Driving in Thailand

[sotonowl]

I'll be visiting Thailand again soon with my Thai wife, what do I need in respect of driving licences and insurances to keep myself legal?

[cornishcarlos]

A valid driving licence and a valid IDP, will cover you for 3 months.

Insurance, depends on whether you are hiring (should be included) or buying ?

[sotonowl]

10 minutes ago, cornishcarlos said:

A valid driving licence and a valid IDP, will cover you for 3 months.

Insurance, depends on whether you are hiring (should be included) or buying ?

Thanks, what is IDP? International driving permit?

I'll be borrowing my wifes old car which her sister now owns.

Edited June 27, 2019 by sotonowl

[cornishcarlos]

Yes, International Driving Permit...

Your wife's sister might have 1st class insurance, if she does it generally covers any driver, best to check...

[Moonlover]

There is a Compulsory Motor Insurance (CPLT) which every vehicle should have. If your sister's car is currently taxed then it should also have CPLT, but do check.

 

But this only basic cover, more or less equivalent to 3rd party insurance in the UK. If you want additional protection then it easy and cheap to buy at agents throughout the country. But check first with sissy in case she already has additional cover. Motor insurance here is on the vehicle, not the driver, so any licenced driver is covered.

 

Enjoy your holiday.

[Macthehat]

On 6/27/2019 at 10:44 AM, cornishcarlos said:

A valid driving licence and a valid IDP, will cover you for 3 months.

Insurance, depends on whether you are hiring (should be included) or buying ?

How come the IDP covers only for 3 months ? I've been using one for 6 years now and each one lasts 1 year . Bought at the post office for around £5 and dated for a years use in countries of your choice.  

 

[cornishcarlos]

1 minute ago, Macthehat said:

How come the IDP covers only for 3 months ? I've been using one for 6 years now and each one lasts 1 year . Bought at the post office for around £5 and dated for a years use in countries of your choice.  

 

 

Because technically, if you are driving in Thailand for more than 3 months then you should obtain a Thai licence.

Yes the IDP is valid for a year but not to legally drive in Thailand for a whole year.

[Anythingleft?]

How come the IDP covers only for 3 months ? I've been using one for 6 years now and each one lasts 1 year . Bought at the post office for around £5 and dated for a years use in countries of your choice.  
 

As far as I know it depends on your visa, and length of stay in the country
It was explained to me that as a tourist an IDP is legal, any other type of visa requires the Thai licence (for long stays)

This could all be completely innacurate of course but how it was explained to me

In any case a Thai licence goes a long way to avoiding any issues that could arise.....



Sent from my SM-N950F using Tapatalk

[The Cobra]

Well heres the thing, as I understand it, its the car thats insured not whose driving it. So licence is no issue.

The other issue is there is little to no consequences, like many things in Thailand for not having the correct document/licence etc.

 

Example, get stopped, no licence, 400 baht fine. Whats the point in jumping through hoops, just pay the fine ! and carry on, that seems to be the Thai way for most all motoring related issues. Pay as you go, system.

In 10 years I have been stopped once !! showed my UK licence, was waived on, no checking nothing as to how long I had been here what visa etc, nothing just waived on.

 

So whats the point ?? other than technicalities.

[Lee4Life]

1 hour ago, cornishcarlos said:

 

Because technically, if you are driving in Thailand for more than 3 months then you should obtain a Thai licence.

Yes the IDP is valid for a year but not to legally drive in Thailand for a whole year.

"technically"? Is that a law? I read the Thai driving laws and failed to see it.

[cornishcarlos]

3 minutes ago, Lee4Life said:

"technically"? Is that a law? I read the Thai driving laws and failed to see it.

 

Do a search on here for IDP threads, there's a link in one of them... 

[4MyEgo]

On 6/27/2019 at 7:42 PM, sotonowl said:

what do I need in respect of driving licences and insurances to keep myself legal?

If your coming in as a tourist, i.e. under 60 days, your lisence in English with IDP will suffice. If you go over this period read on as from what I have read over 60 days you need a Thai drivers lisence.

 

Note: As you will be driving your sister-in-laws car around, I would hope that she has 1st class insurance, otherwise known as (full comprehensive insurance), that said, it would be wise to check her insurance policy to see if her insurer will accept you driving her car around, either as another driver or someone on an IDP for longer than 60 days, if that is the case, e.g. 90 days, depending on your visa (see below) as some insurers go with the same principal, regardless if its a hire car or not, remember, every insurer will look for a loophole, and this might just be one in your sister-in-laws policy, meaning you will foot the bill if you are deemed outside of their normal insurance policy wording.

