25. Temporary Use Plates – Trucks and Buses
• Red plates with white lettering.
• Five Western numerals (with leading zeroes).
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• Are the first two numbers the province code (Appendix 1)?
• Thai text centred at the bottom of the plate. It is not the province name but the
restriction ‘used for sales and repair purposes only’.
Illustrations
Figure 10 - Temporary Bus Plate
Government Vehicles
1. Royal Thai Police
• Red plates with white lettering.
• The Thai Police emblem followed by five Western numerals, with leading zeroes.
• Many Police vehicles in Bangkok have normal passenger (Type 1) plates.
Note: Fire tenders used to have Police plates. The plates were removed in 2008-2009. This is due
to a re-organization of the fire services to report to the relevant local authority. Most fire tenders
now have no plates, but some have truck plates.
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Illustrations
Figure 18 – Royal Thai Police Motorcycle Plate 57274
Figure 11 - Bus from the Royal Thai Police Cadet Academy
2. Military
• Black plates with white lettering or white plates with red lettering.
• An emblem for the branch of service (Army, Navy, Air Force) followed by five Thai
numerals with leading zeroes.
Note: As far as I can tell military vehicles are numbered in a unified series.
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Illustrations
Figure 12 - Royal Thai Army Truck - White Plate with Red Lettering
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Ian Fuller - Wednesday, 09 September 2009 Page 24
Figure 13 - Royal Thai Navy Bus - Black Plate with White Lettering
3. Bureau of the Royal Household
• Vehicles used by members of the Royal Family have white plates with black lettering.
• Other vehicles have black plates with white lettering.
• All have the three Thai letters (���) followed by a 1 – 4 digit serial number in Western
numerals.
• Vehicles with pre-1997 Passenger format plates with prefix 1� are also associated with
the BRH.
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Illustrations
Figure 14 - Bureau of the Royal Household Plate
Figure 15 - "Rented Vehicle Jeep Use" Plate with same Prefix as BRH
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Note: The plate above is a mystery. What is the significance of the legend “Rented Vehicle Jeep
Use”? Is it connected with the BRH?
4. Foreign Embassy Vehicles
• White plates with black lettering.
• Two digits denoting the country below the Thai letter (), a dash and a four digit serial