A quick update re. the renewal process of 5-year licences @ DLT Chatuchak (near BTS Mo Chit).

 

Arrived @ 10.30am, left @ 1.15pm with my 2 new licences (Bike, Car).

 

Documents:

5-year Driving Licences

Passport with copies of ID, extension, last entry pages

Yellow Book with its copies

NB: 1 set of docs per Licence

 

Process:

Reception (2nd floor) > Validation of my docs (2nd floor) > 4 Tests (3rd floor) > 1-hour video (4th floor) > Licences issued (2nd floor).

 

Actually, not much to report! ????

 

Any question, feel free to ask

 

 

what were the tests?

 

Color (Green, yellow, red)

Depth

Reflex

Side vision

 

 

Great info, thanks for posting. And for everyone's benefit, "NB" means Non-B visa?

In November, 2018, did my car and motorcycle renewals at the Chiang Mai Department of Land Transportation (DLT) office, on the Chiang Mai - Hang Dong highway 108, the day after my birthday, when the previous 5-year licenses expired. 

 

As indicated in many Thaivisa posts, I got renewals until November 2567BE/2024AD (one day less than 6 years!).  If one shows up more than a few weeks (?) or months (?) after license expiration, one may be subject to written and possibly even driving tests.

 

For each license, best to bring sets of copies of main passport ID page, and pages showing original visa plus its latest extensions-of-stay, and TM.6 slip stapled in the passport (maybe also copies and one's original red-stamped TM.30 householder reporting form).  An original and copies of a Residence Certificate (TM.18 application form) is usually required, obtainable from Immigration (with up to 5 weeks delay in Chiang Mai office unless "special service" is discreetly sought), unless one brings one's work permit and copies of its main and renewal pages. No Residence Certificate is required for those with work permits.  

 

The only tests required to renew the 5-year licenses one day after expiration were:

 

(1) To identify the colors of circles (in English or Thai) of about 2 and 3 cm diameters, from a distance of about 4-to-5 meters, pointed to by an examiner (using an extended broken-off car antenna?) on a large Ishihara poster, but without any formal color-blindness testing.  If one's visual acuity is poor, one might not be able to figure out what circle is being pointed to, and if truly color blind might identify the colors incorrectly (red, green, yellow, I recall).  [No depth-perception or peripheral-vision testing in Chiang Mai on my renewal day, unlike what the original poster reported above for the Chatuchak, Bangkok DLT.]

 

(2) To demonstrate reaction time in a sitting position by moving the right foot from a mock gas/accelerator pedal to a mock brake pedal when mock stoplights change from green to red.  To fail, one would have to be inebriated, or otherwise quite unsafe on the road. 

 

Finally, one had to watch (as a farang), a quite informative, English-language, one-hour video reviewing the rules of the road and a number of useful driving practices.  

 

All in all, a quite-positive experience that compares favorably to many painful visits over the years to motor-vehicle departments in the United States.

 

1 hour ago, Bruce404 said:

If one shows up more than a few weeks (?) or months (?) after license expiration, one may be subject to written and possibly even driving tests

If more than 12 months late it is a written test. If more than 3 years both the written and driving test. Under 1 year nothing extra.

 

Though of course you aren't permitted to drive with an expired licence 

1 hour ago, Bruce404 said:

In November, 2018, did my car and motorcycle renewals at the Chiang Mai Department of Land Transportation (DLT) office, on the Chiang Mai - Hang Dong highway 108, the day after my birthday, when the previous 5-year licenses expired. 

 

As indicated in many Thaivisa posts, I got renewals until November 2567BE/2024AD (one day less than 6 years!).  If one shows up more than a few weeks (?) or months (?) after license expiration, one may be subject to written and possibly even driving tests.

 

For each license, best to bring sets of copies of main passport ID page, and pages showing original visa plus its latest extensions-of-stay, and TM.6 slip stapled in the passport (maybe also copies and one's original red-stamped TM.30 householder reporting form).  An original and copies of a Residence Certificate (TM.18 application form) is usually required, obtainable from Immigration (with up to 5 weeks delay in Chiang Mai office unless "special service" is discreetly sought), unless one brings one's work permit and copies of its main and renewal pages. No Residence Certificate is required for those with work permits.  

 

The only tests required to renew the 5-year licenses one day after expiration were:

 

(1) To identify the colors of circles (in English or Thai) of about 2 and 3 cm diameters, from a distance of about 4-to-5 meters, pointed to by an examiner (using an extended broken-off car antenna?) on a large Ishihara poster, but without any formal color-blindness testing.  If one's visual acuity is poor, one might not be able to figure out what circle is being pointed to, and if truly color blind might identify the colors incorrectly (red, green, yellow, I recall).  [No depth-perception or peripheral-vision testing in Chiang Mai on my renewal day, unlike what the original poster reported above for the Chatuchak, Bangkok DLT.]

 

(2) To demonstrate reaction time in a sitting position by moving the right foot from a mock gas/accelerator pedal to a mock brake pedal when mock stoplights change from green to red.  To fail, one would have to be inebriated, or otherwise quite unsafe on the road. 

