Caught By Police With 1 Week Expired License

[singa-traz]

I was driving today along Sukhumvit 105, when I was stopped at a police roadblock (they are there almost on a weekly basis).

I "nicely" showed my expired driving license (to be renewed this week), and thought that would be ok.

Unfortunately, the police officer started to give me a ticket for this, and kept my driving license.

I tried to explain him that there should be a grace period, but that did not get registered.

As I live nearby, my wife decided to have a chat with the officer, to see what I did wrong, so we drove back to see them.

After talking to his supervisor, it turned out that I did nothing wrong ... but we were told they cannot cancel the ticket!

The supervisor explain that he would not give a ticket for this, and gave us back the driving license.

So, I got back the license, but still have the ticket.

Any idea on how to get it canceled?

And Yes, Monday morning I will be in Chatuchak.

I was later told that the police do not have the right to keep your driving license.

[merijn]

This is not correct, they have the right to keep your ( Thai ) driving license.

You have 7 days time to pay the fine and get your license back from the police station.

If you don't have a thai driving license you have to leave your bike ( only in case of riding a bike off course ) and pay the ticket after which you can collect your bike again at the check point.

[singa-traz]

Monday morning 8h45 enter the building of the Land Transportation to get the new driving license.

Add prepared all the documents:

- passport

- copy of passport

- doctor's certificate

- certificate of residence from embassy

- expired thai driving license

After checking my document, I got a queue number.

Waited 5 minutes

Re-checking of the documents + picture taken

Got the new license.

Exit building: 9h00!

The good news is that unlike the 1 year driving license, you can renew the 5 years thai driving license, 3 months before expiration.

[Gearhead13]

I was driving today along Sukhumvit 105, when I was stopped at a police roadblock (they are there almost on a weekly basis).

I "nicely" showed my expired driving license (to be renewed this week), and thought that would be ok.

Unfortunately, the police officer started to give me a ticket for this, and kept my driving license.

I tried to explain him that there should be a grace period, but that did not get registered.

As I live nearby, my wife decided to have a chat with the officer, to see what I did wrong, so we drove back to see them.

After talking to his supervisor, it turned out that I did nothing wrong ... but we were told they cannot cancel the ticket!

The supervisor explain that he would not give a ticket for this, and gave us back the driving license.

So, I got back the license, but still have the ticket.

Any idea on how to get it canceled?

And Yes, Monday morning I will be in Chatuchak.

I was later told that the police do not have the right to keep your driving license.

Did you mention the incident to the land transport department where you renewed your license?

If not, what I would do is try to get a written official statement from the supervisor cop that his colleague made a mistake. This way they can cancel or write that ticket off with full accountability when you present this statement to whoever will catch up with you on the "ticket" that you got. This is my guess. I don't know if it'll work.

[mikethevigoman]

I was driving today along Sukhumvit 105, when I was stopped at a police roadblock (they are there almost on a weekly basis).

I "nicely" showed my expired driving license (to be renewed this week), and thought that would be ok.

Unfortunately, the police officer started to give me a ticket for this, and kept my driving license.

I tried to explain him that there should be a grace period, but that did not get registered.

As I live nearby, my wife decided to have a chat with the officer, to see what I did wrong, so we drove back to see them.

After talking to his supervisor, it turned out that I did nothing wrong ... but we were told they cannot cancel the ticket!

The supervisor explain that he would not give a ticket for this, and gave us back the driving license.

So, I got back the license, but still have the ticket.

Any idea on how to get it canceled?

And Yes, Monday morning I will be in Chatuchak.

I was later told that the police do not have the right to keep your driving license.

Is your time not worth more ? i couldnt be bothered to run around with a principle,. ,id pay, its thailand, .as for the license, whoever told you that the police cant keep your licence is misinformed,they can,.

