The Department of Land Transport Phuket Office has continued to warn of what they call an online and illegal driving license scam where there are still more than 200 Facebook pages and accounts scamming people.

 

The Department of Land Transport (DLT) Spokesman Mr. Saksom Akkarapan revealed to the press that legal actions have been taken against 164 Facebook pages for online driving license scams. However, there are still more than 270 of these Facebook pages and accounts in operation.

 

The post states that a legal driving license service is being offered with no need to go to the Land Transport Office by yourself, take an exam, test, or any qualification requirements.

 

Full Story: https://thepattayanews.com/2023/05/09/fake-driving-license-scam-still-a-major-issue-on-facebook-in-thailand/

 

-- © Copyright The Pattaya News 2023-05-09

 

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Scams in Thailand ?   I don't believe it as Thai people would never do things like that !!

 

Edited May 9, 20233 yr by trainman34014

3 minutes ago, trainman34014 said:

Scams in Thailand ?   I don't believe it as Thai people would never do things like that !!

Neither do I. It must be those 'foreigners' in Cambodia.

1 minute ago, trainman34014 said:

Scams in Thailand ?   I don't believe it as Thai people would never do things like that !!

 

Quite the shock isn’t it....         its amazing how at the slightest opportunity graft and scams will grow like weeds...   astonishing that Thailand has such soil in such abundance !!! 

 

 

Seriously though, the ingenuity of scams here never ceases to impress...  If only the same effort were actually placed in genuine commerce !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These scams are all over the Koh Phangan FB pages....

How is this different than visa agents?

1 minute ago, Jingthing said:

How is this different than visa agents?

The visa agents don’t put fake stamps in your passport... They use ‘official connections’ to circumnavigate certain requirement (i.e. the cash requirement) to receive an official visa. 

 

On the other hand, these driving licence scams are not ‘agents’ helping you get an official licence, they are simply issuing ‘fake’ licences (apparently). 

 

 

11 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

The visa agents don’t put fake stamps in your passport... They use ‘official connections’ to circumnavigate certain requirement (i.e. the cash requirement) to receive an official visa. 

 

On the other hand, these driving licence scams are not ‘agents’ helping you get an official licence, they are simply issuing ‘fake’ licences (apparently). 

 

 

So of they got people actual licenses they would be OK?

 

What happens to people who try to use such licenses?

1 minute ago, Jingthing said:

So of they got people actual licenses they would be OK?

Thats something you’d have to ask the DLT. 

But, I doubt its possible to secure a valid driving licence without attending the DLT.

Thus, some ‘Driving Licence Agents’ hold your hand through the process, but can’t do the process for you in your absence.

 

This topic involves actual ‘Fake Driving licences’....    as in, someone has manufactured a fake licence that looks real and has sold it online. 

Or, perhaps these scams are by someone in the DLT or connection to the DLT with access to the cards and machines... perhaps even access to online records, who knows.

 

 

1 minute ago, Jingthing said:

What happens to people who try to use such licenses?

The same that happens to people without licences ???... not a lot, an arbitrary fine if caught. 

Or, if checked by the BiB a cursory glance and thats it.

 

 

Legally, if caught with a fake licence, I’ve no idea...  nominal fine perhaps. 

I have seen these ads and perhaps naively thought they had a connection on the inside and were granting real licenses for a premium corruption fee. Similar to visa agents that sell real immigration stamps to unqualified applicants  TIT.

How do we know they are fake licenses?

1 hour ago, Jingthing said:

I have seen these ads and perhaps naively thought they had a connection on the inside and were granting real licenses for a premium corruption fee. Similar to visa agents that sell real immigration stamps to unqualified applicants  TIT.

How do we know they are fake licenses?

You'll know it's fake when the cop tells you it is, but then lets you drive off after paying a non-receipted "fine" of several thousand baht.

Would they work getting rental cars abroad? How would they know what Thai DLs are like?

Heaps of adverts in Krabi locals and other groups, luckily the moderators are aware  and they don’t last long.

 

14 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The post states that a legal driving license service is being offered with no need to go to the Land Transport Office by yourself, take an exam, test, or any qualification requirements.

I can see the attraction.

Well this one's easy, if you're not required to actually attend the DVL then it's a 'scam'. How stupid are some people. Rhetorical.

