Renewing 5-year drivers licences at Hua Hin. A step by step account.

[TSF]

I renewed my 5-year Thai drivers licences for both car and motorcycle today at the Pranburi Office, Prachuap Khiri Khan. Here are the details of the steps, I hope this
will be useful for some others. This is the procedure in August 2018.

 

Step 1: As I'd recently moved from Chonuri to Hua Hin, first step was to change my address with immigration. To do this I went with passport and a rent receipt (with
the new address clearly printed on it) to the immigration office at Blueport. It took about 10 minutes for the lady official to update my details in the computer and
staple a change of address receipt into my passport. This was all free and I didn't need any documents/house-book or anything from the owner.

 

Step 2: A week later was my birthday and my Thai drivers licences had expired. The day after my birthday I went to the main Hua Hin immigration office down off soi 35
to get my 2 recidency certificates (can't do this at Bluport). First I went to the lady with the photocopy machine and she prepared the 2 forms and photocopies 2 sets
of the required passport pages. This took a couple minutes and I was charged 15 Bt. I then took these forms/copies to the room marked "Staff" when a young lady took
the forms and asked for 1000 Bt. 

 

Now, according to some sources this is corruption and you can ask to see the big boss and complain. Up to you. I've been in Thailand long enough to know they got us
firmly by the nutz and I ain't about to pizz off any Thai officials. So I gladly paid the 1000 Bt and the young lady told me to wait outside, which I did for approx'
20 minutes, then she came out and handed me 2 residency certificates. I knew I'd need some extra photocopies of passport pages for the Pranburi Transport Office, so I
got the lady at the immigration photocopy service to make those copies there and then, which cost me a further 20 Bt.

 

Step 3: Got up early this morning and drove 20K from Hua Hin to Pranburi Transport Office. Arrived at 8.10am and went straight upstairs. Very nice lady at the counter
took my 2 sets of passport copies & the residency certificates, plus my old expired drivers licences, she filled in a couple forms, got me to sign them and told me to
sit down. No medical certificate was required.

 

There were about a dozen of us renewing licences today and I was the sole farang. About 5 minutes later we were all called into the room to do the color test and brake
test, which took a few seconds and nobody failed. Then we all went to another room to watch the safety video. When I watched the safety video last time in Chonburi 5
years ago, it was all in Thai, however this time there were English subtitles. The video covered both car and motorcycle safety and I actually thought it was pretty
good. As the video came to an end our names were called and I went to the counter to pay for my new licences: a total of 860Bt, this being 550 Bt for the car licence
and 305 Bt for the motorcycle licence.

 

Once more our names were called and one by one we went over to the camera to have photos taken, which were printed onto the licences. A couple minutes later I was
called again and handed my 2 brand new Thai drivers licences, which - because I get them 2 days after my birthday this year - are valid for 6 years. It was 10.10am
when I was out of the building, only 2 hours after I first arrived. 

[Chassa]

Only Step 3 At Nong Bua Lamphu, Videos were in English and cost 700 Baht for 2 licences. Took about the same time.

[grego49]

Buriram,eye tests and brake reaction test(that a lot of thais fail)and no video.and got 6  years too,cheers

Edited August 18, 2018 by grego49
Forgot 6

[ICECOOL]

I believe 500 baht per residency certificate is the official charge at HH. It's been the same since going there first time 6 years ago.

[TSF]

45 minutes ago, ICECOOL said:

I believe 500 baht per residency certificate is the official charge at HH. It's been the same since going there first time 6 years ago.

Seems to be some confusion over this, other posters say this service is officially free and they complained to the head of immigration and didn't have to pay in the end. My understanding of this is officially immigration says it takes a few days for the certificates to be issued, so by paying 500 Bt each (for which there's no receipt) you get the certificate in 20 minutes, not 2,3,4 days later. 

[TSF]

2 hours ago, Chassa said:

Only Step 3 At Nong Bua Lamphu, Videos were in English and cost 700 Baht for 2 licences. Took about the same time.

Interesting, so at NBL you don't need to have a residency certificate? 

