Agency mulls car demolition perks

[PeteC]

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/1814114

The Excise Department is studying incentives and measures to encourage motorists to bring their used cars in for demolition to tackle the pollution problem.

The automotive industry club under the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) will meet with department officials next Monday to consult and propose a car demolition roadmap.

The process involves gauging the age of old vehicles suitable for demolition, possibly between 10 and 15 years old, said a source at the department who requested anonymity.

Demolition will be on a voluntarily basis, with volunteers receiving a cash incentive to buy a new vehicle at a lower price, the source said.

"This measure will have to be drafted as an act to be presented for parliamentary deliberation," the source said.

The expectation is that no more than 10% of old vehicles registered in Thailand will be voluntarily demolished, the source said. Some 39.3 million vehicles were officially registered as of November.

The source said the department has studied this method for a long time because it is one way to reduce the ultra-fine dust particles known as PM2.5.

The department is also considering establishing a fund for battery management of electric vehicles to seek financial sources to support the recycling of EV batteries.

"We are studying two plans at the same time," the source said. "The government will establish the fund for destroying used cars, financed by a levy collection when motorists buy new cars, but the fee should be affordable, such as 10,000 baht per car."

For owners of 10-year-old vehicles volunteering for the scheme, the fund will provide them with a certain amount of cash, plus a possible 7-8% interest rate.

For cars 15 years old and above, a single flat rate refund will be applied.

The refund rate will be the same across the board, regardless of brand, since the cars will be valued as scrap after demolition.

The levy collection when buying new cars is quite low compared with the price of refreshed cars or cars with minor changes, which normally increase by a further 30,000-50,000 baht per car, the source said.

The demolition scheme is in line with the Land Transport Department's plan to increase the annual fee for compulsory third-party insurance, with old vehicles paying higher renewal fees.

Khanchit Chaisupho, chairman of the FTI's auto industry club, said the private sector wants government support for the scheme, but the plan should come with short- and long-term actions.

"The club has talked with the Excise Department on many occasions and it has agreed to proceed with the car demolition scheme," he said. "Short-term action should allow auto wreckage that can be circulated in this process, while each old car owner will receive a cash coupon from the Excise Department to buy a new car."

This measure should be extended to 10-year-old used cars in the future in order to adopt the demolition plan for the whole automotive sector, Mr Khanchit said.

He said registered cars normally enjoy lower annual fees and taxes at the Land Transport Department after being used for more than seven years, meaning there is no incentive for their owners to buy new cars.

"It does not comply with international standards in developed countries, where old cars are subject to higher annual fees and taxes because they release more emissions than new ones," Mr Khanchit said. "Thailand does not integrate the used-car system and end-of-life-cycle registered vehicles on the roads, unlike in some European countries, Japan and the US, where old cars are subject to higher expenses and motorists are willing to buy new ones."

He said the plan is part of the circular economy strategy, bringing a higher value to the whole automotive sector -- new cars, used cars and recycling businesses.

Moreover, Thailand will suffer less from pollution caused by vehicle emissions, so the car-demolishing scheme with a cash rebate is a sustainable solution, Mr Khanchit said.

[HHTel]

Nothing new in this. I used to live in Singapore and they have had a similar scheme for the last 40 years or so. When you buy a new car there is an added tax which is very high. However, if your scrapping a car, i.e. one car out - one car in, the added tax is discounted to a preferential added tax.
It was brought in by Lee Kuan Yu many years ago. The idea was to minimise the increase of road traffic. I think it was called Added Road Fund tax and Preferential Added Road Fund tax.
They also introduced the fee for taking your car into the business district unless you had a minimum number of passengers.
I believe many countries have taken the Singapore model in part.
Of course Thailand will claim it's an idea of their own making!

[Ttmike]

This scheme was also used in the uk, think it was called the scrappage scheme.
As long as your name was in the registration document for at least one year you were eligible for the scheme which gave you a discount on a new car.
Sadly many classic cars ended up in the scheme, personally I think it was a shame to use taxpayers money to prop up the car industry.

[handdrummer]

I'm keeping my 25 yr. old Mercedes. It has a rebuilt VTEC engine and runs as well as any car on the street. If a car is in good condition, who cares how old it is. More govt. BS. Fix or fine and remove the polluters. One day they'll declare, people over a certain age must be exterminated because they drive up the cost of healthcare. The Brave New World is upon us.

