Phuket car rentals must verify tourist driving licenses

[Cabradelmar]

44 minutes ago, Bill97 said:

Yeh they will all have knowledge about how each of the thousands of different licenses look.  Oh not thousands only 750 or so?

 

It's an IDP. An international standard. Not difficult to verify or interpret.

[Ralf001]

An IDP standalone is not a licence, it needs to be accompanied by the actual licence it was issued against.

[brianthainess]

48 minutes ago, Drumbuie said:

In the winter much of Russia is usually cold and icy. In the spring it thaws, in summer much of Russia is warm ( by European standards: 20C +)  and dry. The autumn can be frosty at night but real winter doesn't usually start till November. 

You know you can find this sort of stuff out on the internet and save yourself embarrassment? 

I'm not embarrassed at all, so tell me what percentage of Russians have a M/C as you seem to know. I never saw one when I was there in September  years ago, I saw the military/police in Mongolia with them (sidecar) but never personal ones in either Russia of Mongolia. 

[Bill97]

IDP usually not needed.  Home country license usually legal for a few months 

[RayWright]

My understanding by UK law, if renting a vehicle abroad you need to have a valid IDP as issued by the Post Office, and valid for a year. Is / was £5:00 2 years ago. Category of permissable vehicles are detailed on your actual domestic drivers license.

However, not always requested by the car hire agency.

Was in AUS last month and needed to hire a car, spoke to the local agent before arriving and explained my IDP had expired, as not been back to the UK for 15 months. They were happy I showed my recently expired IDP as a regular customer. Hopefully they'll do the same next year, as not back in Blighty till 2026.

[transam]

At least it has cleared one thing up, a farangy must have an IDP as well as a valid driving licence, if not you cannot rent.

 

See what happens when a farangy has an accident, renting a bike without one.

Renter & rider must cough up........😱

[connda]

Honestly?  There should be a law that is enforced where after tourist are pulled over by the BIB for driving without a license, they then send a cop to the rental agency to fine the renter for renting to a customer without proper license.  It would save a lot of farang fools lives who come to Thailand without any driving experience, especially on M/C, and then pull out and think that they are bullet proof.

[connda]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

The purpose of these visits was to remind car and motorbike rental businesses that they could be fined if their customers were caught driving without valid licenses.

But?  However?  They probably won't be.  TIT.  It's less of a hassle to shake-down farangs too stupid to consider the driving laws, regulations, and licensing requirements in the foreign country they visit. 

[Tropicalevo]

If they tried that here on Koh Samui, even some of the locals running a car rental business would not be eligible to drive their own cars.

[itsari]

Motorcycle license is the most needed to be verified.

 

[itsari]

Motorcycle license is the most needed to be verified.

 

[biggles45]

3 hours ago, Bill97 said:

 Home country license usually legal for a few months 

No it's not. It's valid for 90 days BUT only if shown with a valid IDP. 

 

As a previous poster said ASEAN license holders do not need an IDP under a recipricol arrangement. I have shown my Philippine license many times  in the last 7 years at checkpoints without problem 

[Smokin Joe]

27 minutes ago, biggles45 said:

No it's not. It's valid for 90 days BUT only if shown with a valid IDP. 

 

As a previous poster said ASEAN license holders do not need an IDP under a recipricol arrangement. I have shown my Philippine license many times  in the last 7 years at checkpoints without problem 

 

Do you have a reference for that. And I mean a real reference. like a quote from a Thai law?

 

I can show you where to look. Everything that Thai law says about using a foreign license is in Section 42 of the Motor Vehicle Act.

 

Section 42. A driver shall be licensed and shall, while driving or controlling other driving trainee in driving, possess driving license and a copy of vehicle registration certificate for producing immediately to the competent official, except the driving trainee under section 57.

 

In case of a driver who is an alien temporarily permitted to reside in the Kingdom under the law on immigration may possess a driving license under section 42 bis while driving in the Kingdom. In this case there shall be accompanied such driving license with the document prescribed in the existing Convention or Agreement between Thai Government and the Government of such country for producing immediately to the competent official⁴⁵. 

 

[The word “vehicle” is amended its spelling in Thai version under section 3 of the Vehicle Act (No. 12), B.E. 2546 (2003).]

