Thai International Drivers License

[Mapguy]

I would not normally post this information on the Chiang Mai board, but there are special problems in Chiang Mai in obtaining a Thai International License. The information, as well, if you keyword "international driver's license" on TV, is neither properly dated nor up-to-date the last time I looked a couple of days ago.

So, here is the word (with pen and ink update) from the "horse's mouth:" the handout from the friendly folks at Land Transportation on Hang Dong Road. Don't yell at them. It is not their fault!

It will no doubt occur to you, as it has occured to me, that obtaining an international license on the basis of your Thai driver's license is an overly-involved, unnecessarily onerous and expensive slow business with quite a lot of steps and paperwork. Want to change that? Write your friendly MP! That is not a sly joke. A civil letter to the editors of The Bangkok Post and The Nation would not hurt, either.

Happy traveling!

Int._License_Rules_4.2008.pdf

Edited April 9, 2008 by Mapguy

[iainiain101]

Bit of work required there!

What is the 'form', if my missus has got her first Thai driving licence this month, for when we go back to the UK?

Will she get an IDL at the post office as we do in the UK or be able to use her Thai licence?

Thanks

Iain

[Mapguy]

Bit of work required there!

What is the 'form', if my missus has got her first Thai driving licence this month, for when we go back to the UK?

Will she get an IDL at the post office as we do in the UK or be able to use her Thai licence?

Thanks

Iain

If her UK license is still good, she should use it! Going to a UK post office with a Thai license won't work.

The Thai International License is needed if the license you hold in almost all other countries is no longer valid. If you want to drive in a couple of counties --- Laos is one, I think --- a regular Thai license will do. The other country might be Mongolia, but camels are more practical there so never mind! The local gendarme in such countries wouldn't mind an extra euro or two, either, which you will probably have to pay anyway because they won't be able to read the license.

[davidgtr]

My understanding is that you submit the application form in Chiang Mai & they will forward it to Bangkok, & hey presto in a couple of weeks, the International Drivng Licence is issued from Bangkok.

Some expats in Chiang Mai have one via the local system & it works.

Have you applied yet, or are just thinking about it & stirring the pot?

[Maejo Man]

In the past I have always done mine in Bangkok at the Dept. of Land and Transport in Pahonyatin soi 18 and never had a problem till a couple of years ago. They would not accept my consular letter, as it was over six months old. They then suggested that I get a translation on my Thai licence for a fee of 20 Baht. A far easier way out and certainly cheaper. It's a document in English bearing your photograph, licence number. with details of your licence issuing date and expiry.

A far simpler way, and is used by most Thai students in Australia and the UK.

As an afterthought.....do the new plastic Thai licences have details in English? I still have a few years to go on mine so I havn't seen one yet. I know that the new Thai "smart" ID cards are also in English, so maybe the licences are too. McSpicey got one recently.......Details Macca??

Edited April 10, 2008 by Maejo Man

[higgy88]

Doing some googling on this subject, I have found that what is called an international drivers license is usually a scam, It is called an international drivers permit, and it is essentially a translation of your Thai drivers license.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Drivers_License

The only internationally accepted documentation is the International Driving Permit combined with the standard valid driver's license from the driver's country of residence. The IDP is a multiple language translation of the existing driver's license, and is not a license to operate a motor vehicle by itself.

What is also interesting is that Thailand was not a signer of the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic in 1968.

I tried to get an international drivers permit in Chiangmai and they basically told me to go away because they do not give IDPs to foreigners, even though they had given me a Thai drivers license. But that was about 14 years ago and I never tried again.

[Boksida]

I drive on a lifetime Thai licence issued over 30 years ago. Unfortunately the photograph of the dashing young man affixed to it bears very little resemblance to the current bearer. Maybe the Land Transport Department has a "Dorian Gray" section somewhere, but it causes great amusement to policemen anyway. It is becoming very hard to use it when renting cars overseas.

[Rasseru]

As an afterthought.....do the new plastic Thai licences have details in English? I still have a few years to go on mine so I havn't seen one yet.

I just got one (two, actually) a couple of weeks ago and, yes, all the details are in English as well as Thai.

[Naam]

I drive on a lifetime Thai licence issued over 30 years ago. Unfortunately the photograph of the dashing young man affixed to it bears very little resemblance to the current bearer. Maybe the Land Transport Department has a "Dorian Gray" section somewhere, but it causes great amusement to policemen anyway. It is becoming very hard to use it when renting cars overseas.

my german license (still valid!) is from 1962 but i never had a problem to rent a car in foreign countries. it caused of course amusement once in a while (e.g. Vegas, Brisbane, Rio)

[Maejo Man]

As an afterthought.....do the new plastic Thai licences have details in English? I still have a few years to go on mine so I havn't seen one yet.

I just got one (two, actually) a couple of weeks ago and, yes, all the details are in English as well as Thai.

Good news! I thought they might have done that....

[Priceless]

Bit of work required there!

What is the 'form', if my missus has got her first Thai driving licence this month, for when we go back to the UK?

Will she get an IDL at the post office as we do in the UK or be able to use her Thai licence?

Thanks

Iain

I'm afraid the posted rules might be interpreted as meaning that you have to hold either a 5-year licence or a life-time one, i.e. excluding first-time one year ones. This would also agree with the rules in several other countries, that you must have had your licence for a minimum of one year to get an IDP.

/ Priceless