Renew 5 years driving licence with Elite Visa. Where in 2020?

[marino28]

Anybody with an Elite Visa renewed a 5 year driving licence in the last few months? Where? 

In Pattaya is not possibile anymore. 

 

Thanks for the information

 

 

[Tagged]

I heard one in Hua Hin got it in Pranburi two weeks ago on elite visa, 1. renewal of license. 

Edited August 31, 2020 by Tagged

[Tagged]

However the rules says no, but,,,,,

[kekalot]

you can't renew a license to 5 years with Elite visa because the Elite visa is a tourist visa

so you will get 2 years

[Tagged]

3 minutes ago, kekalot said:

you can't renew a license to 5 years with Elite visa because the Elite visa is a tourist visa

so you will get 2 years

yes you can, and I just posted above that someone did two weeks ago in pranburi. But that is an office known for being tourist friendly. 

[Peterw42]

You could try the main office for Chonburi province in Chonburi town. 40ks north of Pattaya.

 Its way bigger than the Pattaya office and there are more services available.

A couple of things that cannot be done at Pattaya always seem to be able to do at Chonburi.

Edited August 31, 2020 by Peterw42

[Andrew Dwyer]

I believe @richard_smith237 did this presumably in Bangkok ?

[johng]

11 minutes ago, Tagged said:

yes you can, and I just posted above that someone did two weeks ago in pranburi. But that is an office known for being tourist friendly. 

I also ( incorrectly ?)  understood Elite visa was only eligible for 2 years drivers licences.

[kekalot]

1 minute ago, johng said:

I also ( incorrectly ?)  understood Elite visa was only eligible for 2 years drivers licences.

nah you are correct, some places just give 5 years because they don't know what the Elite visa was/is

I guess they can count on that if they want.

[Manchesterian]

When I went to renew they only gave me 1 Yr! 

[richard_smith237]

1 hour ago, Tagged said:

1 hour ago, kekalot said:

you can't renew a license to 5 years with Elite visa because the Elite visa is a tourist visa

so you will get 2 years

yes you can, and I just posted above that someone did two weeks ago in pranburi. But that is an office known for being tourist friendly. 

 

Ultimately its pure ‘hit ’n miss’....    

 

At the DLT Area 3 (in Bangkok, Nr Sukhhmvit 99/1) just under 3 years ago I attempted to renew my Driving licence using my Elite Visa - no go. 

I could only get a 2 year temp licence and was told the official reason is that we (non-Thai’s) can only get a 5 year Driving licence if we are holding a Non-Immigrant Visa.

 

However, in Jan 2020 at the same DLT Area 3 (in Bangkok, Nr Sukhhmvit 99/1) I was issued a 5 year Driving licence, again, using my Thai Elite Visa. 

At this time I also used a Yellow Tabien Baan (and Pink ID card) as proof of address, I’m not sure if this made any difference (note: Pattaya appears not to accept the yellow book as proof of address). 

 

What I think: 

Regulation is that we can only renew to a 5 year licence if we are on a Non-Immigrant Visa, however, some of the officers may not know this and just renew the 5 year licence. I suspect its simply luck of the draw. i.e. which officer we get, on which day, at which DLT. 

 

 

 

So... in direct answer to the Ops question: a very typically Thai - Yes / No / Maybe 

 

 

This Topic here outlines the ambiguity !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ukrules]

I renewed my driving license recently.

 

I first had a one year license based on my UK license which I then renewed a couple of months after the birthday when it expired

 

At that point they gave me a license which lasted almost 6 years, that was about 6 years ago.

 

When this expired I renewed it again recently and got another 6 year license.

 

Both 6 year licenses were on the Elite visa. Cha-am, October 2020.

 

My new license expires in 2026.

 

2 years my ass