Thai Driving Licence In Bangkok

[StevoBkk]

Hi all,

I have a question about how to get a Thai driving licence in Bangkok, I have an English driving licence but it's one of the old school paper ones, and has fallen apart, held together by tape.

Does anyone have an idea of what I would need to obtain a Thai one and exactly how to do it.

I appreciate any help.

Thanks.

[SapanMaiFred]

hey- if you google a bit you find the following site which gives all info

driving.information.in.th/driving-licence.html

[Chaam local]

You can also check http://driving-in-thailand.com/

[StevoBkk]

Thanks for the link, very helpful, my main problem would be my old paper style UK licence which has all but fallen apart, has anyone any experience of using one of these?

Or is it possible to get a licence without showing UK one, I think it would be unlikely for me to obtain a new one from the UK as I'm not a resident there anymore.

[SapanMaiFred]

Best is if you would have an international driving license, then no driving test needed. Worst possibility is you would have to do the oral and the

driving test (both of which no one fails)

[StevoBkk]

Yeah I wish I had the international one, but as I mentioned, I've got the paper one, its had 17 years of rough handling and probably in around 20 pieces, taped together, still valid but I can't see the UK embassy certifying it and I'd probably be laughed out of the driving licence office.

[xen]

i may be wrong but i thought you needed an international licence or a thai drivers licence to "legally" drive in Thailand.What happens when the BIB pull you up and you give them the 20 pieces of licence taped together? I bet they shake their heads and let you go muttering Falung baa !

[StevoBkk]

@xen,

You're correct, that's why I don't actually drive in Thailand. Usually have my chauffeur (mrs) do that for me.

[lujanit]

i may be wrong but i thought you needed an international licence or a thai drivers licence to "legally" drive in Thailand.What happens when the BIB pull you up and you give them the 20 pieces of licence taped together? I bet they shake their heads and let you go muttering Falung baa !

Pardon me please if I am being rude. BIB don't give a firetruck what sort of license you have, all they want is money. I have been pulled up several times by the BIB and asked 'do you have license?' The reality is they don't care if you have a license or not. A friend of mine produced a PADI license and that was fine. The last time, about 10 days ago, the BIB pulled me up and only said I needed to pay money. I produced my Thai license and all the Officer 'how much you pay?'. I gave him 200 baht. Learn to live with it, the cops are entirely corrupt.

[weecree]

Can i bump this with a selfish question?

Too late!

Can you go from year dot to license holder in thailand without any thai language ability and without someone to hold your hand and translate? I read somewhere you sorta need a good thai friend to sort you out but i dont have one of them and even though i do have a korean driving license, i lost it. And getting another one is impossible without the alien card which i used for identifying me in the initial application (and also a korean friend to go proxy it for me - i have one of those, just not the E2 weigook card).

So starting from scratch? Can it be done sans Thai? Im sure its just common sense highway code best plan stuff. And the actual test itself is theoretically easy (i mean, come on, ive been in bangkok a few weeks now, ive winced and cringed enough in taxis to realise it cant be all that important instruction). Also, and heres the wee kicker, i literally have not driven a car since the day i passed my test in korea almost 2 and a half years ago. Drivers in Thailand suck, but i doubt they suck more than me right now? I should also mention i er, passed an automatic license. Dont hate! when i realised i was doing the automatic license and just how easy it was gonna be i did try and change, but the written test scores oddly have different pass rates (60% for automatic, 70% for manual - lucky for me, i aced the written test first time with a cool 64%) so would have had to start from day 1 again (which means booking x-hours of lessons regardless).

So a few things: first up can i do it start to finish without Thai if i just look stupid (im good at that) and have the person at the license center basically fill out the form for me. Can i do it in one session start to finish? And heres another kicker, can i do it on a tourist visa? And with no fixed abode. Actually these things only popped into my head now and suddenly i realise the answer to my question and even feel a touch embarrassed ive yet to hit back on my browser and delete it from ever having happened! But who knows. This isnt Japan. Maybe no ones that bothered what visa i have in my passport and i can just use my apartment address?

Edited May 1, 2013 by weecree

[rak sa_ngop]

Convert your paper UK licence to a plastic ID style licence for 20 GBP. All the info and forms are on the net.

Only snag is that you have to be a UK resident to do this.

I have just applied for one myself using a friend's UK address. I have had to submit my paper licence, so if my ploy does not work I will be licence-less, and have to take the Thai driving test to get another licence. (or just give up driving!)

[StevoBkk]

@Rak sa_ngop

Let me know how the application goes, I was considering that also, so if it works ok for you then I may go the same route.

If not then I will pretty much just go there and do the test from scratch, I'll drag the mrs along to fill out the forms and such.

[whistleblower]

Thanks for the link, very helpful, my main problem would be my old paper style UK licence which has all but fallen apart, has anyone any experience of using one of these?

Or is it possible to get a licence without showing UK one, I think it would be unlikely for me to obtain a new one from the UK as I'm not a resident there anymore.

I had the old style licence, went to the Rama 2 office, Took a while as they ha never seen one before but after about 3 hours of thai govt paperwork etc, left with my car and motorbike licences.

So it can be done.