Foreigners Driving Vans.

[tayto]

Can a foreigner drive a passenger van, for example a Hi-Ace or the new Toyota Commuter van?

Most of the local van rental companies in Chiang Rai will not rent to a foreigner but I see some websites in Bangkok who rent

passenger vans without drivers.

Any contacts?

[lazeeboy]

Can a foreigner drive a passenger van, for example a Hi-Ace or the new Toyota Commuter van?

Most of the local van rental companies in Chiang Rai will not rent to a foreigner but I see some websites in Bangkok who rent

passenger vans without drivers.

Any contacts?

budget rent them as i recall..

[mark100]

Can a foreigner drive a passenger van, for example a Hi-Ace or the new Toyota Commuter van?

Most of the local van rental companies in Chiang Rai will not rent to a foreigner but I see some websites in Bangkok who rent

passenger vans without drivers.

Any contacts?

Very odd, in Pattaya you can rent anything.

[Crossy]

AFAIK You can drive a 4 wheel van provided it's on black plates (not for reward) although I'm not sure if there is a seating capacity limit, if it has blue songthaw plates then no way.

[madjbs]

Crossy, I thought blue plates are for privately owned vans. Vans that are part of the transport system have black and yellow plates and so do songthaws. I seem to recall you cant register something on black plates if it has over 7 seats (maybe 11?).

[Crossy]

Crossy, I thought blue plates are for privately owned vans. Vans that are part of the transport system have black and yellow plates and so do songthaws. I seem to recall you cant register something on black plates if it has over 7 seats (maybe 11?).

You may be right there. Certainly black/yellow are public service vehicles (for reward).

I've noticed a lot of hotel limos have blue plates just to add to the confusion (not vans, Benz cars)

[madjbs]

I have seen a website, not too long ago, that had all the different plates listed with pictures and a description (sooo exciting I know!!). Anybody know what the address is?

[Farma]

madjbs try http://driving.information.in.th/license-plates.html

[Farma]

I can't see any problem with renting a van. The Thai Budget and Avis sites offer hiace vans for rent. Thailand car rental is an agent for Budget in Chiangmai and it offers Hiace vans.

The conditions for rental copied from the Thailand car rental site are

CONDITIONS:

48 hours in advance booking

Full prepayment must be made

Minimum driver age is 21 years.

Driver must hold a valid driving License in Thai, English of International driving permits.

Customer must have a credit card or Baht 10,000 to cover the security deposit.

A copy of customers' ID Card or Passport is required.

A rental day is 24 hours. Extra full hours are charged at 1/4 of the daily rate.

The charge of one third of daily charge per an hour will applied in case of late return

Vehicles are supplied with a full tank of petrol.

Vehicle makes and models are example only, not guaranteed and may vary. Reservations are to be booked by car group only.

A similar or superior vehicle is substituted in the case of any reasons the reserved vehicle is not available at no extra costs.

[tayto]

This is what I want to hire and drive myself for 5 days.

I have a full Thai driving liscence but all the companies in Chiang Rai say a foreigner cannot drive these vehicles.

[tayto]

I have given up, I cannot get a van to drive myself but I have found a brand new van with driver

from Chiang Rai for 1600 baht a day, a good price.

[P76]

I drove a pick up around for four weeks and got pulled over and booked twice. I couldn't understand why, even my Thai wife didn't know. I was told later by a farang that I had a green plate on the vehicle and that meant I couldn't drive in the fast lane.

News to me!