A question for the long stayers. - Driver's License Renewals - How many years? 1+, 5+, 15+?

[patman30]

1 minute ago, Techno Viking said:

 

As I said, Not hard to get a "favorable" medical certificate.

i take it you only ever think about yourself ?

[Techno Viking]

1 minute ago, patman30 said:

i take it you only ever think about yourself ?

 

What ?

[Tounge Thaied]

21 hours ago, mahjongguy said:

Eek!

Why the Eek! Do you forget how to drive after 5 years. ???? 

[Neeranam]

21 hours ago, mahjongguy said:

Years ago they issued lifetime licenses. Some of those people are still around. Many of them still driving.  Eek!

They're not all old. I mean some are in their early 60's that I know.

[Neeranam]

1 hour ago, Iem said:

In Thai year 2551 my 5 year licences were renewed for 10 years each . That was after the two years was renewed with 5 years - then i got the 10 year ones . Unfortunately I failed the renewal in 2561 . Too lazy to convert the years ...you can do that .

I only got 5 years back then. I'm on my 4th 5 year one.

[mahjongguy]

12 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

They're not all old. I mean some are in their early 60's that I know.

Yes, in a subsequent post I accepted the correction that the lifetime licenses were not discontinued until 2003 and therefore not everyone holding one is quite ancient yet. Meaning, I retracted my Eek!.

 

 

Edited November 1, 2020 by mahjongguy
clarity

[ianezy0]

22 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Two types of Licence a foreigner can obtain: 

 

- 2 Year Temporary Driving licence

- 5 Year Driving Licence

 

Thats it. 

After holding a 2 year temp licence a *foreigner can apply for a 5 year licence and then **renew it each 5 years. 

There is no licence thats longer than **5 years.

 

*Note: A non-Immigrant Visa is required to renew to a 5 year licence.

**Further Note: Its possible to ’stretch’ the 5 years to 6 years if applying to renew your 5 year licence the day after your birthday. 

 

 

 

If you go just after your Birthday then you can get close to 6 years.

My Birthday is in Sept and I went to DLT 3 weeks ago to change from a 2 year to a 5 year. My new licence  expires in September 2026

[UncleMhee]

My 2 year license was issued in February '62 and my birthday is in July. My license is expiring next February.....so with all this talk about birthdays, does anyone have an explanation how that works? Issued @ Chiang Mai.

[digger70]

On 10/31/2020 at 4:18 PM, richard_smith237 said:

Two types of Licence a foreigner can obtain: 

 

- 2 Year Temporary Driving licence

- 5 Year Driving Licence

 

Thats it. 

After holding a 2 year temp licence a *foreigner can apply for a 5 year licence and then **renew it each 5 years. 

There is no licence thats longer than **5 years.

 

*Note: A non-Immigrant Visa is required to renew to a 5 year licence.

**Further Note: Its possible to ’stretch’ the 5 years to 6 years if applying to renew your 5 year licence the day after your birthday. 

 

 

 

First one if one has  a Valid  Foreign License   one can get   a 1 year License

 and after that ,5 year  Renewals .  That worked for me  .

[ThaiFelix]

One thing to bare in mind is that they want to see a  current one year extension in your passport before they will extend to 5 years.  Long story but we never used to have an Imm office in our province so would have to travel to next province each year to renew  year Non Im O extension and it was at this time that I first got my Thai drivers lic.  That meant that my  one year temp lic (now two years) came up for renewal at the same time each year (or two) that I was renewing my visa extension.  Therefore I only had an "under approval" stamp in my passport whenever I renewed my license.  As I didnt have a current one year extension at time of lic renewal they wouldnt give me 5 year lic irregardless that I had a long history of approved one year visa extensions in my passport.  Eventually I had to drive around for one month (the under consideration period) without a license until extension was granted in order to get the 5 years lic.  I hope that makes sense.

 

Short answer is you must have a current one year extension in your passport before you can go up to the five year license.

 

Disclaimer:  Being Thailand I can only comment on the traffic office I attend (Sakhon Nakhon), other offices may have different requirements depending on which way the wind is blowing at the time or the current angle of the dangle.

 

 

[LukKrueng]

On 10/31/2020 at 4:18 PM, richard_smith237 said:

Two types of Licence a foreigner can obtain: 

 

- 2 Year Temporary Driving licence

- 5 Year Driving Licence

Not only foreigners. Also Thai citizens. The maximum validity of a Thai license is 5 years (yeah, 6 years minus 1 day if you renew it a day after your birthday...) 

[jomtienisgood]

On 10/31/2020 at 4:25 PM, mahjongguy said:

Years ago they issued lifetime licenses. Some of those people are still around. Many of them still driving.  Eek!

Many years ago........

[jomtienisgood]

On 10/31/2020 at 4:18 PM, Scottish Thailander said:

Yes, but at what point, after how many 5 year renewals, do you get more than 5 years upon a renewal? 

How many renewals have you done?

The longest is 5 years, done 4 renewals;;; 

[jomtienisgood]

On 10/31/2020 at 5:36 PM, mahjongguy said:

Yes, more recent than I thought. Mid-2003. Too bad, I just missed it.

So did I 

[jomtienisgood]

On 10/31/2020 at 5:52 PM, lopburi3 said:

And some of us are a bit older.  Mine was issued 50 years ago - and photo still looks exactly the same - as I was 50 years ago.  

