Buying a Used Motorbike in Thailand: The Green Book, the Transfer Papers and the 15-Day Rule
ทีม TalataVehicles
If a seller has handed you a green book and a pile of pre-signed forms with the buyer's name left blank, that is a floating transfer (โอนลอย). It is common, it is not a scam by itself, and the seller is not doing anything unlawful by signing. But Thai law gives both of you fifteen days from the day of sale to notify the Department of Land Transport, and almost everyone ignores that. This guide covers the documents, the real cost, the day at the DLT, and what goes wrong when the deadline slides.
Second-hand motorbikes change hands privately in Thailand every day, and nearly every deal ends at the same question: who is actually going to the DLT? Being able to see a range of listings in one place, compare condition and price, and ask the owner about the green book before you commit is what makes that conversation easier. That is what Talata is for.
What a floating transfer actually is
A floating transfer means the registered owner signs the transfer paperwork in advance — the transfer application, the power of attorney, the sale contract — while leaving the buyer's name blank. They hand the whole bundle over with the green book and the bike, and you take it to the DLT yourself, whenever you get around to it.
The part people misunderstand: receiving the bike and the papers does not make you the owner. Legal ownership on the register only changes when a DLT registrar records it in the green book. Until that happens, the previous owner's name is still on the vehicle, along with every liability attached to it.
Floating transfer versus transferring together at the DLT
Both routes end in the same place. The difference is who goes, and what state the bike is in while you wait.
| Transfer together | Floating transfer | |
|---|---|---|
| Who goes to the DLT | Buyer and seller, together | Buyer alone, holding pre-signed papers |
| When ownership changes | The day you file | Whenever the buyer files, which could be any day |
| Main risk | Low, it is done in one visit | Everything that happens before you file |
| Convenience | Requires coordinating diaries | Seller never has to leave the house |
Transferring together at the DLT
Both parties meet at the transport office, sign in front of staff, file, pay, and collect the updated green book. It costs half a day to a full day. What you get for that is certainty: when you walk out, it is finished.
The floating transfer: the seller signs, you go alone
The seller signs everything, hands over the bike, the book and the bundle, and walks away. You file whenever you like, which is simultaneously the appeal and the problem. Second-hand dealers rely on this because it lets them resell without ever registering the bike in their own name. For a private seller, that same convenience carries risk they usually have not thought about at the moment of signing.
What documents you need
The bundle is not complicated, but it has to be complete. One missing signature and the counter will turn you away, and chasing a seller down for a second signature is where a great many deals quietly die.
From the seller
- The original green book (สมุดคู่มือจดทะเบียนรถ)
- A copy of their Thai ID card, signed to certify the copy
- A copy of their house registration, signed to certify the copy
- The transfer application form, signed in the transferor's section
- A power of attorney, signed
- A sale contract, made in duplicate so both sides keep one
From you as the buyer
- A copy of your ID (Thai ID card, or passport if you are not Thai), signed
- A copy of your house registration, if you have one
- Your signature in the transferee's section of the transfer application
If you are not Thai
This is where foreign buyers get stuck, because none of the Thai-language guides mention it. There is no restriction on a foreigner owning a motorbike in Thailand, but you cannot register one without proof of address that the DLT will accept.
In practice that means a Certificate of Residence issued by Immigration or by your embassy, or a valid work permit. Some offices accept a yellow house book. You will also need your passport, plus signed copies of the photo page and the current visa page. Requirements vary between provincial offices more than they should, so it is worth a phone call to your local DLT before you go.
The signature mistakes people make
The signed ID photocopy left lying in a stack of paperwork is the easiest risk to eliminate and the one almost everyone ignores. Before handing anything over, strike two lines across the copy and write, next to your signature, that it may only be used to transfer the vehicle with that specific registration number. A signed copy with no such restriction can be used for other things.
The other one is the date field in the sale contract. People leave it blank because it feels like a formality, when it is in fact the only document that establishes when the sale actually happened. That becomes very important, very quickly, if there is ever a dispute about who was responsible for the bike on a given day. Having a witness sign the contract costs nothing and gives it weight.
