Have you ever been stopped by the police and asked to pay a ticket for driving without a license?

[Rally123]

1 hour ago, silver sea said:

As I understood it, from other people, the car licence was valid to drive a bike for three months. Sometimes, I was on Samui for 9 months, but never had a problem whenever I showed my car licence.

The 3 month rule applies to your vehicle insurance if you have it. Failure to gain a full Thai licence within 3 months of entry will negate your insurance. Read the small print. This is why if you have an accident the insurance company agent will first ask to see your Thai licence. A one year 'International Permit/licence' is only allowed for 3 months in Thailand.

Edited April 28, 2018 by Rally123

[stevenl]

1 hour ago, silver sea said:

When I lived on Koh Samui, I was only ever stopped during the daytime if I was not wearing a helmet. I was then asked to show my driving licence. They never had a checkpoint just for licences.

 

At nighttime, there would be checkpoints where they would stop all bikes to check for weapons and/or drugs. On such occasions, they never asked to see your licence, and it was not a problem if you were not wearing a helmet.

 

 

At that time, I had only my UK car driving licence. If it was a helmet checkpoint, they were happy with my car licence. As I understood it, from other people, the car licence was valid to drive a bike for three months. Sometimes, I was on Samui for 9 months, but never had a problem whenever I showed my car licence. They didn’t ask to see my passport and visa to check whether I had been on the island more than three months.

 

On Samui, many many shops, hotels and businesses around the island rent out bikes. Virtually all tourists on Samui renting the standard automatic bikes, like Clicks and PCXs, do not have a bike driving licence, but they do have  a car licence, and that’s all they need to show to the owner to rent one of his bikes. If you were required to show a Thai or farang bike licence, the shops, hotels and businesses on Samui would never have any customers!

 

Last September, I finally got around to taking my bike test on Samui, and passed. I now have a Thai driving licence for bikes.

 

Last March I moved to Hua Hin. There, most days, there is one police checkpoint, but it is always at the same place and operates at the same time! They stop all bikes, even if you are wearing a helmet. They always ask to see your licence. The first time, I showed them my car licence by mistake. The cop told me it was not vald. I quickly showed him my Thai licence and was allowed to go on my way.

 

Most days, I drive the same route at the same time, and each time I get stopped and I am hapoy to show my licence.

 

A car license is never valid to ride a bike (provided over 50 cc).

[QPRFC]

 In Chiang Mai there are always police road blocks for checking licences, helmets, alcohol, they rarely stop cars just motorcycles especially ferang. I see one at least every week.

I've been stopped three times and they wouldn't accept my Australian drivers licence (with motorcycle clearly on it) so I had to pay 400 baht.

Next time I went 'home' I got myself an International Drivers Permit and then immediately got my Thai car and motorcycle licences within a few hours at the Transport Office for 300 baht......I've never had to pay a fine since :)

[Rally123]

6 hours ago, Farma said:

Under the reward system, duty officer will be given 50% of the fine amount as a reward for making arrest of such vehicle at road checkpoints. However, in case that the arrest was made upon by traffic informer, the reward will be increased to 70% of the fine so that the duty officer and the informer will receive 35% each.

That is totally wrong & BS, and I will accept an apology. 

Quote

 Under the Article 44 order, the Department of Land Transport will get 5 per cent of each traffic fine and pass on the rest of the fine money to traffic police

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/national/30309980

Edited April 28, 2018 by Rally123

[Just Weird]

6 hours ago, Rally123 said:

Thai police make up their salary (legally) in receiving 95% of the fine of the ticket issued. The money is pooled with other officers, from their station, who are likely to have office bound jobs.

Nonsense.

[Rally123]

1 minute ago, Just Weird said:

Nonsense.

I'm not a liar or a bullshitter and will accept an apology. Look up the quote and link in post #34

[scubascuba3]

Only if the police station is nearby. If not they will have a NCO placed adjacent to a stop, with a table and chair, so you can pay there and receive a receipt. 

Interesting, i see them hold on to the bike regularly in Pattaya if they don't get the bung

[Just Weird]

19 minutes ago, Rally123 said:

I'm not a liar or a bullshitter and will accept an apology. Look up the quote and link in post #34

I didn't say that you were a liar or a bullshitter but, wow, you will accept an apology?  How condescending of you. Perhaps you didn't know that that order was never put into force.

[silver sea]

1 hour ago, stevenl said:

A car license is never valid to ride a bike (provided over 50 cc).

 

 

You can never say “never”, because a car licence is valid to ride a bike on Koh Samui. Maybe things are different in the rest of Thailand, and they are in Hua Hin, where I now live. I lived on Samui for 4 years, and was stopped several times over that period for not wearing a helmet. 

