July 6, 2020 - Reading time: 7 minutes
Updated: January 7, 2025

License plate checks (or vehicle checks) can be used to find the owners of vehicles in Thailand. A standard license plate check would reveal the vehicle owner’s name and address. Additionally, if the vehicle is subject to a finance agreement then the finance company’s name would be uncovered by a license plate check, as well as details about the vehicle lease holder. 

Our license plate check service can be used to check cars, trucks and motorcycles in Thailand. Our fee for standard license plate checks is just 12,500 THB including tax.

We offer a fast and cost-effective service. Please contact us if you require this check and we will be happy to assist you. 

Checking the ownership of vehicles can be useful in a number of different cases. For example, we have previously used this check on behalf of foreign men that are supporting Thai girlfriends. In some cases, the vehicle being checked has not been owned by the Thai lady herself but by an unknown third party - typically a Thai man (potentially the woman’s boyfriend). Additional checks, such as a background check or household check can be used to uncover additional information about your Thai girlfriend, business partner or employee.

Often is the case that we are asked to run background checks and include a vehicle check as part of the service. Other times the check can be used in a search for assets or where contact information (name/home address) for a vehicle owner is needed. The check can also help to reveal if a vehicle is subject to outstanding finance... We have found through experience that hire purchase agreements tend to be common for vehicles that are purchased in Thailand, especially for high end cars, pickup trucks and SUVs, which are often sold for upwards of 1,500,000 THB.

Pre-Purchase Vehicle Checks in Thailand

In addition to our standard checks, we also offer comprehensive pre-purchase vehicle checks, which are perfect for used vehicle inspection in Thailand. Our standard pre-purchase vehicle check package is just 16,990 THB including tax (terms and conditions apply).

Our Thailand pre-purchase vehicle check service includes checking the vehicle ownership, ownership history, tax, and check for outstanding finance. We can also check for vehicle insurance, insurance claim (accident) history, and vehicle service history. Performing pre-purchase checks before deciding to buy a used car in Thailand can save you vast amounts of money and headache.

Wouldn’t you rather know if the vehicle you are buying has been involved in previous accidents, and whether it has been regularly serviced? We can help to protect your investment and stop you being ripped off.

Foreign made vehicles in Thailand can hold considerable value due to Thailand’s taxation policy on vehicles that are imported into the country. Due to these import taxes, the price for high end foreign vehicles (both brand new and used) in Thailand is typically magnitudes more than you might expect to pay in a Western country. Cars made by BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Porsche, Land Rover, Bentley, Jaguar, among many others, would all fall into the category of non-Thai made vehicles, which are subject to high levels of tax.

Our vehicle check service can be used to check the ownership of both cars and motorcycles in Thailand. Additionally, checking to see whether a vehicle might be subject to outstanding finance (hire purchase) agreements can be a cost-effective check used to protect yourself and your capital when purchasing vehicles in Thailand. Thailand vehicle finance checks (included as part of our standard license plate check for 11,500 THB), are often performed by our clients when purchasing a high value asset. If you suspect that a scammer might be attempting to defraud you through the dishonest sale of a vehicle, then in many cases performing a license plate check might help you to realize that you are being duped, and avoid capital loss.

License Plates in Thailand

Foreigners typically struggle to understand license plates in Thailand due to the sanskrit letters that are written in the Thai language. However, license plates are simple to understand once you know what to look for. Each license plate typically includes the province where the vehicle was registered at the bottom of the plate, above which we would typically see two letters followed by four numbers.

What are Red License Plates?

This car (photographed above) is brand new, and therefore it displays a temporary red license plate, while it waits to be issued with a standard white background plate with black text. Restrictions will apply to the vehicle until it is issued with its regular, permanent license plate. Please note that red plates CANNOT be checked by us as part of the above services.

Special customized license plates which are decorated by photo backgrounds are also available at an additional cost. Diplomatic vehicles, and vehicles that are used by the police or military typically display special license plates that are different in appearance than those which are used by members of the public.

Did you know that license plates which belong to pickup trucks have green lettering instead of black? Unless the pickup truck has 4 doors, in which case it would be classified as a ‘sedan’ and sport black lettering on its license plate instead.

