Renewal Of 5 Year Driver's License

[yoslim]

Ok I got it done today, both car and motosai 1 year licences renewed into 5 years.

Photocopy of passport, visa

1 medical cert and 1 copy

1 residency cert and 1 copy

I just had to do the eye, color, reflex tests, pay money (960 baht) and I was done in less than 1 hour.

You need any type of non-imm visa or you will only get a 1 year temp

I did renew before expiry but the new 5 years run until my birthday so I actually got 5 years and 7 months

[Jayman]

No yellow book. But pretty much everything else. I have a folder with all the papers. I'll get a yellow book. Sounds like it's a good thing to have.

It is. and it's free. Also will never have to get a letter from immigration for residence again. Also will use it when you do the 90 day report.

The only costs involved are that you must get your passport translated to Thai.

[Jayman]

Ok I got it done today, both car and motosai 1 year licences renewed into 5 years.

Photocopy of passport, visa

1 medical cert and 1 copy

1 residency cert and 1 copy

I just had to do the eye, color, reflex tests, pay money (960 baht) and I was done in less than 1 hour.

You need any type of non-imm visa or you will only get a 1 year temp

I did renew before expiry but the new 5 years run until my birthday so I actually got 5 years and 7 months

I don't remember but maybe the 1 year doesn't expire on your Bday? It sounds like yours didn't from what you are posting. In the future, when you go to renew your 5 year, show up a few days after your birthday and you will get 5 years 11 months like I do.

[yoslim]

Ok I got it done today, both car and motosai 1 year licences renewed into 5 years.

Photocopy of passport, visa

1 medical cert and 1 copy

1 residency cert and 1 copy

I just had to do the eye, color, reflex tests, pay money (960 baht) and I was done in less than 1 hour.

You need any type of non-imm visa or you will only get a 1 year temp

I did renew before expiry but the new 5 years run until my birthday so I actually got 5 years and 7 months

I don't remember but maybe the 1 year doesn't expire on your Bday? It sounds like yours didn't from what you are posting. In the future, when you go to renew your 5 year, show up a few days after your birthday and you will get 5 years 11 months like I do.

yes the 1 year is valid exactly 1 year from the day you do it. I'm glad I got the ED visa, this 1 year licence crap on tourist visa was getting a PITA

[BlackPuddingBertha]

My 1-year licence expires on the 4th (exactly 365 days after I got it) and my birthday is at the end of the same month. Presumably if I replace it with a 5-year one before my birthday then I will only get 5 years plus a few days. Whereas if I waited until the day after my birthday I would get nearly 6 years. That all makes sense.

But is there a point at which they say that the delay between the expiry of the 1-year licence and the request for the 5-year licence is too great and they make you start again with another 1-year one?

And what about driving around with an expired licence? What is the fine for that? 400B, I suppose.

[Jayman]

My 1-year licence expires on the 4th (exactly 365 days after I got it) and my birthday is at the end of the same month. Presumably if I replace it with a 5-year one before my birthday then I will only get 5 years plus a few days. Whereas if I waited until the day after my birthday I would get nearly 6 years. That all makes sense.

But is there a point at which they say that the delay between the expiry of the 1-year licence and the request for the 5-year licence is too great and they make you start again with another 1-year one?

And what about driving around with an expired licence? What is the fine for that? 400B, I suppose.

Fine for expired license? You think the cops even look at the date of expiry?

In the past I have renewed many months after expiry as I was not in country to renew and never faced any issues.

The biggest concern I have with waiting till it expires to renew is that god forbid I'm in an accident during those few days I'm driving on an expired license I might have serious issues with my insurance company.

[BlackPuddingBertha]

Fine for expired license? You think the cops even look at the date of expiry?

I think they might look if they wanted to. It is an offence.

The biggest concern I have with waiting till it expires to renew is that god forbid I'm in an accident during those few days I'm driving on an expired license I might have serious issues with my insurance company.

I have three fully valid licences so that should not be much of an issue. I suppose I could always flash one of those at any police who stopped me also.

[bangkok101]

to some a license renewal may be the highlite event of the year....who cares!

[cloghead]

Renewal of 5 year license was a breeze in Chantaburi. I was prepared for a half-day marathon and I was in & out in 30 minutes. No vision test, no reaction test, no proof of residency, etc. It probably would've taken half that time but the license lady had to hunt down (in the 1st-floor offices) change for my 1000 baht note LOL...

[up2me4now]

Some clarification required please.

My first 5 year licence expires on my birthday June 20th. At the moment I am in the UK sorting personal things and will get a 1yr non immigrant visa from the consulate before I return in 2 weeks time.

My question is how do I go about getting a resident letter from immigration, I have a home in Thailand on a 30 year lease, married and have a daughter in Thailand. I will be staying in Thailand for at least a year before I return to the UK.

