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I paid 17 k baht for a good used motor bike, 125 cc. At that price I didn't see any need to look at financing. A new bike could run about 40 k baht. In terms of a car you could get a good used car for around $3 k, but you would want to have it checked out. Those are prices in Chiang Mai. Plus there are a lot of repo's. How to find the repo's is a little beyond my knowledge base.

Bill Kip - Thx much for your response. I should have added that I am taking into account my size and weight (184.5 cm, 120 kg), so I am looking at a larger size machine (200cc +). I was/am initially set on a Honda Phantom, but I was informed that the Phantom is under powered. I have found a few maxi scooters (2nd hand) within my budget of around 70k (Yamaha Majesty 250), but I am hoping that I could expand my options if I can find a place that offers some kind of financing, otherwise I may postpone my move to Thailand to save a bit more to buy a 2nd hand Maxi scooter (Majesty 400, Forza, or Silver Wing).

Would you finance something for a foreigner who can pick up and leave the country without notice?

I think you will find it requires a job and valid work permit before they will even consider financing.

Straydog - A "Farang" would have a hard time leaving with an item like a motorbike. The advantage would be with the owner because if a Farang would leave, chances are that he/she would not have the documents to transport a scooter outside of the country. The owner would still have his product, along with whatever money the "lessee" would have paid to that point (no different from renting a machine; hence my asking about a renter that would be willing to "rent to own"). With that said, I have recently found a renter that offers just such a deal (). On their craigslist posting, they advertise that they "rent to own". In essence, it seems that I answered my own question here.

Thanks for the question. I am looking into it by asking a friend, and by visiting Bangkok Bank.

I had dinner with my Thai friend tonight and asked her about this. If you were buying a new bike or car there is a chance of having the dealer under writing a loan. The issues are the down payment and the interest rate. Both are going to be higher for a Farang. Buying something used would be much more difficult and again all fees would be higher. For the most part banks don't want to deal with Farangs because they have limitations on going after a Farangs assets, relative to a default. And that is the explanation from a Thai national.