License plates which have yellow or green coloured backgrounds are seen on licensed hire vehicles in Thailand. Tourists that are hiring taxis when arriving in Thailand can easily check to see whether they are riding in a registered taxi, or potentially a private vehicle, simply by checking the license plate.

If you are riding on a motorbike taxi in Thailand, then it’s easy to recognize when you are using the services of a properly licensed driver by taking a look at his yellow license plate. It’s easy for tourists (or anyone) to spot the difference between the bright yellow license plate of a motorbike taxi (or taxi car!), verses a regular motorbike’s license plate, which has white background and black text. While scams involving taxis are uncommon, checking to see if you are riding in a vehicle with a green or yellow license plate can help to make sure that you are doing business with a registered taxi. This simple tip is designed to help you avoid taxi scams in Thailand.

Please feel free to contact one of our experienced team members if you would require our vehicle check service or if you are interested in any of the other services that are provided by us. We will endeavour to respond with a free, no pressure quote.

May 9, 2020 - Reading time: 7 minutes
Updated: June 14, 2024

Not all Thai girlfriends tell lies. However, many of the ladies investigated by us are found to have been committing acts of infidelity, and this usually entails telling some form of untruths to their partners. We have put together this list detailing some of the most common fibs told by Thai women based on our experience.

Lying about relationship history

If your Thai girlfriend has already been married to a foreigner and subsequently divorced, it’s not likely that she will be entirely honest about this. Women that are involved with “farangs” don’t tend to be upfront about their relationship history, and you may never fully understand your Thai girlfriend’s past relationships. We have seen many different cases that fall into this category. In one instance we discovered that a Thai lady was still legally married to her foreign husband; when she was confronted by her new boyfriend she claimed that even though the couple had split up she had agreed to remain legally married so that her husband could continue to (fraudulently) renew his Thai marriage visa. Lying about having been married can also help to create justification for requesting a higher sin sod (or ‘dowry’) payment, as women that have never been married tend to ask for larger dowries.

Checking the marital/divorce history of your partner is easy for us to do and typically included as part of a background check.

Lying about children

This might seem like a shocking point but is something that we see surprisingly often. Thai ladies that are looking for a serious relationship with a foreigner sometimes lie about having children. They might claim only to have one child whilst they in-fact have two or more. Knowing that their boyfriend is unlikely to visit the village where her children live means that it’s easy to get away with this lie, and in some cases Thai women can conceal children for many years if they weren’t upfront at the start of the relationship. We would typically check whether or not a Thai woman has children as part of a background check.

Lying about being a ladyboy

Some readers will find this point hard to believe and understandably so. While it might be a stretch to describe this lie as ‘common’, we have seen a surprising number of instances where this has happened during our decades of experience in Thailand. Ladyboys that have had surgery on their genitals can occasionally manage to convince their boyfriends that they are biological women. We’re not talking about men in drag here… Years of female hormones and high-quality plastic surgery can make ladyboys very difficult to distinguish from biological women. At the time of writing it is not possible for ladyboys to change their legal identity from ‘male’ to ‘female’, so if you’re having doubts, check your girlfriend’s ID card and see whether ‘she’ started off life as a ‘he’.

Lying about pregnancy

‘The Thai girl pregnancy scam’, as it’s known, is an age-old tactic that has been used for many years and will likely continue to flourish in the future. If a Thai woman is keen on you or wants you to take your relationship with her more seriously, then she might claim that she has ‘missed a period’ and that she is pregnant. Lying about pregnancy can be a short-winded scheme used to encourage the man back to Thailand or into a relationship, however we have seen other examples where the scam can involve fake pregnancy tests and doctors that are in on the scam. It is a particularly unpleasant scam that we often see unfold. If a Thai woman that you barely know is claiming that she’s pregnant with your baby then you need to deeply question her motives and whether or not she is telling you the truth.

Lying about debt 

Whilst it’s difficult for us to demonstrate this statistically, we have learned from experience that many families (especially those in the northern provinces of Isan) have debt, and sometimes significant debts with relatively high interest rates. We find that Thai women are not often honest about having financial difficulties early on in a relationship, for obvious reasons. It is thought that owing significant amounts of money can push some Thai women to work in the sex industry.

