athousand

I should have looked before here on the DLT website - so at least it is clearly stated and my fault for not checking! Department of Land Transport (dlt.go.th)

Also found it here on the DLT website - my fault for not checking before so nothing particular about Samui! Department of Land Transport (dlt.go.th)

Had replies in a post in the motoring forum that this isn't a 'Samui thing' but just part of the Thai system. It does seem to be a once only opportunity to convert a license and once a Thai license is obtained and expired you have to go through the 2 day process.

Fair enough - was upset already so skin was thin already and this forum isn't the place to get any assistance with that

thanks NoDisplayName - wish I had known that before. I wouldn't have bothered with the two trips to immigration to get the residence cert and then the trip to DLT. What's most infuriating is that I left the old Driver License in the UK thinking it couldn't have any use as it was so long expired (doohhh). I do think it would be useful for quite a few people if this distinction was mentioned in the various stickies and posts that appear in this forum and others.

If VocalNeal had been interested in helping out another forum member he/she would have said that Thailand's driver licence system was such that even after a long expiration, the next application would be considered a 'renewal' rather than a 'new' application. From that simple distinction everything else would be clear. Instead by using terms such as 'rock up and expect', 'take the test like anyone else', 'If you only explain half of your problem then no one can really help you' he was implying all sorts of things about my character and expectations. VocalNeal can go f themselves. This was not what this forum was about. If that's what it is now, 'it is what it is' and good luck.

"If you only explain half of your problem then no one can really help you" Which half did I explain and which half did I leave out? And how did you try to help - by telling me I should start from scratch when I had understood that wasn't necessary? And that believing that was me "complain they won't do it your way"?

Man - this country and this forum can get so tricky. New licence vs renew. Ah - you idiot you should know that x means y. Visa exempt vs visa extension vs visa on arrival - you idiot how do you not know the difference? I'm pretty sure that only 15 years or so ago this forum was a great source of info, support and help to navigate these minefields. Now it seems like it's a place where people like me who get caught out go for the above and get slammed for not knowing the minutuae from people looking to make themselves feel better by saying things like ""You couldn't just rock up in UK with a Thai license and expect to renew your UK one." Done with this place, as many have been before, and looks like it won't be around for long now. It was great when it was populated by people looking to help! RIP Ubonjoe

And if this has happened before it would seem helpful for others that in Thai license threads that it gets mentioned that if you have ever - at any point in your lifetime - had a Thai license - regardless of its expiry date - that you will be 'renewing' even if it is years past its expiration date.

It showed up on their system. "You couldn't just rock up in UK with a Thai license and expect to renew your UK one." As far as I understood a Thai licence cannot be renewed after one year of its expiry date. So I wasn't expecting to renew I was trying to get a new one. 6 years after my licence expired. But thanks for the 'help' and the condescension. Much appreciated.

Long story short - just had an application to convert my UK car (inc IDP)driver license to Thai car driver license denied because my old Thai car driver license expired in 2017. I've been living in the UK from 2017 to 2023. This makes no sense rationally but I'm wondering if this is a Samui thing or is actually part of the Thai system in general? I had no idea that converting a UK license to Thai was literally a 'once in a lifetime opportunity'. It makes no sense in any way from a driving safety point of view and I can't see how it makes any sense from a making them money point of view either other than funneling me to an agent? If it is a known thing it probably makes sense to put it in the info somewhere as I can't be the only farang who has lived in Thailand, gone somewhere else and then come back. I've found a few things in Samui to be 'particular' to Samui so am wondering if this is one of them - and whether to expect the same from immigration etc.

UK license not ok if you've had a Thai license before and expired. So here's a new loophole that I didn't even consider. Wondering if this is a Samui thing or applies to all of Thailand. I had a Thai car driver's license in 2015. Me and my wife went back to the UK so it expired in 2017. Arrived in Samui in March. Got the residence certificate after two trips to immigration. Went to DLT with that, medical certificate, and all other docs inc UK driver license and International Driver Permit. Wife called yesterday to check all ok but obviously didn't mention expired Thai license. Queued up this morning. Told to come back at 1pm. Came back at 1pm and then told - that because I had previously had a Thai license, that has now expired, they cannot do a conversion from UK to Thai. So I would need to come back tomorrow at 7.30 and start again and apply for a new license and do the full two days there. Firstly this makes no rational sense whatsoever but I realise that isn't an argument here. The fact that they have already seen that I have passed a Thai test - or fulfilled those requirements - but are now asking me to do it again - because they have already agreed that the UK license meets those requirements... etc etc So I'm curious if this is a Samui thing or would this have happened in Bangkok, Pattaya or anywhere else. As is the way - a total waste of time, infuriating etc etc. Off to do a visa extension tomorrow with less confidence than before and no longer wondering why people use agents to smoothe things along. Had been wondering about the above post with the US person saying that even with USA license and IDP they made him do the two days - maybe he was in the same situation or there was another 'issue' or maybe they always find some issue. In the case of the driver license, is this the same as visa, in that using an agent gets them a cut or perhaps just senseless bureaucracy? First time I've hit a snag like this in fifteen years of doing things 'by the book'. I'd never heard that converting from an international to Thai license was a 'once in a lifetime opportunity' before! I've found a few things in Samui to be 'particular' to Samui so am wondering if this is one of them - and whether to expect the same from immigration etc. Another example would be when opening my bank account. They said it would be difficult to open an account because I previously had two accounts with them that I hadn't used since 2015 and that they would have to consider it due to money laundering issues. When they could see that a. the accounts were opened by me and b. neither had been used since 2015! Samui seems to be a weird place to get some basic run of the mill daily life things done compared to Bangkok and Pattaya where I lived for 10 years or so with none of these gotchas.

Does anybody know whether, after getting the 60 day extension, it's possible to apply for the year non-o spouse extension earlier than the 60 days? I experienced a delay in opening my bank account as I wasn't expecting the Residence Letter to take a week. This means that even if I put the 400,000 in now I'll miss by a few days the 2 month mark and I'll have to apply for the 60 days. However I'd like to get the yearly one done asap. Could I apply for the 60 days and then as soon as the 400,000 has been in the account for two months, apply for the year, even if that might be after 30 days of the 60 day extension? As a sidenote, has anybody managed to get online banking/pay by phone working with Bangkok Bank on the 3 month non-o? They told me that would only be available to me once I can show them the year extension.

Excellent service from Thai Embassy London. Submitted application Friday afternoon. Visa delivered by email on Monday 10pm! That's around 1 working day turnaround. For flights there's no need to book as they only ask for a flight number - no actual tickets are uploaded. Similarly for hotel - just a hotel address is asked for but no booking. For marriage certificate I did a PDF with original and certified translation and for wife's id same for both her passport and thai id. No signatures were asked for on any of the uploaded documents. I'd still like to know definitively, as much as is possible with Thai or any immigration at airports, whether there is any requirement for me to bring any cash with me. I'll be arriving on my own as my wife is going back a bit earlier than me, so won't have her to smooth things over with an immigration officer. Last time we visited, in May last year, the immigration officer was questioning my previous visas from five years before, even though I hadn't been to Thailand for five years,and they included a Non-O year extension! So while not paranoid, I'd like to cover bases etc. Would prefer not to carry the cash though as prefer not to use cash when possible.

Thanks for the info! We had to send off the translation to be certified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2017! Will go ahead and apply and report back