My Thai driving licence expires shortly.

The rules state that to renew and get a 5 year licence, your original licence must have expired.

My problem: My licence expires on the weekend when I am driving from Phuket (where my licence was issued) to Chachoengsao, where I'll be staying for a couple of weeks.

Can I still drive on this licence during this time? Will the insurance be valid in the event of an accident?

I have a current UK licence but the international one has expired. I know UK licences are accepted in Phuket but upcountry I'm not so confident.

Any comments/advice would be appreciated.

I managed to have a shunt a couple of years back and realised to my horror that my 1 year licence was 6 months out (no excuse, brain failure).

The BiB who attended and the insurance men were all happy with the licence and the insurance coughed up without issue

Obviously YMMV.

I was assured at the driving license office in Bangkok that i had a year after my one year license expired to get it renewed. I specifically asked what would happen if i were to be stopped by the boys in brown with an expired license, and told it was no problem. I was skeptical...

Shortly after that conversation i was indeed stopped and the policeman in question looked like all his Songkrans had come at once when he spotted my out-of-date license. After much persuasion he reluctantly agreed not to book me for this offence, and had to content himself with another minor violation.

So as to whether it is illegal or not, i really couldn't tell you, but would suggest you don't want to take the chance.

I live in Issan and before I got a Thai DL, I used to produce an IDL and a UK one.

The police are not at all interested in IDL's upcountry as (I think) they dont know what they are BUT many times they have commented on the English being good drivers. I always agree with them, of course !

Dave