driving without a driver's license.

[snake24]

My Thai mother in law is a very good driver and she has a Thai drivers license. I don't know how she got it as she cant read or write of course she bought it.

I wondered why she would not drive from Lop Buri to Pattaya to stay with us, and the wife said she cant read the road signs. That's when I woke up to how she got the license.

Amazing a thai that cannot read or write thai. It isn't anything unique you can easily find ppl like that in the USA for example.

It's the sickening morality/superiority mentality at play in here.

Guy from the USA hears/read about thais that bought their license or are illiterate thinks he's better than them but forgets that there are equally as many or more ppl that are just the same in his home country.

I've never met a native American who can't do basic reading and writing. Never. Illegal aliens and tourists and other legal guests, yes.

It's impossible to buy a license, too. You take the written and driving test and the driving test is real, on the streets. One mistake and you fail. Caught without a license you go to jail.

I've heard that the written test in Thailand is stupid tricky. I don't know. If that's true, I'd study the laws, but if possible I'd buy the license. I don't like being unfairly screwed with.

Sorry, but the wife just read this and laughed.

She was taught by her father over about 6 hours, and her father doesn't even drive a car, although he has a license, he only ever rides a motor scooter, he hates driving.

The test was just an eye test (colour blindness) and then into the rear car park and into the car for the practical test... Consisted of pulling out of parking space, driving round building and back to rear car park and park up.... test complete. No open roads, she says they never test on the road.

If you fail, it's 300 baht and changed to a pass. Her aunt and brother all failed and drove home the same day.

The transport headquarters where they do the testing is close to my house, and I often drive past watching people pull into the road with their nose stuck to the inside of the screen, and proceed at 30 KM/H straight on to the bypass, a 110 KMH road.

They really ought to move that place.. I mean, 50 meters from the bypass entrance is a joke. Talk about a baptism of fire.

Thanks for enlightening us on this. It just goes to show that you don't actually need to know how to drive a car to possess a driver's license and more importantly it seems that the ppl that got their license in a legitimate manner probably aren't that much better drivers compared to someone that paid for a license seeing their testing standards.

[Soutpeel]

I've never met a native American who can't do basic reading and writing.

I have met a few of them in the O&G game and even helped a few of them with application forms for jobs.

BTW "native American's" are your referring to the original inhabitants and owners of the country before it was stolen by the white man ?....if you are referring to the real native American's then one suspects there are many who cannot read and write, seeing as the white man put them into what is in effect concentration camps and deprived them of education....

[Soutpeel]

but if possible I'd buy the license. I don't like being unfairly screwed with.

based on that remark, one assumes we will never see you on TV bleating on about how bad the corrpution is in Thailand, the BiB, the goverment etc.....<deleted> would you buy a license for when the real thing only cost THB 500 odd to do...the mind boggles...

[wayned]

My Thai wife will be 50 next year. She's never had a license. She doesn't drive a car but goes everywhere on a motorbike, even to her sisters house 100 meters down the road. She has never been fined and has somehow talked her way out of a ticket when she has been stopped. She normally avoids the police checks if she sees them in advance.

Edited October 9, 2013 by wayned

[mca]

I've been involved in a few accidents, after one really bad accident, the truck driver duly carried on down the highway and made his U-turn, I watched him make the U-turn and stood in the highway and pointed at him to pull over, which he did. While waiting for the police and insurance agents to show up, the owner of the truck showed up and wanted me to say I was at fault and "he would reimburse me for repairs", the driver of the truck gave me his Thai ID card while waiting for the owner to show up, he didn't have a driver's license.

No driver's license: If you are involved in an accident you are in a heap of trouble!

I have a valid Thai drivers license.

I agree it's not just a case of paying 200 baht to a cop for not having a license. It could be a nightmare.

A while back my car got rammed up the arse by a motorbike at the lights and then <deleted> off before I could even get out of the car. Insurance gut turned up and first thing he did was copy my Thai license. I assume if I didn't have a license they wouldn't pay out. It was only a scratch but if i were involved in something more serious which was my fault I'd want to make sure I'd dotted the i's and crossed the t's regarding being covered.

[Soutpeel]

She normally avoids the police checks if she sees them in advance.

dont we all even if we have a DL...

[impulse]

100,000 is a pure fantasy made up by the usual TV alarmists and doom mongers.

I was pulled up for no license and the copper really didn't like me, he kept muttering to his mate 'huh... falang come to Thailand and disrespect our laws.....blah blah blah.'

I got an on the spot 2000 baht fine. I have held a UK full license for 30 years almost, I just hadn't got round to the Thai license yet.

I didn't have any cash on me barring about 300 Baht, so took the ticket and wife handed over her ID card to the coppers.

Got home... wife make phone call to uncle (much higher rank copper than the road monkey) an hour later, wife's uncle came to the house picked up the ticket and handed the ID card back to wife. Asked me to please get my Thai license.... Done.

Who cares.... TIT If you can't beat em, join em, and you can't always beat em.

The experience is different for the 99% of us that don't have highly placed in-laws here in country.

Wonder what would have happened had you been in an accident with injuries, or a victim with better connections than yours?