[HHTel]

You can keep your Merc. The scheme is voluntary and as has been said is used in other countries. Singapore, for example have had this scheme for 40 years that I know of. In this case, it's not government BS, just the government looking at models in other countries. Pick one, then copy it. Thailand good at copying but is never the mother of invention!!
A sensible scheme as long as it doesn't become a law. Sadly, Thailand are likely to make it compulsory to scrap your car after 10 - 15 years. Let's hope it never comes to that.

[Nereus]

Nothing new in this. I used to live in Singapore and they have had a similar scheme for the last 40 years or so.

I both lived and worked out of there for years, but the last time was 15 years ago. What you are talking about is a COE.
May have changed, don't know.

[HHTel]

I'm going back to the '80s. I was there writing systems for just this tax. Not sure about now. I'll check.

Just checked and it remains pretty similar to when I was there.

The Additional Registration Fee (ARF) is a tax imposed upon registration of a vehicle. It is calculated based on a percentage of the Open Market Value (OMV) of the vehicle. The ARF determines your PARF rebate which is a component of your de-registration value.

[HHTel]

The Certificate of Entitlement or COE is the quota licence received from a successful winning bid in an open bid uniform price auction which grants the legal right of the holder to register, own and use a vehicle in Singapore for a period of 10 years.

Different.

[Nereus]

This is part of what they have in mind, as Thai logic suggests that as a car is old it must be polluting the environment.
There is no doubt that a big part of the problem is the sulphur content in diesel fuel. But first they need to remove ALL the vehicles emitting visible exhaust gas from the road, diesel or petrol, including the hundreds of Bangkok public buses spewing out clouds of black smoke.
Diesel fuel sulphur standards have been in force in Europe since 1994, so Euro 5 is not something new. But the government here has done very little about implementing any changes, even their proposed changes are way behind the rest of the world. The changes need to start with enforcement of emission standards, not just the fuel. As an example that I am familiar with, new diesel Land Rovers are ordered and imported without the Ad-blue emission systems, because Ad-blue is not available here. But they are just a microscopic part of the problem as there are not many of them.
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BCP diesel products get upgrade to Euro 5

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/18 ... -to-euro-5

Trial period to tackle PM2.5 dust

SET-listed Bangchak Corporation (BCP) plans to upgrade its diesel products to meet the Euro 5 standard as part of a trial at petrol stations in Bangkok from Dec 15 to Jan 16.

The company is committed to upgrading all fuels to comply with government guidelines before 2024.

This move aims to tackle ultra-fine dust particles, known as PM2.5, as the hazardous miasma has recurred in metropolitan areas this month.

Chaiwat Kovavisarach, chief executive and president, said BCP wants to reduce air pollution by upgrading diesel products, though prices will not be increased.
"This is a New Year's campaign to attract motorists to refill with the higher Euro standard," he said.

The PM2.5 levels are likely to increase in the city, affecting residents' health. A high pressure system from China has reached Thailand, lowering temperatures and causing dust to accumulate as the air stagnates.

The Energy Ministry announced the Euro 5 standard for the country's refineries will take effect in early 2024.

The upgrade to Euro 5 is scheduled for marine oil under the International Maritime Organization standards.
The Industry Ministry is trying to implement Euro 5 by 2021 and Euro 6 by 2022, requiring all car makers in the country to comply during that time frame.

BCP's refinery complex has a total capacity of 120,000 barrels per day to produce diesel and benzene fuels, following the Euro 4 standard.

To comply with the Euro 5 standard, BCP is conducting a feasibility study, expected to be completed in 2022-23. It plans to earmark 7-8 billion baht for this upgrade.

Moreover, BCP has entered the synthetic biology (synbio) business to tap the fast-growing industry.
This business allows scientists to redesign organisms for useful purposes through genetic engineering.

Synbio researchers and companies around the world are harnessing the power of nature to solve problems in medicine, manufacturing and agriculture.

Mr Chaiwat said a deal in the synbio business is expected early next year.

The synbio production facility is projected to use agricultural feedstock from rice, cassava, sugar cane, rubber and palm oil.

He said finished synbio products could be raw materials for cosmetics, biodegradable plastic, pharmaceuticals and food.

[migrant]

Now if the owners as well were being scrapped it could help the country

[Nereus]

Now if the owners as well were being scrapped it could help the country

Really? Well if that's going to happen I wont bother renewing my expired drivers licence.