From 2 year to 5 year Thai driving licence at DLT Phichit.

 

Booked appointment on-line on the 8th April 2023, 

First available appointment, today at 09.30 -10.30 arrived at 09.35 just as the privious Thai customer got up from desk, waved straight in by a young lady who asked "how can I help you" already had the app open showing my appointment, Pass Port she said, had all relevant paperwork in a folder that I opened and gave to her, all checked out, copies of first page of PP and Visa page, Certificate of Residence plus copy, Medical Certificate, all smiles then she said something in Thai, I shook my head and she went for her phone, type into it and showed me, Licence please, it said, I smiled the thing you've gone to update is sat in my arse pocket, quickly got it out and she laughed when I said stupid "falange" forgot the most important document.

She the directed me into the next room to see an instruction video of the expected tests, sadly all in Thai, but easy to get the gist of what you have to do, Traffic lights for colour blindness, stop and go pedals, 2 sticks in a box, which you have to get within an inch of each other horizontally, and finally a perifocal test.

Called out by another Lady who didn't speak any English to do the tests, all passed in about 5 minutes, and then given a sheaf of paperwork to take into another room.

Told by the Cashier to put papers in tray and take a seat, she then called a Thai over and after 5 mins it was my turn, any Thai she says, no says I, 505baht please says the cashier, hands over a 1000baht note and fished 5 baht out of the skyrocket, she smiles, gives me a 500baht note, and points to a few seats near a camera set-up.

A young lad is getting his picture taken by another Lady operative, and a young girl is making sure her face is ok in a mirror before taking the seat that the young lad has vacated, a few words are exchanged then the girl gets up and it's my turn, wave a hand through my golden locks and straighten my shirt collar, I can see she's thinking "hansum man" quick pic and shown back to the cashier, could see it was going to be a few minutes before the new licence was ready, so popped out the office for a fag in the smoking area that was signposted, got a 3 in 1 coffee off a vender when the lad in front of me tapped me on the shoulder and showed me his receipt and new licence, indicating mine was ready, got the coffee marched back in and the cashier gave me the licence and receipt, the receipt timed at 10.10.54. 

Overall a great experience, no problems whatsoever, well done Phichet DLT.

Couple of questions. Can the "online test", after watching the videos, be done at any time prior to making an appointment to get the licence? Mine is due late July. I'm getting a new work permit shortly, though these apparently don't have the home address on them anymore (unlike my expired one). Also, what is the validity of the certificate of residence? Thanks..

Renewed my 5 year license today. Booked the test about six weeks ago ….watched the film and took a screen shot to prove. Got medical certificate … Dr didn’t ask any medical questions,

 

Went to LTO, and bypassed the queue as had an appointment. Paperwork checked then did reaction test, coloured lights test, matchstick test…visual field was just a light bulb each side of your head and you indicate which one comes on …all done except another form to sign and photo …all in less than 15 minutes. This was at Nonthaburi.

 

I used yellow book and pink card. 

17 minutes ago, JAS21 said:

Renewed my 5 year license today. Booked the test about six weeks ago ….watched the film and took a screen shot to prove. Got medical certificate … Dr didn’t ask any medical questions,

 

Went to LTO, and bypassed the queue as had an appointment. Paperwork checked then did reaction test, coloured lights test, matchstick test…visual field was just a light bulb each side of your head and you indicate which one comes on …all done except another form to sign and photo …all in less than 15 minutes. This was at Nonthaburi.

 

I used yellow book and pink card. 

Which office?

12 hours ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Which office?

Nonthaburi

2 minutes ago, JAS21 said:

Nonthaburi

Thanks

My 5 year DL expires in November 2026 and I usually arrive after the expiry date (due to better price for flights etc). Will be going back to UK in May 2026 so was wondering the best way to get my new licence. Is it best for me to :-

1. Try to submit application for a new licence 6 months early (before I return to UK) if they'll let me 
2. Wait till I return Nov next year and apply then and use UK Driving Licence/International DL in the interim for just a short time
3. Buy earlier air tickets and hang the expense
4. Get the wife to do all the driving till it's renewed (she won't be very amused) 

Any other realistic suggestions please?

24 minutes ago, trevoromgh said:

My 5 year DL expires in November 2026 and I usually arrive after the expiry date (due to better price for flights etc). Will be going back to UK in May 2026 so was wondering the best way to get my new licence. Is it best for me to :-

1. Try to submit application for a new licence 6 months early (before I return to UK) if they'll let me 
2. Wait till I return Nov next year and apply then and use UK Driving Licence/International DL in the interim for just a short time
3. Buy earlier air tickets and hang the expense
4. Get the wife to do all the driving till it's renewed (she won't be very amused) 

Any other realistic suggestions please?

#2..easy peasy. Also try to apply after your expiration date, as you then get 6 years (not 5).

There will be threads on DL renewals to look at, so you will know the appointment system and paperwork required to apply.

So don't even think about again until a year from now.

48 minutes ago, trevoromgh said:

• Try to submit application for a new licence 6 months early (before I return to UK) if they'll let me 
• Wait till I return Nov next year and apply then and use UK Driving Licence/International DL in the interim for just a short time
• Buy earlier air tickets and hang the expense
• Get the wife to do all the driving till it's renewed (she won't be very amused) 

 

1) 6 months is the limit.  Will get 5 years plus the number of months remaining.

