Thai Driving Licence renewal - Mo Chit (as at 19 July 2021)

[SooKee]

Thought I'd post this for the info of anyone planning to renew their Thai driving licence(s) at Mo Chit DLT. It can be confusing if you've never been before, more so with the Covid set up and procedures.

It's important to get to the DLT early. There are only 20 slots for foreigners daily now (used to be 40 before). I got there at 7:45 and by 8:00 there were only two slots left, that said, they were still unfilled when they started processing at about 8:15 am. It is essential that you have completed the online training / test and printed out your 'pass' certificate, loads of people were being turned away because they hadn't. Even if the DLT will still be doing the video / test onsite when things return to normal it's currently suspended due to Covid. Their FB page makes this clear (in Thai).

The DLT complex is about 600 metres from the MRT. Use Exit 4 and turn left down Phahon Yotin Road, towards the market area. Don't go through the gates to the first main DLT building you see, it's the two pairs of gates after that, they open to the 'in / out' service roads that run inside the complex. The driving licence / renewal block is building 4 at the far end of the service road on the right hand side (entering from Phahon Yotin Road).

At the entrance to the building there are two covered queue ticket allocation areas with chairs. The one on the left is for Thais, the one on the right is for foreigners. For foreigners you just walk in and sit in the next vacant seat which are numbered from 1-20, this is whether you have completed the online training / test or not. Staffers will then come and call you up to check if you've completed online training and check your documents. If all is in order you get a ticket retuned with your documents to go to the 2nd floor for pre-processing of your documents. 

 

At the 2nd floor you hand you documents in at a reception desk and they will swap your first ticket for a queue number. If nothing changes you will use the far right entry lane and at the end turn right and right again into the large waiting area. It seems they are using desks 18/19 for processing foreigners. The desks are in individual cubicles, screened off. When called the staffer will want the documents and your passport.

After checking you will be sent to the 3rd floor for the tests of which there are 4 (Traffic light colour, depth perception, braking response and peripheral vision). You will be given a queue number again and they will retain all your documents (except your passport which is not needed here), there is a large waiting area with a video playing in Thai and then English which explains the tests. They call people through to be tested in batches of 20 and when your number is called you go to the first station for the traffic light test, here you will be given your documents back. They process people here REALLY fast, all 4 tests take literally 3-4 minutes with a very efficient production line approach, each station will want to see your documents so keep them handy. After that you return to the Floor 3 reception (the desk nearest the waiting area this time) where they take the test result sheets from your documents and send you back to the 2nd floor.

 

On the second floor you will be given yet another queue ticket and again it's down the right hand lane into the waiting area, don't hang around as my ticket number was already up on the screens when I got to the hall. This is the final service desk, they will need your documents and passport and payment for the licence(s), 720 baht in total for car/bike licence.

 

Sounds an awful lot I know but I have to say they are really efficient and helpful and from start to finish the whole process took me 40 minutes (8:30 - 9:10).

 

Definitely worth checking on the DLT FB page or by calling them to make sure they will be open on the day you intend to go, Mo Chit for instance only opened on July 16 after being closed for 14 days for cleaning and disinfecting, all courtesy of Covid!!

Edited July 19, 2021 by SooKee

[SooKee]

Forgot to mention, I took (and they accepted) just one Certificate of Residence and one Medical Certificate with a copy of each (which I didn't sign in this case, and neither did they ask me to) attached to the second application (I was applying for car and bike).

 

The Residence Certificate is valid for a year and the Medical for 30 days though there is a dispensation allowing the latter to be used until 30 September if it has already expired (this is due to the fact that the DLTs had suspended service previously and they didn't want people to have to pay again for a fresh document), not sure though how long the Medical can have expired to use this dispensation, probably tied to the closures earlier this year.

 

As I mentioned in a previous post, foreigners can now do the online training and test which was previously for Thai nationals only but up to now you can't use the pass certificate to register on the DLT Smart Queue app as it still doesn't work for passports.  I just printed out my screenshots and attached one to each set of documents.

[Muhendis]

Good information.

This "on line" test and printout is news to me and possibly others. Please can you post a link.

[SooKee]

28 minutes ago, Muhendis said:

Good information.

This "on line" test and printout is news to me and possibly others. Please can you post a link.

I'm on a phone now, there is a link in the post I made about online testing being available to non-Thais in this forum.

