Vehicle Registration Plates of Thailand v0.2

Vehicle Registration Plates of Thailand
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.
• No special backgrounds available.
Ian Fuller - Wednesday, 09 September 2009 Page 1

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.


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.

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.

Illustrations
Figure 6 - Urban Taxi Chonburi (Pattaya)
7. Fixed Route Taxi / Song Theaw

• Yellow plates with blue lettering.

Illustrations
Figure 7 - Fixed Route Taxi - Song Theaw
8. Motor Tricycle Taxi (Tuk-Tuk)

• Yellow plate with green lettering.

Illustrations
Figure 8 - Tuk-tuk
9. Hotel / Airport Taxi

• Green plate with white lettering.
o Hotel taxis have prefixes ,
o Airport taxis have prefixes ,


Illustrations
Figure 9 - Airport Taxi
Figure 10 - Hotel Taxi
10. Tour Taxi

• Green plate with white lettering.

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?

Illustrations
Figure 12 - Motorcycle Plate
Figure 13 - Motorcycle Plate with a Central Red Band

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

• Many motorcycle taxis have private motorcycle plates.

Illustrations
Figure 2 - Bangkok Motorcycle Taxi Plate
18. Fixed Route Bus

• 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.

Illustrations
Figure 14 - Bangkok Fixed Route Bus Plate
Figure 3 - Samut Sakhon Fixed Route Bus Plate
19. Non-Fixed Route Bus

• Prefixes 40 and 41 have been observed.


• Two (or three) digit code for the province at the bottom-right corner of the plate. See
Illustrations
Figure 4 - Non-Fixed Route Bus Plate

Figure 5 - Non Fixed Route Bus Plate
20. Private Bus

• Prefixes 30 and 31 have been observed in Bangkok.

Illustrations
Figure 6 - Private Bus Plate
21. Non-Fixed Route Truck (Public Use?)

• Prefixes 70-78 have been observed nationwide.

Illustrations
Figure 15 - 77-5804
22. Private Truck

• Prefixes 80-98 have been observed nationwide.
• Two (or three) digit code for the province at the bottom-right corner of the plate. See
• Note how the layout differs from the black-on-yellow plates.

Illustrations
Figure 16 – Private Truck 96-7103
Figure 17 - Private Truck 94-5551. Perhaps leased by the Bangkok Matropolitan Authority
23. Small Rural Bus

• Prefix 20 has been observed in Chonburi.


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.
• Issued to passenger vehicles by a dealer prior to issue of their permanent plates.

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).

• 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.

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.

Illustrations
Figure 12 - Royal Thai Army Truck - White Plate with Red Lettering

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.

Illustrations
Figure 14 - Bureau of the Royal Household Plate
Figure 15 - "Rented Vehicle Jeep Use" Plate with same Prefix as BRH

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

• Two digits denoting the country below the Thai letter ( ), a dash and a four digit serial
number with leading zeroes.
• Serial 0001 is for the Ambassador.
• Serials 1000 and up are for service vehicles.
• See Appendix 2 for a list of country codes.
Illustrations
Figure 16 – Thailand Diplomatic Plate - Singapore Ambassador to Thailand

Figure 17 Thailand Diplomatic Plate - German Embassy Vehicle
5. International Organization Vehicles

• Blue plates with white lettering.
• Two digits denoting the organization below the Thai letter (insert here), a dash and a
four digit serial number.
• Serial 0001 is for the head of the organization in Thailand.
• Serials 1000 and up are for service vehicles.
• See Appendix 3 for a list of known organization codes.

