Thailand's vehicle registration book is green if the vehicle is a motorbike and blue if it is a car. That is the whole distinction, and it is worth getting right, because a great deal of the English-language internet calls every Thai logbook a "green book" and then confuses buyers who are handed a blue one and assume something is wrong. Both are the same document under the same law — the ใบคู่มือจดทะเบียนรถ, the vehicle registration handbook, issued by the registrar under section 10 of the Motor Vehicle Act B.E. 2522 and maintained by the Department of Land Transport.
What it is not is a title deed. The book is the registrar's record of a vehicle's identity, its tax history and who the registrar recognises as its owner and as its keeper. In practice it is the only evidence of ownership a private buyer will ever get, which is why a vehicle sold without one is not a vehicle you can buy.
- MotorbikeGreen book
- CarBlue book
- Thai nameใบคู่มือจดทะเบียนรถ — vehicle registration handbook
- Issued byThe registrar, Department of Land Transport
- Replacement if damagedApproximately ฿100
What the book records
No single official page lists every field, but the composite picture from the DLT and from Thai motoring and legal sources is consistent. Expect to find:
| Entry | Why it matters to a buyer |
|---|---|
| Registration (plate) number and the province that issued it | Tells you where the vehicle is registered, which determines where the transfer happens |
| Chassis or frame number (VIN) | The vehicle's identity. Must match the metal, digit for digit |
| Engine number | Same. A mismatch means an engine swap that was never recorded, or worse |
| Make, model, body type and colour | A resprayed vehicle should have had the colour change recorded |
| Engine displacement and fuel type | Feeds directly into how the annual tax is assessed |
| Number of seats, or laden weight | Determines the vehicle class and how it is taxed |
| Date of first registration | Sets the age reductions on road tax and when the annual test becomes due |
| Registered keeper: name, ID or passport number, address | Who the registrar recognises. Must be the person selling to you |
| Annual tax payment history | Shows every year paid — and every year not paid |
| Every transfer of ownership | The vehicle's life story. Rapid turnover is a question worth asking |
| Hire purchase title holder, if any | If a finance company is named here, the seller cannot transfer the vehicle |
Title holder and possessor: the distinction English hides
The book carries two separate roles. The title holder (ผู้ถือกรรมสิทธิ์) is the owner. The possessor (ผู้ครอบครอง) is the person who keeps and uses the vehicle. Most of the time they are the same person and nobody notices the difference. Under hire purchase they are not: the finance company is the title holder and the driver is only the possessor until the agreement is settled.
The law is explicit that these can differ
The explanatory note to the 1982 amendment of the Motor Vehicle Act B.E. 2522 records, as the problem the amendment was fixing, that the owner and the possessor are not always the same person. That distinction is built into the registration book, and it is the reason a "the book has my partner's name but it is really my car" arrangement is far weaker than people assume — see registering a vehicle in someone else's name.
Reading a book before you buy
Take the book in your own hands and work through it in this order. It takes ten minutes and it is the most valuable ten minutes of any used purchase.
- Whose name is in it, and does their identification match?
- Is there a finance company recorded as title holder?
- Does the chassis or frame number match the number stamped on the vehicle, digit for digit?
- Does the engine number match?
- Does the plate on the vehicle match the plate number in the book?
- Do the make, model, colour, body type and engine size match what is in front of you?
- What is the date of first registration, and is the vehicle therefore in the annual test regime?
- Is the tax history continuous, and is the current year paid?
- How many keepers, and how fast did they turn over?
- Which province issued the plates?
The number checks are the ones that expose a stolen or cloned vehicle, and they are covered in more detail in how to avoid buying a stolen or cloned vehicle. The condition checks belong to a different exercise entirely: the used motorbike checklist and the used car checklist.
Spotting a book that is not right
A forged or altered registration book is less common than a genuine book that belongs to a different vehicle, but both exist. Things that should stop you:
- Correction fluid, overwritten characters, or entries in a different hand or ink from the surrounding page
- Pages that have been removed, added or are out of sequence
- Official stamps that are blurred, doubled, or sitting oddly relative to the entry they authenticate
- A tax history with an unexplained gap followed by an implausible catch-up
- A recent transfer into the seller's name followed immediately by a resale
- Any reluctance to let you photograph the pages
- A book whose colour does not match the vehicle type — a blue book presented with a motorbike, or vice versa
You are not the last line of defence, and you should not try to be. The place a false book is caught is the land transport office, where an official checks the vehicle's numbers against the book at the transfer. That is why the transfer should happen before the balance of the money changes hands, not after. Never accept "pay now, transfer later".
The tax history page
This is the page most buyers skip and most regret skipping. Annual road tax in Thailand is paid a year in advance and is recorded in the book, and the obligation follows the vehicle rather than the owner. If years are missing, you are the person who will pay them, with a surcharge of 1% for every month or part month overdue. If the tax is more than a year overdue, the vehicle must pass a roadworthiness inspection before it can be taxed at all. And after three consecutive years of unpaid annual tax, the registration is suspended.
On the positive side, if the annual tax has already been paid for the current year, the new owner does not have to pay it again in that year. Thai road tax and how to pay it covers the renewal cycle, and the annual inspection covers the test that has to come first.
The plate number itself
Registration numbers in Thailand carry cultural weight, and desirable combinations are not handed out at random. Sections 10/1 and 10/2 of the Motor Vehicle Act provide for sought-after numbers to be sold by public auction, with the winning bid treated as a special fee that goes to a road-safety fund. If a seller tells you the plate is worth money, that is the mechanism they are describing.
Looking after it, and what to do if it goes
Keep the book somewhere safe at home, not in the vehicle. What you need with you on the road is your licence and a copy of the registration, not the original document — losing the book in a stolen bike is a needless second problem. Photograph every page when you buy the vehicle; that copy is what makes a replacement application straightforward.
If the book is lost or damaged, a duplicate is obtainable from the DLT — a damaged book is replaced for approximately ฿100. The process, and what a lost book means if you are trying to sell, is in lost your logbook? how to get a replacement.
When the book has to change
Several events require an entry or an amendment, and none of them are optional. An ownership transfer must be notified to the registrar within fifteen days by both parties, with a fine of up to ฿2,000 for failing to — see transferring vehicle ownership at the DLT. Moving the vehicle to another province must also be notified within fifteen days: moving a vehicle registration to another province. An engine change, a colour change or a structural modification has to be recorded too, and those are handled at a DLT office rather than a private inspection station.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Thai logbook green or blue?
Green for a motorbike, blue for a car. Both are the same document type under the same law. Most English-language sources call them all "green books", which is why so many car buyers are briefly confused.
Does the book prove I own the vehicle?
It is not a title deed, but it is the registrar's record of who is recognised as title holder and possessor, and it is the only practical evidence of ownership available in a private sale. Treat it as decisive.
Can a foreigner's name be in the book?
Yes. The Motor Vehicle Act places no nationality restriction on who may register a vehicle, and there is a specific provision for applicants who have no domicile in Thailand. See can a foreigner own a car or motorbike in Thailand.
Should I carry the book in the car?
No — keep the original at home and carry a copy. Thai law expects a driver to be able to produce a licence and a copy of the vehicle registration, not the original book.
What if a finance company is named in the book?
Then the vehicle is under hire purchase and the finance company is its owner. The person driving it is only the possessor and cannot sell or transfer it until the agreement is settled.
What does it cost to replace a damaged book?
Approximately ฿100 for a replacement where the old book is damaged. That figure comes from consistent Thai commercial sources rather than a schedule we could read directly, so treat it as approximate and confirm at the office.