The auction, held on Saturday (July 22), was of licence plates featuring the Thai letters ขจ (KorJor) with the scenic Phuket-specific background. The plates can be used only on private vehicles registered to carry no more than seven persons.
Starting bids for the lucky numbers ranged from B2,000 to B5,000 to B20,000, depending on the lucky number. The last number to be auctioned off, ขจ 9797, went for 97,000.
The auction for Phuket licence plates was held online under ‘new normal’ practices, introduced during the COVID-10 pandemic and still promoted under the same name.
Throughout the three-hour event broadcast online, the bidding for the top-bid numbers was not shown.
In closing the event, Pitak Arsuwan of the PLTO announced that the top successful bid was B915,000, though he did not clarify for which licence plate number.
A photo of a man collecting the usually most-prized number “9999” was posted in announcing the closing of the event, but the man’s identity was not revealed.
Mr Pitak pointed out the cheapest successful bid was B27,000.
The auction was just one of the licence plate auctions by the Land Transport Department. Similar auctions are held in each provinces every year.
The auction of special Phuket licence plates in August last year also raised B25mn.
Funds raised by the licence plate auctions go towards road-safety projects carried out by the national Road Safety Fund.