richard_smith237

Your own fault, get caught driving without a license in another (Western) country and see what happens to you. Why do you want it to be different here. Pay the fine and dont drive until you get a legal Thai license. Som Nam Na. You've misunderstood.... He (sparky) doesn’t want it to be different here. He’s simply pointed out that an IDP is not required if the home Licence is in English (and from a country signature to the int’l conventions). IF a foreigner can speak Thai - he could perhaps explain this to the BiB who’s attempting to fleece him of 1000 baht for doing nothing wrong !!! This of course depends on where the Op is from, what visa the Op is on, how long he’s been here (since entry) etc.

Not quite true - Your travel insurance may be void IF You are driving illegally. For those holding a driving licence from many Western nations with Photo Licences issued in English (and are signatory to 1949 and / or 1968 Conventions on Road Traffic) an IDP is not required.... i.e. IDP is not needed for British, Australians etc... and thus there would be no impact whatsoever to their ‘travel insurance’ as they can legal drive in Thailand on their home country licence. ------- Of question is for how long tourists of *English Language countries may drive on their home country licence. Also of Question is for how long tourists from *non-English language countries can drive with an IDP. *By English Language I mean Driving Licence in English.

I imagine they’d care little that he had an IDP to accompany his home licence or not. Por-Ror-Bor is on the car - and pays compensation / medical costs up to a certain amount. The Police and file criminal charges and IF the driver is at fault / found to be driving dangerously and compensation can be negotiated - licence or not.

That doesn’t help the Op recover their line contacts. Its like recommending to someone who’s had a car accident to use a different car that handles better, it doesn’t help them get the car fixed (the car analogy still seems to work !!!) Agreed, it can be extremely irritating and painful... By the time we’ve gone through all the ‘bot’ help and help pages etc and still not achieved a solution we really need assistance from a human - these companies seem really not to care at all about customer service - its only about the bottom line. Erm... actually, I think the do... these decisions are only about the bottom line. When / IF people vote with their wallets / feet more, we’d see improvement, but the problem is this structuring of customer service and help lines is becoming more and more common. Those companies who do employ more ‘humans’ for customer service are more costly and don’t last because we the customer also demanded the cheapest option.

We need to be more specific and clarify what we mean by devices... i.e. Phones, Laptops, Tablets. Simply put: LINE on Phone + on LapTop = Yes LINE on Phone + on Tablet = No (I don’t think so anyway). LINE on Phone + on another Phone = No (I don’t think so anyway).

Yep - but its not there all the time... You can guarantee the time you have an accident and fault is ‘negotiable’ you chose not mount the phone because you were only popping down the road.... .... thats why dash-cam’s are so useful. This is the same reason I got a dash-cam for my motorcycle (Innov K2), so that I didn’t have to rely on maybe or maybe not using the go-pro...

Thats very interesting - its the Cam I’ve beee using for over 4 years - no issues at all. But, I’ll certainly re-think my choice IF looking for a new cam.

A dash-cam can mean the difference between proof of being at fault or not in Thailand. Thats clearly worth it.... any dash-cam where its clear enough to see whats going on, is worth it.

It wasn't enough time for me I arrived 3.5 hours before departure missed my flight and had to book a hotel for 2 days and rebook my flight I wouldn’t have been enough for me either.... I waited in the massive security queue (easily 1000 people in it snaking all the way through the airport, I’ve never seen anything like it) - about 1 hour before my flight was called the came through the queue asking for passengers on that flight, we were then fast tracked - I made the flight. Obviously the ’necessity for travel’ and bookings on the other side etc mades the difference on time priority. If travelling for work etc there is only one booking (hotel) on the other side which is easily changed. If travelling with family for a holiday etc and bookings, transport, plans etc are locked in, its different and I’d give more consideration to traffic etc. If travelling for work or holiday over the APEC period - Yes, I’d allow more time as I did in heavy weather.

Yeah... I usually end up sitting at the airport for over an hour anyway... so 2 hours is easily enough ‘usually’ (when flying around Asia)... UK is somehow different with the utter jobs-worths at security and amateur travellers trying to carry everything onto their flight to get their cheap ‘no baggage flights’... The issues in the UK and Thailand are different. In the UK the traffic is reliable, the Airport queues wholly unreliable. In Thailand the traffic is unreliable and the airport queues reliable (except arriving immigration at times).

They’re just covering their backsides (as is everyone else), just incase something goes wrong, then they can’t be blamed - IMO - 3 hours is extremely excessive. With the amount I travel, that would be an extra 18 hours per year hanging around airport !!!... And a lot of the time thats an extra hour with my family before I head off etc.... sometimes means seeing my son for an hour after he gets home from school before I have to head off etc... I’ve not missed a flight yet - but the one I nearly did miss I was there 3 hrs early for anyway !!! With the APEC thing though - the advice is sensible. As was the advice to depart earlier a couple of months ago during extremely heavy rain. At quite periods I actually time it so that I get through immigration with about an hour to spare (and can usually time it better with priority check-in and fast track immigration etc).

