Luxury cars regularly smuggled in from Malaysia, say officials
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Customs officials from Songkhla's Sadao district said yesterday they had intercepted approximately 200 luxury cars in the last few years that were smuggled over the Malaysian border into Thailand via Sadao and Padang Besa.
They included stolen cars or those that car owners or rental shops had driven in and then reported stolen so they could claim insurance money, said Sadao customs deputy head Siwakrit Jenwipich, adding that some of the cars intercepted carried the insignia of the Malaysian royal family.
He said customs officials had recently tightened the rules and closed loopholes on selling impounded cars to prevent luxury car dealers and rogue officials from gaining possession of them later at cheaper prices.
Prayuth Maneechote, chief of Custom Office Region 4, said that in the last 12 months his office had seized 35 luxury cars smuggled across the Malaysian border at Padang Besa and five at Sadao, including a Daimler, Mercedes Benz and Jaguar.
He said one loophole enabled illegal high-end car traders to bring in luxury cars with tourists. The cars where then sold in Thailand with the proper papers and reported stolen in Malaysia in order to claim insurance money.
Prayuth said customs officials needed to implement stricter rules for checking tourists who brought high-end cars into Thailand.
