Non immigrant visa

[Maigo6]

If i have a Thai bank account and i go to a Thai consulate with my Bank book, is that all i will need to get a non immigrant visa, i also have a Thai driving License if that helps.

I am not married to a thai, no condo either.

Cheers

[dr_Pat_Pong]

What is your age and nationality Maigo ?

[Maigo6]

What is your age and nationality Maigo ?

British, 48.

[Maigo6]

The main reason i ask for non immigrant visa is to renew my Thai driving lisence, it will expire in November, will i need to show non immigrant again?

[dr_Pat_Pong]

are you in England ? Yes, you do need a Non Imm for driver's license. If you are in Thailand where do you plan to go to a Consulate ?

[Maigo6]

are you in England ? Yes, you do need a Non Imm for driver's license. If you are in Thailand where do you plan to go to a Consulate ?

I am in Japan, i have my bank book and driving license with me, just wondered if i could qualify for non o with those things only, i have a fair ammount in bangkok Bank. Will i need to have a marriage certificate Or will a healthy bank balance be enough?

cheers

[dr_Pat_Pong]

You are under the retirement age. At 50 you'd need to have 800k ThBt in the bank. Have you perchance got enough to show 3 mill ThBt in the Thai bank or in that account and other accounts ?

[Maigo6]

You are under the retirement age. At 50 you'd need to have 800k ThBt in the bank. Have you perchance got enough to show 3 mill ThBt in the Thai bank or in that account and other accounts ?

Not 3 mill, but more than 800,000

[dr_Pat_Pong]

What was the reason you gave to get your last Non Imm ?

[Maigo6]

What was the reason you gave to get your last Non Imm ?

It was with an agent, i just wanted a Thai driving license, but with all the crackdown on agents, can i get it myself?

[JonnieB]

i am somewhat similarly situated to maigo and will have to do what he needs to do now within the next year.  

as an aside dr., can you explain why you can buy and register a car with a Tourist visa but not get your thai driver's license with a tourist visa.  seems to me both should be the same...buy/register and license with tourist or buy/register and license with non-immigrant.  at least in chonburi province this is the case because i did it all this past 4 months.

maybe it's because to buy and register costs some major bucks so they want anyone here...maybe someone here only for up to 3 months to be able to do this, where as they only get B105 for the license so don't really care so don't make it easy  :cool:

is this just another TIT we just have to accept?

[dr_Pat_Pong]

I'm afraid so ...logic is not a part of the equation...at least you can get a 5 year license now.

[Maigo6]

I'm afraid so ...logic is not a part of the equation...at least you can get a 5 year license now.

So even though i already have a thai driving lisence, to get it extended i will need a new non immigrant visa?

Maybe some Tea money may suffice, anybody had a similar experience?

I have had the license for a year, will the renewal enable 5 years?

[JonnieB]

from what i have been told, when you apply for the renewal, again a copy of the passport/visa in among the papers required and so a non-imm B or O is required.  

at least like the doc says, they are now giving out 5 year renewals after your 1st 1 year "temporary" license expires.  on the application, you must specifically ask/request for the 5 year renewal.

the 5 year license is only available when you are elligible for your first renewal.  you cannot get it when you first get a license.  the first one is always a 1-year temporary license.

tea money may help and again, sometimes it doesn't.  i would have liked to pay but no one stuck their hand out.  so took the written and driving tests over 2-day period here at pattaya land transport office, passed (eventually) and paid my B165 for my first car and motorcycle licenses.

[Maigo6]

from what i have been told, when you apply for the renewal, again a copy of the passport/visa in among the papers required and so a non-imm B or O is required.  

at least like the doc says, they are now giving out 5 year renewals after your 1st 1 year "temporary" license expires.  on the application, you must specifically ask/request for the 5 year renewal.

the 5 year license is only available when you are elligible for your first renewal.  you cannot get it when you first get a license.  the first one is always a 1-year temporary license.

tea money may help and again, sometimes it doesn't.  i would have liked to pay but no one stuck their hand out.  so took the written and driving tests over 2-day period here at pattaya land transport office, passed (eventually) and paid my B165 for my first car and motorcycle licenses.

I got mine in Pattaya also, 1000 baht for 2, in the words of one of the staff, ( "we can help you"), anyway if i know i can get a 5 year it's worth the effort of getting a non-immigrant, problem is Japanese based embassies are liable to not give anything that is not strictly by the book.

