Should I let my drivers license from back home expire and just have the Thai DL?

[jack71]

Im over here long term now and have no intention to ever live back in the mother country. My drivers/ bike license from the mother land will expire early next year. 

 

I have my Thai drivers and bike license which I renewed last year. I cannot remember if I had to show my DL from back home. I think I didn't. Is that correct? To renew thai DL one doesnt need to show the DL from Western country? Im sure I only showed my passport

 

So in my circumstances should I just let my current DL expire? In worse case scenario, if I ever did have to move back home, I could just re apply for a new one. 

 

If I ever wanted to rent a car, in Europe for example, would they accept a thai DL? Or do they require International DL

thanks

 

 

[MrJ2U]

If I can renew it online and you can afford the fee's it is a good idea. 

 

It might come in handy.

[Phulublub]

Depends on yoru home country, and the country(ies) you may visit.  For the UK, you can drive on a Thai Licence for up to a year.  That may or may not also be the case for others.  Also for the UK, if you emigrate (as you have done) by law you must surrender your UK Licence.  May ignore this and, indeed, renew using a family or friend address as theirs to receive the new one.

 

The bigger problem may be if you need to rent a car.  Some rental companies will charge more for insurance, or not rent at all if only a Thai Licence is offered. 

 

You may also need an IDP - an Internatinal Driving Permit, alongside your Thai Licence (there is no such thing as an International Driving Licence, though many refer to the IDP as an IDL).

 

PH

Edited December 2, 2022 by Phulublub

[richard_smith237]

IMO - if you have an address in the UK keeping your UK DL is a no-brainer. 

 

I have my parents address.. so I keep a UK licence..... 

 

When I worked in Dubai recently, I needed to get a UAE driving licence... 

Extremely simple with a UK licence.. I booked an appointment, turned up at the RTA office and within 10mins had been issued a licence based on my UK Driving licence. 

This was not possible with a Thai Licence - I would have had to do a full test. 

 

Thus: for want of a better description; some countries recognise difference between licences from ‘developed nations’ and those from ‘developing nations’... 

 

Thus: for the sake of filling out an online form (20mins) and paying £25...  If you have a UK address to which the DVLA can send their licence, do it. 

 

IF you are from a different country (I’m assuming DL renewal is just as easy as it is in the UK). 

 

 

[Onerak]

7 minutes ago, jack71 said:

To renew thai DL one doesnt need to show the DL from Western country?

Hmm. Every person is not from a Western Country. A proper way to state the sentence would be from Home Country?

[Onerak]

1 minute ago, Phulublub said:

The bigger problem may be if you need to rent a car.  Some rental companies will charge more for insurance, or not tent at all if only a Thai Licence is offered.

Not so in the USA. No additional insurance premium for rental car using driver's license from a foreign country. 

[richard_smith237]

9 minutes ago, jack71 said:

To renew thai DL one doesnt need to show the DL from Western country? Im sure I only showed my passport

No...

 

To renew a Thai Licence, you just show your existing (expiring) Thai Licence. 

 

To get a Thai Driving licence for the first time - you can show your home county driving licence, if its not in English language and / or have a photo, it must be accompanied with an IDP. 

 

I’m not sure if Thailand accepts licences from every country in this manner or has a specific list of countries it will accept for a simple ‘licence transfer’.

 

 

[EVENKEEL]

For me I'm all about keeping my DL from home. That's a tether I won't break.

[CANSIAM]

I'm making a trip to home country just to renew my DL in August, not letting that slide away and create headaches sometime in the future........

[Gottfrid]

58 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Thus: for want of a better description; some countries recognise difference between licences from ‘developed nations’ and those from ‘developing nations’... 

Strange that it went so well with a UK license them. 

[bradiston]

7 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

IMO - if you have an address in the UK keeping your UK DL is a no-brainer. 

 

I have my parents address.. so I keep a UK licence..... 

 

When I worked in Dubai recently, I needed to get a UAE driving licence... 

Extremely simple with a UK licence.. I booked an appointment, turned up at the RTA office and within 10mins had been issued a licence based on my UK Driving licence. 