 

Section 42 bis ⁴⁶. In the case where there is a bilateral agreement between the Government of Thailand and a foreign Government concerning reciprocal recognition of domestic driving licenses, an alien temporarily permitted to stay in the Kingdom under the law on immigration having a driving license issued by the competent official or a driving society recognized by the Government of the country under such bilateral agreement may use the driving license of such country in driving in the Kingdom in accordance with the category and type of vehicle specified in such driving license; provided that the existing Conventions and/or Agreements between the Government of Thailand and the Government of such country and all the provisions relating to the obligations of a driver under this Act must be complied.

 

⁴⁵ Section 42 paragraph two is added by the Vehicle Act (No. 8), B.E. 2530 (1987).

⁴⁶ Section 42 bis is added by the Vehicle Act (No. 8), B.E. 2530 (1987).

 

[Luuk Chaai]

16 hours ago, eisfeld said:

 

Why do you expect them to verify foreign licenses when they don't even verify local ones?

Do you have a license ?

yes !

[Drumbuie]

16 hours ago, brianthainess said:

I'm not embarrassed at all, so tell me what percentage of Russians have a M/C as you seem to know. I never saw one when I was there in September  years ago, I saw the military/police in Mongolia with them (sidecar) but never personal ones in either Russia of Mongolia. 

Did you see a bear or a Bactrian camel while you were in Russia or Mongolia? Does that mean there are no bears or Bactrian camels in Russia or Mongolia?  Always beware of generalising from personal experience.

There are over 2.3 million motorcycles in Russia so that's about 1.6% of the population. But it's still over two million motorcyclists, in a country which makes its own motorcycles as well as importing them

 

https://siberianlight.org/russian-motorcycles/

...and it's a country which has a lot of motorcycle clubs, some of which are like Hell's Angels with international chapters, eg the Night Wolves who have featured in the news  fighting in Ukraine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Wolves

 

I knew absolutely nothing about Russian motorcycles before you made that sweeping generalisation and it's been fascinating spending a few minutes finding out. You should try it sometime.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[fulhamster]

22 hours ago, beano2274 said:

Thought a valid licence was a prerequisite to hire a car, also the insurance is invalid if there is no licence or an expired licence

Insurance  ??

 

Most locals only have the requisite government insurance which is paid with the road tax.

Almost worthless

Edited April 23 by fulhamster
Added something

[stevenl]

20 hours ago, Dionigi said:

used to be here but now they insist on the IDP . The international convention now states that the license used must be in the official language of the country it is used in. hence the need for the IDP.

Looking forward to the convention that states as you claim.

[Dionigi]

1 hour ago, stevenl said:

Looking forward to the convention that states as you claim.

International Driving Permits are governed by three international conventions: the 1926 Paris International Convention relative to Motor Traffic, the 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic, and the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. When a state is contracted to more than one convention, the newest one terminates and replaces previous ones.

Thailand is a participent in the Paris and Geneva Conventions but not the Vienna.

Look it up

[bristolgeoff]

You can check but if u don,t have the paper work correct they will go elsewhere.Someone is willing to rent the car and the thais are not that foward in getting a license legally either

[bristolgeoff]

I had to get a new green book this year.The wave is red and silver every year no issue,the book said red and white.The hassle I had to change or renew the green book was a few days.They  inspected the bike passed ok  and they wrote red and silver,then i got the new tax  with the help of a lady in the building using her id and her signing.Everyone can see it was red and silver,but somehow changed to white with previous owners.In the end all was good and only because of white instead of silver.Own the bike for over 15 yrs never a problem until this year,now all sorted .Just crazy on what they do with the bike tax and colours

         If they want to check licenses  before rental it will be a big issue for them,after what happened over my honda wave this year and the paperwork to fix the issue

[stevenl]

8 hours ago, Dionigi said:

International Driving Permits are governed by three international conventions: the 1926 Paris International Convention relative to Motor Traffic, the 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic, and the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. When a state is contracted to more than one convention, the newest one terminates and replaces previous ones.

Thailand is a participent in the Paris and Geneva Conventions but not the Vienna.

Look it up

So no confirmation of your claim.

"The international convention now states that the license used must be in the official language of the country it is used in. hence the need for the IDP.".

[Smokin Joe]

8 hours ago, Dionigi said:

International Driving Permits are governed by three international conventions: the 1926 Paris International Convention relative to Motor Traffic, the 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic, and the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. When a state is contracted to more than one convention, the newest one terminates and replaces previous ones.

Thailand is a participent in the Paris and Geneva Conventions but not the Vienna.

Look it up

 

Everything after the 1st sentence is wrong.

