odd wrote:the fact that you have never received one from the dealer just proves my statement yesterday.
If the dealers don't give out this log book, then I don't believe it has anything to do with not wanting to pay for legitimate red plates. I believe it would be because they know people just aren't going to use them. There are thousands of red plates every day. If police were stopping vehicles with red plates and fining them because they don't have a log book, and the reason they don't have a log book is because the dealer never gave them one, then the dealers would be giving out the log book when people started raising hell with them.
And I would also think the dealers would get into trouble for not having complied with the law. With all the laws and fees vehicle dealerships have to comply with, do you really think they're going to try to save money on red plates and log books? That makes about zero sense, even by Thai logic.
Ok, then the next question is - suppose you have this log book and make an entry or two, then stop bothering to make any more entries. Then you get stopped by a police officer who wants to see the log book. How is he supposed to know how often you've really driven the car?
If he asked me why there are only two entries, but I've had the car for over a month, my answer would be I haven't driven it because I'm waiting for the genuine plates to come in, or I didn't feel like going anywhere, or I was sick and wasn't going anywhere, or I was drinking quite a lot at home and didn't want to drive drunk - or some other bullshit story.
I don't doubt your story, but there is certainly a "what's wrong with this picture?" aspect.