State Of Affairs: Volkswagen In Thailand

We’ve taken it as a given that Volkswagen made cars for a wide spectrum of customers, from the hippie crowd that swayed towards camper vans in the 80s, right through to CEOs that chose to be seen in Phaetons, rather than flashier A8 or even Flying Spur siblings. But my speculations were unfounded when I moved to Thailand - where are the Volkswagens?

Twincharged 1.4 GT - as rare as a unicorn!

Then it dawned on me that my exposure to the Singapore car market only formed a microscopic view of the automotive landscape. Here in Thailand, Japanese-branded cars manufactured in Thailand dominate the roads, which is fully understandable as jobs generated help boost the local economy. Lower entry prices drive importers to challenge for more luxurious pieces of the market pie. So we can infer that The People’s Car was not quite meant to belong here in the Land of Smiles - this reference best left for Toyota and Honda.

Brings back nostalgia having owned one in Singapore. This example looks clean!

This begs the question - what types of Volkswagens do we see on Thai roads? VW badging are reserved for the Caravelle, or the Transporter in most other markets. Most are in people hauler-spec - mostly Alphard alternatives for the well heeled. These are mainly seen in black (or the occasional white), and almost always chauffeur-driven and best sighted along the CBD stretches of Sala Daeng and Chong Nonsi.

Biden-spec Caravelle / Transporter a decent Alphard alternative

And then we have the more compact “transporters” that I believe we are way more familiar with. The Mk6 Golf GTI is the pick of the bunch for Thais, but even then they are few and far between. To put it into context, a Mk6 GTI sighting is as rare as spotting an Evo 5 / 6 / 7 - pretty astonishing, but there we see the unforgiving pull of 300% import tax at play.

We're looking at a 50,000km Golf R for brand new BMW 320d money. Ouch...

And then you’ll also get the odd sighting of Mk5 GTIs, which pops up once every couple of months in the unlikeliest of places. Those sighted were not necessarily in pristine condition, which makes me wonder if they were high mileage imports from neighbouring markets. And then you’ll see Golf Rs, Sciroccos (both standard 2.0-litre and R spec) as well as limited edition Golfs, like the Clubsport 45.

When Sciroccos were not known for attracting stereotypes...

The perception of VW is one filled primarily with prestige, rarity and even slight curiosity - a brand so commonplace should have more exposure to petrolheads, regardless where we are on the planet! But the cold hard truth persists, exemplified by a Mk8 Golf GTI treated like a limited-spec hot hatch (no offense!), but in reality is just a “regular”, modern GTI. For a dealer that sells Nismo GTRs, a 911 Speedster Heritage Edition and both Modulo and Spoon-fettled Honda S660s that says a lot…

The most seen variant in Thailand - this unit looks suspect with painted Scirocco rims, but we aren't complaining

So now we have to settle for VWs in Thailand that have either seen better days, or are so rare that owners keep them away from recent floods and free from public eyes. It’s a pity, but with prices so prohibitive - the last we checked a Polo costs the same as a mid-spec Camry - we might even have to count our blessings on the fact that The People’s Car still serves a healthy handful in this portion of ASEAN.