[TSF]

There was one more test that I didn't mention in my post above, mainly because i didn't know what it's called. Anyway, it's the Depth Perception Test, when you have to hit the button to line up 2 moving vertical bars. I found this damn difficult as I could barely detect the bloody things moving at all. I actually had 2 or 3 shots before getting it right. They seemed very lenient with these tests at Pranburi yesterday, the TG doing the brake test before me had about 4 or 5 shots before she got it right. As I said nobody failed. 

[Odin Norway]

7 minutes ago, TSF said:

Interesting, so at NBL you don't need to have a residency certificate? 

No you dont need any,if you have a yellow house book.And that goes for the hole country.

[NCC1701A]

35 minutes ago, TSF said:

There was one more test that I didn't mention in my post above,

Thanks for taking the time to post all this info, very helpful.

[anon4637435435]

kanchanaburi i think 100b residency/address change but i think it was for photocopies and such from memory, 500b for both licenses.. didnt pay attention if it were eng or thai....

[johng]

52 minutes ago, Odin Norway said:

No you dont need any,if you have a yellow house book.And that goes for the hole country.

Its reported that Chonburi don't except yellow house book.

[johng]

21 hours ago, TSF said:

then she came out and handed me 2 residency certificates

Did they take the 2 certificates at the Department of Land transportation ?

I ask because at Chonburi   you can use 1 original and 1 copy  if you renew  car and bike licences at the same time....so you might have saved 500 baht...which is a good few beers  ?

[davebates20]

In Phayao I didn't have to watch the video, the lady just gave me a book of the highway code and told me to read it for one hour, and I had to sit there for an hour even though I'd read it in 20 minutes.

[TSF]

1 hour ago, Odin Norway said:

No you dont need any,if you have a yellow house book.And that goes for the hole country.

Right, if you have a yellow book. I'll be doing that next year after I sort a few things out.

[TSF]

33 minutes ago, johng said:

Did they take the 2 certificates at the Department of Land transportation ?

I ask because at Chonburi   you can use 1 original and 1 copy  if you renew  car and bike licences at the same time....so you might have saved 500 baht...which is a good few beers  ?

Nah, I checked about that. I phoned Pranburi and asked beforehand, and to make double sure got my Thai wife to phone again and ask, they require 2 originals, and when I handed in all my docs at Pranburi the lady said yes they require 2 originals....madness really, but that's how they want it. I have an official address notification form issued by Hua Hin Imm stapled into my passport....why the hell can't that be accepted as verification of address?

Edited August 18, 2018 by TSF

[dallen52]

3 hours ago, grego49 said:

Buriram,eye tests and brake reaction test(that a lot of thais fail)and no video.and got 6  years too,cheers

Did the test in Nangrong some time ago.

A lady rocks up to get a license for a bike.

BTW, she had never ridden a bike.

Her son had an accident and could not ride anymore. 

 

The Brake reaction test.

Hilarious. 

Three of us helped her to hit the brake.. using the right foot. 

By holding her left foot so she could not move it.

 

Eight times she got it wrong. 

 

Beats me why they use the same test for car and bike.?

 

Did she get her bike license?

If course she did... ?

[TSF]

9 minutes ago, davebates20 said:

In Phayao I didn't have to watch the video, the lady just gave me a book of the highway code and told me to read it for one hour, and I had to sit there for an hour even though I'd read it in 20 minutes.

Yeah, there are many variations around the country. When I did my 5-year licences last time, 5 years ago at Chonburi, it took a lot longer and there were many more people, so this time at Pranburi was a breeze really.

[skatewash]

1 hour ago, Odin Norway said:

No you dont need any,if you have a yellow house book.And that goes for the hole country.

Not, unfortunately, the case in Phuket.  Residency Certificate from immigration required, yellow house registration book not accepted.

[DJ54]

When I got my license 1 year ago in Kumphawapi had to watch a movie. 

Which mostly was of a Thai male laying down under a tree and showed drivers license hanging from a tree and he dreamt about getting a license. I was laughing so hard didn’t pay attention to the rest. 

 

I’m not kidding 

 

So.... this is perhaps how the money tree came about! 

[gilo]

Has anyone renewed in an office that does not require that blasted depth perception test? I really can not figure it out as I have a dominant eye.

[TSF]

1 hour ago, DJ54 said:

When I got my license 1 year ago in Kumphawapi had to watch a movie. 

