Obtaining Thai Driver'S Licenses.

[DowntownAl]

Here is a recent unabridged quest (Oct/31/2011) for my Thai driver's license(s) in Chiang Mai. It was surprisingly easy, at least it was for me, your results may vary. Note* I am Canadian and had my picture driver's license from Ontario, it was to expire in 11 days. It also had endorsements for both car and motorcycle. In my case, no International driver's license was asked for or required. I have a dual entry tourist visa (presently on the first visa and one week into my 30 day extension)

Steps:

1. Obtain your Certificate of Residency from Immigration located just before the entrance to the airport and just passed the entrance to the Airport Plaza shopping centre. If you're not sure which building to go to one of the officers in the parking lot will happily direct you.

Arrived at 9:00 am. Have proof of your residence. In my case it was a copy of my 3 month lease. Have with you two passport photos, two copies of your passport ID page, two copies of your visa page along with your exit card. If you forget to copy something no worries, the little copy shop out back (easy to spot) is cheap, fast and they know exactly what you need. Copies 2 baht, photos (4) for 100 baht. Go directly to the information counter in the centre and tell them what you want and why. They will hand you the form and will even help you fill it out. There is no need to obtain a queue number.

Wait for about an hour, they will call you, pay 500 baht and you're out of there.

2. Department of Land Transport (I think that's right) located on the highway to Hang Dong (108) just past the southern end of the airport.

Arrived 9:10 am. Enter at front entrance, go up to the second floor and head directly to wicket number 21. Tell them what you want. In my case, a new car and motorcycle driver's license. Have with you TWO of everything.

Including: The original Medical Certificate you can get at any doctor's office. Mine was 80 baht and took less than two minutes since he just asked if I had seizures, checked my heart, and did a quickie colour test. Have one photo copy of this certificate.

The Original certificate of Residency and one photo copy.

Two copies of your passport ID page.

Two copies of your visa page plus exit card.

Two copies of you existing driver's license - front and back.

I believe the reason for two of everything was because I was asking for two licenses.

3. Staff at the counter will verify, organize and categorize everything. She confirmed with me several times that I wanted both a car license and a motorcycle license. She then sent me to counter number 28 just down the row.

4. Handed in all paperwork and was told to sit. A few minutes later and I was waved into an area behind he counters where I joined a group of about 25 people and had a colour check. We were then shown the area nearby where we were given the reaction speed test. That is a chair in front of a pseudo gas and brake pedal, and a machine about 5 metres away. When told, you put your foot on the gas pedal, watch the machine which at one point has a green light which changes to a red light, nail the brake pedal and you're done, at least I was.

5. I was handed my paperwork and told to go to the information desk which is near the stairs you came in on. There was a long line but, it still only took a matter of minutes. The lady there looked things over quickly and gave me a queue number. I had to ask which wicket number, she pointed at number 24 and noted that my number was also up, no waiting.

6. Number 24 went over the paperwork meticulously. Confirmed that I wanted both a car and motorcycle license. Cost 360 baht. She paper-clipped a 100 baht note to each set of paperwork. She then sent me to get a queue number from the machine under the sign that reads Photos. Being a little on the dumb side sometimes she actually had to, and very nicely, take me to the little machine to get my number. I had to wait less than a few seconds since I was number 35 and they were serving number 34.

7. Over to a cubical where my picture was taken, the girl there and I giggled about which picture was better, I let her choose. She then produced two brand spanking new Temporary Thai driver's licenses, one for cars and one for motorcycles. They are temporary in that they are valid for one year.

Total time: Immigration approx. 1 and a half hours. DLT less than 40 minutes.

Done.

Edited October 31, 2011 by DowntownAl

[wandrinstar]

When you take a Thai Driving Test, they are not interested in other Nations Licences.

[DowntownAl]

When you take a Thai Driving Test, they are not interested in other Nations Licences.

That is entirely possible but, in my case there was no driving test required. I would guess that, if you are required to take a driving test, they have rejected your foreign license for cause ie:, it has expired etc.

[wandrinstar]

I repeat, they don't give a Monkeys Uncle for past Glories. Take the Test . Pass It ,Insure ,your street LEGAL..Any shortcuts and you are a Clown. So many smar tarse ferangs let Tulak bung the mafia.

[chiang mai]

I repeat, they don't give a Monkeys Uncle for past Glories. Take the Test . Pass It ,Insure ,your street LEGAL..Any shortcuts and you are a Clown. So many smar tarse ferangs let Tulak bung the mafia.

Seems to me the OP didn't take a driving test, he/she obtained a Thai license on the basis of having an existing license from another country which is what most ex-pats tend to do.