Lying about their age

In our experience it’s not uncommon for Thai women to lie about their ages when they are dating or looking to start up a new relationship. Their belief is that by claiming to be slightly (or a lot) younger they will make themselves more appealing to the opposite sex. Thai women often appear to be younger than they actually are, and with the aid of well applied makeup, this trick can work surprisingly often.  Whilst relatively harmless, this is another common lie that Thai women tell their foreign boyfriends. If you’re having doubts, ask to take a look at the date of birth shown on her ID card or passport.

Lying about falling in love

Do Thai girlfriends lie about being in love? Of course, and it’s easy to understand why. Those three words can mean a lot to some men and can really help to solidify a relationship. Foreign boyfriends are seen as very desirable by many Thai women and by claiming that they’re in love early on in a relationship, the hope is that this can help to form a strong bond with their partner. 

Lying about Thai men

There is good and bad in all people, and Thai men are no different. Some Thai men make caring husbands, some don’t. If a Thai woman tells you that ‘all Thai men are no good’, there is usually a reason behind her saying that. Why does she prefer foreigners? It’s also common for Thai women to be in secret relationships with Thai men whilst developing romances with foreigners. The lady might introduce her Thai boyfriend to the foreigner as her friend or family member. If you can’t speak Thai, it’s near impossible to figure out whether or not you’re being told the truth.

Lying about work/education history

We regularly investigate women that are claiming to be studying at university, that are not. Similarly, if a Thai woman has been working in the nightlife scene for a number of years, it’s unlikely that she will be honest about her past activities. Bar girls have always been working in the job for “a couple of months”. It’s easy to underestimate the lies told by a professional scammer. For example, if a Thai girl is a fake university student, she will typically fill her Facebook page with photos of her inside a university. We have seen women that claim to be working regular jobs at restaurants or cafes actually borrow someone else’s uniforms in order to pose for photos and convince their boyfriends that they are working there. The mentality that “it could never happen to me” means that foreign men usually fall for this type of scam hook line and sinker.

April 26, 2020 - Reading time: 4 minutes
Updated: June 14, 2024

At Bangkok Investigators we endeavour to help anyone that reaches out to us wherever we can. Whether this is investigating a cheating spouse, a business dealing or a potential fraud, we don’t limit ourselves to any one form of investigation and aim to assist our clients wherever possible. 

Over the past 8 months we have been contacted by approximately one dozen individuals or companies that have been the victim of scams involving the purchase of tires from Thailand. These scams are very simple and profitable for the fraudsters. They will simply setup a professional looking website, list themselves as suppliers on online marketplaces and accept orders for tires which don’t actually exist.

The fraudster will typically send over a professional looking invoice; once the purchaser has paid this invoice (in full or typically 50% of the agreed price), the fraudsters will vanish. E-mails and phone calls will go unanswered and they will disappear, no shipment will be made. After some time without contact the purchaser will start to realize that they have been duped. It is at this stage that we are usually asked to step in and help. Recovering money from fraudsters in Thailand can be extremely difficult and cost prohibitive, especially if you are based overseas. 

How to spot a fake tire supplier in Thailand?

Having seen numerous instances of this scam taking place, we have been able to review many different websites, invoices and listings which have been created by fraudsters in order to deceive people that are looking to purchase tires from Thailand. These fraudsters vary in their sophistication. We have seen cases where private individuals claim to be acting on behalf of registered companies (which don’t exist), other times fraudsters will actually setup limited companies in Thailand in order to make themselves appear more legitimate to their victims.

Figuring out whether a tire supplier based in Thailand is legitimate or not can be difficult. Having little knowledge about Thailand and business dealings here can make yourself more vulnerable to this type of fraud. Career fraudsters will usually have a plausible answer to any question that is posed to them… We have seen cases where fraudsters will visit legitimate warehouses or factories in order to take photos which help to make themselves appear legitimate and more convincing to their victims. In some cases the fraudsters will have websites that appear more professional than legitimate suppliers. Seasoned fraudsters will also take the time to post false reviews for themselves. 

It can be very difficult to distinguish between a legitimate vendor and a fraudster. In most cases it is possible to figure out whether or not a person/company is legitimate by conducting a site visit, examining the vendor’s premises and conducting interviews. In Thailand these tasks are best suited to native Thai people.