 

MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY ACT (Thai Law)

Section 42

• Anyone who wishes to drive a motor vehicle on public roads must possess an appropriate driver licence.
• The driver must carry the driver licence and a photocopy of the registration book and show them to competent officers upon request.
• This does not apply to those who are learning to drive a motor vehicle according to the provision of Section 57.
• If the driver is an alien who doesn't have an immigrant visa, he may drive a motor vehicle with a driver licence specified in the Section 42-2.
• In such a case, he must carry documents specified by the treaty between the Thai government and the government which issued such driver licence, and show them to competent officers upon request.

Section 42-2 
 

• In case there is a treaty between the Thai government and a foreign government regarding mutual acceptance of driver licence, an alien who does not have an immigrant visa may drive a motor vehicle with a driver licence issued by such a foreign government, or an automobile association authorised by such a foreign government.

Once you obtain a non-immigrant visa or establish you are a resident (such as enrolling kids in school, buy a car etc,) and are no longer a tourist, you need a Thai drivers licence as your national license and international driving permit is only legally accepted if you are a tourist. Several insurance companies have a fine print stating that the driver should hold a valid Thai driving licence to be fully covered after a certain amount of time in Thailand.

 

 

Edited June 29, 2019 by 4MyEgo

[Lee4Life]

36 minutes ago, cornishcarlos said:

 

Do a search on here for IDP threads, there's a link in one of them... 

I did a search for IDP threads here and also on google for twenty minutes, the only links I could find in those threads were not working. I found lots of mention of the "three month rule" and that anyone who was here on a non-immigrant visa was required to have a Thai license, but nobody actually seemed to be providing any proof that I could verify. I did find the Thai Motor Vehicle Safety Act and when I read the section that covers International Driver Permits I could not find any mention of a time limit. I am not saying that the three month rule is non-existent...just that I couldn't find any links to the laws that it is supposed to be based on. One posting had a link to a Thai Embassy in the UK that supposedly proved it, but that link was bad also.

      Maybe someone who has more patience than I could find it.

Edited June 29, 2019 by Lee4Life

[cornishcarlos]

Anyone here long term, should just get a Thai licence as it's easy and costs peanuts. Saves any potential issues if stopped.. Otherwise an IDP will normally be sufficient..

[PoorSucker]

21 minutes ago, Lee4Life said:

I did a search for IDP threads here and also on google for twenty minutes, the only links I could find in those threads were not working. I found lots of mention of the "three month rule" and that anyone who was here on a non-immigrant visa was required to have a Thai license, but nobody actually seemed to be providing any proof that I could verify. I did find the Thai Motor Vehicle Safety Act and when I read the section that covers International Driver Permits I could not find any mention of a time limit. I am not saying that the three month rule is non-existent...just that I couldn't find any links to the laws that it is supposed to be based on. One posting had a link to a Thai Embassy in the UK that supposedly proved it, but that link was bad also.

      Maybe someone who has more patience than I could find it.

Has nothing to do with IDP. 

IDP is only a translation of your foreign DL. 

Your foreign DL (with IDP) is valid to drive for tourists. 

If you stay more than 90 consecutive days you are not considered to be a tourist anymore and can not drive on your foreign DL. 

Off course you can make a border bounce every 90-days to be a tourist again. 

 

The police will not have any problems with you if you don't have a Thai license after 90 consecutive days. 

You should look into your insurance companies policies instead. 

 

Posters here go on about getting fined or not, they tend to forget about if you have an accident your insurance will not cover you. 

This includes medical bills, your insurance will not cover a MC accident if you don't have a valid license. 

[ericthai]

4 hours ago, PoorSucker said:

Has nothing to do with IDP. 

IDP is only a translation of your foreign DL. 

Your foreign DL (with IDP) is valid to drive for tourists. 

If you stay more than 90 consecutive days you are not considered to be a tourist anymore and can not drive on your foreign DL. 

Off course you can make a border bounce every 90-days to be a tourist again. 

 

The police will not have any problems with you if you don't have a Thai license after 90 consecutive days. 

You should look into your insurance companies policies instead. 

 

Posters here go on about getting fined or not, they tend to forget about if you have an accident your insurance will not cover you. 

This includes medical bills, your insurance will not cover a MC accident if you don't have a valid license. 