[wandrinstar]

Do you mean they buy one.?..I had to take a test, or buy one. I took the test , rather than bung 1K,over the counter..

[chiang mai]

Do you mean they buy one.?..I had to take a test, or buy one. I took the test , rather than bung 1K,over the counter..

Take the test or get a Thai license on the back of your existing license achieves the same end result and either way, you pay.And what's this "bung 1K over the counter", business, the five year license costs THB 500 (ish) and that's all anyone I know has ever had to pay, you make it sound as though any ex-pat who obtains a license without taking the test has to bribe officials to get one, nonsense.

Edited November 3, 2011 by chiang mai

[wandrinstar]

Thais and Ferangs buy them, you have lead a sheltered life here. Perhaps i misunderstand, but you CANT just show a Brit/USA European licence be issued a Legal Licence without a Test.

[MoonRiverOasis]

Thais and Ferangs buy them, you have lead a sheltered life here. Perhaps i misunderstand, but you CANT just show a Brit/USA European licence be issued a Legal Licence without a Test.

There's 3 tests: eyesight/reaction, written test, and driving test.

Both the written and driving tests don't need to be undertaken if you hold a current overseas driver's license in English.

[chiang mai]

Thais and Ferangs buy them, you have lead a sheltered life here. Perhaps i misunderstand, but you CANT just show a Brit/USA European licence be issued a Legal Licence without a Test.

Dude you're getting painful with all of this nonsense:

Show a valid overseas license and you don't have to take a driving test, aka, get behind the wheel of a car and demonstrate your skill or lack thereof, that defines the word Test in the drivers license context - ditto written test, it doesn't need to be taken.

Now, do you have to take a reaction test, yes, and you also have to take a color awareness test, but those things are not what anyone on this planet understands as a Test in this context!

So now that the myth that we all buy our driving licenses here has hopefully been set aside, do you know first hand of a single farang whose word you can trust that has actually paid THB 1k for his drivers license in Thailand, no, I didn't think so! Same question for first hand knowledge of Thai's actually buying their licenses, have you actually seen that happen or is this just more bar stool banter!

Edited November 3, 2011 by chiang mai

[phutoie2]

Aussie mate of mine has just renewed a 5 year licence and they made him watch the road safety video and take the written test, plus brake reaction & colour blindness, but no driving test. Peeved off, thought he would be in & out within an hour. These driving centres are like Immigration, all different.

If it was 1K Baht that would have been some time ago, the going rate from a bent BIB in our town in 2005 was 3K Baht for a fake licence.

Mr/Mrs CM, bar room <deleted> or not, these things happen. My wife failed her car test in March this year for reversing into one of the flag poles, the examiner would not let her have another go as the test circuit closed at 4 pm. I told Jobsworth with the clipboard that I wasn't coming back tomorrow, how were we going to resolve this. Paid 500 Baht, wife reversed into the garage without hitting anything!, job done. Now has the 1 year temp, but I do the reversing in the truck.

[wandrinstar]

Aussie mate of mine has just renewed a 5 year licence and they made him watch the road safety video and take the written test, plus brake reaction & colour blindness, but no driving test. Peeved off, thought he would be in & out within an hour. These driving centres are like Immigration, all different.

If it was 1K Baht that would have been some time ago, the going rate from a bent BIB in our town in 2005 was 3K Baht for a fake licence.

Mr/Mrs CM, bar room <deleted> or not, these things happen. My wife failed her car test in March this year for reversing into one of the flag poles, the examiner would not let her have another go as the test circuit closed at 4 pm. I told Jobsworth with the clipboard that I wasn't coming back tomorrow, how were we going to resolve this. Paid 500 Baht, wife reversed into the garage without hitting anything!, job done. Now has the 1 year temp, but I do the reversing in the truck.

At least you told it True.Mr Phutoie..2 Wongs don't make a White. It aint bloody Legal not to do the Drive.

[Semper]

Thais and Ferangs buy them, you have lead a sheltered life here. Perhaps i misunderstand, but you CANT just show a Brit/USA European licence be issued a Legal Licence without a Test.

Dude you're getting painful with all of this nonsense:

Show a valid overseas license and you don't have to take a driving test, aka, get behind the wheel of a car and demonstrate your skill or lack thereof, that defines the word Test in the drivers license context - ditto written test, it doesn't need to be taken.

Now, do you have to take a reaction test, yes, and you also have to take a color awareness test, but those things are not what anyone on this planet understands as a Test in this context!

So now that the myth that we all buy our driving licenses here has hopefully been set aside, do you know first hand of a single farang whose word you can trust that has actually paid THB 1k for his drivers license in Thailand, no, I didn't think so! Same question for first hand knowledge of Thai's actually buying their licenses, have you actually seen that happen or is this just more bar stool banter!

