el jefe

1 hour ago, jeffandgop said:

As I wrote, a house book or lease agreement is documentation for the CoR request to Immigration (not a requirement for a DL)

I just got a Certificate of Residence (CM immigration office near the airport). I needed a copy of the TM 30 receipt. No lease, house book, or landlord appearance necessary.

1 hour ago, freedomnow said:

I have an expired 5-year license....coming in on some tourist visa, can I still get a 5-year license again or only 2 ?

 

Also, do I have to go through tests to get it that day ?

Depends how long your license has been expired. I believe that if it's over a year, you have to start over again and yes, you'll have to do the tests. Otherwise, the colorblindness test is all you need to do at the Land Transportation Office.

1 hour ago, PhoenixGalore said:

Hm, I'm not sure what you mean. People on short term/tourist visas get a 2 year temporary license only. 5 year license is available to longer term visa holders. That's what I've been told anyway. 

When I renewed my initial license, I got 5 years. I was on a 6 month tourist visa then, but that was many years ago and the rules may have changed.

4 hours ago, PhoenixGalore said:

Does anyone know if it is possible to "renew" or change from a 2 year license to a 5 year license if someone changed from a tourist to education/non-immigrant visa? 

 

My 2 year license isn't close to expiry, but wanted to change to the 5 year license so I can get an IDP/international license translation.

 

Thanks

The length of your initial license isn't based on the type of visa so I doubt you can change/renew to a longer one until 3 or 6 months before expiration. Hopefully, for your sake, someone will prove me wrong.

On 4/21/2021 at 10:28 PM, StreetCowboy said:

It depends on your money - troublesomeness balance point.
If you have money, spending it is easy.  If you don't, searching round is not so difficult.

The point of respoking the entire wheel would be to change the failure rate for that wheel from one spoke per year (current approximate failure rate for shopping bike rear wheel) to less than one spoke in eight years (equivalent for the aggregate of road bike and mountain bike rear wheels).  Per kilometre, the shopping bike performs worse than 1 in 1.000 km, compared to better than 1 in 30,000 km for the other bikes aggregated.

 

 

If you're rebuilding a wheel because of broken spokes, the usual practice is to replace the rim in addition to the spokes. The theory is that the broken spokes stressed the rim. Getting the wheel perfectly true while using the old rim might be very difficult and you risk breaking the new spokes.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery and I hope you're back on the bike as soon as the doctors allow.
I'm also glad that while this accident should never have happened in the first place, that everything went smoothly, proving all the negativity isn't justified.

3 hours ago, elektrified said:

Supposedly you can now pay a visa agent to obtain a residence certificate for you. Since you can't watch the video at the DLT, you have to go to a private driving school to watch the video. I've seen the fee as quoted as 200 Baht for this service.

Every interaction with the govt seems to go more smoothly when an added fee is paid.

13 hours ago, Jillie Norman said:

I was taught to do some walking or cycling when I am stressed or anxious. However, I can't seem to go way farther than 2 miles. I get really exhausted and all cramped easily. Or is this just at first? How far have you gone cycling?

You shouldn't be getting cramps after 2 miles of cycling unless you're starting on one of Thailand's steep mountains. An electrolyte drink won't help. You can't develop an imbalance that quickly.
The bike you're riding may be way too small for you or there might be something seriously wrong with it.
And it's also possible you have a serious illness. (Sorry if that adds to your stress!)
I have several friends near 70 years old who have taken months off the bike because of surgery and have complained that they had trouble doing 50 kms on their first ride back.
Your prior physical activity level would be useful info but, mostly, to your doctor.

7 hours ago, stament said:

One year after the expiry date? Is that normal or just because of Covid?

 

Not like TH to pass up an opportunity to take money off foreigners.

Just because someone at the LTO said it's valid, doesn't necessarily make it so. The police might still issue a fine if they stop you and, more importantly, your insurance may not be  valid. You should check with your insurance company to find out if that is true.

Postponed. No new date set:

https://www.facebook.com/doiinthanonchallenge/

5 hours ago, elektrified said:

I was reading earlier about one guy who today, was able to get one in C.M. by going to the Consulate and being hooked-up on a video-conference with an Embassy official, signing a document, holding it up to the camera, etc. $50 USD. So I guess there is a way to do it.

 

Also I saw a post from a lawyer who says that if one is involved in an accident while in possession of an expired license that the insurance companies are required to pay claims during this time. He posted a document which I assume is the official directive, but it's so small that I can't read it. I'll post it but it's really low-resolution.

Thanks for the update.

Everyone complained about the 500 baht "fee". Now (for US citizens) it has tripled, you need a specific appointment sometimes weeks in advance, and it will be much more time consuming.
This is a system that just can't last. Hopefully, for everyone else, they figure something better out soon. For people from countries without a consulate in CM it means a trip to Bangkok.

As for the insurance, the optimal time to renew your license is as soon as possible after the expiration date. Regardless of the letter above, everyone needs to determine their own risk tolerance. i ride a scooter and waited a while after expiration before renewing. If I drove a car, I would have renewed much sooner.

1 hour ago, elektrified said:

Residency Certificates are no longer available from C.M. Immigration. You have to get one from your Embassy (no Consulates). Effective about 2 days ago. There have been several reports of this on other forums in the last two days.

thanks for the updated info. Fortunately I can't think of why i would need one for years. But I'm curious, does that mean most people have to go to Bangkok to get one?

35 minutes ago, gamb00ler said:

Perhaps the expat's stories were not clear.  I only had to give a reason for needing the certificate(s).