If this letter of residency is not available to me I guess an international licence will have to do but the Thai licence is much better to have.

[chasntong]

Went for my five year licence yesterday, arrived at 10-30, completed by 11-15, but had to wait to pick up my licence until after lunch break , the new licence is dated to my birthday (31 Oct) 2018. (five years six months)

My temporary licence was still valid until 10 June, so I renewed one month early with no problem

[martin.agren]

What happens if you fail the peripheral colour test? I passed when I got my expired license about 10 years ago, but I don't know how I did it. I'm red green colourblind. The first colour test was easy as I could distinguish the three different shades and as the people in front of me all said the colours loudly I figured out which shade (in my colourless world) corresponded to which colour. But in the peripheral test it was just wild guessing.

[johng]

If you fail any of the tests they normally let you try again...if you fail again the're supposed to send you home.

But

When I went to renew my licence a few weeks ago there was a guy who was having trouble with the color chart

( they where not using the traffic lights )

the examiner pointed to a green splodge and he kept saying blue...

in the end she said to him "there is no blue next time say blue go home ok"..

she did another round of pointing to diferent colors then she pointed at green

and he said blue everyone laughed out loud, he quickly corrected to green and she let him pass !!!!!.

So it seems to depend on the mood of the examiner and alignment of the stars.

I was there for a good few hours and only saw one Thai teenager fail any of those tests.

[jacko45k]

IHATE dealing with Jomtien immigration. She asked if I was getting 2 licenses, I said yes. She said to get 2 residency certs. One for each license. So...I got 2!

That explains it. Jomtien immigration want you to buy as many as possible of these as they get to keep the money!

When I got mine a year ago they wanted me to take a second one for a motorbike licence also and I had a hard job convincing her that I really didn't want a motorbike licence at all.

I suspect that had you asked the clerk at the licence office how many they wanted it would have saved you 200B (but not the trip!).

Live and learn.

It was the clerk at the LTO that told me to get 2 copies from immigration. We argued, but didn't win.

Yeah they made me buy 2 as well....... since all the paperwork went around in one folder (both car and motorcycle licences) obviously I felt that was a waste of my money.

Other than that well pleased with how it all went, although they had me worried for the first hour, where I had 25 numbers ahead of me and it was advancing 1 every 10+ minutes... then it seemed 30 numbers went through in a matter of minutes. It was great fun, but I hope I don't come across the 2 guys who were tested near to me. One couldn't distinguish red from green and the other had braking reactions like Jones out of Dad's army.....10 seconds!

[bkkjames]

Went for my five year licence yesterday, arrived at 10-30, completed by 11-15, but had to wait to pick up my licence until after lunch break , the new licence is dated to my birthday (31 Oct) 2018. (five years six months)

My temporary licence was still valid until 10 June, so I renewed one month early with no problem

Hi if you don't mind me asking about the paperwork required.

My 1 year expires in a month or so. Would like to upgrade to 5

I have valid WP, VISA etc. Do I need a residency cert? Where do I get this? Can I get it locally at Immigration or do I need to bother with going to my embassy in Bangers?

Thanks in advance.

[topt]

Went for my five year licence yesterday, arrived at 10-30, completed by 11-15, but had to wait to pick up my licence until after lunch break , the new licence is dated to my birthday (31 Oct) 2018. (five years six months)

My temporary licence was still valid until 10 June, so I renewed one month early with no problem

Hi if you don't mind me asking about the paperwork required.

My 1 year expires in a month or so. Would like to upgrade to 5

I have valid WP, VISA etc. Do I need a residency cert? Where do I get this? Can I get it locally at Immigration or do I need to bother with going to my embassy in Bangers?

Thanks in advance.

You should be able to get from Immigration.

Don't forget your medical cert as well.

[rwhoov]

Could I have one point of clarification, please. I am renewing my 5 year license to another 5 year license. Will I need a medical certificate? The gentleman who started this thread said no, but he was the only one who was going from a 5 year to another 5 year. All other examples were from a 1 year to a 5 year and stated you did need one. Should I go ahead and get a medical certificate just in case?

Thanks!

[tomjerry]

Could I have one point of clarification, please. I am renewing my 5 year license to another 5 year license. Will I need a medical certificate? The gentleman who started this thread said no, but he was the only one who was going from a 5 year to another 5 year. All other examples were from a 1 year to a 5 year and stated you did need one. Should I go ahead and get a medical certificate just in case? 

 

Thanks!

I did 5 year to 5 year with no medical

Sent from my GT-I9100T using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Jayman]

I did a 5 year to a 5 year as well and no med cert was asked for. Also, as I've stated before, if you show up like a week after your current 5 year expires (on your bday I assume) then they will give your next license that will expire 5 years + 11 months from when you renew. So you get nearly 6 years. The expiration for a 5 year is always based on your bday and set to expire 5 birthdays away.

