Report Thailand Tightens Rules for Foreign Drivers: Tests Now Mandatory

[Bday Prang]

1 hour ago, Blueman1 said:

Of Course It's Me, Me, I'm First YOU Can Wait !!

There/s more to it than that  In case you have not noticed,  There are several behavioural protocols in place.  One is the "Right of might"  pedestrians give way to bicycles,  bicycles give way to motorcycles, and in turn motorcycles give way to cars who in turn defer to trucks and buses. Top of the pecking order would be a 40 \ton tuck carrying a 60 Ton bulldozer    One ignores this at their peril !

      Secondly within the car drivers there exists another code of conduct "Do you know who i am?" which basically involves the drivers of cheaper cars deferring to the drivers of more expensive limos 

      There's probably even more to it than that , god only knows what is going on in some of their heads

        

[Ralf001]

I think it is a great move... many farangs cannot drive for <deleted>.

[Bday Prang]

10 minutes ago, josephbloggs said:

100% right, and we see it over and over and over again.

Its pathetic and  annoying on threads like this  and an even bigger pain in the arse when it occurs in threads about visas and immigration regs

[Bday Prang]

2 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

I think it is a great move... many farangs cannot drive for <deleted>.

So they fit in perfectly already , no need to test them

[Ralf001]

5 minutes ago, Bday Prang said:

So they fit in perfectly already , no need to test them

Farangs I see on the motorways daily.... they cause issues.

 

In no way do they drive live Thai's.

 

fit in or <deleted> off is a great motto....leave your western ideals at home,

[Teddy3943]

In my home country the Netherlands, it is very difficult for many people to pass the two exams for obtaining a driver's license. Most candidates have to pass the two exams five or more times. You have to answer 80 questions about traffic laws and photos of traffic situations in person to test whether you understand all kinds of situations that can occur in real life. The second test is an extensive practical test in a prepared car with brake and clutch pedals on both sides of the car, so that the examiner can intervene if an unsafe situation should arise. If you pass both tests, you are a well-trained and safe driver. Given the behavior of Thai drivers, my license gives many times more guarantee of safe driving than a Thai license.

[Bday Prang]

7 hours ago, LeoM said:

Always the farangs fault. Maybe it's this attitude that's causing tourists to go elsewhere.

tourists habitually visit other places, 

[hotsun]

4 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

Farangs I see on the motorways daily.... they cause issues.

 

In no way do they drive live Thai's.

 

fit in or <deleted> off is a great motto....leave your western ideals at home,

Western ideals of having consideration for yourself and others on the road? I agree they should <deleted> off only someone as unhinged as yourself think you and thai people are good drivers

[Suetape]

On 6/20/2025 at 6:07 AM, Cornish Pasty said:

Thai’s are the worst drivers I have ever seen, and believe me, I have been around!

 

Mark.

 

[Ralf001]

2 minutes ago, hotsun said:

Western ideals of having consideration for yourself and others on the road? I agree they should <deleted> off only someone as unhinged as yourself think you and thai people are good drivers

9 times out of 10... Iam in the right lane on the 7 motorway rolling at 120.... it turns to <deleted> becuase some stupid <deleted> is rolling at 100 causing havoc.... it is always a farang.

 

They should <deleted> off.

[Bday Prang]

8 hours ago, Jumbo1968 said:

So if you are coming to Thailand on a short break and plan on hiring a car or a motor bike using an IDP the first thing you have to do is find a Land Transport office to do the test or is it going be online ?

read the OP

[Suetape]

Tehran is the worse of the worse also.  

[richard_smith237]

1 hour ago, Cat Boy said:

In all due respect, you've either not reviewed, or misinterpreted the context within which my comment was made.

The original comment by another person to which my response to was directed, "Then they should remove as many Thais from the roads as possible. They are the ones who can't drive".

That is NOT showing respect, assimilation or empathy for our Thai brethren of which we reside in their country as guests. That's just racist xenophobia, plain and simple.

