5 Year Driving Licence renewal

[johng]

Yes you get almost  a year more..there is no penalty for up to a year after expiration,  I would go as close to after the expiration date as possible.

[junkofdavid2]

Thanks! That's all I need to know @johng

[chilly07]

Arnt there Agents for Licence renewals?

[johng]

Yes but at the very least you still have to go to the DLT to have a digital photo taken...the agents may or may not be able to "smooth over" any other requirements.

[Monkeyrobot]

Do you need a residencey certificate from immigration  for the renewal???

[johng]

At Barnglamung/Pattaya yes you need residence certificate from immigration...other provinces allow  use of work permit or yellow book..but its been reported Pattaya only except residence certificate.

[Peterw42]

11 minutes ago, johng said:

At Barnglamung/Pattaya yes you need residence certificate from immigration...other provinces allow  use of work permit or yellow book..but its been reported Pattaya only except residence certificate.

I think you will find,

If your original license was obtained using yellow book and pink ID (Thai ID No on license, not PP No) then that will be the relevant documents for renewal. If your original license was obtained by presenting passport and Res Cert (PP No on license, not Thai ID No) then they are the relevant documents for renewal.

I know many people in Pattaya, who have a License with yellow book/Pink ID number on the license and they use yellow book for renewal.

 

I think you will find its a similar situation in other locations, you dont present one set of ID and address documents to get a license , then renew with a different set of ID/address documents.

[johng]

18 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

you dont present one set of ID and address documents to get a license , then renew with a different set of ID/address documents.

You could very well be correct...there are still a lot of conflicting / confusing reports about it though.  ????

[Kerryd]

I renewed my first (1 year) license in Chachongsao last January. That is where I'd gotten my first license and it seemed like a better choice than going through the hassles of Pattaya. Made for a nice morning outing as well.

I had planned on going in November and got my Residence Certificate and Medical certifcate in preparation. Ended up not going until early January (vehicle problems).

When I arrived there was a small queue and a bunch of people already seated. 

I was the only foreigner and (as I thought would happen) the lady at a desk behind the main counter summoned me over and started to process my paperwork. I'm guessing she's the only one that speaks any English. She didn't have a problem with the Residence Certificate being over a month old but wouldn't accept the medical cert. 

She told my buddy (that drove me up there) where the closest clinic was. We went there, they looked at the old cert, took my blood pressure, filled out a new cert, had the doc (who never even came out of his office) sign it and I was on my way. Cost me 100 baht.

Went back to the DLT and straight to her desk. She reviewed all the paperwork and had me take a seat in the main area. About 15 minutes later she comes out and I do the colour test (much better colour wheel than the one Pattaya uses), the brake test and the perception test. When I was finished she signed off my paperwork and then started testing a bunch of other people (none of whom had to do the colour test for some reason).
After she'd completed about 10 or so more tests (maybe 30 minutes) she took the paperwork back to her desk.
Maybe another 15 minutes (?) and I was told to go downstairs and get my photo done and pay the fee. Did that and was handed my new 5 year license (5 years, 3 months actually). I think we were on the road again by around 11am, so about 2 1/2 hours total including the side trip for the new medical certificate.

Was in Canada last June and went to renew my Canadian license, which wasn't due to expire until the following April. They didn't want to renew it that early but I explained that I was living overseas and might not be back for a few more years.

After about a 30 minute wait I was seen by an agent, answered a few questions, had my pic taken, paid the renewal fee (which I think was $75 Canadian or a little over 1,725 baht equivalent) and was done. (No medical cert required and of course no residency requirement.)

Except that they don't hand you a new license wehn you are done. It has to be mailed to your home address (I think they only have one place in the entire province that can print the licenses). (Same thing for Birth Certificates. They have one place in the entire province that prints them and then mails/couriers them out to (wherever).

Oh and I don't get "5 years". 
It will expire on my birthday in 2024 so I only got 4 years and 10 months.

So, it was quicker and easier, but more expensive and takes longer to get your actual license (especially when you have to wait for a friend to mail it from home) ! Plus they don't give you "5 years plus", it's always "5 years minus" so there's no advantage to waiting until after your license is expired before applying for a renewal.

Edited September 10, 2019 by Kerryd

[Peterw42]

6 minutes ago, Kerryd said:

So, it was quicker and easier, but more expensive and takes longer to get your actual license (especially when you have to wait for a friend to mail it from home) ! Plus they don't give you "5 years plus", it's always "5 years minus" so there's no advantage to waiting until after your license is expired before applying for a renewal.

I had a similar experience renewing Australian licence on a recent trip back, they were reluctant to renew early, the process at the counter was quicker, it was way more expensive and the "may take up to 2 weeks" for the new license to be mailed out. It came down to the wire with the license turning up literally the day before I flew back to Thailand. 

 

[Alphonsothethird]

6 hours ago, Iforbach said:

Hi ..but am i right in saying you need certificate of residence from immigration for renewal of licence thank you 

 

Renewed my license only yesterday.  It was the fourth one in Thailand.   For the first time they did ask for a residence certificate from immigration together with passport etc etc together with 555 baht, an increase from 5 years ago.

[chiangmaicharlies]

OMG another cheap charlie!