[Gimbo]

Back in october I was given a ticket for making an illegal U-turn in Chon Buri. I was just pulling out of the hotel, made a u-turn where another car was doing the same, and 50 meters later was stopped by a cop, who pointed at the "no u-turn" sign I had not seen. Well, he wrote out a ticket for that, and another for not wearing seat belts. Not my day that...

Anyway, he kept my norwegian driving licence I was still driving on at the time, until I had paid the ticket at the police station, where they then called the cop, who came on his motorcycle, all smiles, handed me my drivers licence back and wished me a good holliday in Thailand

[mikethevigoman]

Back in october I was given a ticket for making an illegal U-turn in Chon Buri. I was just pulling out of the hotel, made a u-turn where another car was doing the same, and 50 meters later was stopped by a cop, who pointed at the "no u-turn" sign I had not seen. Well, he wrote out a ticket for that, and another for not wearing seat belts. Not my day that...

Anyway, he kept my norwegian driving licence I was still driving on at the time, until I had paid the ticket at the police station, where they then called the cop, who came on his motorcycle, all smiles, handed me my drivers licence back and wished me a good holliday in Thailand

Thats more like it,. its nothing personal, they dont mind you breaking the law here,its a revenue collector,.i had 3 speeding tickets in one day, the first and third were the same cop same day different sides of the road, i said, oh its you again, he smiled, i said ,as im a regular customer can i have discount to which he replied . ok, try that in england/usa, probably be doing 6 months in jail ! , no, i much prefer the way here and i dont take it personal,

[corkscrew]

Back in october I was given a ticket for making an illegal U-turn in Chon Buri. I was just pulling out of the hotel, made a u-turn where another car was doing the same, and 50 meters later was stopped by a cop, who pointed at the "no u-turn" sign I had not seen. Well, he wrote out a ticket for that, and another for not wearing seat belts. Not my day that...

Anyway, he kept my norwegian driving licence I was still driving on at the time, until I had paid the ticket at the police station, where they then called the cop, who came on his motorcycle, all smiles, handed me my drivers licence back and wished me a good holliday in Thailand

Thats more like it,. its nothing personal, they dont mind you breaking the law here,its a revenue collector,.i had 3 speeding tickets in one day, the first and third were the same cop same day different sides of the road, i said, oh its you again, he smiled, i said ,as im a regular customer can i have discount to which he replied . ok, try that in england/usa, probably be doing 6 months in jail ! , no, i much prefer the way here and i dont take it personal,

That IS funny. Yes, I too prefer the Thai way.

[Jareddiving]

I wonder if there is an grace period in Europe??

[singa-traz]

I was driving today along Sukhumvit 105, when I was stopped at a police roadblock (they are there almost on a weekly basis).

...

I was later told that the police do not have the right to keep your driving license.

Is your time not worth more ? i couldnt be bothered to run around with a principle,. ,id pay, its thailand, .as for the license, whoever told you that the police cant keep your licence is misinformed,they can,.

The cops when confronted with a person fluent in Thai, recognised that I did nothing wrong, and the supervisor let us know that I should not have received a ticket in the first place ... so, I don't see any compelling reason to just go and pay the fine, in this situation ...even if we are in Thailand.

As for the police keeping the license, this is the practice yes, but do they have the right, in the first place?

The recommendation was to keep a photocopy with me and hand it over to the cops.

If they want to see the real one, show it but keep it with you.

If I cross a red-light I would pay the fine ... but not when they stop you so that they can meet their quota.

As for my time, I quite enjoyed the 10 minutes with my wife, asking them who did wrong, when they wrote a ticket without any reason.

Priceless!

[silverhawk_usa]

I was driving today along Sukhumvit 105, when I was stopped at a police roadblock (they are there almost on a weekly basis).

...

I was later told that the police do not have the right to keep your driving license.

Is your time not worth more ? i couldnt be bothered to run around with a principle,. ,id pay, its thailand, .as for the license, whoever told you that the police cant keep your licence is misinformed,they can,.