This was not possible with a Thai Licence - I would have had to do a full test. 

 

Thus: for want of a better description; some countries recognise difference between licences from ‘developed nations’ and those from ‘developing nations’... 

 

Thus: for the sake of filling out an online form (20mins) and paying £25...  If you have a UK address to which the DVLA can send their licence, do it. 

 

IF you are from a different country (I’m assuming DL renewal is just as easy as it is in the UK). 

 

 

I renewed my UK licence online. Free, at least fo my age group. Good for another 10 years. Sent to my daughter's address in the UK.

[HuskerDo2]

6 hours ago, MrJ2U said:

If I can renew it online and you can afford the fee's it is a good idea. 

 

It might come in handy.

Yes, some municipalities allow you to renew online BUT they'll mail it to your address on file. They won't mail it to Thailand or any other country outside the US. 

 

I had a similar question as I didn't know if/when I'd ever return to the homeland and need a rental car. I was told that a legit driver's license from another country would be fine or even an international driver's license, but I think they are only valid for one year.  

[Moonlover]

My UK license expired nearly 7 years ago and as I have no plans to return there I have not bothered to renew it. I couldn't anyway as I do not have an address I can use back there.

 

I renewed my Thai licenses last year without any problem.

[JAS21]

MrsJ and myself left the UK in 2007. Both our UK licences ran out a few years later. 
 

We haven’t been back to the UK since leaving … never intend to…don’t see any problem with only having a Thai licence.

 

YMMV

[Colabamumbai]

Get an International Driving Permit for 10 years online before license expires. 

[Man Mart]

My UK driving licence has expired for nearly 10 years and I’ve been back to the UK about 5 times since using my Thai driving licence. Never had a problem using it. No international driving licence required. Nor have I had any problem with higher insurance fees if you use a reputable car hire firm such as Arnold Clark. If you use a UK address for your UK driving, and you are not actually resident in the UK, then it could be that your driving licence is actually invalid, as well as your insurance should you be  involved in an accident, which might defeat the whole objective.

Edited December 3, 2022 by Man Mart

[swm59nj]

It also depends on the rules if you wish to renew it.  For example.  The state where I’m from.  If your license is expired after a certain amount of time.  If you want to renew it you need to take the written and road test again . Different motor vehicle rules for different places 

[Henryford]

2 hours ago, Moonlover said:

My UK license expired nearly 7 years ago and as I have no plans to return there I have not bothered to renew it. I couldn't anyway as I do not have an address I can use back there.

 

I renewed my Thai licenses last year without any problem.

Exactly the same for me. A waste of 25 GBP to renew my UK licence.

[giddyup]

Been here 14 years, never been back to Oz in that time and no intention of ever returning, so my Aussie drivers licence expired long ago. My Thai licence is all I will ever need.

[wpcoe]

17 minutes ago, swm59nj said:

It also depends on the rules if you wish to renew it.  For example.  The state where I’m from.  If your license is expired after a certain amount of time.  If you want to renew it you need to take the written and road test again . Different motor vehicle rules for different places 

And, some states have made it very difficult to renew a license without multiple forms verifying permanent residence within the state.  For Nevada, I had to show an apartment lease or home title in my name plus either a utility bill or car registration at that address in my name.  Has to do with the "REAL ID" program that apparently is DHS (Department of Homeland Security) program.

[4MyEgo]

You won't need to show your overseas license ever again once you have your Thai driver's/riders licence, so the answer to your question is NO.

 

Regarding your passport, you won't need to show that either, just your current Thai driver's/riders license upon renewal, sit for the eye test, watch the online video, answer the questions at each different stage of the video and provide them with a current doctors certificate.

 

If I were you, I wouldn't allow your overseas license to expire if you can avoid that happening and there a number of reasons I can think of, for example; things don't work out here and you need to go back, and sitting for another test and answering questions, then going for a driving/riding test will be a lot different than it was back in the day I am sure.

