Thai Customs auctions seized luxury vehicles, supercars

BANGKOK: Thai Customs officials sold hundreds of seized luxury vehicles yesterday, including dozens of supercars – although 95 were removed in the weeks running up to the bid after checks showed they were stolen from overseas.

Thailand’s role in the global grand theft auto trade has received fresh attention in recent weeks after British police said dozens of stolen supercars had been whisked to the Southeast Asian kingdom.

In response, police in Bangkok launched a crackdown, seizing dozens of illegally imported vehicles, including at least seven stolen from Britain, and arrested a handful of car dealers.

The country places more than 300% tax on top-end vehicles – a surcharge that investigators say fuels a lucrative black market aided by corrupt buyers, dealers and government officials.

Thailand’s Customs Department holds an annual auction for vehicles seized in criminal cases.

On Thursday, buyers raised bids for a variety of gleaming sports cars, from Ferraris to Aston Martins, Lamborghinis as well as luxurious Rolls Royces and Bentleys.

Most were confiscated for being illegally smuggled or because owners had tried to avoid paying the full import tax, while others had been seized from drug gangs and other criminals.

Deputy Customs Department spokesman Kreecha Kirdsriphan insisted the oversight was an innocent mistake.

“When we discovered that those cars were stolen in those countries, we moved them out from the auction list,” he said.

Some of the stolen vehicles had been smuggled from Britain, Singapore and Japan. – AFP