Driving Licence And Insurance

[Monkeypants]

Hi people

I have been told that if you/I have an international licence,

Then insurance company,s won't insure you.

Is this correct?

Also next year i'm gonna be over in LOS full time, What do you need to get a thai licence, I am married to a thai and will be on a marriage 1 year visa thingy

Thanx

Monkeypants

[Thetyim]

I have an international license and fully comp. insurance.

The insurance company has inspected my license and has a copy on file. They have never failed to pay any claims.

This is my experience but I know others will disagree.

[Crossy]

There are loads of threads on driving licences, and a link on the front page.

Use the search function

If you have specific questions, please ask here.

You are only 'officially' allowed to drive on an IDP for 3 months, but the timer re-starts every time you do a visa run.

There have been a few instances cited on this board when the insurance has baulked at paying because the insured did not have a 'proper' (ie Thai) licence.

DC

Edited May 27, 2005 by Crossy

[Monkeypants]

There are loads of threads on driving licences, and a link on the front page.

Use the search function 

If you have specific questions, please ask here.

You are only 'officially' allowed to drive on an IDP for 3 months, but the timer re-starts every time you do a visa run.

There have been a few instances cited on this board when the insurance has baulked at paying because the insured did not have a 'proper' (ie Thai) licence.

DC

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

So the advice is to get the Thai licence and take an intepreter to do the written part of the test

As i will be on a year visa the IDP will be no good for me after 3 months

[COBBER]

This is a very grey area. I think its best to have a Thai License to be sure that you are covered, and its not really that difficult to get.

If you bring your UK and international licenses , you wont have to sit a test.

[Crossy]

There are loads of threads on driving licences, and a link on the front page.

Use the search function 

If you have specific questions, please ask here.

You are only 'officially' allowed to drive on an IDP for 3 months, but the timer re-starts every time you do a visa run.

There have been a few instances cited on this board when the insurance has baulked at paying because the insured did not have a 'proper' (ie Thai) licence.

DC

So the advice is to get the Thai licence and take an intepreter to do the written part of the test

As i will be on a year visa the IDP will be no good for me after 3 months

Maybe I'm not being 100% clear here, sorry.

The IDP will be VALID for a year, Thai law only permits you to use it for 3 months from your last entry, so if you are on visa runs during your first year you can get away with it.

If you have an IDP you DON'T need to do any of the driving tests (just the eye and reaction tests). You will need a Thai to help with the forms and to talk to the staff, particularly at an out of town location. BTW, your IDP must be valid, so don't let it run out and then go for a local licence.

Getting a local licence is EASY!! It has advantages such as being a valid form of Thai ID reducing the need to carry your valuable passport around (as you are not a tourist), others have reported being able to get Thai prices for entry to various locations, not my experience though.

My car insurance (comp.) actually has the requirement for a 'poper licence' (sic) in the (crumby) English translation of the policy, others have interpreted this as 'Thai licence', we all know insurance will avoid paying at any cost, why take the risk?

Ah, and have you seen your analyst?? You really need your head examining if you want to drive here

Edit: This thread has loads of good information;-

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=34944

Edited May 27, 2005 by Crossy

[Monkeypants]

Thankyou Crossy

A rather more helpful reply than your last post

.I thankyou for your time & patience

[Crossy]

Thankyou Crossy

A rather more helpful reply than your last post  

.I thankyou for your time & patience

You are most welcome. I appologise if my initial post was a bit terse

Loads of people jump in asking about Thai DL without doing even minimal research, it gets to be a bit irksome particularly as there is a link on the main Thaivisa page telling you what to do, that's why I said ask specific questions.

Enjoy the madhouse that is driving in Thailand, and make sure the life insurance has cover for 'dangerous occupations'