Thai Motorbike Drivers Licence in Pattaya or BKK (visa exempt or tourist visa)

[bbi1]

I should've applied for a Thai licence a few years ago when I was living in Thailand, but didn't.

 

 

Anyway.....I have a motorbike licence in my home country. Will there be any issues in getting one in Pattaya or BKK if I come in on a visa exempt or tourist visa? Do they check if you have a visa when applying for a licence?

[Kwasaki]

[richard_smith237]

27 minutes ago, bbi1 said:

Anyway.....I have a motorbike licence in my home country. Will there be any issues in getting one in Pattaya or BKK if I come in on a visa exempt or tourist visa? Do they check if you have a visa when applying for a licence?

I think the visa or visa exempt is a non-issue with the DLT (or it used to be)

 

You will need Proof off address in an accepted form...

- Certificate of Residence (from Immigration - If they will issue one without a 90 day report)

- Affirmation of Resisence (from Embassy, if they will issue one with a Visa Exempt or Tourist Visa)

- Yellow house book (Tabien Baan - which I doubt you have as you don’t live here). 

 

 

[mnomad]

You'll need to pay an agency to get your CoR  then it should be easy enough, you won't get a CoR on your own in BKK or Pattaya I don't think, prices for agency acquired CoR 1500-2000baht

 

Other option is embassy proof of address but without a long term visa and something with your address on like a lease I can't see it working, of course there always photoshop for the lease agreement.

No chance at CW for a 200baht CoR on TR visa

Edited September 16, 2022 by mnomad

[bbi1]

45 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

I think the visa or visa exempt is a non-issue with the DLT (or it used to be)

 

You will need Proof off address in an accepted form...

- Certificate of Residence (from Immigration - If they will issue one without a 90 day report)

- Affirmation of Resisence (from Embassy, if they will issue one with a Visa Exempt or Tourist Visa)

- Yellow house book (Tabien Baan - which I doubt you have as you don’t live here). 

 

 

I thought it used to be the case that if you are staying in Thailand "long-term" as in more than 2 months it was a requirement to get a Thai drivers licence if wanting to drive, rather than using an international driving permit in conjunction with your normal non-Thai drivers licence. Anyone know if this still is the case?

[mnomad]

3 minutes ago, bbi1 said:

I thought it used to be the case that if you are staying in Thailand "long-term" as in more than 2 months it was a requirement to get a Thai drivers licence if wanting to drive, rather than using an international driving permit in conjunction with your normal non-Thai drivers licence. Anyone know if this still is the case?

Heard everything from 3 months to 1 year (the usual validity of an Idp), no one really knows, although everyone pretends they are sure - those that claim you don't need a thai drivers license don't have one and insist that even a normal english license you dont need the IDP - those that have a thai drivers license go the other extreme and say you need the thai drivers license after 3 months - seems people lose their impartial judgement based on their own circumstances or just dont want to say they dont know. To save the hassle when you do cause an accident, or blamed for causing an accident due to some local native bad driving (more likely the latter) its seem logical its better to have

Edited September 16, 2022 by mnomad

[richard_smith237]

3 minutes ago, bbi1 said:

I thought it used to be the case that if you are staying in Thailand "long-term" as in more than 2 months it was a requirement to get a Thai drivers licence if wanting to drive, rather than using an international driving permit in conjunction with your normal non-Thai drivers licence. Anyone know if this still is the case?

Lots of discussions...  

 

- An IDP is not required if the driver's domestic licence meets the requirements of the 1968 convention (and is in English). 

 

- The validity of an IDP is 1 year (usually), but as above, it may not be necessary. 

 

- There have been many discussions on the validity of an IDP after entry, a lot of people quote 90 days, although there is nothing official which states this. 

 

- There is also comments that the Visa status matters, i.e. a Tourist / Visa exempt is ok to drive on a Foreign licence (from a country which is a signatory of the 1968 convention), however those one Non-Imm Visas are considered residents and need to get a Thai Driving Licence - Again, written or official details on this are not clear. 

 

---------

 

Thus: Theoretically: IF coming as a tourist (from the UK for example) there is no need to get a Thai Licence. However, if living here long term, it makes sense to get a licence here. 

 

The reality - it all seems to be one big grey area and as long as you are holding ‘any licence’ it seems ok !!!...   of course, insurance coverage matters so check that, and, also the BiB may have their own interpretation so and IDP or Local Licence removes any ambiguity whatever the law states because the BiB don’t actually know their own laws... 

 

 

[FriendlyFarang]

11 hours ago, bbi1 said:

I thought it used to be the case that if you are staying in Thailand "long-term" as in more than 2 months it was a requirement to get a Thai drivers licence if wanting to drive, rather than using an international driving permit in conjunction with your normal non-Thai drivers licence. Anyone know if this still is the case?

This was never the case, just misinformation spread on the internet.

 

11 hours ago, mnomad said:

Heard everything from 3 months to 1 year (the usual validity of an Idp), no one really knows

We know for certain that there is nothing like a 3 months limit, the law is clear regarding this.

The only thing which is not 100% clear is if an IDP is required or the home country license alone is sufficient, so better be safe than sorry and get an IDP.

You can ride with home country license + IDP as long as it's valid. The only people who can't use it are Thai citizens and foreigners who have permanent residency status in Thailand.