[Pib]

Regarding the medical certificate, what is required to get it....what does the doctor/medical specialist check for in terms of heath...does the certificate have to be issued by certain medical entities....etc?

 

Also, what does the online training/test entail?   And is it offered in English?

 

Thanks in advance.

[SooKee]

41 minutes ago, Pib said:

Regarding the medical certificate, what is required to get it....what does the doctor/medical specialist check for in terms of heath...does the certificate have to be issued by certain medical entities....etc?

 

Also, what does the online training/test entail?   And is it offered in English?

 

Thanks in advance.

Don't have a lot of time at the moment.

 

Medical certificate from any hospital or clinic.  It's not an extensive check up, mostly relies on you completing a questionnaire regarding any conditions etc. which they then copy out onto the report.  It is however a bit more in depth than it was several years ago when it was 100 baht at the desk with no checks whatsoever, or at least it should be, depends where you go I guess.  The only actual check they did with me was BP.  Costs vary depend on where you go, 2-300 being fairly average I think.  

 

See my post 'Online training now available for non Thais' for details of the training.

[Pib]

20 minutes ago, SooKee said:

Don't have a lot of time at the moment.

 

Medical certificate from any hospital or clinic.  It's not an extensive check up, mostly relies on you completing a questionnaire regarding any conditions etc. which they then copy out onto the report.  It is however a bit more in depth than it was several years ago when it was 100 baht at the desk with no checks whatsoever, or at least it should be, depends where you go I guess.  The only actual check they did with me was BP.  Costs vary depend on where you go, 2-300 being fairly average I think.  

 

See my post 'Online training now available for non Thais' for details of the training.

Thanks.   Your below "online training now available for non-Thais" helped to clear-up a lot of questions I had such as a person must complete the online training before being able to book an appointment on the separate queue booking app.   

 

My auto/motorcycle license doesn't expire until the end of 2024 and I expect things will change between now and 2024, but I wanted to clear-up some questions I had now. 

 

So, if things were working like they were suppose to (which is not the case right now such as passport number not being accepted for online registration) a person would first complete the online training (which sounds like a basic video with a few questions you need to pass versus some serious test).  Then with training completed you could make an online appointment to renew your license.  And of course get the medical certificate and certificate of residence before going to the appointment.  Is this about right?

 

 

[SooKee]

Hmmm. Sort of.  As yet there is no option whatsoever for foreigners to book any appointment other than by doing it in person at your chosen DLT if it operates a queue reservation system.  By the time yours is due one would hope that that will change so you can use the DLT Smart Queue app.  There is no way to book an appointment online in fact for anyone, it's the app only. Mo Chit (and numerous others nationwide) don't operate a pre-booked queue system so at those you would just turn up.  In the case of Mo Chit it's then as described above in the OP.  Obviously folks will need to check their own DLTs, this post was specifically about Mo Chit.  

 

Bang Chak definitely does operate a queue system.  And yes you will obviously need the medical certificate and certificate of residence prior to your appointment.  The COR is valid for one year so that can be got a month or two in advance.  Medical is valid only 30 days so is a bit more tricky but at the moment that is somewhat flexible, mine would have expired on 31 July but they said I could still use if for my appointment at Bang Chak (this was before I decided to go to Mo Chit when the Covid situation suddenly started to get much worse) on 10 August due to the current document expiration 'amnesty' which at the moment is up to 30 September.  Obviously any such amnesty details will vary as time goes on, likely being extended further if the situation gets worse.

[big dendrobenaes]

c of r lasts for one month NOT one year

[Pib]

12 minutes ago, big dendrobenaes said:

c of r lasts for one month NOT one year

The DLT website says 1 year for the COR and 1 month for medical certificate.

 

https://www.dlt.go.th/en/renew-license/

 

[SooKee]

42 minutes ago, big dendrobenaes said:

c of r lasts for one month NOT one year

Wrong! The tickets they hand out at the DLT Bang Chak as appointment reminders AND the DLT site clearly indicate the COR valid 1 year NOT 1 month.  

Edited July 20, 2021 by SooKee

[SooKee]

Just by way of a final update, the DLT temporarily suspended all services related to driving licences starting from 20 July (I was pretty certain this was coming after the restrictions were ramped up, hence I went on the 19th despite it being a Monday) until further notice so check their website and / or call to confirm they are open again before going.

[kynikoi]

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Edited July 20, 2021 by kynikoi