I got stopped by the police on my scooter

[tethys]

Hi All,

 

Yesterday there was a police stop in Jomtien, I got pulled over and I showed my international driving license that expired a few month. I also showed him my normal driving license.

 

I would need some help to understand what he could tell me because I'm not sure.

 

He wrote me a fine and told to go to the police to pay it but at the same time he told me there is no problem I can drive my motorbike.

 

Also he didn't put the amount to pay on the notice,  provided its a fine, so maybe, I hope, that I just have to report and not pay any fine. (Probably wishful thinking.) 

 

The "other" option box is ticked on the notice and something is written there in Thai. Maybe somebody could read it?

Thank you!

Edited April 5, 2022 by tethys

[ozfarang]

@tethys, the large Thai script, 'no licence'

[BritManToo]

No driving licence, 200-400bh fine.

Just think of it as a foreigner tax for driving in Thailand.

If you'd had a d/l he would have just made up another offense.

Edited April 5, 2022 by BritManToo

[Captain Monday]

An expired Intl driving permit and your "normal driving license"? From your country?

 

 

[Bruno123]

16 minutes ago, tethys said:

Hi All,

 

Yesterday there was a police stop in Jomtien, I got pulled over and I showed my international driving license that expired a few month. I also showed him my normal driving license.

 

I would need some help to understand what he could tell me because I'm not sure.

 

He wrote me a fine and told to go to the police to pay it but at the same time he told me there is no problem I can drive my motorbike.

 

Also he didn't put the amount to pay on the notice,  provided its a fine, so maybe, I hope, that I just have to report and not pay any fine. (Probably wishful thinking.) 

 

The "other" option box is ticked on the notice and something is written there in Thai. Maybe somebody could read it?

Thank you!

Edited 11 minutes ago by tethys

IDP International Driving Permit, not licence. Expired. Equals, no licence. Few months or a few days...still expired.

[baansgr]

Where in Jomtien...that's unheard of

[Peterw42]

OP, a couple of questions. Did you present a valid license from home country, that covers riding a bike.

Did they keep your license pending paying the fine ?

 

IDP is not a license, its a translation of your license that accompanies your license, and technically not required in Thailand if your license is in English etc.

An IDP can help the police understand you have a valid license etc, but presenting an expired one is not a great idea.

 

If they didnt hang on to your license, ignore it.

 

 

Edited April 5, 2022 by Peterw42

[VocalNeal]

24 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

No driving licence, 200-400bh fine.

Just think of it as a foreigner tax for driving in Thailand.

If you'd had a d/l he would have just made up another offense.

So the police don't do their job. Seems to be a frequent comment on this forum. But when they do they are still doing it wrongly?

[jwdub12]

15 minutes ago, baansgr said:

Where in Jomtien...that's unheard of

Not really, They were at their regular weekly spot by the Theppressit/Thappraya intersection between 5-7 PM.  

[hotandsticky]

23 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

OP, a couple of questions. Did you present a valid license from home country, that covers riding a bike.

Did they keep your license pending paying the fine ?

 

IDP is not a license, its a translation of your license that accompanies your license, and technically not required in Thailand if your license is in English etc.

An IDP can help the police understand you have a valid license etc, but presenting an expired one is not a great idea.

 

If they didnt hang on to your license, ignore it.

 

 

 

 

I don't think that is correct. The home country licence is NOT valid on it's own (ironically, I believe you can drive in the UK on a Thai licence for 6 months).

 

 

16 years ago an officer pointed out that my UK DL was not sufficient for driving in Thailand and I needed an IDP.

[theoldgit]

17 minutes ago, hotandsticky said:

I believe you can drive in the UK on a Thai licence for 6 months).

 

No, you can drive any type of small vehicle (for example cars or motorcycles) listed on your full and valid licence for 12 months from when you last entered Great Britain (GB), whether it be as a visitor or to take up residence.

[tethys]

1 hour ago, Peterw42 said:

Did you present a valid license from home country, that covers riding a bike.

Yes.

Quote

Did they keep your license pending paying the fine ?

What do you mean pending? They gave it back to me.

Quote

If they didnt hang on to your license, ignore it.

So if I dont go to the police station, what will happen? Can they hit me with a higher fine at the airport when I leave?

Edited April 5, 2022 by tethys

[Dave Aarons]

Rather than worry about a small fine, what you should be concerned about is the fact that without a Licence, your Insurance is invalid.

Imagine the cost of repairing someone's Mercedes, or worse, a large hospital bill for someone you injure.

A Thai Licence costs a few hundred baht and can be done in one day.

[tethys]

1 minute ago, Dave Aarons said:

Rather than worry about a small fine, what you should be concerned about is the fact that without a Licence, your Insurance is invalid.

Imagine the cost of repairing someone's Mercedes, or worse, a large hospital bill for someone you injure.

A Thai Licence costs a few hundred baht and can be done in one day.

Yep, thats a very good advice. Ill try to get a Thai license.

[tethys]

1 hour ago, Captain Monday said:

An expired Intl driving permit and your "normal driving license"? From your country?

Sorry, yes from my country, not Thai license.

