June 26, 201312 yr Will a police officer have a problem with you for only carrying a photocopy or laminated copy of your driver's license? I don't like the idea of them asking for your license and then demanding money in return for it for some offence they seem to make up as they go along.
June 26, 201312 yr Author Example offence: I was hauling a fridge for a buddy of mine the other day and was stopped at a checkpoint. PO asked for my driver's license. PO said the load was too tall. He said 500 bt,,,,wife said 100 bt.....we settled on 200 bt. and I got my DL back.
June 26, 201312 yr Do you think that you can carry a copy of a license in your home country ? Didn't think so, so why would it be any different in Thailand? All you are going to do is have to pay two bribes, one for the offense that got you stopped and another for not having a proper (original) drivers license in your possession
June 26, 201312 yr Author Do you think that you can carry a copy of a license in your home country ? Didn't think so, so why would it be any different in Thailand? All you are going to do is have to pay two bribes, one for the offense that got you stopped and another for not having a proper (original) drivers license in your possession Not all US jurisdictions require one to carry a license, instead only to be licensed. Many states allow one to "only" verbally identify themselves. A US police officer can easily verify if someone is licensed. A police officer can pull up that info along with the person's photo inside the patrol car. The jurisdictions that do actually require one to carry the license are seldom concerned if someone isn't carrying the actual license because of the computer in their patrol car. Why would it be different in Thailand? Not all gov-ts have the same laws. If I'm not mistaken, Thai law requires foreigners to carry their passport, but people are instead advised to only carry a copy.
June 26, 201312 yr Do you think that you can carry a copy of a license in your home country ? Didn't think so, so why would it be any different in Thailand? All you are going to do is have to pay two bribes, one for the offense that got you stopped and another for not having a proper (original) drivers license in your possession Not all US jurisdictions require one to carry a license, instead only to be licensed. Many states allow one to "only" verbally identify themselves. A US police officer can easily verify if someone is licensed. A police officer can pull up that info along with the person's photo inside the patrol car. The jurisdictions that do actually require one to carry the license are seldom concerned if someone isn't carrying the actual license because of the computer in their patrol car. Why would it be different in Thailand? Not all gov-ts have the same laws. If I'm not mistaken, Thai law requires foreigners to carry their passport, but people are instead advised to only carry a copy. That's simply not true ... you are confusing the requirement to identify yourself under a Terry stop with a drivers license which is required to not only have but be presented when operating if asked in al 50 States As far as identifying yourself your sort of wrong there as well ..... Colorado is the only state to require an ID be presented and then only if available, so not "many" but All states allow for verbal identification
June 26, 201312 yr Author Do you think that you can carry a copy of a license in your home country ? Didn't think so, so why would it be any different in Thailand? All you are going to do is have to pay two bribes, one for the offense that got you stopped and another for not having a proper (original) drivers license in your possession Not all US jurisdictions require one to carry a license, instead only to be licensed. Many states allow one to "only" verbally identify themselves. A US police officer can easily verify if someone is licensed. A police officer can pull up that info along with the person's photo inside the patrol car. The jurisdictions that do actually require one to carry the license are seldom concerned if someone isn't carrying the actual license because of the computer in their patrol car. Why would it be different in Thailand? Not all gov-ts have the same laws. If I'm not mistaken, Thai law requires foreigners to carry their passport, but people are instead advised to only carry a copy. That's simply not true ... you are confusing the requirement to identify yourself under a Terry stop with a drivers license which is required to not only have but be presented when operating if asked in al 50 States As far as identifying yourself your sort of wrong there as well ..... Colorado is the only state to require an ID be presented and then only if available, so not "many" but All states allow for verbal identification Fair enough......but more importantly, I'm trying to find out what is enforced rather than what is written. Written law is one thing, but what's enforced can be totally different.
June 27, 201312 yr Popular Post Get stopped without license (or copy), and expect a fine for that. Who cares about the States, you're in Thailand.
June 27, 201312 yr The law states you must carry a license - not a copy. Even if a copy were allowed, showing one would result in a fine 99.99% of the time anyway. Not a great idea.
June 27, 201312 yr Do you think that you can carry a copy of a license in your home country ? Didn't think so, so why would it be any different in Thailand? All you are going to do is have to pay two bribes, one for the offense that got you stopped and another for not having a proper (original) drivers license in your possession Why would it be different in Thailand? Not all gov-ts have the same laws. If I'm not mistaken, Thai law requires foreigners to carry their passport, but people are instead advised to only carry a copy. (Not all gov-ts have the same laws.) You anwsered that yourself. Mistaken from what I have read, it's termed as a requirement to carry a copy of your passport in Thailand.