My comment was NOT intended to invalidate others opinions or comments wherein they suggest positive change, such as improving driver training, or testing prior to licensure, or improving enforcement of existing laws, my comment was here rather, to push back, on those who condemn all Thai as somehow inferior and incapable of driving safely or adhering to laws established, again, that's not assimilation or empathy, quite the opposite, its armchair bitterness, and anger aimed to incite hatred of Thai, and thus inspire similar in reverse. That I cannot abide.

Good response- I quite agree. 

[Bday Prang]

11 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

fit in or <deleted> off is a great motto....leave your western ideals at home,

spot on 

[Geoff914]

On 6/20/2025 at 11:25 AM, Upnotover said:

Having done the written test last year, twice in fact as failed the first attempt, I hope that they will get someone who can actually speak/read English to translate the often bizarre questions/answers.  And in a 4 answer multi-choice exam there is usually 1 correct answer...not here, some questions had 3 correct and one incorrect....I was told I failed the first attempt because I didn't select the "most correct" answer.

My son and I took the test. I kept failing on the question which battery terminal do you disconnect first. Not because I don't know if it was live or earth, positive of negative but because it said anode or cathode. Hell I learnt physics 50 years ago I can't remember which was the anode and which was the cathode. My son passed first time, I took 3 or 4 goes. But I gather all tests are done on one Sunday in the month and on that Sunday a car crashed into the pole outside the Ministry building in Bangkok and the internet connection was severed so no test results could be filed. So we had to redo the written test. This time I passed first time and my son failed. So we were chatting with the test centre owner while the test was set up again. I thought this taking a while then the owner said he passed. What? The office girl sat the test.

[Barnet1900]

2 hours ago, Davedub said:

In other news; Thailand is concerned about reduced tourist arrivals with so many visitors now chosing Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and the Phillipines over Thailand.

 

So making Thailand even less accessible by further increasing the bureacratic burden on visitors doesn't sound like a very good idea at all to me.

 

There's also an underlying arrogance to this move; they're essentially saying they don't trust the standard of driving tests from other countries. Having completed both UK and Thai driving tests for both cars and motorcycles, I am of the opinion that UK driver skill level requirements are far higher.

 

I wonder how long it will take for enterprising Thais to start offering an express 'license service' whereby the necessary paperwork can be obtained with a phone call and 2000 Bhat?

 

Hopefully the authorities will realise the daftness of this move before they 'put yet another nail in the coffin' of their golden goose (20% of GDP). But Thailand is as Thailand does; logic doesn't always seem to be the primary motivator.

Quote of the day 

 

I must admit, my first reaction to this news was once again.....it's all about the money rather than the safety and wellbeing of drivers.

[Bday Prang]

On 6/20/2025 at 5:22 PM, BangkokReady said:

 

How could you test people on a road where following the rules is impossible?  You'd either be involved in a collision trying, or fail when you drive appropriately for Thai roads.

very good point. maybe they need a virtual driving  app or even a flight simulator type machine  lol

[josephbloggs]

2 minutes ago, Barnet1900 said:

Quote of the day 

 

I must admit, my first reaction to this news was once again.....it's all about the money rather than the safety and wellbeing of drivers.

What are you talking about? They don't charge you extra for doing the written exam when you want to obtain a full Thai driver's license. So how can this possibly be "all about the money"??? Care to explain?

So much nonsense posted in this thread by people who just want to bash and are too stupid to actually read the OP. 

[Bday Prang]

7 hours ago, harryviking said:

As a person with 50 years experience on motorcycles and been around Thailand many times on big bikes, I can definitely agree! The Thai need to upgrade their skills for obtaining a driver license like they do in Europe/Scandinavia! That would help a lot. More Police on the roads in "undercover" police cars would help too! Not a small control once a month to collect money for a party or something! Thai driving licenses are a JOKE!!! BUT...I am sure there are nations with similar useless drivers....lets say India, Russia, China....... 🙄🙄😆 Just take a look at China. Anyway, a written test will NOT make you drive better! You should TEST DRIVE to do that!

no test "makes you better" that is not the purpose of a test.   EDucation is the traditional way of improving or learning

[Bday Prang]

2 minutes ago, josephbloggs said:

So much nonsense posted in this thread by people who just want to bash and are too stupid to actually read the OP. 