Illustrations
Figure 18 - Thailand International Organization Plate – USAID
Figure 19 - Thailand International Organization Plate - UNICF

Appendices
1. Thai Provinces and Codes
As used on truck and bus license plates.
Code Name (English) Name (Thai)

01 Bangkok

Central Region
10 Chai Nat

11 Sing Buri
12 Lop Buri
13 Ang Thong

14 Saraburi
15 Ayutthaya
16 Pathum Thani

17 Nonthaburi
18 Samut Prakan

Eastern Region
20 Nakhon Nayok

21 Prachin Buri

22 Chachoengsao
23 Chon Buri

24 Rayong
25 Chanthaburi
26 Trat
27 Sa Kaeo !"#
Lower North-Eastern Region
30 Chaiyaphum $%
31 Yasothon &
32 Ubon Ratchathani

33 Si Sa Ket '
34 Buri Ram
35 Nakhon Ratchasima

36 Surin

37 Amnat Charoen (

)

Upper North-Eastern Region
401 Nong Bua Lam Phu #(

$%
40 Nong Khai

41 Loei
42 Udon Thani

43 Nakhon Phanom
44 Sakon Nakhon
45 Khon Kaen *!
46 Kalasin
+
47 Maha Sarakham

48 Roi Et ",
49 Mukdahan

Upper Northern Region
50 Chiang Rai

51 Mae Hong Son !-
52 Chiang Mai .
53 Phayao
54 Nan

55 Lamphun (
%
56 Lampang (

57 Phrae !
60 Uttaradit /
Lower Northern Region
61 Sukhothai &*
62 Tak

63 Phitsanulok '0&
64 Kamphaeng Phet (
!
65 Phichit
66 Phetchabun %0
67 Nakhon Sawan #
68 Uthai Thani

Western Region


70 Suphanburi 0
71 Kanchanaburi
)
72 Nakhon Pathom 1
73 Ratchaburi

74 Samut Sakhon

75 Samut Songkhram

76 Phetchaburi
77 Prachuap Khiri Khan #*
Upper Southern Region
80 Chumpon
81 Ranong
82 Surat Thani
'2

83 Phang Nga
84 Nakhon Si Thammarat

85 Krabi 3
86 Phuket $%,
Lower Southern Region
90 Phattalung
91 Trang
92 Songkhla *
93 Satun %
94 Pattani 4

95 Yala
96 Narathiwat
#

2. Diplomatic Vehicle Codes

Code Country
01 ?
02 ?
03 Argentina
04 Australia
05 Austria
06 Bangladesh
07 Belgium
08 ?
09 Brazil

Code Country
10 Bulgaria
11 Myanmar / Burma
12 Brunei
13 Canada
14 Chile
15 PR China
16 Colombia
17 ?
18 ?
19 Czech Republic
20 Denmark
21 European Union
22 Egypt
23 ?
24 ?
25 Finland
26 ?
27 France
28 ?
29 Germany
30 ?
31 ?
32 Greece
33 ?
34 ?
35 Vatican City
36 Hungary
37 India
38 Indonesia
39 Iran
40 Iraq
41 Israel
42 Italy
43 Ivory Coast?
44 Japan
45 Cambodia
46 Korea, South
47 Korea, North
48 Laos
49 ?
50 ?
51 ?
52 ?
53 Malaysia
54 ?
55 ?
56 Nepal
57 The Netherlands

Code Country
58 New Zealand
59 ?
60 Nigeria?
61 Norway
62 Pakistan
63 ?
64 Peru
65 Philippines
66 Poland
67 Portugal
68 Romania
69 Saudi Arabia
70 ?
71 ?
72 Singapore
73 Spain
74 Sri Lanka
75 Sweden
76 Switzerland
77 ?
78 ?
79 ?
80 Turkey
81 ?
82 Russian Federation
83 ?
84 United Kingdom
85 ?
86 United States of America
87 ?
88 ?
89 Vietnam
90 Yugoslavia
91 ?
92 ?
93 ?
94 ?
95 ?
96 ?
97 ?
98 ?
99 ?
3. International Organization Codes

Code Organization
02 United Nations
10 SE Asia Ministers of Education Secretariat
14 UNICF

Code Organization
25 International Red Cross
86 US Agency for International Development
References
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_registration_plates_of_Thailand
• http://driving.information.in.th/license-plates.html
• Notes on the following Flickr posts:
o http://www.flickr.com/photos/ianfuller/3815558290/
o http://www.flickr.com/photos/ianfuller/3884230232/

Vehicle Registration Plates of Thailand v0.2

Încărcat de

Informații document

Drepturi de autor

Formate disponibile

Partajați acest document

Partajați sau inserați document

Opțiuni de partajare

Vi se pare util acest document?