What the transfer actually costs at the DLT
Figures online disagree with each other, which is why people end up confused. The fee is made up of several items, and some of them only apply in certain cases.
| Item | Amount | When you pay it |
|---|---|---|
| Application fee | 5 baht per form | Always |
| Transfer registration fee | 100 baht | Always |
| Stamp duty | 500 baht per 100,000 baht of assessed value | Always, scaled to the bike's assessed value |
| Licence plate | 100 baht per plate | Only if you ask for a new plate |
| Replacement green book | 100 baht | Only if the old one is damaged or full |
One number gets copied around incorrectly: some sites quote 200 baht for the plate. That is the figure for a car, which carries two plates. A motorbike has one, so it is 100 baht. If you plan to get a new plate at the same time as the transfer, read the steps and costs for changing a licence plate first.
For an ordinary used bike with a modest assessed value, the total usually lands in the low hundreds of baht — less than most people pay an agent to do it for them. Fees can be adjusted by ministerial regulation, so it is worth confirming with your local office before you set off.
Taking the paperwork to the DLT: what happens on the day
The question expats ask most often is whether the bike has to come too, or whether the papers are enough. The bike has to come. It goes through an inspection before the transfer can be registered.
- Check the bundle before you leave the house, especially the original green book and every signature
- Book a queue slot through the DLT system, or take a ticket on arrival
- Ride the bike into the inspection lane; staff check the chassis and engine numbers against the book, and confirm the legally required equipment is present
- Collect the inspection result and file it with the transfer bundle at the service counter
- Staff check the documents and the system record, including whether tax is outstanding or the vehicle is under any hold
- Pay the fees and keep the receipt
- Collect the green book showing the new owner
Before you leave the building, open the book and read it properly. Name, surname, address, vehicle details. If anything is wrong, have them fix it at the counter. Correcting it later is a great deal more painful than correcting it now.
Give the bike a once-over first, too. Headlight, indicators, brake light, mirrors and plate all need to be present and working, or you will be sent away to fix them and come back.
Is a floating transfer legal in Thailand?
Plenty of articles state flatly that floating transfers are illegal, which misleads people. Two separate things are being confused: signing transfer paperwork in advance, and notifying the registrar.
Signing a power of attorney so that someone else can act for you is not an offence in itself. What the law does fix is the deadline.
The 15-day rule, Section 17
The Motor Vehicle Act B.E. 2522 (1979), Section 17, provides that when a registered vehicle is transferred, both the transferor and the transferee must notify the registrar within fifteen days from the date of transfer.
Two things in that sentence get missed. The duty falls on both parties, not on the buyer alone. And the clock starts on the date of transfer, meaning the day the bike and papers actually changed hands, not the day the buyer eventually finds time for the DLT.
Seen through that lens the picture gets clearer. A floating transfer where the buyer files within fifteen days is barely different from transferring together. A floating transfer left sitting for months, or years, is outside the law already. That second version is the one most people are actually doing.
The penalty if you miss it
Failing to notify within fifteen days carries a fine of up to 2,000 baht, under Section 17 read together with Section 60 of the Motor Vehicle Act. Because the law places the duty on both parties, that exposure is not the buyer's alone.
In practice the fine is rarely what hurts. It is a small sum. What hurts is everything that follows from the previous owner's name still being on the register, which is a different problem entirely, and the subject of the next section.
The risks, and how to reduce them
The two sides are not exposed to the same things. Anyone about to sign should understand exactly what they are taking on.
If you are the seller
For as long as your name is in the book, the state still considers the bike yours. Camera-issued traffic fines go to your address. Unpaid annual road tax accrues against your name. If the bike is involved in an accident, or used for something criminal, the registered owner is the first name anyone looks up.
You can prove afterwards that you sold it, provided you have a dated sale contract and evidence of handover. But while you are proving it, the burden sits with you. Which is why a seller should not treat a floating transfer as the end of their responsibility.
If you are the buyer
Your exposure is the paperwork and the seller. If the bundle is lost or damaged before you file, getting the seller back to sign again may be much harder than you expect, particularly if you bought from a stranger.
Worse: if the seller dies, has assets frozen, or gets caught up in a legal case before you file, the transfer can stall or become impossible. You are left with a bike you can ride but do not legally own.
There is also the bike's own history. Taking a bike on a floating transfer without checking the record first can mean inheriting years of unpaid tax, or a registration problem that only surfaces when you reach the counter.