[Ungabunga]

I just did my 5 year renewal yesterday. I got there at 8.15 am, left at 10.20 am with both licenses renewed. I found it all relatively easy thanks to the information posted here on this thread, so thanks very much everyone for that

Here's the current price list that was on display;

I don't think that this has been posted before (forgive me if I'm wrong), so here's a link to the dept of land transportation's website officially stating what you need (scroll down a little bit for 5yr renewals); http://bit.ly/14YGzXw

Tip: Get there early. As soon as you arrive make your way to the ticket machine which is located at bottom of stairs and press button #`1 (NOT button #2 which is for Thai's).

[rikki]

Lost my 5year m/c licence so went to get a new one

Took 4 visits total, because

I am on a tourist visa now, and since it is over a year since I got my 5year licence, I can only get a 1year licence.

And for this I needed a Certificate of Residence (which is now free (or up to you!)) and a doctors certificate,and passport copies

So does that mean that a 5year car licence would no longer be legal?

The info I got on this site implied that I should get a police report to take to the licence office, but in my case it made no difference

I'm in Chiang Mai but...So can you make this a sticky in the motor section or elsewhere people can find it?

[angrybird]

Pleased to report totally painless efficient and quick procedures, with licence expired for 2 years.

5 year new licences now in hand.

[rmicheald]

If I read the DLT web site correctly, if you have a work permit, you don't need the residency certificate. Can anyone confirm this?

Thanks in advance...

[PoolHustler]

If I read the DLT web site correctly, if you have a work permit, you don't need the residency certificate. Can anyone confirm this?

Thanks in advance...

Yes confirmed,

[diggerdo]

Ok I got it done today, both car and motosai 1 year licences renewed into 5 years.

Photocopy of passport, visa

1 medical cert and 1 copy

1 residency cert and 1 copy

I just had to do the eye, color, reflex tests, pay money (960 baht) and I was done in less than 1 hour.

You need any type of non-imm visa or you will only get a 1 year temp

I did renew before expiry but the new 5 years run until my birthday so I actually got 5 years and 7 months

Update : I have just come from Jomtien Immigration after receiving my residency cert, when I told the guy there I was applying for both Car and Motorbike licenses he insisted I would need two residency certs, I tried to explain that Yoslim said that one plus a copy would be ok but he wouldn't have any of it, so I had to go outside and get another passport photo, (you need 3 photos for 2 certs) plus 500 bhat and a 20 min wait and I was sorted.

[MTH]

Ok I got it done today, both car and motosai 1 year licences renewed into 5 years.

Photocopy of passport, visa

1 medical cert and 1 copy

1 residency cert and 1 copy

I just had to do the eye, color, reflex tests, pay money (960 baht) and I was done in less than 1 hour.

You need any type of non-imm visa or you will only get a 1 year temp

I did renew before expiry but the new 5 years run until my birthday so I actually got 5 years and 7 months

Update : I have just come from Jomtien Immigration after receiving my residency cert, when I told the guy there I was applying for both Car and Motorbike licenses he insisted I would need two residency certs, I tried to explain that Yoslim said that one plus a copy would be ok but he wouldn't have any of it, so I had to go outside and get another passport photo, (you need 3 photos for 2 certs) plus 500 bhat and a 20 min wait and I was sorted.

Immigration has always wanted to make the extra Baht by selling you multiple certificates. It was even like that back when they resided on soi 8 in patts. If you want to save some money, just tell them you are applying/extending a single license, motorbike or car.

[rmicheald]

Please be advised, you can NOT apply for a license more than 3 MONTHS PRIOR to expiration. I went today (October 8) and my birthday is in January. I was not allowed to proceed because the gestapo at the desk checking papers said I was too early before my birthday.

[cigar7]

I plan to get my first 5 year Driver's license in January 2014. I currently have a 1 year temporary Thai driver's license which expires in February 2014 and a retirement visa with an extension of stay to April 2014. Will I qualify for the 5 year license or will I only get another 1 year license? What is the earliest that I can get my new license? My birthday is in April.

Edited October 29, 2013 by cigar7

[MTH]

I plan to get my first 5 year Driver's license in January 2014. I currently have a 1 year temporary Thai driver's license which expires in February 2014 and a retirement visa with an extension of stay to April 2014. Will I qualify for the 5 year license or will I only get another 1 year license? What is the earliest that I can get my new license? My birthday is in April.

Yes, you do qualify for the 5 year license. Requirement is that you're on a long term permission to stay in Thailand at the time of application.

As for early application, you can apply up to 60 days in advance when renewing a 1 to 5 year license, (and as rmicheald mentions above, 90 days when renewing a 5 to 5 year license).

[supersomchai]

Is it possible to renew the 5 year licence without a residence paper...and if not... how do you go about getting one i have forgotten the procedure ??