Este necorespunzător acest conținut?

Drepturi de autor:

Formate disponibile

Vehicle Registration Plates of Thailand v0.2

Încărcat de

Drepturi de autor:

Formate disponibile

Vehicle Registration Plates of Thailand

Ian Fuller, September 2009.

Private and Company-Owned Vehicles

Figure 1 - Passenger Plate

2. Greater Than 7 Passenger Microbus and Passenger Van

Ian Fuller - Wednesday, 09 September 2009 Page 1

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

Ian Fuller - Wednesday, 09 September 2009 Page 2

• Province name centred at the bottom of the plate.

Note: Many light trucks have Passenger (Type 1) plates.

Figure 4 - Van & Pick-up Truck Plate

4. Motor Tricycle (Tuk-Tuk – Private Use)

Ian Fuller - Wednesday, 09 September 2009 Page 3

Figure 5 - Private Use Tuk-Tuk

Note: I don’t know these plates.

Ian Fuller - Wednesday, 09 September 2009 Page 4

Figure 6 - Urban Taxi Chonburi (Pattaya)

7. Fixed Route Taxi / Song Theaw

Ian Fuller - Wednesday, 09 September 2009 Page 5

Figure 7 - Fixed Route Taxi - Song Theaw

8. Motor Tricycle Taxi (Tuk-Tuk)

Ian Fuller - Wednesday, 09 September 2009 Page 6

9. Hotel / Airport Taxi

o Airport taxis have prefixes , 

Ian Fuller - Wednesday, 09 September 2009 Page 7

Figure 9 - Airport Taxi

Figure 10 - Hotel Taxi

10. Tour Taxi

Ian Fuller - Wednesday, 09 September 2009 Page 8

• No special backgrounds available.

Figure 11 - Tour Taxi?

11. Rental Car

Note: What do the two characters in the red band signify?

Ian Fuller - Wednesday, 09 September 2009 Page 9

Figure 12 - Motorcycle Plate

Figure 13 - Motorcycle Plate with a Central Red Band

Ian Fuller - Wednesday, 09 September 2009 Page 10

Figure 1 - Motorcycle Plates Showing the Smaller Plate Used on a Scooter

13. Road Construction Tractor

14. Road Roller

15. Farm Vehicle

16. Automobile Trailer

17. Motorcycle Taxi

Ian Fuller - Wednesday, 09 September 2009 Page 11

Figure 2 - Bangkok Motorcycle Taxi Plate

18. Fixed Route Bus

Ian Fuller - Wednesday, 09 September 2009 Page 12

Figure 14 - Bangkok Fixed Route Bus Plate

Figure 3 - Samut Sakhon Fixed Route Bus Plate

19. Non-Fixed Route Bus

Ian Fuller - Wednesday, 09 September 2009 Page 13

• Province name centred at the bottom of the plate in Thai letters.

Figure 4 - Non-Fixed Route Bus Plate

Ian Fuller - Wednesday, 09 September 2009 Page 14

Figure 5 - Non Fixed Route Bus Plate

20. Private Bus

Ian Fuller - Wednesday, 09 September 2009 Page 15

Figure 6 - Private Bus Plate

21. Non-Fixed Route Truck (Public Use?)

Ian Fuller - Wednesday, 09 September 2009 Page 16

22. Private Truck

Ian Fuller - Wednesday, 09 September 2009 Page 17

o Airport taxis have prefixes ,

10 Chai Nat

16 Pathum Thani

23 Chon Buri

36 Surin

401 Nong Bua Lam Phu #(

50 Chiang Rai

84 Nakhon Si Thammarat