The cops when confronted with a person fluent in Thai, recognised that I did nothing wrong, and the supervisor let us know that I should not have received a ticket in the first place ... so, I don't see any compelling reason to just go and pay the fine, in this situation ...even if we are in Thailand.

As for the police keeping the license, this is the practice yes, but do they have the right, in the first place?

The recommendation was to keep a photocopy with me and hand it over to the cops.

If they want to see the real one, show it but keep it with you.

If I cross a red-light I would pay the fine ... but not when they stop you so that they can meet their quota.

As for my time, I quite enjoyed the 10 minutes with my wife, asking them who did wrong, when they wrote a ticket without any reason.

Priceless!

I guess I don't follow your reasoning of you did nothing wrong. You drove with an expired license!

In the U.S (at least in my state), there is no grace period and driving with no license, or an expired license, is considered a fairly serious offense. If you have no license in your possesion you may be detained (arrested) until your identity and proof you had a license can be ascertained.

If you are not a resident of the state, your license is confiscated and you are issued a ticket which is also the receipt for your license. It must be presented at the police station or court and is returned upon the payment of a fine.

In your defense, checkpoints of any kind are not legal in the U.S. (personal freedom issue). You can only be stopped if you committed a violation. Of course the big drawback to that is you would be given a violation for the offense you committed AND the expired license.

As checkpoints are legal and common here, I would say you were rightfully busted. TIT.

[billd766]

Monday morning 8h45 enter the building of the Land Transportation to get the new driving license.

Add prepared all the documents:

- passport

- copy of passport

- doctor's certificate

- certificate of residence from embassy

- expired thai driving license

After checking my document, I got a queue number.

Waited 5 minutes

Re-checking of the documents + picture taken

Got the new license.

Exit building: 9h00!

The good news is that unlike the 1 year driving license, you can renew the 5 years thai driving license, 3 months before expiration.

I was driving today along Sukhumvit 105, when I was stopped at a police roadblock (they are there almost on a weekly basis).

...

I was later told that the police do not have the right to keep your driving license.

Is your time not worth more ? i couldnt be bothered to run around with a principle,. ,id pay, its thailand, .as for the license, whoever told you that the police cant keep your licence is misinformed,they can,.

The cops when confronted with a person fluent in Thai, recognised that I did nothing wrong, and the supervisor let us know that I should not have received a ticket in the first place ... so, I don't see any compelling reason to just go and pay the fine, in this situation ...even if we are in Thailand.

As for the police keeping the license, this is the practice yes, but do they have the right, in the first place?

The recommendation was to keep a photocopy with me and hand it over to the cops.

If they want to see the real one, show it but keep it with you.

If I cross a red-light I would pay the fine ... but not when they stop you so that they can meet their quota.

As for my time, I quite enjoyed the 10 minutes with my wife, asking them who did wrong, when they wrote a ticket without any reason.

Priceless!

I guess I don't follow your reasoning of you did nothing wrong. You drove with an expired license!

In the U.S (at least in my state), there is no grace period and driving with no license, or an expired license, is considered a fairly serious offense. If you have no license in your possesion you may be detained (arrested) until your identity and proof you had a license can be ascertained.

If you are not a resident of the state, your license is confiscated and you are issued a ticket which is also the receipt for your license. It must be presented at the police station or court and is returned upon the payment of a fine.

In your defense, checkpoints of any kind are not legal in the U.S. (personal freedom issue). You can only be stopped if you committed a violation. Of course the big drawback to that is you would be given a violation for the offense you committed AND the expired license.

As checkpoints are legal and common here, I would say you were rightfully busted. TIT.

As far as I knew having been driving in Thailand since 2002 you were not allowed to renew your 1 year licence until after it had expired and I assumed the same would be correct about the 5 year licence.

However thanks to singa-traz I can renew mine up to 3 months early.

Now as it is not due until may 2553 or next year in old money how can I change the address to a different province since I no longer live in Bangkok but in Klong Lan Khampaeng Phet province.

Also is there an age limit to obtaining a licence as next year I will be 65?