Which mostly was of a Thai male laying down under a tree and showed drivers license hanging from a tree and he dreamt about getting a license. I was laughing so hard didn’t pay attention to the rest. 

 

I’m not kidding 

 

So.... this is perhaps how the money tree came about! 

As i said above I thought the safety vid was pretty good. But one thing disturbed me a bit. It was in the part about correct use of car horns and in the scene a girl was sitting alone in a parked car and a young man came up and knocked on the car window. the gal in the car then blasted the horn loudly several times and a group of nearby men came running out with sticks and started beating on the guy knocking on the window and when he fell to the ground they all booted him and stomped on his head....I was thinking Jesus Christ, this is like the gov' telling Thais this is the correct thing to do. In the vid the guy who got beat up said he wasn't trying to bother the gal in the parked car but just wanted to inform her that she'd left her lights on. Some things are so bloody weird here it's like another planet...lol

[skatewash]

1 hour ago, gilo said:

Has anyone renewed in an office that does not require that blasted depth perception test? I really can not figure it out as I have a dominant eye.

I've never had to do the depth perception test at the Phuket Land Transport Office.  In fact, I've never seen the test equipment for that test there either.  However, I don't think you will be able to choose which LTO you use, I think you are restricted to the one where you live.  In Phuket you are required to show a residency certificate from immigration when you apply for driver's licenses.

[ukrules]

I've never done any tests so far, I went to the DLT, Cha Am office.

 

 

[jvs]

30 minutes ago, skatewash said:

I've never had to do the depth perception test at the Phuket Land Transport Office.  In fact, I've never seen the test equipment for that test there either.  However, I don't think you will be able to choose which LTO you use, I think you are restricted to the one where you live.  In Phuket you are required to show a residency certificate from immigration when you apply for driver's licenses.

I believe you can renew your license now anywhere you want.

[TeaMonkey]

Couldn’t do that depth perception test due to not being able to use my left eye. Kept getting up and checking the box and then guessing when to press the pedal. Passed it in the end after several attempts. 

[gilo]

49 minutes ago, TeaMonkey said:

Couldn’t do that depth perception test due to not being able to use my left eye. Kept getting up and checking the box and then guessing when to press the pedal. Passed it in the end after several attempts. 

I know exactly what you mean...with a dominant eye I do not have 3D vision and therefore that test is really a pain. It is good that there are some places where it is not required. Cha Am here I come ?

[ukrules]

1 hour ago, gilo said:

I know exactly what you mean...with a dominant eye I do not have 3D vision and therefore that test is really a pain. It is good that there are some places where it is not required. Cha Am here I come ?

Good luck with Cha Am, I last went there about 3 years ago so I don't have to go back until 2020 sometime.

 

I will add that I went there around 3pm I think it was, not too long before they closed which might have been a factor in doing no tests - the place was pretty much empty.

[TSF]

15 hours ago, ukrules said:

I've never done any tests so far, I went to the DLT, Cha Am office.

 

 

 

13 hours ago, gilo said:

I know exactly what you mean...with a dominant eye I do not have 3D vision and therefore that test is really a pain. It is good that there are some places where it is not required. Cha Am here I come ?

 

11 hours ago, ukrules said:

Good luck with Cha Am, I last went there about 3 years ago so I don't have to go back until 2020 sometime.

 

I will add that I went there around 3pm I think it was, not too long before they closed which might have been a factor in doing no tests - the place was pretty much empty.

When I got my residency certificate from Hua Hin Imm, I was asked which DLT I was going to - Pranburi or Cha Am?

 

I said Pranburi because it's nearer to when I live, so Pranburi was put on the form and I guess it was also put on the residency certificates. So I doubt I could have gone elsewhere to take the tests.

[TSF]

Regarding the tests: as I said I had 3 shots at the depth perception test, the gal before me had a few shots at the brake test.

 

My wife did her tests for the 5-year licence in Chonburi about 3 years ago and she told me everyone only had 1 shot at each test, and lots of people failed various tests. So Pranburi is definitely very lenient, at the moment.

[Chassa]

On 8/18/2018 at 4:20 PM, jvs said:

I believe you can renew your license now anywhere you want.

My address is in Udon Thani, renewed my licences in Nong Bua Lamphu. Using the yellow house book.