Edited April 5, 2022 by tethys

[tethys]

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

If you'd had a d/l he would have just made up another offense.

Is this really true? Even if you have a valid international permit they will make up something?

[jwdub12]

9 minutes ago, tethys said:

Is this really true? Even if you have a valid international permit they will make up something?

BMT is just being a little overzealous in his statement, but rest assured the boys in brown will look for anything they can in order to write you a ticket.

[Captain Monday]

The checkpoint cops in Chiang Mai no longer care about any international treaties or conventions.

To drive on ones home country license requires a valid IDP or you get fined.

[Moonlover]

How long have you been in the country @tethys? You are aware I trust that if you stay here more than 90 days you must have a Thai driving license.

[eisfeld]

18 minutes ago, tethys said:

Is this really true? Even if you have a valid international permit they will make up something?

No it's just a common myth. If there is no valid reason to fine you for then they most likely wont fine you. I've ridden more than 200 000 km in the past decade all over Thailand and gone through uncountable police stops and never been fined unjustly. People probably started thinking that police make up reasons because a lot of people get fined for something else after showing their license but it's usually a valid infraction like no helmet, no paid road tax etc. And then there is a minority of police officers in certain places that don't know the rule or really just try to get money even by making up stuff. If they made up a justification and just wanted money then they wouldn't send you to pay at the police office, they would pocket the cash on the spot themselves. There's also always the possibility of missing information, misunderstandings etc. But if you are here for quite a while as your expired IDP suggests then it seems they might have a valid reason to fine you. Just pay it, it's not much.

[tgw]

35 minutes ago, tethys said:

Is this really true? Even if you have a valid international permit they will make up something?

it's not common.

I've been driving around Pattaya for over 10 years and the handful of times a cop wanted to fine me the reason was technically valid ... except once !

 

one time, a cop examined all my paperwork, the bike, tax, etc. As I keep my paperwork squeaky clean, he couldn't find anything and then proceeded to tell me "you pay 200 baht".  So I asked him for what? and he just kept repeating "you pay" "you pay".

I said I have no problem to pay a fine if I did something wrong, and I would like to explain to my lawyer what I did wrong, and then I pulled out my lawyer's business card, and said "ok, I call him now and you will tell him why you fine me".

The cop just took one look at the card, and then an angry "go go go!" followed.

[KhunLA]

21 hours ago, eisfeld said:

No it's just a common myth. 

Not a myth, but not done as much as in the past.  I've been wrongly written up for silly things in early days of driving here, and sadly, easier to simply pay, instead of fighting in court, or if license to be held captive, finding the PoPo station and waiting to pay.

 

If license not retained, simply do as locals do, and ignore the citation:

 

[BritManToo]

51 minutes ago, tethys said:

Is this really true? Even if you have a valid international permit they will make up something?

Their next bogus excuse is not carrying the 'green book'.

But they have been known to use no wing mirrors, rear footpegs down, the list goes on .......

You're supposed to sneak them 100bht first chance you get, then they wave you on.

Edited April 5, 2022 by BritManToo

[PremiumLane]

Forget all this 'are international ones valid' talk - go and get a Thai driving licence now. If you have a licence from your home country and it is in English you can easily get a Thai one issued.

 

You are royally screwed if you get in an accident without a valid licence, no insurance and you will end up paying for everything. 

[BritManToo]

1 minute ago, PremiumLane said:

Forget all this 'are international ones valid' talk - go and get a Thai driving licence now. If you have a licence from your home country and it is in English you can easily get a Thai one issued.

 

You are royally screwed if you get in an accident without a valid licence, no insurance and you will end up paying for everything. 

Not true, government minimum insurance pays out no matter what, assuming you purchased it.

[HaoleBoy]

What "insurance" are people talking about?  I'm not aware of being able to insure a scooter except the Thai's that rent them.

I ride a big bike and have 1st class insurance on that, but the company would not insure a scooter.  

I do have the Gov minimum insurance that you must pay for prior to paying your yearly tax.

[Peterw42]

1 hour ago, hotandsticky said:

 

 

I don't think that is correct. The home country licence is NOT valid on it's own (ironically, I believe you can drive in the UK on a Thai licence for 6 months).

 

 

16 years ago an officer pointed out that my UK DL was not sufficient for driving in Thailand and I needed an IDP.

Motor Vehicle Act, : 
Section 42-2 
“In case there’s a treaty between the Thai government and a foreign government regarding mutual acceptance of driver’s license, an alien may drive a motor vehicle with a driver’s license issued by such a foreign government, 

[stevenl]

1 hour ago, Dave Aarons said:

Rather than worry about a small fine, what you should be concerned about is the fact that without a Licence, your Insurance is invalid.

Imagine the cost of repairing someone's Mercedes, or worse, a large hospital bill for someone you injure.

A Thai Licence costs a few hundred baht and can be done in one day.

Highly unlikely there is any insurance on the bike to cover damage to others, license or not.

[stevenl]

6 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Not true, government minimum insurance pays out no matter what, assuming you purchased it.

True, but limited amount and limited to bodily injury and death only.

[stevenl]

1 hour ago, tethys said:

Is this really true? Even if you have a valid international permit they will make up something?

No, it is not true.