Services that Offer Assistance With Getting a Thai Drivers License

[samtam]

13 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

As I noted above, when I dealt with the medical clinic used by the Fatboys service out in the OnNut area, pretty much the ONLY thing they did/checked was a blood pressure cuff reading.

 

But I don't know what (if any) level of reading would be considered disqualifying.

 

Thanks.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

2 hours ago, JimmerJJ said:

Thanks Tall Guy, Very helpful about the practical tests.  I passed them all before in 2019 when I got my 2 year temporary (now expired) but it's a nice refresher knowing ahead what they are.

 

What I described above is what they do at the OnNut area DLT office.... I don't know if Chatuchak is exactly the same, though I expect it would be at least similar.

 

[Polar Bear]

4 hours ago, JimmerJJ said:

Thanks Polar Bear! That is one of my concerns on the practical test is not understanding what they want me to do. I guess I'll try watching what others do.  Do you know are the practical tests the same at Chatuchak and Onnut? I'm an excellent driver too with about 40 years of driving and only one accident my fault when I crashed the Drivers Ed car in high school because instead of using reverse in backing out from a parking space I had it in drive and gassed it crashing into the store window. ????

As far as I know, the tests are the same, but obviously the site layouts will be different. The actual driving skills are really basic. From what I recall it's:
Pull away from the kerb and stop at a line
Drive between two rows of cones and reverse out again
Parallel park between cones ending up roughly in the center of the space (i.e., not right up the ass of where the car in front would be), but it's a big space. 
Park back up next to the kerb, but again, the distance is ridiculous, you can be 30 cm away or something. 

The signage between the test stations wasn't always clear, but if you have watched other people go round, you can figure it out. There are videos online of people saying which test they were doing using a remote, but he didn't have that. 

As far as I know, you have to use their car and it's manual. I don't know if they have any provisions for people who can only drive an automatic. 

Most of the fails are obvious, clipping the kerb or a pole, not being close enough to the kerb and so on, but also if you slow down too much or stop at the wrong time (i.e. when pulling up to the line or when driving between the poles) that's a fail. If your bumper (not your wheels) cross a line, that's a fail. If you change gear too many times when parallel parking, that's also a fail. 

The other thing to be aware of is the theory test. You get 50 random questions and you have to get 45 (I think?) correct. The problem here is that the English version has been run through Google translate and a lot of the questions are just nonsense. It's a mixture of luck and trial and error. If you fail, make a note of the answers as best you can in case it comes up again next time. But sometimes that doesn't help. (Like the question where the 4 possible answers are car, car, car and cars, and you have to guess the right 'car'.) There was one about a temperature warning light and the answers were things like, broken, not working, no function, but I can't remember now which one they wanted.

 

@Moonlover suggested using a driving school instead, and that would be worth looking into. I can't imagine it being expensive, and it is probably a lot less hassle. 

[Moonlover]

1 hour ago, Polar Bear said:

@Moonlover suggested using a driving school instead, and that would be worth looking into. I can't imagine it being expensive, and it is probably a lot less hassle. 

My wife paid 4,000 for both car and motorcycle, including the tests and the licenses. That was in Udon Thani.

[NoDisplayName]

On 8/18/2023 at 12:02 PM, JimmerJJ said:

I had a USA DL but it expired and I also had a Temporary Thai Drivers License but then got locked out of Thailand because of Covid and it expired so I guess i have to start over. 

No, you don't have to "start over."  They will let you renew your license.

I was in China, stuck due to the Covids, when my Thai 2-year license expired.  My US state license had expired a few years earlier.

 

I went to Chattuckak DLT last year and was able to get a 5-year license.  As my Thai license had expired more that one year prior, I had to do the written test, but no driving test.

 

There is an online training class you'll need to complete, at the end of which you will get a QR scan code to show the DLT appointments clerk.  You also need to show the certificate of residence and the health certificate.  Then you'll go upstairs and do the physical tests.

 

The bottleneck is the residence certificate.  US embassy no longer provides a notarized affidavit for this (check this, I could be wrong!).  CW immigration won't give you a residence certificate until you've done your first 90-day report, so if you've come back on a new O/O-A visa, that will add several months to your time event horizon.

 

On the day of your appointment you'll spend 3-4 hours watching training videos, then after lunch, you'll take the computerized tests.  One for car, and one for motorcycle.  There are websites with practice exams that include most of the questions on the test.

[NoDisplayName]

DLT e-learning

https://dlt-elearning.com/

 

Practice exams

https://thaidriveexam.com/

https://traffic-rules.com/en/thailand/practice-test

[grs90]

10 hours ago, JimmerJJ said:

Thanks all for the great information!!  I have more confidence about getting this done (sometimes I get unduly stressed out) and I really need a license because I have to go back to the US and rent a truck to move a bunch of stuff out of my storage.  So this helps a lot. ????

Can you get a rental overseas using a Thai 2 year license?  I was previously told (in the UK though not the US) that only the 5 year license could be used as the 2 year one is considered "probationary".