Actually I have. It's not uncommon in smaller cities.

[chiang mai]

Thais and Ferangs buy them, you have lead a sheltered life here. Perhaps i misunderstand, but you CANT just show a Brit/USA European licence be issued a Legal Licence without a Test.

Dude you're getting painful with all of this nonsense:

Show a valid overseas license and you don't have to take a driving test, aka, get behind the wheel of a car and demonstrate your skill or lack thereof, that defines the word Test in the drivers license context - ditto written test, it doesn't need to be taken.

Now, do you have to take a reaction test, yes, and you also have to take a color awareness test, but those things are not what anyone on this planet understands as a Test in this context!

So now that the myth that we all buy our driving licenses here has hopefully been set aside, do you know first hand of a single farang whose word you can trust that has actually paid THB 1k for his drivers license in Thailand, no, I didn't think so! Same question for first hand knowledge of Thai's actually buying their licenses, have you actually seen that happen or is this just more bar stool banter!

Actually I have. It's not uncommon in smaller cities.

And I've also heard that it happens, mostly in the sticks - the point of my posts however is to correct the rather bizarre notion that all farangs with a Western driving license who obtain their Thai license on an exchange basis, are actually buying their Thai license and that the law requires them to be tested (driving), all of which is patently untrue and unhelpful to those ex-pats considering obtaining a Thai license.

[transam]

Thais and Ferangs buy them, you have lead a sheltered life here. Perhaps i misunderstand, but you CANT just show a Brit/USA European licence be issued a Legal Licence without a Test.

There's 3 tests: eyesight/reaction, written test, and driving test.

Both the written and driving tests don't need to be undertaken if you hold a current overseas driver's license in English.

Correct, l just did the eye and reaction test, no driving, no film to watch and no corruption payment.

[wandrinstar]

Thais and Ferangs buy them, you have lead a sheltered life here. Perhaps i misunderstand, but you CANT just show a Brit/USA European licence be issued a Legal Licence without a Test.

There's 3 tests: eyesight/reaction, written test, and driving test.

Both the written and driving tests don't need to be undertaken if you hold a current overseas driver's license in English.

Correct, l just did the eye and reaction test, no driving, no film to watch and no corruption payment.

No medical cert.MRO. ?.My Canadian mate bought a Forgery,in BKK , its quite good.He was worried the test was to hard for him..On reflection, it would be.

[transam]

Thais and Ferangs buy them, you have lead a sheltered life here. Perhaps i misunderstand, but you CANT just show a Brit/USA European licence be issued a Legal Licence without a Test.

There's 3 tests: eyesight/reaction, written test, and driving test.

Both the written and driving tests don't need to be undertaken if you hold a current overseas driver's license in English.

Correct, l just did the eye and reaction test, no driving, no film to watch and no corruption payment.

No medical cert.MRO. ?.My Canadian mate bought a Forgery,in BKK , its quite good.He was worried the test was to hard for him..On reflection, it would be.

Yeh, med certificate, bought at the door, if you can walk the doc gives you the certificate. And still no corruption payment. Easy peasy.

[wandrinstar]

Aint bloody easy if you got a Brit passport and an Expired California licence.. That confused em.

[MoonRiverOasis]

No medical cert.MRO. ?.My Canadian mate bought a Forgery,in BKK , its quite good.He was worried the test was to hard for him..On reflection, it would be.

I was just clarifying the tests but, not the req's.

Medical cert is nothing though - walk in, get weighed, get your blood pressure taken, tell the doc your fit as an ox, and give him a few Baht...

[topt]

No medical cert.MRO. ?.My Canadian mate bought a Forgery,in BKK , its quite good.He was worried the test was to hard for him..On reflection, it would be.

I was just clarifying the tests but, not the req's.

Medical cert is nothing though - walk in, get weighed, get your blood pressure taken, tell the doc your fit as an ox, and give him a few Baht...

A lot of places you do not even need that - I walked in, asked for one, paid 100 or 150 baht and walked out within 15 minutes - did not even weigh me or anything.

[transam]

No medical cert.MRO. ?.My Canadian mate bought a Forgery,in BKK , its quite good.He was worried the test was to hard for him..On reflection, it would be.

I was just clarifying the tests but, not the req's.

Medical cert is nothing though - walk in, get weighed, get your blood pressure taken, tell the doc your fit as an ox, and give him a few Baht...

A lot of places you do not even need that - I walked in, asked for one, paid 100 or 150 baht and walked out within 15 minutes - did not even weigh me or anything.

Yep, and Thai pay 40 or 50bht, farang 100/150bht, so nice little earner.

My first one the doc says '' Would you like to give me 300bht'', l said no and laughed, she said OK, 150bht.