I had two accidents in the last 25+ years in Thailand.  Both times the insurance guy showed up took care of everything and I was never asked by the police or the insurance guy to see my license. 

[StevieAus]

17 hours ago, The Cobra said:

Well heres the thing, as I understand it, its the car thats insured not whose driving it. So licence is no issue.

The other issue is there is little to no consequences, like many things in Thailand for not having the correct document/licence etc.

 

Example, get stopped, no licence, 400 baht fine. Whats the point in jumping through hoops, just pay the fine ! and carry on, that seems to be the Thai way for most all motoring related issues. Pay as you go, system.

In 10 years I have been stopped once !! showed my UK licence, was waived on, no checking nothing as to how long I had been here what visa etc, nothing just waived on.

 

So whats the point ?? other than technicalities.

You are correct that it is the vehicle that insured, however it is not uncommon for the policy to name who is authorized to drive,

By nominating drivers it lowers the cost as it lowers the risk of claims.

My wife and I both have the top level of insurance on our cars and both policies state that the drivers must hold the appropriate licence as it also states that if you have an accident and are under the influence of alcohol or drugs you are not covered,

Over the years we have been in a couple of accidents where fortunately we were not at fault but when we claimed the Insurance company wanted a copy of the licence.

I agree that the police often don’t ask for the licence, as for me once in eight years, once they see the car is registered meaning there is injury insurance they wave us on.

If you are unfortunate enough to be involved in an accident where  someone is injured or killed and you have no licence you may find it a different proposition with no insuranc cover.

 

[cornishcarlos]

Insurance companies here seem to pay up without any serious investigation !!

Whether the driver is to blame or not, has a licence or not, was drunk or not....

Probably one of the few countries in the world where you don't need to fight to get a payment from them....

[Lee4Life]

On 6/29/2019 at 3:59 PM, PoorSucker said:

Has nothing to do with IDP. 

IDP is only a translation of your foreign DL. 

Your foreign DL (with IDP) is valid to drive for tourists. 

If you stay more than 90 consecutive days you are not considered to be a tourist anymore and can not drive on your foreign DL. 

Off course you can make a border bounce every 90-days to be a tourist again. 

 

The police will not have any problems with you if you don't have a Thai license after 90 consecutive days. 

You should look into your insurance companies policies instead. 

 

Posters here go on about getting fined or not, they tend to forget about if you have an accident your insurance will not cover you. 

This includes medical bills, your insurance will not cover a MC accident if you don't have a valid license. 

Provide some proof please...even if it has nothing to do with the IDP there still must be a law or and order on the books supporting it.

[PoorSucker]

2 hours ago, Lee4Life said:

Provide some proof please...even if it has nothing to do with the IDP there still must be a law or and order on the books supporting it.

 

Motor Vehicle Act – B.E. 2522 (1979)

Section 42
Anyone who wishes to drive a motor vehicle on public roads must possess an appropriate driver’s license. The driver must carry the driver’s license and a photocopy of the registration book and show them to competent officers upon request. This does not apply for those who are learning to drive a motor vehicle according to the provision of Section 57.

If the driver is an alien who doesn’t have an immigrant visa, he may drive a motor vehicle with a driver’s license specified in the Section 42-2. In such a case, he must carry documents specified by the treaty between the Thai government and the government which issued such driver’s license, and show them to competent officers upon request.

Section 42-2
In case there’s a treaty between the Thai government and a foreign government regarding mutual acceptance of driver’s license, an alien who doesn’t have an immigrant visa may drive a motor vehicle with a driver’s license issued by such a foreign government, or an automobile association authorized by such a foreign government.

 

 

 

[nrasmussen]

 

Motor Vehicle Act – B.E. 2522 (1979)

Section 42
Anyone who wishes to drive a motor vehicle on public roads must possess an appropriate driver’s license. The driver must carry the driver’s license and a photocopy of the registration book and show them to competent officers upon request. This does not apply for those who are learning to drive a motor vehicle according to the provision of Section 57.

If the driver is an alien who doesn’t have an immigrant visa, he may drive a motor vehicle with a driver’s license specified in the Section 42-2. In such a case, he must carry documents specified by the treaty between the Thai government and the government which issued such driver’s license, and show them to competent officers upon request.

Section 42-2
In case there’s a treaty between the Thai government and a foreign government regarding mutual acceptance of driver’s license, an alien who doesn’t have an immigrant visa may drive a motor vehicle with a driver’s license issued by such a foreign government, or an automobile association authorized by such a foreign government.

