Riding A Scooter With A Uk Licence

[Her0]

Hi. I have been renting scooters in pattaya with a uk driving licence though been fined good few times for not having a proper bike licence. I thought that all you needed was an international licence. You know at the back of the photocard licence it says cars, tracks, bikes i havent got one for bikes so this international driving licence rule for cars that allowd u to ride bikes in thailand is bs or am i really supposed to have a bike category on mine Has anyone with a uk one had the same sort of worry?

[robblok]

Of course its BS, you dont have a bike license from the UK why would you be allowed to drive one here then. Do like the smart ones here (if you are here long time) get a real Thai motorbike license.

[lujanit]

just keep paying the BIB and all will be Okay

[RupertIII]

just keep paying the BIB and all will be Okay

That is unless you are involved in a serious accident and discover your insurance won't cover you on the grounds you were riding without a valid driver's licence!

[rockderk]

You can ride with a UK [or other 1st world country] bike license for about 2 months. After that you're not really considered a tourist and the cops expect to see a Thai one. Actually they'd rather not see a Thai one because then they couldn't fine you. Many Thai cops wouldn't know an international license from a ham sandwich, so it's not worth the bother. You can't ride a motor bike here on a British car license. Well you can of course but then they have a good reason to fine you. Fines can be bargained down. If you have work ID from a well known place or a high ranking cop's business card with message, local cops will let you off. These are my opinions on the subject. There are no hard and fast rules in Thaland; the cops do as they please and call it law.

[foggy1]

Coming back from Sattahip to Pattaya on a rented scooter last month along the Suk road I was waved in by the Police at their Police box

He was all smug and smiley thinking the farang's 400 baht was his to steal at that point, when I wipped out my current Thai Licience and his shoulders sunk. Off I went feeling good.

That alone is worth the minimal grief of getting one ... plus your be legal.

[jamescollister]

My old UK paper license has something about mopeds or small motorbikes on it, would have thought pointing at that would cover you.

Don't live in a tourist area, so can't speak about shake downs there. Here cops are happy to see a picture ID and ask where you come from. Never paid a fine in over 10 years of being here. Jim

[djayz]

Of course its BS, you dont have a bike license from the UK why would you be allowed to drive one here then. Do like the smart ones here (if you are here long time) get a real Thai motorbike license.

+1 Just get yourself a Thai license, problem solved. The test is dead easy.

[macknife]

Bottom line is, you can ride a bike here on any license you like or even no license, yes cops will take a small fine if it's not legal or they may not even know. But only a Thai license or IDP(Maybe UK or US)(only for a 3 montyh period?) is legally valid in an accident. So you can all boast about how you've gotten away with it for years etc but if you ever have a serious accident you are in big trouble.

I'm not trying to preach to you all, as I'm guilty of it as well(before), I was just lucky nothing ever happened.