I think its also got something to do with a morbid fear of failing the test, lol especially if their mrs has passed it lol      either way, as you say  they could allay their fears simply by reading the OP

[Bday Prang]

1 minute ago, Bday Prang said:

I think its also got something to do with a morbid fear of failing the test, lol especially if their mrs has passed it lol      either way, as you say  they could allay their fears simply by reading the OP

 

[schultzlivgthai]

The Thais honestly feel they are better in every way compared to foreigners. Us farangs can’t do anything right, even drive a vehicle. 

[SAFETY FIRST]

42 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

9 times out of 10... Iam in the right lane on the 7 motorway rolling at 120.... it turns to <deleted> becuase some stupid <deleted> is rolling at 100 causing havoc.... it is always a farang.

 

They should <deleted> off.

Thank <deleted> I'm not the only person seeing this. 

It's always a foreigner. 

 

 

 

[Ralf001]

16 minutes ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

Thank <deleted> I'm not the only person seeing this. 

It's always a foreigner. 

 

 

 

 

100% it is always a <deleted> farang  in the 120 lane doing 100 creating traffic issues with other commuters.

[cjinchiangrai]

14 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

 

100% it is always a <deleted> farang  in the 120 lane doing 100 creating traffic issues with other commuters.

Are you sure it is not the morons doing 150 that are creating the problem?

[Jumbo1968]

Thailand signed up to the  1968 Vienna Convention for IDPs, how can they make an amendment now by saying holders of IDPs require an additional written test ?

[Middle Aged Grouch]

Between all the other hassles on tax or visas, only the desperate would wish to come over and spend time in Thailand or stay on. 

[Middle Aged Grouch]

38 minutes ago, Jumbo1968 said:

Thailand signed up to the  1968 Vienna Convention for IDPs, how can they make an amendment now by saying holders of IDPs require an additional written test ?

Just another way to make a law that leaves it open for the BiB to racket falangs on roadblocks. 

[SanSaiExPat]

On 6/20/2025 at 5:56 AM, snoop1130 said:

Photo courtesy of Thai Visa Expert

 

Thailand is set to introduce stricter regulations for foreign nationals seeking to obtain a Thai driver's licence. The Department of Land Transport (DLT) has proposed a draft regulation requiring all foreigners to pass a written test, irrespective of holding a valid international driving permit (IDP).

 

The change aims to revoke the current acceptance of IDPs as sufficient proof for acquiring a temporary Thai licence. According to a Ministry of Transport source, the DLT is actively seeking public feedback on the draft, which highlights updated protocols for training, testing, and licence renewals for both Thai and foreign drivers.

 

The main objective of these reforms is to align with international standards and enhance road safety. "The changes are designed to ensure fairness and competency for all drivers, while also improving regulatory oversight," the source explained.

 

Key changes include:

 

• Temporary Driver’s Licences: IDPs will no longer be valid for obtaining a temporary licence.
• Foreign Licence Holders: Foreign nationals must now pass a written exam to convert their existing foreign licence to a Thai one. This requirement was previously waived.
• Licence Validity Extension: The validity of personal driving licences will increase from two years to five for applicants with a previously expired Thai temporary licence.
• End of IDP Fast Track: Neither foreign-issued driving licences nor IDPs will exempt applicants from the written test.

 

These proposed rules could significantly affect tourists, expats, and foreign workers who have relied on IDPs for quick access to Thai roads. The DLT has not announced when these regulations will be implemented, but an official announcement is anticipated following the public consultation phase.

 

  Adapted by ASEAN Now from The Thaiger 2025-06-20

 

 

It's Just another way to milk a few more hundred or thousand baht out of foreigners and to make Thailand more undesirable as a place to retire or visit.

[ThailandGuy]

Gooooood Morninggggggggggg Vietnam !!!