 

The police on Samui have a tick box list of misdemeanours for which you can get fined e.g. no helmet; no valid licence; unroadworthy; no licence plate; no lights etc.

 

The first policeman takes charge of your keys. You go to a table and a second policeman ticks the relevant box(es). You take the paper to another table where a third policeman collects the fine from you and hands you back your keys.

 

I mention this, because sometimes, the second policeman did not ask to see my licence. After he had handed me the paper, I noticed that he had ticked both the ‘no helmet’ and ‘no licence’ boxes. I tell the third policeman that there’s been a mistake, because I do have a licence. He asks to see my licence and I hand him my UK car driver’s licence. He inspects it, and says OK, deletes the no licence tick and only fines me for not wearing my helmet. This happened several times over the years, with different policemen and at diffferent checkpoints around the island.

 

As I say, very few tourists on Samui have a Thai or farang bike licence. Most, if not all, rely on their car driver’s licence from their home country when hiring an automatic bike or when dealing with the police. If the rules were applied strictly by bike hirers and the police, nobody on Samui would be able to hire out bikes.

 

 

 

.

Edited April 28, 2018 by silver sea
Correcting typos

[mihalis]

Friend has in Samui and Phuket 

[thaibreaker]

4 hours ago, Rally123 said:

You lost me. Why would you have to go to the police station? A ticket is issued and you pay it the next time you're in town. It's not as if you get pulled in and failure to pay means a trip to the station. If you ain't done anything wrong and the officer doesn't give you a ticket you don't pay. And even if you did do wrong and the officer won't give you a ticket you still don't pay. Simple innit?

Quite often the police take your driving license you show them (the one that has no A in it), and that way make you go to the police station to get it back and pay the fine. Then you have no choice. I have also experienced they take the keys, or even hold your bike back.

The "pay the fine later some day" doesn`t apply many places.

Edited April 28, 2018 by thaibreaker

[Bill Miller]

7 hours ago, Rally123 said:

Thai police make up their salary (legally) in receiving 95% of the fine of the ticket issued. The money is pooled with other officers, from their station, who are likely to have office bound jobs. So really no need for the police to request tea money if they were to do their job and issue fines. I suppose by obtaining tea money they get to keep the lot instead of sharing. 

Did not know this. Makes me wonder all the more why enforcement seems so haphazard.

 

[silver sea]

1 hour ago, Rally123 said:

The 3 month rule applies to your vehicle insurance if you have it. Failure to gain a full Thai licence within 3 months of entry will negate your insurance. Read the small print. This is why if you have an accident the insurance company agent will first ask to see your Thai licence. A one year 'International Permit/licence' is only allowed for 3 months in Thailand.

 

Thanks for the helpful information ? As I said in my post, I now have a Thai driver’s bike licence.

[Bill Miller]

Is this something quite easy to "DIY", or is there a real advantage to using a service?
I did send a request to one "service" which advertises license assistance, but no reply.
I live in the Sattahip area, but really no idea where to go.

[thaibreaker]

24 minutes ago, silver sea said:

 

 

You can never say “never”, because a car licence is valid to ride a bike on Koh Samui. Maybe things are different in the rest of Thailand, and they are in Hua Hin, where I now live. I lived on Samui for 4 years, and was stopped several times over that period for not wearing a helmet. 

 

The police on Samui have a tick box list of misdemeanours for which you can get fined e.g. no helmet; no valid licence; unroadworthy; no licence plate; no lights etc.

 

The first policeman takes charge of your keys. You go to a table and a second policeman ticks the relevant box(es). You take the paper to another table where a third policeman collects the fine from you and hands you back your keys.

 

I mention this, because sometimes, the second policeman did not ask to see my licence. After he had handed me the paper, I noticed that he had ticked both the ‘no helmet’ and ‘no licence’ boxes. I tell the third policeman that there’s been a mistake, because I do have a licence. He asks to see my licence and I hand him my UK car driver’s licence. He inspects it, and says OK, deletes the no licence tick and only fines me for not wearing my helmet. This happened several times over the years, with different policemen and at diffferent checkpoints around the island.

 

As I say, very few tourists on Samui have a Thai or farang bike licence. Most, if not all, rely on their car driver’s licence from their home country when hiring an automatic bike or when dealing with the police. If the rules were applied strictly by bike hirers and the police, nobody on Samui would be able to hire out bikes.

 

 

 

.

Sometimes they do accept a driving license for cars, but in my experience mostly they don`t.

The police are more aware nowadays that your license must include the A. In Pattaya they are quite consistent about that.