2) The best option.  You can renew up to 12 months after expiry and get 5 years + time until next birthday.

3) Madness.

4) Also a good option.  In fact would personally be my #1 choice.

Thanks guys for confirming Option 2 is best, kind of believed it was.  Cheers

My experience today to renew my driving licence in Chiang Mai.

 

Original Documents (all as copies too) provided:

- PP main page & Visa stamp

- Driver licence

- DLT eLearning

- Yellow housebook

- Pink ID card

- Health certificate

 

I thought I was good with that. Surprisingly the lady told me "If you want to do this with your yellow housebook I need 3 more documents from you".

 

Titles:

 

- Form for assigning national identification numbers to individuals of category 6. (56-30-08) (I had this document at home)

 

- Application form for inclusion of a person in the civil registration documents (TR 25) (I had this document at home)

 

- Petition related to civil registration. (P.2. 31) (I had to go to the Amphoe for this.)

 

So maybe she just had a bad day or requirements have changed. Everybody I know was wondering why they suddenly wanted additional documents.

I will see tomorrow how it goes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12 minutes ago, Schoggibueb said:

I will see tomorrow how it goes.

Looking forward.

Nice new harassment.

First time ever heard about.

Bureaucracy feeds bureaucracy.

20 hours ago, Schoggibueb said:

My experience today to renew my driving licence in Chiang Mai.

 

Original Documents (all as copies too) provided:

- PP main page & Visa stamp

- Driver licence

- DLT eLearning

- Yellow housebook

- Pink ID card

- Health certificate

 

I thought I was good with that. Surprisingly the lady told me "If you want to do this with your yellow housebook I need 3 more documents from you".

 

Titles:

 

- Form for assigning national identification numbers to individuals of category 6. (56-30-08) (I had this document at home)

 

- Application form for inclusion of a person in the civil registration documents (TR 25) (I had this document at home)

 

- Petition related to civil registration. (P.2. 31) (I had to go to the Amphoe for this.)

 

So maybe she just had a bad day or requirements have changed. Everybody I know was wondering why they suddenly wanted additional documents.

I will see tomorrow how it goes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

20 hours ago, KhunBENQ said:

Looking forward.

Nice new harassment.

First time ever heard about.

Bureaucracy feeds bureaucracy.

 

 

So today I was able to get my renewal from 2 years, to 5 years.

I asked the lady if this is new. She agreed and said "very new".

 

She also said that for my next renewal the pink ID only will be needed, next to the already known documents. But who knows what will be in 5 years🤔...

 

If you do it with the COR instead of the yellow housebook, nothing has changed (so far).

6 July 2026 data point:

I currently live in Jomtien, but I needed to go to Bangkok for some other business so I scheduled my license renewal (2 year to 5 year) in Bangkok which allowed appointments using the DLT Smart Queue app rather than deal with multiple day scheduling here in Pattaya.

Location: DLT Area 3 Sukhumvit (Soi 100) accessible @ BTS Bang Chak (E10) Exit 3

Walk a short distance to Soi 100 and continue walking or take motorbike taxi (10 baht) to drive you to building entrance.

Arrival time: 1000 for appointment @ 1100 in case time needed to make additional copies or missing paperwork.

The queue area before entering the building was already empty at 1000 and all walk-in queue tickets were issued for the day . Foreigners cannot do walk-ins and must schedule appointment using DLT Smart Queue app.

As you enter the building there is a staff member checking your queue ticket. I showed him my appointment QR code and was allowed entrance.

First stop is check-in at the information desk. Line 2 is for Thai walk-ins and was 20-30 people. Line 3 is Foreigner Only line and was 4 people.

As you get to the counter there is a sign indicating Foreigners No Walk-Ins Appointment Only. Staff member checks QR code, passport, Thai licenses, and paperwork. Sign every page of your paperwork before you arrive to expedite the process.

Info Desk ordered my paperwork as follows:

Top page: Copy of Thai DL (front/back)

Copy of passport and visa pages

Certificate of Residence (1 original and 1 copy acceptable if renewing 2 licenses)

Health Certificate (1 original and 1 copy acceptable if renewing 2 licenses)

DLT E-Learning QR code (https://www.dlt-elearning.com/)

Info desk will give you a queue ticket for counters 9-11 (Driving License Section) where they will double check your paperwork and have you confirm your name & passport number.

Next stop is Room 17 which is the Physical Testing Room. They take in 10-20 people as a group so check the queue monitor for your group. There is also a different monitor showing training videos on all of the the physical tests.

The groups prior to mine appeared to be doing the red/yellow/green, 2-sticks depth perception, and brake tests. The peripheral vision machine appeared out of order. By the time my group entered they must have wanted to speed up the processing so we only did the depth perception and braking tests. They stamp your paperwork showing you passed and the final stop is photograph and payment also on the 1st floor (to the right of the Info desk).

Total cost: 505 car + 255 motorcycle = 760 baht (+ 300 Cert of Res + 200 health cert)

Total time @ DLT: 1000-1145

I hope this posting helps someone to avoid paying an agent since it is relatively easy to do yourself.