DLT Phuket - Licence Renewal Process

[gravity101]

Anyone renew their driving licence at the Phuket office recently? I was told to go with required docs and the proof of e-learning. I duly went and the lady at the counter seemed very angry, and asked me, have I booked an appointment. I said I was told I just to come down for photo and get a new DL, and anyway the Queue app is fully booked all year and next year (I suspect its been closed(blocked out) in reality for Phuket. PN has some slots for the end of July.). She then said, come tomorrow, not sure what or why she said that. Anyone know the current process for renewal?  TIA

[stevenl]

Yes, appointment online.

If the lady said 'come tomorrow ' i would trust that.

[zzzzz]

go at 7:30 , line up in front of the door on the left side , ( dont sit down and wait) 
make sure you have completed the online test and have all ur docs in order

[DFPhuket]

I was there a couple of months ago for my renewal. I walked in and showed them: 

• Original five-years thai driving license
• Passport with copies of the detail and visa stamps
• Certificate of Residence
• Medical certificate
• e-Learning QR showing I completed it

The docs were reviewed and I was given a slip of paper showing the date and time to return to take the reaction and traffic light tests. That date was about a 3 or 4 weeks later. I went on the assigned day to take those two tests and got my license. 

 

I did create an an account the the DLT Smart Queue app and like you found, every date showed full. I just logged an looked today and it's the same - all dates for Phuket are full for all of 2025. 

[gravity101]

On 6/26/2025 at 7:48 AM, DFPhuket said:

I was there a couple of months ago for my renewal. I walked in and showed them: 

• Original five-years thai driving license
• Passport with copies of the detail and visa stamps
• Certificate of Residence
• Medical certificate
• e-Learning QR showing I completed it

The docs were reviewed and I was given a slip of paper showing the date and time to return to take the reaction and traffic light tests. That date was about a 3 or 4 weeks later. I went on the assigned day to take those two tests and got my license. 

 

I did create an an account the the DLT Smart Queue app and like you found, every date showed full. I just logged an looked today and it's the same - all dates for Phuket are full for all of 2025. 

Ita crazy how fluid the process is. They have to be the worst government department to deal with. Improvised chaos.

 

So I muddled my way through it. As of yesterday the RENEWAL process is:

 

Come before 8am, earlier the better as there is a loose queue system of sorts. Sit/stand under the tent for renewals only. At 8am a lady comes around and gives everyone a Thai form with a queue number written on it. This is for their use only. This is limited to 100 a day, so be prepared to hustle if you see you're going to miss out. Yesterday there were more than 100 trying. Seems sitting is best as she gives queue numbers to those sitting first and regards that as the start of the queue.

 

All 100 are then taken upstairs where 2 queues are formed, one for Thais, one for foreigners and your docs are checked and kept. Passport, old DL, medical certificate, residence certificate, copies of passport and visa page. You show them your e-learning completion receipt also at this point. This was done in about an hour for all.

 

You're told to come back at 1pm sharp and hang around counter 5, where a guy calls you up one by one in queue order it seems for the reaction test (pedals) and the obligatory red green yellow test.

 

Take docs and pay for licence with new queue number the guy gave you. Take docs, keep passport and put in the camera ladies basket and wait for her to call you up for a photo and driving licence to be made.

 

Hope this helps someone.

[Chalong circle]

Do you know if you can renew in another province  that the one where you live ? For Thai people it is possible, but for foreigners, not sure...

[hansgruber]

16 hours ago, Chalong circle said:

Do you know if you can renew in another province  that the one where you live ? For Thai people it is possible, but for foreigners, not sure...

Yes you can. Phuket was booked out so I booked for Phangna office and drove there.  It's so quiet there not even 15 people.  

[Chalong circle]

Thank you very much. Very useful !

[sikishrory]

I need to do the same thing. My 5 year expires in October. I got it with non-imm and work permit. Now on DTV though. 
I checked appointments in the smartqueue app for Phuket literally only a week ago and they were availble from late October. So that shows how fast things are filling up. Indeed now they are booked for the year.
Phang Nga has 2 offices. 1 quite further than the other. I contacted the closer one and the manager said policy at that office is to renew 5 year licences as only 2 year if you hold a DTV. There is little wait in the Phang Nga offices and great reviews.
So I asked 2 agents in Phuket. They said they can't "fix" that in any way. One of them did however say to walk into the Phuket office and you will get an appointment sooner than the app shows. 
This appears to have happened in your case?
I was planning to go down there and ask the DTV renewal policy but I can't be assed dealing with the angry bs you describe.
I think I will either do it in the Phang nga office that is in takua pu and much further and hope I get a 5 year. Or walk into the Phuket one and do what you did and hope for the best. Will probably get a 2 year but whatever.
I agree it is one of the crappest departments to deal with. You would think they would have more offices, outsource some stuff to agents, streamline the process. Queing on the steps before the joint opens is bizarre and totally unnecessary.
I find the following comparison to Australia interesting:

Victoria (VicRoads)
VicRoads operates ≈44 public-facing offices across the state  .
Victoria’s population is around 6.7 million, with approximately 5.1 million licensed drivers  .

