Renewal of Driver's Licence

[Fat Prophet]

I just looked at my Thai 5 year driver's licence, and see that it expired in December 2017, almost 5 months ago. Does anyone know if I need a residence letter from immigration and will I be required to take the driving road test again? Thanks. 

Edited May 23, 2018 by Fat Prophet

[KhunBENQ]

You need a residence letter.

You don't have to do theory or driving again (only if expired more than one year).

Only the usual physical/eyesight tests and maybe some boring video to watch.

 

Expired license and passport plus copies needed.

No medical certificate needed.

[Fat Prophet]

28 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

You need a residence letter.

You don't have to do theory or driving again (only if expired more than one year).

Only the usual physical/eyesight tests and maybe some boring video to watch.

 

Expired license and passport plus copies needed.

No medical certificate needed.

Great! Thanks. I had read 90 days, so I hope that you are right and it is now (or always was) 1 year. I assumed that I would need to take the written test, but the real concern was the driving test, which kills the whole afternoon and I have upgraded to a much larger car since I last took the driving test, so the parallel parking part would be more difficult now. I'll get the letter from immigration and plan to waste the morning, but not the whole day. 

[KhunBENQ]

5 minutes ago, Fat Prophet said:

I had read 90 days

Three months is the earliest you can do renewal BEFORE expiry.

Maybe this is what you remember.

I hesitate to direct you to the DLT website.

Since the site redesign (about a year ago or so) the English text fragments have been scattered in unlogical order etc. More confusion than information.

Maybe these two paragraphs are enough:

Quote

IN CASE OF DRIVING LICENCE EXPIRED MORE THAN 1 YEAR - TAKE A THEORY TEST

IN CASE OF DRIVING LICENCE EXPIRED MORE THAN 3 YEARS - TAKE A THEORY TEST AND PRACTICAL TEST

 

Edited May 23, 2018 by KhunBENQ

[KhunBENQ]

11 minutes ago, Fat Prophet said:

I'll get the letter from immigration and plan to waste the morning, but not the whole day. 

I did the renewal in March at our office and was out before lunchtime.

But different offices have different workflows.

Which is your office?

[Fat Prophet]

8 hours ago, KhunBENQ said:

Three months is the earliest you can do renewal BEFORE expiry.

Maybe this is what you remember.

I hesitate to direct you to the DLT website.

Since the site redesign (about a year ago or so) the English text fragments have been scattered in unlogical order etc. More confusion than information.

Maybe these two paragraphs are enough:

 

Thanks, very helpful.

 

From the Key Visa website (https://www.keyvisathailand.com/renewing-your-5-year-driving-licence-in-thailand/): "Your 5 year driving licence will expire on your birthday, in the current circumstances you have up to 90 days after date of expiry to renew your licence without having to take a driving test." -- either old or incorrect information. Hopefully, they do better on information about visas. 

 

I found the DLT page on Facebook, but it had nothing useful except phone numbers, not even the opening hours. I am outside Pattaya and the DLT office near Regent's School is close to my house; I will go there tomorrow and try to get there early, before the crowd. I'll get the Immigration letter this afternoon.  

[KhunBENQ]

3 hours ago, Fat Prophet said:

either old or incorrect information. Hopefully, they do better on information about visas. 

A quick browse of the retirement "visa" rules looked OK except for leaving out the method of combining bank deposit plus income which is important for those who can not meet one OR the other.

 

But e.g. they still list this "personal information form".

A very short lived idea by some immigration boss which was never seen nationwide and quickly disappeared.

It's difficult to keep on track.

Always best to ask here.

 

No idea where they have the 90 days from.

The one year/three year rule exists as long as I can remember.

The question about expiry has been asked multiple times here in the forum and seem I am the last who takes the effort to answer (the forum is quiet and problem ridden during the last days).

Edited May 24, 2018 by KhunBENQ

[Tapster]

Medical certificate is required in Phuket (March 2018).

[KhunBENQ]

3 hours ago, Tapster said:

Medical certificate is required in Phuket (March 2018).

From 5 yr to 5 yr?

Self made rules...

 

[Tapster]

No, from 2-year to five-year.

 

Did I get that wrong?

[KhunBENQ]

22 hours ago, Tapster said:

No, from 2-year to five-year.

 

Did I get that wrong?

That was always the case and not disputed.

From 2yr to 5yr a med.cert. is required.

From 5yr to 5yr a med.cert. is not required.

 

And now don't ask what sense that makes.

(once healthy, forever healthy)

We are in Thailand

[transam]

12 hours ago, KhunBENQ said:

That was always the case and not disputed.

From 2yr to 5yr a med.cert. is required.

From 5yr to 5yr a med.cert. is not required.

 

And now don't ask what sense that makes.

(once healthy, forever healthy)

We are in Thailand