June 27, 201312 yr Popular Post Do you think that you can carry a copy of a license in your home country ? Didn't think so, so why would it be any different in Thailand? All you are going to do is have to pay two bribes, one for the offense that got you stopped and another for not having a proper (original) drivers license in your possession Why would it be different in Thailand? Not all gov-ts have the same laws. If I'm not mistaken, Thai law requires foreigners to carry their passport, but people are instead advised to only carry a copy. (Not all gov-ts have the same laws.) You anwsered that yourself. Mistaken from what I have read, it's termed as a requirement to carry a copy of your passport in Thailand. there is no law in Thailand which requires you to carry your passport, but you need to be able to prove who you are and your visa status within a reasonble time....its generally accepted that carrying a copy of your PP fulfills this requirement...and in fact having a Thai DL fullfills this requirement to a degree as well..
June 27, 201312 yr A police officer in thailand = money . How much are you willing to pay is the only relevant question,
June 27, 201312 yr Example offence: I was hauling a fridge for a buddy of mine the other day and was stopped at a checkpoint. PO asked for my driver's license. PO said the load was too tall. He said 500 bt,,,,wife said 100 bt.....we settled on 200 bt. and I got my DL back. well... Are you 100% positive that there is no such load height limitation? If there is, you got away lightly with 200 baht. Some here might say a blackened window could be a solution, so that the police will suppose a Thai is driving and therefore your vehicle appears less as a target, but I hear from all Thais that they also often get shaken down by police, so this won't work. A solution that already worked several times for me is to pull out the business card of my lawyer and start dialing his number. The smile disappears and I get a rough "go! go!". But this will only work with imaginary offenses, such as when the officer claims you were speeding without any actual speed measurement.
June 29, 201312 yr Example offence: I was hauling a fridge for a buddy of mine the other day and was stopped at a checkpoint. PO asked for my driver's license. PO said the load was too tall. He said 500 bt,,,,wife said 100 bt.....we settled on 200 bt. and I got my DL back. well...Are you 100% positive that there is no such load height limitation? If there is, you got away lightly with 200 baht. Some here might say a blackened window could be a solution, so that the police will suppose a Thai is driving and therefore your vehicle appears less as a target, but I hear from all Thais that they also often get shaken down by police, so this won't work. A solution that already worked several times for me is to pull out the business card of my lawyer and start dialing his number. The smile disappears and I get a rough "go! go!". But this will only work with imaginary offenses, such as when the officer claims you were speeding without any actual speed measurement. 200 baht fine at every check point, unless it's a police relative.
July 1, 201312 yr Wouldn't being able to carry a copy of a drivers license be great; so much easier to forge off the home computer and color printer than a real one. And I just don't know how that typo occurred in the name, license number, etc., while printing it out.
July 2, 201312 yr Do you think that you can carry a copy of a license in your home country ? Didn't think so, so why would it be any different in Thailand? All you are going to do is have to pay two bribes, one for the offense that got you stopped and another for not having a proper (original) drivers license in your possession In Thailand it is illegal to use a photocopy of a drivers license. A few years back I was a passenger in a car owned/driven by an employee, a middle aged Thai lady. She got stopped, produced a copy license and was escorted (the car and passengers had to follow another cop on a motorcycle) to Lumpini Police station. The driver was fined 1,000Baht on the spot for having / using a copy license and given another ticket ordering her to report back to the police station within 10 days and produce a new original license, which she did. If the police stop you because of an alleged driving offense the policeman (if he follows correct procedure) should take your license (and yes you have to hand it over by law), the policeman writes a ticket and gives you a copy, the policeman sends one copy and your license to his police station, etc etc etc. You are given a grace period to drive without having the license on you, and this is covered by showing the next policeman the first report. Now if you gave the first policeman a copy, then you just produce more copies, as needed, then there is nothing pushing you to go the police station to recover your license. See.
July 2, 201312 yr Do you think that you can carry a copy of a license in your home country ? Didn't think so, so why would it be any different in Thailand? All you are going to do is have to pay two bribes, one for the offense that got you stopped and another for not having a proper (original) drivers license in your possession In Thailand it is illegal to use a photocopy of a drivers license. Oh ! illegal, dear me I'm in trouble I used a photocopy of my old licenses to get my new ones.
July 2, 201312 yr Do you think that you can carry a copy of a license in your home country ? Didn't think so, so why would it be any different in Thailand? All you are going to do is have to pay two bribes, one for the offense that got you stopped and another for not having a proper (original) drivers license in your possession Not all US jurisdictions require one to carry a license, instead only to be licensed. Many states allow one to "only" verbally identify themselves. A US police officer can easily verify if someone is licensed. A police officer can pull up that info along with the person's photo inside the patrol car. The jurisdictions that do actually require one to carry the license are seldom concerned if someone isn't carrying the actual license because of the computer in their patrol car. Why would it be different in Thailand? Not all gov-ts have the same laws. If I'm not mistaken, Thai law requires foreigners to carry their passport, but people are instead advised to only carry a copy. Considering most police here have beaten up Honda Waves, fitting the technology so everyone can have it, might be difficult.
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