Motorcycle Driver'S Safety Classes In Thailand

[kamalabob2]

Our daughter turned 15 and wanted to obtain a Thai motorbike drivers license. There is a sign posted in Thai in front of a large Honda Motorbike shop / distributorship complex in rural Buriram near the private hospital. It seems if you can read Thai it mentions both auto and motorbike safety training classes and obtaining the actual drivers license. (Thai wife translation) It was simple, we brought in some basic Thai paperwork as mentioned by the Honda staff which included the child's birth certificate, blue house book, medical certificate, etc.. We were put in a queue and they phoned my wife in a few days and on March 16th and 17th starting at 8a.m. the Honda staff ran both classroom and track classes for about two dozen Thai people of all ages. On the 2nd day the actual Thailand Department of Land Transportation tests were conducted at the Honda dealership. Lunch was included one day, a nice Honda shirt and all for the princely sum of 80 baht our daughter obtained some genuine safety training. The afternoon of the 2nd day she and the other students were taken to the actual Department of Land transportation for a photo and to pay 135 baht for the license and in less than 30 minutes she walked out with a real drivers license. No bribes, no tricks a genuine straight honest service provided by Honda. Not every city offers these classes, but in my opinion certainly worth asking about if you or a person you care for wants to obtain an auto or motorbike drivers license with some sense of training. I understand the fee for automobile drivers training is higher, more in line with other private driving schools. There seemed to be information on this motorbike safety program on line in Thai. The classroom and audio visual gear at the Honda dealership was nicer than the Catholic High School classrooms I attended many years ago in California. We do not own any Honda vehicles, maybe Yamaha offers similar classes?

[Timthai]

Sounds like a great way to get your daughter off to a safe start. All you have tto do now is educate the other 30 million idiots on the road! Though, at 80 baht a pop, that's a government initiative I'd vote for... If I was allowed to vote :-(.

There was a recent thread on a similar service in Bangkok. There was one at a Homda centre in Bang Na (I think) and another at a Yamaha centre somewhere. I don't know if they include the actual license testing process in conjunction with DLT, but it sound good. It would be interesting to know if they do classes in English at any of the centers... I suspect there would be a decent market, and I suspect they could charge more than 80 baht!!!

[JonnyF]

Sounds like a really good idea, well done Honda.

Yamaha also have a training school on the BangNa Trat road, about 10km before the BangPlee industrial estate on the left as you head out of Bangkok. Looks quite a professional setup with a big riding area etc. Never see many people in there though.

[GarryP]

Sounds like a great way to get your daughter off to a safe start. All you have tto do now is educate the other 30 million idiots on the road! Though, at 80 baht a pop, that's a government initiative I'd vote for... If I was allowed to vote :-(.

There was a recent thread on a similar service in Bangkok. There was one at a Homda centre in Bang Na (I think) and another at a Yamaha centre somewhere. I don't know if they include the actual license testing process in conjunction with DLT, but it sound good. It would be interesting to know if they do classes in English at any of the centers... I suspect there would be a decent market, and I suspect they could charge more than 80 baht!!!

I understand that they have some English language capabilities at the Honda Center up near Ramkamhaeng. My son and I took the course in Samutprakarn and everything was in Thai. It was the license course and I have posted on it in another thread. I took all the tests in Thai, although after some faffing about they offered me the option of taking the DOT test in English. As everything up till then had been in Thai, I didn't change anything. The DLT course was 200 Baht each I beleive.

[NomadJoe]

I am resurrecting this thread because I am doing some research into creating an indorsed, initially English language motorcycle riders course here in Phuket, as there doesn't seem to currently be any. I believe there are several different ways this can be done. I have begun discussions with some local dealers, the Motorcycle Safety Foundation and the Royal Thai Highway Police and hope to involve these and other organizations in the program. If anyone has any useful information or experience in this or you think this is something you would be interested in getting involved with, please send me a PM.

NJ