[GLewis]

7 hours ago, Rally123 said:

Thai police make up their salary (legally) in receiving 95% of the fine of the ticket issued. The money is pooled with other officers, from their station, who are likely to have office bound jobs. So really no need for the police to request tea money if they were to do their job and issue fines. I suppose by obtaining tea money they get to keep the lot instead of sharing. 

Where the heck did you hear that bunch of malarkey? That is just hilarious. Not true in the least. They make up their salary by excepting payments from very small to very big from those who do not want to go to a police station for a variety of reasons...

[thailand49]

If you put yourself in a position for something to happen sooner or later it will what difference does it make whether who gets it? the issue you got busted just pay up why complaint about it are you special?

[Rally123]

48 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Interesting, i see them hold on to the bike regularly in Pattaya if they don't get the bung

You have 30 days in which to pay the fine. 

[scubascuba3]

You have 30 days in which to pay the fine. 

I guess they don't trust people will pay the fine that's why they hold the bike, keys or driving licence

[Rally123]

50 minutes ago, Just Weird said:

I didn't say that you were a liar or a bullshitter but, wow, you will accept an apology?  How condescending of you. Perhaps you didn't know that that order was never put into force.

You insinuated I was liar & bullshitter. That's good enough. And once again you are a liar in that the order has been  service for many a year. Please provide your link where it says it wasn't and prove me wrong. Don't waste yer time you won't find one. 

[Rally123]

4 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

I guess they don't trust people will pay the fine that's why they hold the bike, keys or driving licence

The law is the law. 30 days to pay the fine. But as we all know well most farangs will skip Thailand before that 30 days are up.

Edited April 28, 2018 by Rally123

[stevenl]

44 minutes ago, silver sea said:

 

 

You can never say “never”, because a car licence is valid to ride a bike on Koh Samui. Maybe things are different in the rest of Thailand, and they are in Hua Hin, where I now live. I lived on Samui for 4 years, and was stopped several times over that period for not wearing a helmet. 

 

The police on Samui have a tick box list of misdemeanours for which you can get fined e.g. no helmet; no valid licence; unroadworthy; no licence plate; no lights etc.

 

The first policeman takes charge of your keys. You go to a table and a second policeman ticks the relevant box(es). You take the paper to another table where a third policeman collects the fine from you and hands you back your keys.

 

I mention this, because sometimes, the second policeman did not ask to see my licence. After he had handed me the paper, I noticed that he had ticked both the ‘no helmet’ and ‘no licence’ boxes. I tell the third policeman that there’s been a mistake, because I do have a licence. He asks to see my licence and I hand him my UK car driver’s licence. He inspects it, and says OK, deletes the no licence tick and only fines me for not wearing my helmet. This happened several times over the years, with different policemen and at diffferent checkpoints around the island.

 

As I say, very few tourists on Samui have a Thai or farang bike licence. Most, if not all, rely on their car driver’s licence from their home country when hiring an automatic bike or when dealing with the police. If the rules were applied strictly by bike hirers and the police, nobody on Samui would be able to hire out bikes.

 

 

 

.

Police may accept it, but it is never, nowhere, legal.

[Rally123]

41 minutes ago, thaibreaker said:

The "pay the fine later some day" doesn`t apply many places.

Cuz nobody wants the hassle. They'd rather pay and be on their way.  Up to them at the end of the day.

[Rally123]

23 minutes ago, GLewis said:

Not true in the least.

Prove me wrong. I've already posted the link that confirms it's true. Now show me the link that says it's 'not true' please. Once again you won't find one. Whereas my trueth link is there for all to see.

[scubascuba3]

The law is the law. 30 days to pay the fine. But as we all know well most farangs will skip Thailand before that 30 days are up.

Yes although not just farang, often Thais too have their bike held

[thaibreaker]

4 minutes ago, Rally123 said:

Cuz nobody wants the hassle. They'd rather pay and be on their way.  Up to them at the end of the day.

No, in my experience, in most cases they don`t give you that choice. I have tried, believe me. The waiting lines at the police station i Pattaya are most of the time ridiculous.

[thaibreaker]

26 minutes ago, Rally123 said:

You have 30 days in which to pay the fine. 

In a perfect world maybe, and you do have that time, but most of us need our bike in the meantime..

Edited April 28, 2018 by thaibreaker

[Rally123]

2 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Yes although not just farang, often Thais too have their bike held

Agreed but only til they return with a receipt of fine paid. Simple innit?

[Acemaker]

8 hours ago, KiChakayan said:

Last year my wife got rear-ended

To much information.     

[scubascuba3]

Agreed but only til they return with a receipt of fine paid. Simple innit?

Yes it is simple but you didn't seem to realise in practice holding onto the bike is something they often do