Having seen a few people do the 'test' the real ones are pretty worthless anyway

2 hours ago, rabiedabruce said:

Well this one's easy, if you're not required to actually attend the DVL then it's a 'scam'. How stupid are some people. Rhetorical.

So extensions done without meeting financial requirements are scams too according to your logic.

 

This ain't Kansas.

 

To me the core issue is whether you get an actual license or not.

17 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Legally, if caught with a fake licence, I’ve no idea...  nominal fine perhaps. 

You get 3 points put on it !

3 minutes ago, mancub said:

You get 3 points put on it !

3 points on an imaginary license is 0.

Do you think these guys have offices you can visit?

The visa agents do.

1 minute ago, Jingthing said:

3 points on an imaginary license is 0.

And of course, over here they do not ADD points to your licence for infringements, they SUBTRACT them from 12. When all points are gone........you get 12 more! 555

That is yet another department which needs a proper and total reset. It is, pardon my French, absolutely ridiculous, how test plus the initial retest after two years and thereafter every five years are made. A self-profiling lady  officer, in one of those funny uniforms, lectures in Thai, what "Mae" (word for mother) has up her sleeve. 
Two hours of video, all in Thai, compulsory for all the foreigners (not only one hour but you get the full Monty with two hours), of which a longer period of time is to explain the countless different number plates. In hierarchical order they start with royal plates, diplomatic and government agency plates, trucks, taxis, tuktuks, motorbikes, private vehicles in blue, green and black lettering. 

Just go and take existing ideas from i.e. Germany, Switzerland or Italy. They all can drive and are good drivers, without rechecking every X years; no funny little videos - presented by "Mae" whose job is to instruct an underling to change the CD - and a theoretical as well as a practical test. A proof of i.e. 20 physical driving lessons with authorized driving schools is basics. You fail = you fail; it is not possible that everybody passes. 

And, if you believe, this is not possible; above is what happens in Nong Khai. While the outsourced motor vehicle agencies doing roadworthiness tests are serious about their business, it quite obviously is not possible to let semi-divine Khon Thai fail after all, they saw the video and did that absolutely unworldly physical test with worn breaks in what should be a simulator. 

Needless to say, that the very department getting loud over all those "driving license agencies" is at fault for all this nonsense. Last not least, it is mostly the non-Thai clientele, which gets completely lost in the bureaucratic maze of Thai-language and Thaiway of ....... obtaining/renewing a driving license. 

Is there.any value to having a fake license?

Such as getting the Thai price at national parks etc.?

1 hour ago, Jingthing said:

3 points on an imaginary license is 0.

For the record. it was an imaginary 3 points, but, heigh ho !

Will they give a discount if you tell them you know it's a fake but you're only looking for a souvenir?

that silly Nigerian prince is at it again! obviously fake, or do Thais think corruption is that conveniently accessible now?

19 hours ago, Jingthing said:

How is this different than visa agents?

17 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Would they work getting rental cars abroad? How would they know what Thai DLs are like?

Rental Company i use in New Zealand stopped accepting Thai driving licences in 2017 after numerous accidents with Thai drivers and the discovery afterwards of fake licences in some cases...meaning drivers had no licence at all !     Many English Car Hire Companies also don't accept Thai licences.

19 hours ago, Jingthing said:

I have seen these ads and perhaps naively thought they had a connection on the inside and were granting real licenses for a premium corruption fee. Similar to visa agents that sell real immigration stamps to unqualified applicants  TIT.

How do we know they are fake licenses?

I too have seen ‘some’ adds on FB... but not ‘these’ adds as discussed in the Op.

 

The Adds I’ve seen on FB offer a service to ‘hand hold’ through the process.

Not to actually provide a completely fake DL without having to attend the DLT.

1 hour ago, Jingthing said:

Do you think these guys have offices you can visit?

The visa agents do.

You're really struggling with this one eh... 

 

Again...   This is not similar to Visa agents.... There are companies (agents) that assist you through the driving licence process to obtain a legal DL, in much the same manner Visa agents will assist you though the visa process and in some cases circumnavigate a few regulations to obtain a legal Visa. 

 

The report (OP) suggests something different - People issuing completely Fake Licences. 

If you want to make a Visa comparison, it would be like someone counterfeiting Visa stamps in your passport.