 

Thailand DID ratify the 1968 Vienna Treaty on May 1st, 2020   Parties to 1968 Vienna Convention

The link is to the current United Nations Treaty Database

 

When Thailand ratified the 1968 Treaty they did not cancel their participation in the 1949 Treaty. Parties to 1949 Geneva Convention

The link is also to the current United Nations Treaty Database

 

Look it up

Edited April 23 by Smokin Joe
added "Look it up"

[Smokin Joe]

On 4/22/2024 at 4:16 PM, MangoKorat said:

There are actually 3 different ones - 1926, 1949 and 1968.  Thailand requires the 1968 version.

 

Thailand accepts both the 1949 and 1968 IDP's.

[Lancelot01]

On 4/22/2024 at 7:35 AM, eisfeld said:

 

Why do you expect them to verify foreign licenses when they don't even verify local ones?

Isn't that the point of the police visits? The ensure correct documentation. 

If a foreigner, renting a car or motorbike, is caught in breach of the law, the rental company will be open to prosecution. 

[MangoKorat]

22 minutes ago, Smokin Joe said:

 

Thailand accepts both the 1949 and 1968 IDP's.

I'm just going by the information on the UK government's website about which countries want which licence and that information says 1968.

 

https://www.gov.uk/driving-abroad/international-driving-permit

 

To be honest, it would be a fair bet that 99% of Thai police have no idea which licence they are looking at. You could probably print your own 😁

Edited April 23 by MangoKorat

[Smokin Joe]

31 minutes ago, MangoKorat said:

I'm just going by the information on the UK government's website about which countries want which licence and that information says 1968.

 

https://www.gov.uk/driving-abroad/international-driving-permit

 

To be honest, it would be a fair bet that 99% of Thai police have no idea which licence they are looking at. You could probably print your own 😁

 

It's not that that the info is wrong, just incomplete. If a country ratified both the 1949 and 1968 treaties only the 1968 is listed. generally that is the best option since the 1968 IDP is valid for three years. When they designed the chart I think they were just too lazy to consider trips that involved driving in multiple countries.

 

But if you were going on a holiday that went to Spain, Korea, Japan, and Thailand you would want a 1949 IDP because Thailand is the only one of those that ratified the 1968 treaty.

 

I was surprised to see that your link showed that the 1926 IDP was needed for Mexico and Somalia. It checks out.

 

 

 

Edited April 23 by Smokin Joe
Typo

[soi3eddie]

On 4/22/2024 at 7:05 AM, AustinRacing said:

IDP is a translation of your driver license. If it’s in English there should be no need to have an IDP. It’s a scam to fine you. 

Totally agree. Total scam. IF the IDP has Thai language (it does not) then understand. The IDP I had two years ago did not have Thai language. It was in English. Same as my car/motorbike licence.

Edited April 23 by soi3eddie

[CartagenaWarlock]

I rented a MC in Samui, and she asked for my passport and DL. I told her I didn't have a passport. She was surprised but insisted on seeing my passport. I told her I had lost it. She wanted to see the police report. I said I was going to the police station now. She wanted to see my Thai DL which I had and showed it. But she wanted to keep it. I asked what would happen if the police stopped me and asked for my license. She gave me her card and told me to call her, but I must be wearing a helmet. I agreed and gave her my license. 

[soi3eddie]

1 hour ago, MangoKorat said:

To be honest, it would be a fair bet that 99% of Thai police have no idea which licence they are looking at. You could probably print your own 😁

This reminds me of my first trip to Myanmar (Burma) in 2000. Way up country in Myitkyina, the authorities (police/immigration) came to my hotel to check my details. After 15 minutes looking at my passport and checking visa etc. they said "thank you". As departing they said "bye" and asked "what country are you from?".

 

[Dionigi]

On 4/23/2024 at 10:11 PM, stevenl said:

So no confirmation of your claim.

"The international convention now states that the license used must be in the official language of the country it is used in. hence the need for the IDP.".

1968 convention (original)

The convention had amendments on 3 September 1993 and 28 March 2006. There is a European Agreement supplementing the Convention on Road Traffic (1968), which was concluded in Geneva, on 1 May 1971.

Note that before 29 March 2011 the convention demanded contracting parties to recognise as valid for driving in their territories:

• any domestic driver's permit drawn up in their national language or in one of their national languages, or, if not drawn up in such a language, accompanied by a certified translation;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Driving_Permit