my 1 yr thai DL has expired. Is there any point in renewing it?

[ghworker2010]

Hi there,

As the title suggests, my 1 yr Thai drivers licence expired at the end of June this year. When in the nanny state of Oz earlier this year, I paid for an 'international driving permit (IDP)' and I have my oz driving and bike licence.

I'm currently on a 30 day visa and back to LOS in December on a double entry tourist visa.

Questions:

1. Should I go and renew the 1 yr licence and get another yr? Can I do this on a 30 day visa on arrival stamp? Or should I wait until dec?

2. Should I bother renewing it? If Im on a moped and get pulled over by the men in brown and dont have a thai licence but show the IDP will I simply just pay the thb200 (no receipt required) and then be on my way?

3. Is there any point in me going to the effort of renewing the Thai licence every year?

thanks for your worldly opinions on this mundane subject matter

[hansnl]

Oh you renew now the DL will probably valid for 5 years.

For a cool less than 1000 baht you will be free of teamoney requests.

Anyway, if you are n Thailand on a 30-day stamp your Australian DL and IDL together are ok

.

[Trembly]

After the 1 year license has expired they are renewed every 5 years. If you renew it tomorrow it won't expire until 2018.

[harrry]

After the 1 year license has expired they are renewed every 5 years.

not if he is on a tourist visa..it is then only 1 year.

[topt]

harry is unfortunately correct.

OP -

1 - Up to you but you should be able to get on a visa waiver stamp - I have for last 3 years in Pattaya

2 - If you have IDP and Oz licence for bike why do you have to pay? (slightly tongue in cheek)

3 - Depends how much time you spend in LOS but it can save you money on entry fees and be used as proof of identity when booking into hotels etc

[transam]

As stated above 1 year. 5 year on O visa. Best to have a Thai DL in case you are unfortunate and have an accident, save a lot of possible hassle.