New ‘vanity’ licence plates go up for auction next Wednesday
An online auction of the latest coveted vehicle licence plate numbers will take place next Wednesday (August 3), the Department of Land Transport said on Friday.
As many as 130 “special licence plates” with desired numbers — mostly rare and considered lucky, such as 9999, 8888, and 5555 — will be put under the hammer, the department’s director-general Jirut Wisanjit said.
Along with the coveted numbers, the plates feature auspicious Thai words that mean “lucky”, “beautiful”, “luck”, “best”, “power”, “wealthy”, and “rich”, among others.
The auction for licence plates — the second this year — is scheduled to start at 9am on August 3 at the department’s headquarters in Bangkok’s Chatuchak district.
Prospective bidders may register with the department’s Road Safety Fund or online at the website www.tabienrod.com.
Bidders can submit their maximum bids in writing or bid in real-time via the website. The auction will be broadcast on the fund’s Facebook page.
Starting prices range from 500,000 baht for licence plates with double numbers – such as 1122, 3434 and 5665 – to 1.5 million baht for “super premium” numbers, such as 8888 and 9999, according to Jirut.
Proceeds from the auction will go to the Road Safety Fund and partly will be spent on buying equipment for people disabled in road accidents.
Unlike ordinary licence plates, the special plates also have a background with a colourful graphic. Ownership can be transferred or inherited to be used with other registered passenger cars.