I feel sorry if you looked the same as now 50 years ago....555555555

[jomtienisgood]

On 11/1/2020 at 11:38 AM, SomchaiCNX said:

Not for foreigners, I have my license for 25 years now. My wife did it later and she still got a lifetime license, when I asked the next renewal they told me it was only for Thai (or maybe PR holders).

No, for PR same rules..

[jomtienisgood]

On 11/1/2020 at 12:17 PM, Colabamumbai said:

Buy a 10 year intl. Drivers permit, good for most countries, about 100 bucks online. 

The ones issued in Th. valid only 1 year; And a drivers permit is only valid with a valid drivers license.

[jomtienisgood]

On 11/1/2020 at 1:19 PM, patman30 said:

has it been reported yet on TVF about the new health regulations for renewing a driving license?
such as diabetics will no longer qualify for renewal
wife said, many Thai's are complaining about the new restrictions
but i havent seen anything in English when i initially searched (although not searched recently)
was announced last week
i would expect it may affect quite a few TVF members

ok after translating few pages seems diabetes is under consideration with others
 

Which originally defined 5 prohibited diseases, including

1. Lymphatic filariasis in the symptoms that are offensive to society

2. Tuberculosis in infectious stage

3. Leprosy

4. Alcoholism

5. Drug Addiction

 

They are considering adding forbidden diseases such as epilepsy, diabetes, high blood pressure, bipolar disorder, autism or atypical 90 cm short, which doctors must issue a medical certificate. Must assess the physical condition of the applicant for a medical certificate"

 

High Blood pressure is mentioned on issued certificate...

[richard_smith237]

23 hours ago, ianezy0 said:

On 10/31/2020 at 4:18 PM, richard_smith237 said:

Two types of Licence a foreigner can obtain: 

 

- 2 Year Temporary Driving licence

- 5 Year Driving Licence

 

Thats it. 

After holding a 2 year temp licence a *foreigner can apply for a 5 year licence and then **renew it each 5 years. 

There is no licence thats longer than **5 years.

 

*Note: A non-Immigrant Visa is required to renew to a 5 year licence.

**Further Note: Its possible to ’stretch’ the 5 years to 6 years if applying to renew your 5 year licence the day after your birthday. 

 

 

 

If you go just after your Birthday then you can get close to 6 years.

My Birthday is in Sept and I went to DLT 3 weeks ago to change from a 2 year to a 5 year. My new licence  expires in September 2026

 

You read the whole comment?  

 

[Its possible to ’stretch’ the 5 years to 6 years if applying to renew your 5 year licence the day after your birthday]... 

 

 

[richard_smith237]

18 hours ago, digger70 said:

First one if one has  a Valid  Foreign License   one can get   a 1 year License

 and after that ,5 year  Renewals .  That worked for me  .

 

How long ago was that ????? 

 

The first Licence anyone gets, no matter how they are applying, when, with which visa, whatever the foreign licence, or if accompanied or not by an IDP is 2 years...

 

To my knowledge, 1 year temp licenses have not been issued for a good number of years. 

[jomtienisgood]

8 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

How long ago was that ????? 

 

The first Licence anyone gets, no matter how they are applying, when, with which visa, whatever the foreign licence, or if accompanied or not by an IDP is 2 years...

 

To my knowledge, 1 year temp licenses have not been issued for a good number of years. 

As far as I remember the last 1 year licenses were issued about 15 years ago.

[ianezy0]

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

You read the whole comment?  

 

[Its possible to ’stretch’ the 5 years to 6 years if applying to renew your 5 year licence the day after your birthday]... 

 

 

My apologies. It wasn’t noted at the time ????

[Techno Viking]

2 hours ago, jomtienisgood said:

As far as I remember the last 1 year licenses were issued about 15 years ago.

 

Changed from 1 year temp to 2 year temp in 2015 as I recall.

[jomtienisgood]

27 minutes ago, Techno Viking said:

 

Changed from 1 year temp to 2 year temp in 2015 as I recall.

So I added a figure 1 too much to it... Sorry I didn't recall all that well since my 1st DL here goes back to 2000.

[Techno Viking]

7 minutes ago, jomtienisgood said:

So I added a figure 1 too much to it... Sorry I didn't recall all that well since my 1st DL here goes back to 2000.

 

 

Just trying to keep the content accurate, congrats on 21 years in Thailand.

[jomtienisgood]

8 minutes ago, Techno Viking said:

 

 

Just trying to keep the content accurate, congrats on 21 years in Thailand.

Congrats not necessary, some good and some bad times like anywhere else.

[digger70]

4 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

How long ago was that ????? 

 

The first Licence anyone gets, no matter how they are applying, when, with which visa, whatever the foreign licence, or if accompanied or not by an IDP is 2 years...

 

To my knowledge, 1 year temp licenses have not been issued for a good number of years. 

2013       1 year open License  in Songkhla City      Valid AUD License        No IDP.

[Ks45672]

On 10/31/2020 at 5:25 PM, mahjongguy said:

Years ago they issued lifetime licenses. Some of those people are still around. Many of them still driving.  Eek!

Some of them are only 39 today! They only stopped lifetime licenses about 20  years ago