 

Some countries allow you to renew it while being over here, example, my homeland allowed me to mail it in the 1st time, but wouldn't send it here, so I had them send it to my daughter's address and had a mate pick it up and bring it here when he was coming shortly after renewing it by post.

 

5 years later when it expired, that was during the pandemic, they wouldn't allow me to renew it online because you have to do an eye test, and no more 10 year licences when you turn 45, so depends on the country you live in.

 

The above said, my homeland country allows me up to 6 years to renew my license upon returning, which I did a year later and it starts from the date you renew it.

I paid the 4,850 baht vs 760 baht for the both here in Thailand for the two that I have (driver's/riders) licences. It was a straight forward procedure, costly yes, but there is no way I would want to sit for an exam and driver's/riders tests as I believe riders have to do a course (weeks) and it is costly and the licenses are restricted to the size of bike you can ride until so many year/s later.

 

As others have said, rental companies might not accept your Thai license, that said, I provided them my new license, but that wasn't good enough, they wanted the digital version so that they could scan the QR Code, so I had to download the app using their internet.

 

This digital stuff is alarming, but hey, I doubt that I will be here when it all hits the fan, that's another story.

[4MyEgo]

6 minutes ago, giddyup said:

Been here 14 years, never been back to Oz in that time and no intention of ever returning, so my Aussie drivers licence expired long ago. My Thai licence is all I will ever need.

What would happen if you ever needed to return and your Thai drivers license expired while you were there, Buddha forbid that ever happening, but you would have to sit for the tests all over again until you passed, public transport would be ok in the interim until you could obtain your license again, i.e. if you weren't living in the sticks.

 

The above said, I would have done the same if I didn't return every 2 or 3 years for a brief holiday. Truth be said, from a recent trip, I found it to be an absolute sheet fight on the roads there, (Sydney), red light cameras, speed camera's, highway patrols, council rangers, brown bombers, etc, etc that we were used to, still the same.

 

I only hired a car for a day when I was there, that was enough, public transport and walking was much easier and saved me a few $'s, it does help when you have the time as well.

[NanLaew]

18 minutes ago, Henryford said:

Exactly the same for me. A waste of 25 GBP to renew my UK licence.

It's only 25 quid.

 

Now if it's a UK TV license, I can see the logic.

[JBChiangRai]

You shouldn't renew a UK Driving Licence using a friend or relative's address.  You are putting them at risk.

 

For example, if through some unexpected reason you are sued, they will do an address search with DVLA, you would probably get a Country Court Judgement against you at that address and any bailiff's would be allowed to take items from that address unless the resident there kept receipts in his name for all of them, and who ever does that?

[wwest5829]

The Commonwealth of Kentucky made the decision for me. You must pick up a renewed Driver’s License in person. So, I have a Thai license and have used it driving in rental cars in the US and Europe. 

[EVENKEEL]

55 minutes ago, wpcoe said:

And, some states have made it very difficult to renew a license without multiple forms verifying permanent residence within the state.  For Nevada, I had to show an apartment lease or home title in my name plus either a utility bill or car registration at that address in my name.  Has to do with the "REAL ID" program that apparently is DHS (Department of Homeland Security) program.

I renewed my NDL last year, good for 10 yrs. Believe at age 72 a competency test is required. Also lucky I had my passport to show US citizenship which is required.

[blackshadow]

up toooo youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

[ignis]

Think the OP answered the question ..  "no intention to ever live back in the mother country"

 

me at over 70 never bothered to renew my UK license, cannot see myself ever returning to the UK. [needs to be renewed every 3 years + Medical for the over 70's] . had my Thai license for 18 years, so will just keep renewing that..

 

Also have a German, French, Dutch and Portuguese Driving licenses no idea if or when then run out likewise cannot see myself ever returning.

[macahoom]

I have rented cars in many countries (excluding South American countries) since 2005 using my Thai licence.

 

Never a problem.

[crazykopite]

I’ve rented cars using my Thai drivers license never a problem now that I am over 70 I haven't bothered renewing my U.K. licence as it has to be by way of a medical certificate every 3 years my current driver license has still got 4 years to run I can drive on it in another country for up to one year