Suggesting we mere mortals pull the same crap is pretty dicey advice.

[snake24]

My Thai mother in law is a very good driver and she has a Thai drivers license. I don't know how she got it as she cant read or write of course she bought it.

I wondered why she would not drive from Lop Buri to Pattaya to stay with us, and the wife said she cant read the road signs. That's when I woke up to how she got the license.

Amazing a thai that cannot read or write thai. It isn't anything unique you can easily find ppl like that in the USA for example.

It's the sickening morality/superiority mentality at play in here.

Guy from the USA hears/read about thais that bought their license or are illiterate thinks he's better than them but forgets that there are equally as many or more ppl that are just the same in his home country.

I've never met a native American who can't do basic reading and writing. Never. Illegal aliens and tourists and other legal guests, yes.

It's impossible to buy a license, too. You take the written and driving test and the driving test is real, on the streets. One mistake and you fail. Caught without a license you go to jail.

I've heard that the written test in Thailand is stupid tricky. I don't know. If that's true, I'd study the laws, but if possible I'd buy the license. I don't like being unfairly screwed with.

Is the test in thai or english? How do the non thais do the written test?

[snake24]

but if possible I'd buy the license. I don't like being unfairly screwed with.

based on that remark, one assumes we will never see you on TV bleating on about how bad the corrpution is in Thailand, the BiB, the goverment etc.....<deleted> would you buy a license for when the real thing only cost THB 500 odd to do...the mind boggles...

Dude did you read?

They need to do a driving test one TV member says it's really easy another one says one mistake you fail and they have a tricky written test. Then we have another TV member says he has a relative that doesn't even know how to read or write thai showing that there are probably quite a significant number of thais/foreigners that would fail the written test outright why would they go the official route?

It probably shows that obtaining the license is more than thb 500 with the tests and the time spent. Unless you mean you could bribe someone to just make the license. Be more clear.

[bifftastic]

100,000 is a pure fantasy made up by the usual TV alarmists and doom mongers.

I was pulled up for no license and the copper really didn't like me, he kept muttering to his mate 'huh... falang come to Thailand and disrespect our laws.....blah blah blah.'

I got an on the spot 2000 baht fine. I have held a UK full license for 30 years almost, I just hadn't got round to the Thai license yet.

I didn't have any cash on me barring about 300 Baht, so took the ticket and wife handed over her ID card to the coppers.

Got home... wife make phone call to uncle (much higher rank copper than the road monkey) an hour later, wife's uncle came to the house picked up the ticket and handed the ID card back to wife. Asked me to please get my Thai license.... Done.

Who cares.... TIT If you can't beat em, join em, and you can't always beat em.

Thanks for telling it like it is.

It's just sad that farang still have this higher morality when you know there is corruption in farang countries but i am not here for a debate at all.

I just want to know how things really are like how they are. Let's throw self righteousness and morality out the window here.

Thanks for relating your real life experiences and how things are done in thailand.

The guy that told it like it is, has a licence, which means he knows how to drive. Is it self-righteous to expect that you should be aware of the implications of driving when you don't know how?

[samran]

The OP has to be a troll, stringing everyone along. Everyone knows it is possible to covert your home DL to a Thai one with a few formalities.

If he isn't a troll, he is an idiot, and he deserves the constant annoyance everything coming to him.

[funcat]

The OP has to be a troll, stringing everyone along. Everyone knows it is possible to covert your home DL to a Thai one with a few formalities.

If he isn't a troll, he is an idiot, and he deserves the constant annoyance everything coming to him.

+1

...and I had to get to this point,to find the right answer....

[simple1]

My Thai mother in law is a very good driver and she has a Thai drivers license. I don't know how she got it as she cant read or write of course she bought it.

I wondered why she would not drive from Lop Buri to Pattaya to stay with us, and the wife said she cant read the road signs. That's when I woke up to how she got the license.

Amazing a thai that cannot read or write thai. It isn't anything unique you can easily find ppl like that in the USA for example.

It's the sickening morality/superiority mentality at play in here.

Guy from the USA hears/read about thais that bought their license or are illiterate thinks he's better than them but forgets that there are equally as many or more ppl that are just the same in his home country.

I've never met a native American who can't do basic reading and writing. Never. Illegal aliens and tourists and other legal guests, yes.

It's impossible to buy a license, too. You take the written and driving test and the driving test is real, on the streets. One mistake and you fail. Caught without a license you go to jail.

I've heard that the written test in Thailand is stupid tricky. I don't know. If that's true, I'd study the laws, but if possible I'd buy the license. I don't like being unfairly screwed with.

Is the test in thai or english? How do the non thais do the written test?

In Pattaya the test is completed by multi choice on a computer in English. if you fail to acheive 23 out of 30 answers to pass you can retake the test on the same day. The test centre also provides the Thai driving laws in English. Don't know if the same facility/technology is implemented accross all DL test centres in Thailand. Interesting that the test does not include knowledge of braking distances and alcohol absorption rates to stay within the limit. There is not any "stupid trickery" in the knowledge test if you first acquaint yourself with Thai driving laws.