driving/bike licence renewal

[seajae]

went in to renew my drivers and bike licence yesterday, took just under 2 hours including the video(1 hour). Was surprised as when I showed my medical certificate they werent interested in it, just passport, copies of the main page and the extension page(1 of each for each licence), my old licences and a certificate of residency from immigration(500 baht), longest wait was to get the completed forms before the various tests, tests took all of 10 minutes including the waiting. The lady in front of me had 4 goes at the accelerate/brake test and failed them all, she couldnt get her foot off the accelerator and push down onto the brake before all the red lights went to the top but was still passed. The video is a complete joke, there is slap stick in it so obviously not meant to be taken seriously. Lot of encouragement to ignore the road rules as well, doesnt encourage right of way, shows holding the steering wheel wrong(top & bottom), shows forcing right of way when you dont have it, thing is of the 50 in the room I was probably the only one watching any of it, everyone else was too busy with facebook etc on their phones/tablets. Several of us were called out before the video finished to pay(600 for car and 250 for bike) then have pics taken and licences issued, thank god I dont have to do it for another 5 years and that I got in and out reasonably fast

[SweatySock]

I aslo renewed my driving licences today and had a similar experience. Been 5 years since the last renewal and the process has changed during that time. No medical certificate required but even although I had my yellow Tabien Ban, I had to go to Immigration for a letter which compiled all my information, passport number, address, date of birth, visa type and extension dates. For this document I was charged the princely sum of 1,000 baht.

I watched the video alone as they had an English version and laughed so many times the office staff were asking if I was alright, it's hilarious. I also enjoyed an hour of watching the driving "test" for car drivers. A simple test of parallel parking without touching the marker poles. I must have seen 12 - 14 applicants try to complete this single manouvre and 2 successful completions. The worrying thing was they all received their licences.

I paid 880 baht for both car and bike. At least it's another 5 years before I have to go through the process again. Happy days.

[seajae]

14 minutes ago, SweatySock said:

I aslo renewed my driving licences today and had a similar experience. Been 5 years since the last renewal and the process has changed during that time. No medical certificate required but even although I had my yellow Tabien Ban, I had to go to Immigration for a letter which compiled all my information, passport number, address, date of birth, visa type and extension dates. For this document I was charged the princely sum of 1,000 baht.

I watched the video alone as they had an English version and laughed so many times the office staff were asking if I was alright, it's hilarious. I also enjoyed an hour of watching the driving "test" for car drivers. A simple test of parallel parking without touching the marker poles. I must have seen 12 - 14 applicants try to complete this single manouvre and 2 successful completions. The worrying thing was they all received their licences.

I paid 880 baht for both car and bike. At least it's another 5 years before I have to go through the process again. Happy days.

thats it, watching the thais is a bit of a laugh really as most arent real good, looks like you were hit 500 baht more than me for the certificate and its supposed to be free as well. Very different to the other times I have renewed but still pretty good timing for Thailand I think. I took my yellow book but my wife had phoned and they told her I needed the immigration certificate so we grabbed it the day before, pays to query them before you go to be sure of what the current needs are to get it but they also said the medical certificate then didnt want it when we got there