 

Finally, one had to watch (as a farang), a quite informative, English-language, one-hour video reviewing the rules of the road and a number of useful driving practices.  

 

All in all, a quite-positive experience that compares favorably to many painful visits over the years to motor-vehicle departments in the United States.

 

I went to renew my 5 year license and failed the colour test . The chart looked about 20 year old and they held it up facing a window with sun beaming in . Anyway failed and they said come back tomorrow so I never returned !! Yet I done a test in local hospital and passed it managing to detect the numbers in the dots .

I am colour blind with either green or red I cant remember quite what one , yet hold a full UK license and never had an accident in 18 years driving !!

I failed the peripheral color test at Bang Chak in Bangkok twice.   The tester couldn't have been ruder and clearly enjoyed my failing and telling me to come back the next day and then failing me again.  Since then several other people have told me of similar experiences.  But it was 3 years ago or so.

 

Went to Chiang Mai where they don't do the peripheral test.  No problem picking colors out of a chart.  

 

 

5 hours ago, NotYourBusiness said:

Great info, thanks for posting. And for everyone's benefit, "NB" means Non-B visa?

Thanks for your comments

 

NB = Nota Bene

17 hours ago, Bruce404 said:

In November, 2018, did my car and motorcycle renewals at the Chiang Mai Department of Land Transportation (DLT) office, on the Chiang Mai - Hang Dong highway 108, the day after my birthday, when the previous 5-year licenses expired. 

 

As indicated in many Thaivisa posts, I got renewals until November 2567BE/2024AD (one day less than 6 years!).  If one shows up more than a few weeks (?) or months (?) after license expiration, one may be subject to written and possibly even driving tests.

 

For each license, best to bring sets of copies of main passport ID page, and pages showing original visa plus its latest extensions-of-stay, and TM.6 slip stapled in the passport (maybe also copies and one's original red-stamped TM.30 householder reporting form).  An original and copies of a Residence Certificate (TM.18 application form) is usually required, obtainable from Immigration (with up to 5 weeks delay in Chiang Mai office unless "special service" is discreetly sought), unless one brings one's work permit and copies of its main and renewal pages. No Residence Certificate is required for those with work permits.  

 

The only tests required to renew the 5-year licenses one day after expiration were:

 

(1) To identify the colors of circles (in English or Thai) of about 2 and 3 cm diameters, from a distance of about 4-to-5 meters, pointed to by an examiner (using an extended broken-off car antenna?) on a large Ishihara poster, but without any formal color-blindness testing.  If one's visual acuity is poor, one might not be able to figure out what circle is being pointed to, and if truly color blind might identify the colors incorrectly (red, green, yellow, I recall).  [No depth-perception or peripheral-vision testing in Chiang Mai on my renewal day, unlike what the original poster reported above for the Chatuchak, Bangkok DLT.]

 

(2) To demonstrate reaction time in a sitting position by moving the right foot from a mock gas/accelerator pedal to a mock brake pedal when mock stoplights change from green to red.  To fail, one would have to be inebriated, or otherwise quite unsafe on the road. 

 

Finally, one had to watch (as a farang), a quite informative, English-language, one-hour video reviewing the rules of the road and a number of useful driving practices.  

 

All in all, a quite-positive experience that compares favorably to many painful visits over the years to motor-vehicle departments in the United States.

 

I have the instructions from CM office stating a Medical certificate is required as well. Did you forget to include in this post?

Renewed my 5 year licence last month in CM, no medical certificate required, and they gave me a 6yr license, my previous one had expired 2 weeks previously .

Sent from my SM-G920F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

Phitsanulik last week. Same papers as abouve, NO medical cert needed. Colour tests are now big LED 'traffic lights', Had to sit through 1 hour Thai video, in and out in less than 3 hours. Good to go.

In My case I would guess I could use my WP insted of Yellow book, since I do not have one.

8 hours ago, earlinclaifornia said:

I have the instructions from CM office stating a Medical certificate is required as well. Did you forget to include in this post?

I did forget to mention also bringing along a medical certificate that is technically a published requirement.  They kept it along with the other documents I brought. 

But I note that other posters on this thread indicated that the Chiang Mai DLT did not ask for or require one.   

If on the day of one's visit the DLT staff do happen to insist on a medical certificate, I suppose one can come back another day after finding a clinic to obtain one. 

But if one lives far, far away from the CM DLT, getting the medical certificate beforehand might avoid an unwanted overnight stay, or a same-day rush to find a clinic to provide it.

On 11/25/2018 at 4:29 PM, Bruce404 said:

I did forget to mention also bringing along a medical certificate that is technically a published requirement.  They kept it along with the other documents I brought. 

But I note that other posters on this thread indicated that the Chiang Mai DLT did not ask for or require one.   

If on the day of one's visit the DLT staff do happen to insist on a medical certificate, I suppose one can come back another day after finding a clinic to obtain one. 

But if one lives far, far away from the CM DLT, getting the medical certificate beforehand might avoid an unwanted overnight stay, or a same-day rush to find a clinic to provide it.

If going from 5 year to 5 year it is not a requirement, only from 2 year to 5 year, just take a look at the DLT website it's in English.