Thailand Lines Up Two Clean-Energy Vehicle Subsidies Worth THB12 Billion

Thailand's Excise Department is readying two fresh subsidy schemes aimed at getting dirtier vehicles off the road. Director-general Pornchai Thiraveja said the department will submit both to a screening subcommittee, with total borrowing of about THB12 billion — THB6 billion per scheme. The money comes from the THB200 billion tranche earmarked for the energy transition under the emergency decree that lets the Ministry of Finance borrow.

The first scheme is a trade-in drive targeting new pickups: around 150,000 electric pickups or pickups that can run on B20 diesel. Owners of saloons, pickups, vans and other four-wheelers would have to deregister their old vehicles and permanently pull them from use, so they can't sneak back onto the roads. Scrapped cars could still be sold to licensed recycling plants, with owners getting market prices for metal and parts. The state subsidy is estimated at roughly THB40,000 per vehicle.

Pornchai framed the trade-in plan as a three-way win for participants: the government subsidy, discounts from participating manufacturers, and cash from selling the old vehicle for scrap. State financial institutions including Government Savings Bank, plus private finance companies, would help manage funding and lending so buyers and farmers can actually afford the new trucks. The pickup angle follows Thailand's Multi Pathway strategy, which mixes technologies to protect the country's pickup production base while still cleaning up emissions.

The second scheme skips the trade-in requirement entirely. It would pay subsidies straight to buyers of electric motorcycles, with no old bike needed, and targets hundreds of thousands of vehicles. Only models manufactured in Thailand would qualify — a deliberate nudge to keep investment and jobs inside the domestic EV industry. Buyers would be free to resell or transfer ownership, since the goal is getting more electric motorcycles into real use, and finance companies would back instalment loans to widen access.

Permanent secretary for finance Lavaron Sangsnit said the trade-in push would start with pickups and transport vehicles, with owners of pickups used 15 years or more eligible for replacement. Not every commercial vehicle can go electric yet, so new vehicles must at minimum support B20 high-speed diesel, which the government already subsidises. All traded-in vehicles would have to be destroyed and recycled inside Thailand at certified plants. Lavaron brushed off household-debt worries, calling a replacement a long-term investment that cuts repair bills and lasts another 15 years, with loan guarantees from the Thai Credit Guarantee Corporation smoothing credit.

Both schemes still have hurdles to clear. If the screening subcommittee signs off, they move to the National Electric Vehicle Policy Committee, known as the EV Board, then to the Cabinet. The department is meanwhile building the systems to disburse funds and drafting supporting legal provisions in parallel, so benefits can flow quickly once approval lands. Separate proposals covering lorries and public transport — buses, taxis and vans — are also heading to the subcommittee, though Lavaron gave no firm funding limits or subsidy conditions for those.