In the first 18 days of July, the owners of 2,060 right-hand drive vehicles have registered their vehicles, with 1,029 of them paying tax. The General Department of Customs and Excise of Cambodia (GDCE) has received around $4.35 million in tax, according to a July 18 report.

Prime Minister Hun Sen recently allowed right-hand drive vehicles which are already in the country to be registered and taxed without being modified. He also encouraged the GDCE to continue searching for untaxed left-hand drive vehicles.

The GDCE announced on July 11 that it had given owners of as-yet untaxed right and left hand drive vehicles 90 days to pay, while the deadline for registering right-hand drive vehicles was July 31.

It reminded the owners of untaxed right-hand drive vehicles to pay their taxes as register their vehicles as soon as possible, lest they be seized by customs officials.

On the prime minister’s recommendations, the GDCE has assigned more officials to the task of ensuring that no more right-hand drive vehicles are illegally imported. So far they have yet to report a single case of this happening.

Kim Pagna, country director of the Asia Injury Prevention Foundation encouraged the owners of as-yet untaxed right-hand drive vehicles to fulfil their tax obligations on time to avoid breaking the law. He also requested that traffic laws be tightened for these vehicles.

“I recommend that the government set a separate speed limit for the drivers of these kinds of vehicles and make sure they undergo regular training. There are certain risks which go hand in hand with these kinds of vehicles being operated in a traffic environment which is designed for left-hand drive vehicles,” he said.