I know of more visa friendly places, pity i cant post my application to them, i have a friend in Miami, he can do everything for me, but i would not have been to U.S.A., only my passport, and i am not sure about this procedure anymore, getting the Visa is no problem, its just that i would not have been to America in person to get it. i would still be in Japan.

Shit...looks like i am going to have to get married...............

cheers.

[Edward B]

Jonnie,

Can you tell me what the driving test was like? Was an officer in the car with you and what did he ask you to do?  I ask because down south the tests are a joke (for thai applicants anyway). All it involves is driving around their carpark by yourself for about 10 minutes and that's it. No reverse parking, no starting on a hill. Only an imbecile could fail it. I think I just realised why the Thais drive so badly. Motorbike tests are the same.

[Maigo6]

Jonnie,

Can you tell me what the driving test was like? Was an officer in the car with you and what did he ask you to do?  I ask because down south the tests are a joke (for thai applicants anyway). All it involves is driving around their carpark by yourself for about 10 minutes and that's it. No reverse parking, no starting on a hill. Only an imbecile could fail it. I think I just realised why the Thais drive so badly. Motorbike tests are the same.

I never had a driving test of any type, but the test questions are translated from Thai to English by someone that is not quite up to the job, that is where the problem lies,

Some of the questions are really funny though. like.....

What would you do if you was driving and was really tired..

(A) Stop the car, have a rest, carry on when you was not tired.

( Dont worry about it, just carry on driving and drink coffee.

© Take Amphetamines.

Silly questions, everybody knows the asnswer is  C.    

cheers

[JonnieB]

i wish someone had had their hand out...i had the money ready in my wallet and it would have save me 2 days of back and forth. but no one hinted and i am always nervous about offering a bribe unsolicited.  i know they do take them because during the days i was there, many farangs (especially non-english speaking ones) were putting in their applications and waiting around for a couple hours and walking out all smiles on their faces.  i think in these cases, when the german or italian speaks not a lick of thai and the thai of course nothing in their language...let alone reading any home country license they may have brought along, they just take the money from them and give them the license to get rid of them.

if you speak english and they have their pigeon english, they can actually try to tell you what to do and give you a bad time because they can actually comminicate with you.

anyway, as to the written and driving tests...as commented, they are both a joke.  the written is a little useful, because they give you a thai driving booklet in english to study before you take it.  though, the english is far from perfect, you can make out the rules and regulations of the road they are trying to convey to you.  i had learned to drive "thai style" by observing and riding in taxis for 4 years.  anyway, it was interesting to compare the driving code with driving reality on the streets of thailand.  it is actually a decent code...modeled no doubt on some western code with similiar regulations.  the tough part of the test is the english on the test....it is aweful.  it is multiple choice with one "essay" question. if you can make out the question, then the answer choices often are inintellagible or don't make sense.  sometimes it is the reverse, where the question internally contracts itself.  anyways, it's 30 questions i think and you have to get 22 or 23 correct to pass.  no easy when you cannot understand the questions.  anyway, after 2 attempts, i passed (different test each time and they let you take them one after another).  

as to the driving test, yes, it is the same one you took.  there is a mini-test track out back and you bring your own bike or car/truck with you and have to drive it.  it takes about 2 mins to drive through and you do it yourself with the tester sitting at a desk sala observing you.  basically, the test is one for signalling correctly at turns and stopping.  there is one short back-up driving portion for cars.  for bikes, you must use turn lights and hand signals (yeh, when was the last time you saw a hand-signal from a thai biker).  

anyway, over the course of 2 days i passed both tests and received both licenses for a total cost of B165.  overall the staff were decent, as helpful as could be expected for a very busy office, and courteous/friendly...just not friendly enough  :laugh:

[Axel]

1 year Baht 105, 5 years Baht 505, you even get a discount.

Non-imm visa need, but if you have a internatioanl dr. licence isued by another country than Thailand, TRY.

Actually, first time I applied, my national licence was refused with comments, we accept only USA and UK and International. Showed them an Internatioal issued in Hong Kong. The lady in white was not happy, but after my comment "It is an Internatioal, as you said" she accepted. I was sent upstairs for an eyetest (Answers following a pointer on a chart: Red, Green, Yellow) and passed. 50 min later had my Thai licence.

btw, my son made his first licence in BKK. (Traffic office 2)

had to drive around a test aread, over a "Klong bridge" park at 90 decrees. Nobody in the car with him, just watching (or not really) from the starting point.