Office-to-people ratio:
Per total population: 6,700,000 ÷ 44 ≈ 152,000 people per office
Per drivers: 5,100,000 ÷ 44 ≈ 116,000 drivers per office

Thailand (Department of Land Transport)
Thailand consists of 76 provinces + Bangkok, each with at least one DLT office  .
Total population is around 70 million, averaging ≈908,000 people per administrative region.
Office-to-people ratio: ~70,000,000 ÷ 77 ≈ 910,000 people per office

Summary
Victoria: ~150k residents (116k drivers) per office
Thailand: ~910k residents per office

In other words, Thai DLT offices each serve about 6× more people than VicRoads offices do in Victoria—which explains why your experience feels like a “total sh*t show.”

[hansgruber]

1 hour ago, sikishrory said:

I need to do the same thing. My 5 year expires in October. I got it with non-imm and work permit. Now on DTV though. 
I checked appointments in the smartqueue app for Phuket literally only a week ago and they were availble from late October. So that shows how fast things are filling up. Indeed now they are booked for the year.
Phang Nga has 2 offices. 1 quite further than the other. I contacted the closer one and the manager said policy at that office is to renew 5 year licences as only 2 year if you hold a DTV. There is little wait in the Phang Nga offices and great reviews.
So I asked 2 agents in Phuket. They said they can't "fix" that in any way. One of them did however say to walk into the Phuket office and you will get an appointment sooner than the app shows. 
This appears to have happened in your case?
I was planning to go down there and ask the DTV renewal policy but I can't be assed dealing with the angry bs you describe.
I think I will either do it in the Phang nga office that is in takua pu and much further and hope I get a 5 year. Or walk into the Phuket one and do what you did and hope for the best. Will probably get a 2 year but whatever.
I agree it is one of the crappest departments to deal with. You would think they would have more offices, outsource some stuff to agents, streamline the process. Queing on the steps before the joint opens is bizarre and totally unnecessary.
I find the following comparison to Australia interesting:

Victoria (VicRoads)
VicRoads operates ≈44 public-facing offices across the state  .
Victoria’s population is around 6.7 million, with approximately 5.1 million licensed drivers  .

Office-to-people ratio:
Per total population: 6,700,000 ÷ 44 ≈ 152,000 people per office
Per drivers: 5,100,000 ÷ 44 ≈ 116,000 drivers per office

Thailand (Department of Land Transport)
Thailand consists of 76 provinces + Bangkok, each with at least one DLT office  .
Total population is around 70 million, averaging ≈908,000 people per administrative region.
Office-to-people ratio: ~70,000,000 ÷ 77 ≈ 910,000 people per office

Summary
Victoria: ~150k residents (116k drivers) per office
Thailand: ~910k residents per office

In other words, Thai DLT offices each serve about 6× more people than VicRoads offices do in Victoria—which explains why your experience feels like a “total sh*t show.”

I renewed a 5 year licence no problem there at that branch in Phang na.  Just say Phuket is too busy and they suggested I come here.  They were very happy to help I was out of there in a little over an hour.  The place was a ghost town compared to Phuket office.  

[gravity101]

2 hours ago, sikishrory said:

I need to do the same thing. My 5 year expires in October. I got it with non-imm and work permit. Now on DTV though. 
I checked appointments in the smartqueue app for Phuket literally only a week ago and they were availble from late October. So that shows how fast things are filling up. Indeed now they are booked for the year.
Phang Nga has 2 offices. 1 quite further than the other. I contacted the closer one and the manager said policy at that office is to renew 5 year licences as only 2 year if you hold a DTV. There is little wait in the Phang Nga offices and great reviews.
So I asked 2 agents in Phuket. They said they can't "fix" that in any way. One of them did however say to walk into the Phuket office and you will get an appointment sooner than the app shows. 
This appears to have happened in your case?
I was planning to go down there and ask the DTV renewal policy but I can't be assed dealing with the angry bs you describe.
I think I will either do it in the Phang nga office that is in takua pu and much further and hope I get a 5 year. Or walk into the Phuket one and do what you did and hope for the best. Will probably get a 2 year but whatever.
I agree it is one of the crappest departments to deal with. You would think they would have more offices, outsource some stuff to agents, streamline the process. Queing on the steps before the joint opens is bizarre and totally unnecessary.
I find the following comparison to Australia interesting:

Victoria (VicRoads)
VicRoads operates ≈44 public-facing offices across the state  .
Victoria’s population is around 6.7 million, with approximately 5.1 million licensed drivers  .

Office-to-people ratio:
Per total population: 6,700,000 ÷ 44 ≈ 152,000 people per office
Per drivers: 5,100,000 ÷ 44 ≈ 116,000 drivers per office

Thailand (Department of Land Transport)
Thailand consists of 76 provinces + Bangkok, each with at least one DLT office  .
Total population is around 70 million, averaging ≈908,000 people per administrative region.
Office-to-people ratio: ~70,000,000 ÷ 77 ≈ 910,000 people per office

Summary
Victoria: ~150k residents (116k drivers) per office
Thailand: ~910k residents per office

In other words, Thai DLT offices each serve about 6× more people than VicRoads offices do in Victoria—which explains why your experience feels like a “total sh*t show.”

They're lack of efficiency is staggering and worse, they don't see it at all. They're super efficient at streamlining inefficiency though. My advise, bite the bullet and go down there at 7 45am on any day. Sit down on a seat (thus ensuring being high up in the 100 queue). Ensure a full battery on your phone and go with the flow. If you accept that, laugh at the newbies getting stressed then you'll be having a beer by 3pm with a new driving licence and forgotten about it by the morning.