Don’t become a victim 

If you are looking to import tires from Thailand (or any product/commodity) then it is very easy for us to protect your interests by performing basic due diligence before a transaction takes place. Before you wire thousands of dollars over to Thailand for the purchase of tires, get in touch with us and have us check the supplier for you. Is the address supplied by the vendor a commercial premises, or is it a PO box? Does the address even exist? Answering these questions using Google and online searches is impossible in most cases. We would also seek to establish whether the vendor is a legitimate registered company or a sole trader. In the case that the vendor is working for a legitimate company we can procure their balance sheet and other information which can help to aid you in your purchasing decision.

Based on the number of queries that we receive relating to this scam, we can say that it appears to be very prevalent at the moment. After all, it is easy for an unscrupulous individual to claim to be a reputable tire supplier, and it is certainly very easy to fall victim to this type of scam.

Our fees for performing basic due diligence are far lower than the amount of money at stake if a transaction goes wrong. We always prefer to run checks before a deal takes place rather than after money has changed hands. Please feel free to get in touch with one of our experienced team members for help and advice. 

April 2, 2020 - Reading time: 5 minutes
Updated: June 14, 2024

This question is asked very often and the answer can vary massively depending on your individual circumstances. Some ladies are high maintenance and aim to live a champagne lifestyle, others are quite happy to live in reasonable comfort and support their families.

Some guys send 5,000 – 15,000 THB per month to top up their girlfriend’s minimum wage salary. Other men might support their girlfriend by sending 30,000 – 100,000 THB per month, and sometimes they send even more than this. Much depends on your girlfriend, her lifestyle and any dependents that rely on her.

In order to figure out how much money it will take to support your Thai girlfriend you need to examine her circumstances as well as her ingoings and outgoings. Does your girlfriend have children? Do her parents work for a living? These two questions are very important… Thai women are traditionally responsible for supporting their parents in their old age, and as the partner of a Thai lady this responsibility will ultimately fall on yourself. If your girlfriend (or her parents) are raising children then this is another expense that should be taken into account when you consider paying your girlfriend an allowance.

We have heard stories of women that are happy to work a minimum wage job and receive a small amount of support from their foreign boyfriends so that they are able to live in relative comfort. Other ladies are accustomed to a high rolling lifestyle; they might live in an expensive apartment and be responsible for repayments on a car or motorbike. If your Thai girlfriend is really in love with you, then it’s not unreasonable to expect her to make compromises so that she is not a financial burden on you.

Often is the case that foreign men fall in love with ladies from Isaan, that is the rural northern provinces of Thailand. These ladies usually leave their villages to find work in major cities such as Bangkok. If your girlfriend falls into this category and comes from a family of rice farmers then she may have expenses associated with her family farm, such as fertilizing their fields, planting rice, and harvesting the family’s fields. It’s also common for families in Isaan to be responsible for high interest bank loans… If this applies to your partner then she will also need to save money to pay back any loans her family has taken out. (This tends to be a touchy subject for Thai ladies - don't expect your girlfriend to be honest with you if her family have huge loan repayments to make. Thai women know that their boyfriend isn't going to be pleased to find out she's eyeball deep in debt.)

Is she really your girlfriend?

There is a difference between supporting your girlfriend and paying a lady to be your girlfriend. If you’ve met a lady in a bar and are now offering to pay her an amount of money to spend time with you, this is a different topic altogether and not something we are touching on with this article. However, it’s important to understand which of these two categories your relationship falls into and ensure that your girlfriend has the same view, especially if the relationship started at an adult entertainment center such as Pattaya or the red light districts in Bangkok. Often is the case that such ladies will continue to sleep with their customers in order to earn money whilst being sponsored by their foreign boyfriends... We should know, our job often leads us to exposing women that do exactly this.

Spend a little, save a lot

If you’re sending money to your Thai girlfriend on a regular basis then it often makes sense to be sure that she is faithful to you. We can help by running a background check on her or by checking your girlfriend through a conventional investigation. Due to the prevalence of romance scams in Thailand we are often able to save our clients vast amounts of money and heartache. Please visit our homepage for more information about us and the different services that we offer.

Related blog posts

• Signs that your Thai girlfriend is cheating on you
• How to tell if your Thai girlfriend loves you
• Most common Thai girlfriend lies and scams