 

 

 

Excuse me, but where does it say anything about 90 days?

[Peterw42]

8 minutes ago, nrasmussen said:

35 minutes ago, PoorSucker said:

 

Motor Vehicle Act – B.E. 2522 (1979)

Section 42
Anyone who wishes to drive a motor vehicle on public roads must possess an appropriate driver’s license. The driver must carry the driver’s license and a photocopy of the registration book and show them to competent officers upon request. This does not apply for those who are learning to drive a motor vehicle according to the provision of Section 57.

If the driver is an alien who doesn’t have an immigrant visa, he may drive a motor vehicle with a driver’s license specified in the Section 42-2. In such a case, he must carry documents specified by the treaty between the Thai government and the government which issued such driver’s license, and show them to competent officers upon request.

Section 42-2
In case there’s a treaty between the Thai government and a foreign government regarding mutual acceptance of driver’s license, an alien who doesn’t have an immigrant visa may drive a motor vehicle with a driver’s license issued by such a foreign government, or an automobile association authorized by such a foreign government.

 

 

 

Excuse me, but where does it say anything about 90 days?

You cant stay longer than 90 days by default without a non imm visa.  The 90 days is set by the visa you have.

[nrasmussen]

You cant stay longer than 90 days by default without a non imm visa.  The 90 days is set by the visa you have.

But the quote was mentioning immigrant visas, not non-immigrant visas. Perhaps that was a typo?

Anyway, whatever the case, I believe that, e.g., PE visas are not non-immigrant visas and they do grant more than 90 day stays.

[Peterw42]

1 minute ago, nrasmussen said:

But the quote was mentioning immigrant visas, not non-immigrant visas. Perhaps that was a typo?

Anyway, whatever the case, I believe that, e.g., PE visas are not non-immigrant visas and they do grant more than 90 day stays.

Yes, there is no immigrant visa, so a typo. 

 

A good explanation and information here

 

http://driving-in-thailand.com/type-of-driving-licence-required/

[richard_smith237]

ericthai you need to ensure two things...  a) Can you legally drive here, B) Are you insured (fully). 

 

There is always a lot of d!<k swinging when it comes to this discussion [of IDP] the reality is, remove all doubt and potential ambiguity ensure for yourself that you are covered. 

 

Thus: 

Regarding a) Can you legally drive in Thailand:

If you are here for a short period of less than a couple of months on a Tourist visa you should have an IDP to accompany your National Licence.

If you are here for longer than a couple of months and / or on anything other than than a Tourist visa, use your IDP and obtain a Thai License as soon as you arrive - its easy to obtain. 

 

Regarding b) Are you insured, you'll need to check with your Sister In Law - what cover does she have. Is it the Compulsory Insurance (called Por-ror-bor) which provides a minimal amount of 3rd party cover (every car needs this to legally be on the road). Does she also have 1st Class Insurance which provides a better level of cover for both you & passengers (medical costs up to certain limit should you or they become injured in an accident), 1st Class insurance also covers repair costs to damages to your car in the event of an accident that is your fault or if the other party has no insurance (which is common). 

 

 

[PoorSucker]

22 minutes ago, nrasmussen said:

But the quote was mentioning immigrant visas, not non-immigrant visas. Perhaps that was a typo. 

Lost in translation, expats tend to forget the original is in Thai. 

[nrasmussen]

Yes, there is no immigrant visa, so a typo. 
 
A good explanation and information here
 
http://driving-in-thailand.com/type-of-driving-licence-required/

Thank you, that makes more sense.

So my understanding of this then, is that there is no 90-day rule. Just as long as you don't have a non-immigrant visa you don't need a Thai driver's license. Is that fair to assume?

[PoorSucker]

3 minutes ago, nrasmussen said:

Thank you, that makes more sense.

So my understanding of this then, is that there is no 90-day rule. Just as long as you don't have a non-immigrant visa you don't need a Thai driver's license. Is that fair to assume?

Sure, but without a non-immigrant visa you can not stay longer than 90 days. 

[nrasmussen]

Sure, but without a non-immigrant visa you can not stay longer than 90 days. 

PE visa?

[PoorSucker]

1 minute ago, nrasmussen said:

2 minutes ago, PoorSucker said:

Sure, but without a non-immigrant visa you can not stay longer than 90 days. 

PE visa?

Non-Immigrant.