[DrJack54]

27 minutes ago, NoDisplayName said:

There is an online training class you'll need to complete, at the end of which you will get a QR scan code to show the DLT appointments clerk.  You also need to show the certificate of residence and the health certificate.  Then you'll go upstairs and do the physical tests.

 

The bottleneck is the residence certificate.  US embassy no longer provides a notarized affidavit for this (check this, I could be wrong!).  CW immigration won't give you a residence certificate until you've done your first 90-day report, so if you've come back on a new O/O-A visa, that will add several months to your time event horizon.

 

On the day of your appointment you'll spend 3-4 hours watching training videos, then after lunch, you'll take the computerized tests.  One for car, and one for motorcycle.  There are websites with practice exams that include most of the questions on the test.

Not even close to my experience March of this year.

 

I did the 5 yr license from the 2 year at Chatuchak.

I posted link to thread with my experience earlier in this thread.

 

In March there was no online booking. 

You attend transport office with your docs that are checked.

You are correct re USA not providing "address letter" .

A certificate of residence is required.

You are then offered on the spot booking.

I was able to book 9am next day.

I asked about the online and QR Code.

Was not required. 

 

There certainly was not a long video on day of test.

Perhaps 30 minutes and went through the various physical tests such as eye color, breaking, spacial, etc 

 

Good that you pointed out expired Thai license was of use as I always thought the limit was one year expiry..

 

In my case the 2 year license was expired by couple of months and birth date was month prior. So for anyone not aware your 5 yr license starts from your NEXT birthday so it's actually 6 years..

[NoDisplayName]

1 minute ago, DrJack54 said:

Not even close to my experience March of this year.

I did the 5 yr license from the 2 year at Chatuchak.

I posted link to thread with my experience.

In March there was no online booking. 

You attend transport office with your docs that are checked.

You are correct re USA not providing "address letter" .

A certificate of residence is required.

You are then offered on the spot booking.

I was able to book 9am next day.

I asked about the online and QR Code.

Was not required. 

There certainly was not a long video on day of test.

Perhaps 30 minutes and went through the various physical tests such as eye color, breaking, spacial, etc 

 

Good that you pointed out expired Thai license was of use as I always thought the limit was one year expiry..

No online booking for me either, only the online course to get the QR code.  If you say that's no longer required, then my anecdote is slightly out of date.  You renewed 2-year to 5-year.  Was your 2-year expired?  My 2- year had expired.

 

No long video?  Did you take the computerized theory test?  Due to limited seating, i got an appointment for a full day process.  3-4 hours of training videos in the morning, break for lunch, computerized exams in the afternoon.

 

If my license were less than one year expired, physical test only.  As expiration was greater than one year, computerized theory test also required.  In either case, no driving test.

[Polar Bear]

25 minutes ago, grs90 said:

Can you get a rental overseas using a Thai 2 year license?  I was previously told (in the UK though not the US) that only the 5 year license could be used as the 2 year one is considered "probationary".

We've had mixed success in the UK with a 2 year licence, but were able to renew from 2>5 after 14 months to get a Thai IDP. (The UK didn't care about the IDP, but Thai DLT won't issue an IDP on a 2 year, only a 5 year, so we used that as the reason to renew early.) We did use an agent for it (see my previous post), but maybe it's just as easy to renew early if you DIY.

Keep a copy of your 2 year licence. (If you have the app with the digital version, you can easily get a screenshot). They keep the 2 year when you renew, and then the UK rentals say you haven't had your licence for at least 12 months, but if you have the copy of the 2 year to show it was a renewal, they'll accept it. That's was my experience anyway. 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

On 8/19/2023 at 7:21 PM, NoDisplayName said:

US embassy no longer provides a notarized affidavit for this (check this, I could be wrong!). 

That's correct. Americans basically have to obtain the CoR from their local Immigration Office, and at least in BKK, they don't give them to you when you apply.

 

Instead, once you apply, Immigration mails them to your home address, with a typical turnaround time of up to 2 weeks. But DLT, once you apply to them, wants your CoR to be no older than 30 days from its issuance date, AFAIK.

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

23 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

I asked about the online and QR Code.

Was not required. 

I believe the process and requirements are somewhat different when applying for the regular 5-year Thai license, as you did, vs. applying for the initial two-year Thai license on the basis of having a valid home country license.

 

For me, applying for the initial two-year license earlier this year on the basis of having a valid home country license (which DLT ultimately wouldn't accept because it was a 1-year paper card extension), I had to take the online learning course at home (which involved watching several driving-related videos and then answering several questions about their content).

 

And then upon completing that course and the questions, the DLT system indeed produces a QR code that you're supposed to save and print out. You bring that with you when you submit your application at the DLT office, along with bringing your valid home country license and your Thai-issued medical certificate and Certificate of Residence.

 

 

 

 

[Liverpool Lou]

Most driving schools offer a licence service also.