My bad - doing two things at once and completely miss-read the Op and somehow understood the advice thinking it was for ‘After the APEC summit’.... !!!!...

Utterly ridiculous... In the UK I was there 3 hours before departure and was going to miss my flight due to the 1hr check in queue and ❤️ hrs security queue... horrific (summer)... In Thailand, in the mids of horrific weather I left home 3.3 hrs early, expecting a very slow journey the airport, I was through Immigration with 2.45 hrs to wait !!!! Last week I arrived at the airport (planned) 2 hrs before departure and was thought Immigration with 1.45 mins to spare. Arriving 3 hours... I don’t think thats necessary at all... departing Thailand I’ve always found 2 hours more than enough time...

Questionable... and mileage may vary. IF people have hired in Thailand on their home country licence and been asked for an IDP, then so be it. This may even be a requirement which differs from rental company to rental company.... Regardless - its a completely separate issue from being ‘fined by the BiB’ for having no IDP while carrying a home country licence.

Would only apply to Thais and expats. An IDP isnt a license. Give it up already... everyone knows the difference between a DL and IDP... Driving without a Licence is the same as driving without permission to drive. Thus: IF an IDP is a requirement (currently being debated) then the overseas DL is void without it. Thus: back to stage one - driving without a licence (without permission to driven Thailand).

Its an interesting thread with plenty of useful information from which we can learn. Why are you trying to destroy it with pathetic and unrelated irrelevant distraction ????... Troll elsewhere if you must... This is why you are treated with contempt in so many other threads even when you do make a valid point.

Yes they were but they don't come into effect till January. Was the ‘driving without a licence’ fine also increased ??? While I could find information regarding the increase of other fines, and, while I could also find information (from two years ago) reporting the proposal to increase the fine to driving without a license to a maximum of 50,000 baht and and / or 3 years in prison, I could not find any updated information regarding the fine for ‘driving without a licence’ or any information that it has in fact changed at all from its original 200-1000 baht (I think it is).

Hired in 11 cities. Not asked once for IDP. Rode past cops today. They could care less. No... I was pointing out the part of Jimjim1’s comment that you didn’t pay attention to when you criticised his point... (all of which you did not quote and you suggested makes no sense) His post makes sense when you understand he was not referring to being stopped when asked to show his IDL (he meant IDP) but was pointing out that he had been asked when renting in Thailand.

when hiring a car in Thailand.....

Quoted below from your link above... ‘many comprehensive insurance policies.....’.... This link does not state any legal limit on the validity of IDP after entering the country. I’m yet to see an official source (from DLT / Road or Land Traffic Act) which places a time limit on an IPD from entry into Thailand.

This is from where I suspect the initial ‘misunderstanding may have arise’.... someone has tied in permission of stay, to permission to drive. There is an overlapping requirement of Visa Status / Permission to drive for residents (those on resident Visas such as Non-Imm) who are required to get a Thai Licence - although I’ve never read of a limit on that, but understand it to be 90 days. I suspect some have mixed this up and its been regurgitated and reposted on various other non-official sites.

I too used to believe the IDP was valid for (90 days actually) after entry. I have never seen a source for this information. Thus: I would happily be re-educated if provided with an accurate and official source. (note embassy pages etc are notoriously inaccurate).

A foreign license with IDP is valid until 90 days since entry to Thailand, or until the expiration of the license or IDP, whichever comes first. However, determining how long someone has been in Thailand without recourse to your passport or at least passport number is problematic. So as a practical matter it is not checked at your typical police checkpoint. However, should there be a serious accident it certainly could be checked. I used to believe so too.... based on ‘hearsay’ on various webforms such as this etc... There is a lot of misinformation and ambiguity surrounding IDP’s and how long we can drive here, for how long etc. I have never found a source which states this 90 days limit. I have never seen an insurance document which states this 90 days limit.

Valid point... With all the Ambiguity and various circular requirements and regulations based on Nationality of home country license, Visa Status etc... with the BiB not knowing the specifics of their own Laws etc.... ... the most logical options are: Get a Thai Licence ASAP and having an IDP will not hurt your case if stopped by the BiB, in fact its more likely to appease them in their absence of legal knowledge rather than having to explain to them that they are wrong and you are right that you don’t need an IDP... ... The BiB won’t have heard of and won’t care for the 1968 Vienna convention or care for the Road Traffic Act.

A good option IF there is someone at his address from which to mail the IDP. But, this goes back to whether the IDP is needed at all ? - It depends on which country issued the Ops DL and what his visa status is here. iF the Op is on a Non-Imm visa - he needs a Thai DL. Also note: (In the UK at least) the IDP must be obtained in person, it cannot be obtained online etc.