Edited November 4, 2011 by transam

[wandrinstar]

Funny thing with Ferangs,they got a License in a Nanny Town like Milton Keynes ,or Quebec along with a superiority complex included, then come here and Bleat about Poor Standards..To me its normal,only the test is pointless here in today's conditions.The Ferangs drive like Prats here, arrogant slobs looking down on us Range Rover Drivers covered in Outback Shit..Thank Fosters for the Ozzies here with a bit of Culture, and free spirit , and can use a 4 W.D as intended..Not just for the Stickers on the arse end.

[transam]

Funny thing with Ferangs,they got a License in a Nanny Town like Milton Keynes ,or Quebec along with a superiority complex included, then come here and Bleat about Poor Standards..To me its normal,only the test is pointless here in today's conditions.The Ferangs drive like Prats here, arrogant slobs looking down on us Range Rover Drivers covered in Outback Shit..Thank Fosters for the Ozzies here with a bit of Culture, and free spirit , and can use a 4 W.D as intended..Not just for the Stickers on the arse end.

Where are you coming from ? You read like someone lost in Florida's Disney Land waiting to be shown the way out.

[wandrinstar]

Funny thing with Ferangs,they got a License in a Nanny Town like Milton Keynes ,or Quebec along with a superiority complex included, then come here and Bleat about Poor Standards..To me its normal,only the test is pointless here in today's conditions.The Ferangs drive like Prats here, arrogant slobs looking down on us Range Rover Drivers covered in Outback Shit..Thank Fosters for the Ozzies here with a bit of Culture, and free spirit , and can use a 4 W.D as intended..Not just for the Stickers on the arse end.

Where are you coming from ? You read like someone lost in Florida's Disney Land waiting to be shown the way out.

Birds of a Feather, its free spirit , make yer own rules..

[DowntownAl]

Thais and Ferangs buy them, you have lead a sheltered life here. Perhaps i misunderstand, but you CANT just show a Brit/USA European licence be issued a Legal Licence without a Test.

YES you CAN just show your Canadian license and be issued a legal license without a "driving" test, or bribing someone, or cheating the system, or buying an illegal license! Read the original post. That is exactly as it happened, no BS, no guesses, no made up crapatoria. This is how it is done here in Chiang Mai at the Land Transport Office on {108} Hang Dong Road. A Brit friend just did exactly the same thing less than a week ago, no driving test required. I've got two legal licenses in my back pocket to prove it.

[wandrinstar]

You cant do it in South Centrall , my Canadian Friend tried a few years back.. A Canadian told him he could. Areas Differ like Visa papers required . If you'd been around a bit, we all know about C.M. Some even go there if they cant pass a Childs Test.

[DowntownAl]

You cant do it in South Centrall , my Canadian Friend tried a few years back.. A Canadian told him he could. Areas Differ like Visa papers required . If you'd been around a bit, we all know about C.M. Some even go there if they cant pass a Childs Test.

Did your Canadian friend try it a couple of weeks ago? Was he/she in Thailand more than 90 days before applying? Was the license presented expired? Childs Test? "we all know about CM" - nudge, nudge, wink, wink?. Maybe a little actual first hand info rather than this continued pulling useless noise out of your butt and getting in the way of other people who can use actual first hand “real” ( as in: not made up to keep your catbird seat warm) experience as a guide. Maybe other people who haven’t been around quite as much as you, might find their lives a little easier here instead of being misled by guesses, bar prattle and know-it-all responses from someone who, at this point, has told of no actual experience or offered any first hand information.

Just saying.

[wandrinstar]

I don't go in Bars ,and he being a Arrogant Canuk the lights are on , but theres no one Home most days. I've no idea about today's rules in a City ,but our one horse town lives by its own rules. He waved an International Licence around for ages . But why the dislike of a Test, its only 2 Mins from ones Drinking Life..

[MoonRiverOasis]

I don't go in Bars ,and he being a Arrogant Canuk the lights are on , but theres no one Home most days. I've no idea about today's rules in a City ,but our one horse town lives by its own rules. He waved an International Licence around for ages . But why the dislike of a Test, its only 2 Mins from ones Drinking Life..

Most Canuck's I know are intolerably politically correct (me: "dood, you have to hate something!" Canuck: "well, there are some things where I feel there's room for improvement"), and they speak funny, but very rarely arrogant

Edited November 11, 2011 by MoonRiverOasis

[wandrinstar]

There are still those French still there i believe , so perhaps they Drive those funny Renaults English Teachers drove in the Sixties.They have a decided Chip, they have never built a descent Car , perhaps thats why they hate America. And cant pass basic tests. Imagine Old Frogs indignance failing it.