A short checklist for both sides
- Photograph or copy the entire bundle before you part ways, both of you
- Date the sale contract properly and keep one copy each
- Strike through and annotate every signed ID photocopy
- Keep evidence of handover: photos, a message confirming receipt of the bike
- Sellers: agree a date with the buyer for filing, then follow up and confirm it happened
- Buyers: file as early as you can, do not drift towards the next tax renewal
If it is at all practical, going to the DLT together is still the safest route for both parties. It costs an extra half day and removes problems that can otherwise follow you for years.
Special cases: finance, another province, missing papers
The bike is still on finance
If the bike is not paid off, the name in the owner's field is the finance company's, not the rider's. The person in possession has no authority to sign it over to anyone. The loan has to be settled and ownership transferred back into the seller's name before it can be sold on.
If you see a listing offering a bike that is still being paid off but "can be floating-transferred", ask exactly where the book is and whether the account is closed, before any money moves.
The seller is in another province
This works, and it is the main reason people choose a floating transfer in the first place. The seller signs the full bundle and sends it; you take the bike and the papers to your local transport office.
Budget for the extra step: if the bike is registered in a different province, a vehicle relocation notification comes into it, which takes longer than a straightforward same-province transfer. Call the receiving office first and ask what else they want, so you are not making the trip twice. If collecting the bike in person is not practical, shipping the motorbike between provinces is another option some buyers use.
The seller dies, or the papers go missing
These two are the nightmare scenarios, and the reason not to leave a signed bundle in a drawer.
If the registered owner dies before you file, the pre-signed papers become very difficult to use, because the transfer then has to run through inheritance and be handled by an heir or an estate administrator. If the papers are lost, you need the seller back to sign a fresh set, which depends entirely on whether you can still reach them.
The prevention is the same in both cases: file within the fifteen days the law gives you. That deadline exists precisely to stop this from happening.
Before you commit either way, buying or selling, check the numbers on the frame against the green book, confirm there is no outstanding tax, compare the price against several listings for the same model, and settle the paperwork question and the filing date before money changes hands. Once you have found a bike and terms you are happy with, get in touch with the seller and arrange a viewing.
Why buy and sell used motorbikes on Talata
If you are looking for a bike, Talata brings listings from many private sellers into one place, so you can compare models, prices and condition from a single page. Because you contact the owner directly, you can ask the questions that actually matter before you go and see it: who holds the green book, is the finance settled, and are we transferring together at the DLT or are you signing the papers over. Far better to know that now than when the bundle is already in your hands.
If you are selling, listing it yourself means you can set the terms out from the start: book ready to transfer, willing to go to the DLT together or not. That filters for buyers who are actually prepared, and saves you the deals that go nowhere. If you have a bike to move, you can list it on Talata and start from there.
Frequently asked questions
What documents do I need for a floating transfer?
From the seller: the original green book, a signed copy of their ID card, a signed copy of their house registration, the signed transfer application, a power of attorney, and a sale contract. From you: a signed copy of your ID or passport, and your signature on the transfer application. Every document needs its signature. One missing and the counter will not take the file.
Do I need to bring the bike, or are the papers enough?
The bike has to come. It goes through an inspection where staff check the chassis and engine numbers against the green book. Make sure the headlight, indicators, brake light and mirrors are all present and working, so you pass on the first attempt.
How much does it cost to transfer a motorbike?
The core fees are a 5 baht application fee, a 100 baht transfer registration fee, and stamp duty of 500 baht per 100,000 baht of the bike's assessed value. A new licence plate, if you want one, is 100 baht — a motorbike carries a single plate, so ignore the 200 baht figure you may see quoted, which is for cars. For a typical used bike the total is usually in the low hundreds of baht.
Can a foreigner own and register a motorbike in Thailand?
Yes. There is no nationality restriction on owning a vehicle. What you need is proof of address that the DLT will accept, which in practice means a Certificate of Residence from Immigration or your embassy, or a work permit, along with your passport and signed copies of the photo and visa pages. Requirements vary a little between provincial offices, so call ahead.
Can I ride the bike before the transfer goes through?
Physically nothing stops you, but until the registrar records the transfer, the bike is legally still the seller's. Traffic fines and tax liability follow the name in the book. If you are stopped, or if there is an accident, the registered owner is who the paperwork points to. This is another reason not to let the fifteen days slide.