 

At the Immigration's 2nd floor residency certificate scam desk I was asked the reason I needed the certificate.  I'm a recent arrival so at that time I was unaware that I would need two certificates.  One was for opening a bank account and one for DL.  They told me the certificates were specific to the reason and I needed to fill out and sign two applications but pay only 1 "fee" for expedited service.

 

When I received the certificates they were identical except each included the specific reason.

yes, that's exactly it.
My wife has been to the 500 baht desk in the stairwell twice in the past 3 weeks for Residency certificates. Both times she was asked what it was for. Her answers were never more than 3 words -- "driver's license renewal' and "buy a scooter".  he says she was never asked why she needed a license but the answer would be 3 words -- "It's the law"

23 hours ago, hml367 said:

I looked 3 January, 2021, at about 6 p.m.....   it said it was closed in March, 2020,  until further notice.

กรมการขนส่งทางบก | Department of Land Transport (dlt.go.th)

 Based on all the reports of people successfully getting their renewals, that is obviously no longer true. I can't tell you what happened today though and it could change from day to day.

56 minutes ago, stament said:

How does their logic work? Seems odd.

The license expires on your 5th birthday after you renew. Think of it as a 6 year license but there is a penalty for renewing early. Either way, there is logic and illogic but that's just the way it is. If you read thru this whole thread at least it has been consistently applied for many years.

57 minutes ago, elektrified said:

Many thanks for that. I'm glad I asked because the wife was nagging me to go on Friday! I would have lost a year!

 

Do you know if this document requirement is up to date?

 

1. Medical certificate

2. Resident certificate purchased at Airport Immigration Office (500 baht)

3. Passport and copy of picture and particulars page

4. Expired license

5. 500 odd baht fee

 

Thanks again for your help.

That list is correct except for #1.
The medical certificate is not needed for a 5-5 renewal. If it's a 2-5 renewal it probably is.
Also, there should be a #6 -- something to read during the 45 minute video. There is no test afterwards.

1 hour ago, elektrified said:

Is there a grace period? My 5 year license expires this Sunday. Thanks.

You have several months (3 or 6) though I'm sure the police will demand a fine if you are stopped at a license checkpoint.
It's best to wait until after it expires anyway since you will get an extra year that way. If you do it this wek it will expire on Dec 20, 2025. If you wait until at least Monday to do it, your new  license won't expire until Dec 20 2026.

here's a minor update. My wife went this week to renew a 5-5 license.
She picked up her Certificate of Residence at the airport Immigration at 11:30 and went straight to LTO. she had all of her paperwork and they gave her a same day appt for 1:00pm. She went for lunch and was done by 2:30pm.

I don't think this has been mentioned before but it's an important time saver. the mandatory video for a 5-5 renewal doe NOT have a test afterwards. Feel free to bring a book.

2 hours ago, Whip said:

Should have been a dog

Why would you want the cat to be eaten by a dog?

7 hours ago, Fromas said:

Question for the experts:

Renewing 2 year license to a 5 year license at Hangdong DLT
1. Is a medical certificate one of the papers needed?
2. Are they open in the afternoon to do this?
3. Is is mandatory (or wise) to make a prior appointment? If so, can this be done by phone?

1. For 2-5 year renewal, a medical certificate is necessary.

2. I think so. They processed my 5-5 in the afternoon.

3. It was mandatory to have an appointment and they would not make one until they saw that I had all of the paperwork. I don't believe it is possible over the phone. However, there are recent reports of people doing 2-5 by just walking in and getting it done same day. That was probably the most important part of your questions. Sorry. I hope someone else can provide a better answer.
 

deleted

1 hour ago, BKK8 said:

going to get a residence certificate at Immigration Airport soon. Do i need to bring my rental contract and/or tm 30 or is rental contract only also ok  ?

You must have the TM 30. That has your address so there is no need for the rental contract. The reverse won't work.

27 minutes ago, BKK8 said:

is that the office in Chiang mai ? normally i only did the test with the trafic light

Yes, that was the LTO on the 108.

1 hour ago, BKK8 said:

i am colour blind as well and worry a bit about the test , was it easy to pass for you ?

 

I'm red-green color blind. Five years ago when I went to RAM for my health certificate they used a real color blindness test -- pick out the number inside 100 colored dots. I couldn't do that. I just told the doctor "red is always on top" and she closed the book and said "OK".
The test at the driver's license office is a little easier. I was able to make out the difference in colors in the individual circles. The yellows were easy. the other two I had to think about. I was definitely the slowest of the 8 people taking the test. You should be OK too.

On 8/23/2020 at 3:31 PM, Sparkles said:

Apologies for late reply.The time I was told to be there was 12.30pm at the small office I went to originally, some 200 m away from the main building,that was not operating and I was directed to the main building,2nd floor.It was 1 pm when 20 of us were ushered into the colour blind area where stout woman with a stick pointed at us and said independently "YOU stand here" The test was different than last time 5 + yrs ago which was larger boards, now smaller version, mass of small coloured dots which she points to with her stick.

 

We all passed and then to the video room packed in like sardines which a pleasant lady apologised for. 40 mins ,an updated, more professional video but very repetitive.Then to the counter until number called,paid the 505 baht, then to have photo taken and the apparently compulsory 10 baht plastic cover.Was out by around 2.30pm with a licence which will carry me through ,if I don't fall of the perch, for another 5 years and 11 months. 

Except for the 10 baht fee, that was almost exactly my experience. I'm color blind and shocked I passed.