Renewing 5-year licence, Sep 2018

[pomozki]

can someone confirm the latest info on this? I know the topic's been covered before but some of the info is contradictory
I'm hoping to renew my 5-year motorcycle licence tomorrow. I have originals of my rental lease, passport (and copy) and my work permit (and copy) but I don't have

a health check document AND my current licence expired on Sept 1 (1 week ago) - do you know if I'll have a problem with these at Bang Chak in Bangkok ?
and do you know if I'll be required to do the whole test again (someone suggested you don't need to if your current licence only expired recently)
final thing: is there any rush? I also read the expired licence has a grace period after expiry date?
I'm asking cos I wanted to hire a motorcycle in Pattaya 2moro but a woman at work said if the police stopped me and found my licence had expired I'd cop a hefty penalty
many thanks 

[KhunBENQ]

For 5yr to 5yr extension a health certificate is not required.

If you have a work permit I don't think that they are interested in your rental lease.

You have one year after expiry to renew without additional efforts.

The only tests are the usual physical tests (vision/colorblindness and reaction).

 

11 minutes ago, pomozki said:

but a woman at work said if the police stopped me and found my licence had expired I'd cop a hefty penalty

Scare mongering.

The proposal for the hefty fines (four digit range up) is under discussion and gets a lot of opposition. Not introduced yet.

For an expired you would still get some 200 to 400.

 

11 minutes ago, pomozki said:

I also read the expired licence has a grace period after expiry date?

This I can't tell. I doubt it.

But maybe someone has an official quote.

Edited September 6, 2018 by KhunBENQ

[pomozki]

thanks very much for your quick reply! now pondering whether it's worth hiring that bike after all ?

[wgdanson]

4 minutes ago, pomozki said:

thanks very much for your quick reply! now pondering whether it's worth hiring that bike after all ?

NO!

[pomozki]

1 minute ago, wgdanson said:

NO!

why not? if Khunbenq is right I'd only cop a fine of a few hundred baht even if I was caught

[wgdanson]

1 minute ago, pomozki said:

why not? if Khunbenq is right I'd only cop a fine of a few hundred baht even if I was caught

I was referring to renting the motorbike.

[pgrahmm]

Isn't a Cert of Residence also required....

[pomozki]

1 minute ago, wgdanson said:

I was referring to renting the motorbike.

I know, that's what my reply was about
are you saying don't ever rent a motorcycle in Thailand anyway or because my licence has just expired

Edited September 6, 2018 by pomozki

[wgdanson]

Just now, pomozki said:

I know, that's my reply was about
are you saying don't ever rent a motorcycle in Thailand anyway or because my licence has just expired

If you like living......................

[pomozki]

1 minute ago, pgrahmm said:

Isn't a Cert of Residence also required....

as I said I've got my original lease with me but khunbenq suggested they won't want it anyway cos I'll have my work permit too

[KhunBENQ]

16 hours ago, pgrahmm said:

Isn't a Cert of Residence also required.... 

As written, a work permit beats a cert. of residence any time.

A WP is what basically all offices and banks know and accept as proof of residence.

[pgrahmm]

20 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

As written, a work permit beats a cert. of residence any time.

A WP is what basically all offices and banks know and accept as proof of residence.

Eccept, not all of us are working here....

[KhunBENQ]

5 hours ago, pgrahmm said:

Eccept, not all of us are working here....

Sure. The majority of retirees will need to get the usual cert. from immigration or even the embassy. Many (not all) DLTs accept the "yellow housebook" (which alsp not all have).

[pomozki]

I wish the above advice had been true - sadly, it was out of date and my trip first thing this morning to the Dept of Land Transport at Sukhumvit was a nightmare, a complete waste of time. the only one who was spot on was pgrahmm

 

as of 6 months ago work permits no longer have any reference to your location/address and a visa agent here says that's because you are no longer limited to working at the place that got you the permit

therefore the guy at DLT went through the work permit and when he saw it was one of the new types, without an address, he said they couldn't help me - I needed to first go my (Australian) Embassy and get a certificate of residence. They would not accept the original rental contract I took with me as proof of residence,

 

SO: work permits are now totally useless for driving licences

I'm now in Pattaya and, faced with 2 half-day excursions back in Bangkok to try to get it sorted, I've entrusted the agent here in Pattaya to work with me on getting it done asap. If anyone is interested in hearing the end of the story on Monday, happy to post again

 

Edited September 7, 2018 by pomozki

[Peterw42]

27 minutes ago, pomozki said:

I wish the above advice had been true - sadly, it was out of date and my trip first thing this morning to the Dept of Land Transport at Sukhumvit was a nightmare, a complete waste of time. the only one who was spot on was pgrahmm

 

as of 6 months ago work permits no longer have any reference to your location/address and a visa agent here says that's because you are no longer limited to working at the place that got you the permit

therefore the guy at DLT went through the work permit and when he saw it was one of the new types, without an address, he said they couldn't help me - I needed to first go my (Australian) Embassy and get a certificate of residence. They would not accept the original rental contract I took with me as proof of residence,

 

SO: work permits are now totally useless for driving licences

I'm now in Pattaya and, faced with 2 half-day excursions back in Bangkok to try to get it sorted, I've entrusted the agent here in Pattaya to work with me on getting it done asap. If anyone is interested in hearing the end of the story on Monday, happy to post again

 

Thanks for the information, the WP changes will certainly affect a lot of people. Thats probably worthy of a separate post informing people. Cant you just get a certificate of residence from immigration ? I suppose not in time to rent a bike in Pattaya

The COR from Australian consulate is no drama as its just a stat dec, "my address is" (no proof required) and they stamp it, nowadays you need to book an appointment online, not just turn up.

Edited September 7, 2018 by Peterw42