bigdod Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 Apologies if this topic's been raised before - but I'm away to head back to UK for a few weeks with the missus and wondered about how this works. I had a full UK licence for donkeys years but for one reason or another ended up losing it for a few years in 2008. I attempted to get it back after the ban was up in 2011 but I was living here by then and they effectively told me to pi$$ off. The licence has expired now (as they do every 10 years for the photo) and i've kinda kissed it goodbye, but now I'm driving on a 5yr Thai licence and wondered how I go about driving back home legally using it...?? cheers... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beano2274 Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 yes it is okay, done many times, as it has English on it too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigdod Posted October 9, 2013 Author Share Posted October 9, 2013 Yeah..? Brilliant. Cheers for that beano....no issues with insuring vehicles or any of that nonsense..? I've got a couple of motorcycles in the shed and at least one of them is coming out... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crisp Posted October 10, 2013 Share Posted October 10, 2013 I think you find your UK licence is valid until 65 or there abouts. The credit card licence is in addition to the paper one & doesn't replace it. Maybe you can inquire about getting a new licence issued. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johng Posted October 10, 2013 Share Posted October 10, 2013 Acording to this government web site https://www.gov.uk/exchange-a-foreign-driving-licence/y/yes/car_motorcycle/other you can drive for upto 12 months on a foreign ( Thai ) licence but can not exchange it for a UK one after 12 months you'll have to take the full UK test confusingly in the section about exchanging licenses it says You can drive in Great Britain on your full, valid driving licence for 12 months from when you became resident.You need to exchange your licence after 12 months - you have 5 years since you became resident to do this. If you have been a resident from birth then maybe your 1 year is allready up ??????????????? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigdod Posted October 10, 2013 Author Share Posted October 10, 2013 Crisp - yeh mate, thats what i thought too. The thing with the new licences ie the credit card ones, is that they expire after 10 years so you have to update the photo, but the paper part lasts until you're 70. Thing is that I lost my licence and when I went to apply to get my licence back, they told me that under some "new EU rule" as I was no longer resident in UK, I was no longer eligible to hold a UK licence, therefore, they would not renew it for me and that I would have to apply for a driving licence in my new country of residence. I wouldn't like to ever have to resit UK driving tests however, so I would have liked to have kept my UK one active, but I guess thats all a bit academic now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevenl Posted October 10, 2013 Share Posted October 10, 2013 Crisp - yeh mate, thats what i thought too. The thing with the new licences ie the credit card ones, is that they expire after 10 years so you have to update the photo, but the paper part lasts until you're 70. Thing is that I lost my licence and when I went to apply to get my licence back, they told me that under some "new EU rule" as I was no longer resident in UK, I was no longer eligible to hold a UK licence, therefore, they would not renew it for me and that I would have to apply for a driving licence in my new country of residence. I wouldn't like to ever have to resit UK driving tests however, so I would have liked to have kept my UK one active, but I guess thats all a bit academic now... I doubt it is a EU rule, since I can renew online from Thailand, and have the DL send to Thailand as well (also EU). Probably 'new EU rule' is just a convenient excuse for their own shitty rules. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kwasaki Posted October 10, 2013 Share Posted October 10, 2013 Yeah..? Brilliant. Cheers for that beano....no issues with insuring vehicles or any of that nonsense..? I've got a couple of motorcycles in the shed and at least one of them is coming out... alt=thumbsup.gif width=25 height=19> Replying to your last post too. I confirm 'beano' info,and no issues on insurance as long as you let them know the full licence you are using, which in the UK has to be a 5 year Thai licence. Would not like to see you in trouble with plod so here's the bad news' " You cannot ride your motorbike in the UK on a Thai licence ". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NBD Posted October 10, 2013 Share Posted October 10, 2013 Acording to this government web site https://www.gov.uk/exchange-a-foreign-driving-licence/y/yes/car_motorcycle/other you can drive for upto 12 months on a foreign ( Thai ) licence but can not exchange it for a UK one after 12 months you'll have to take the full UK test confusingly in the section about exchanging licenses it says You can drive in Great Britain on your full, valid driving licence for 12 months from when you became resident.You need to exchange your licence after 12 months - you have 5 years since you became resident to do this. If you have been a resident from birth then maybe your 1 year is allready up ??????????????? No. There's a difference between "resident" and "citizen" and if he isn't living in the UK then there's no reason to have a UK licence at all when you have a valid foreign one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kwasaki Posted October 10, 2013 Share Posted October 10, 2013 Acording to this government web site https://www.gov.uk/exchange-a-foreign-driving-licence/y/yes/car_motorcycle/other you can drive for upto 12 months on a foreign ( Thai ) licence but can not exchange it for a UK one after 12 months you'll have to take the full UK test confusingly in the section about exchanging licenses it says You can drive in Great Britain on your full, valid driving licence for 12 months from when you became resident.You need to exchange your licence after 12 months - you have 5 years since you became resident to do this. If you have been a resident from birth then maybe your 1 year is allready up ??????????????? No. There's a difference between "resident" and "citizen" and if he isn't living in the UK then there's no reason to have a UK licence at all when you have a valid foreign one. Correct for cars yes in UK but not for Thai motorbike licences I just want to make sure ' bigdod ' knows this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johng Posted October 10, 2013 Share Posted October 10, 2013 Would not like to see you in trouble with plod so here's the bad news' " You cannot ride your motorbike in the UK on a Thai licence ". Not even with a Thai Motorcycle licence ??? No. There's a difference between "resident" and "citizen" Yes I know there is a difference but no where on that website did I see anything about a "British citizen" driving with foreign licence is that allowed, do they differentiate between resident and citizen ?? for driving licence purposes. If say I as a British citizen holding a full valid UK and Thai licence was stopped by plod whilst driving in the UK can I produce my Thai licence and it be acceptable ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevenl Posted October 10, 2013 Share Posted October 10, 2013 Would not like to see you in trouble with plod so here's the bad news' " You cannot ride your motorbike in the UK on a Thai licence ". Not even with a Thai Motorcycle licence ??? No. There's a difference between "resident" and "citizen" Yes I know there is a difference but no where on that website did I see anything about a "British citizen" driving with foreign licence is that allowed, do they differentiate between resident and citizen ?? for driving licence purposes. If say I as a British citizen holding a full valid UK and Thai licence was stopped by plod whilst driving in the UK can I produce my Thai licence and it be acceptable ?? If you have a valid UK license you are to produce that, and if your valid UK license was suspended you can not circumvent the law by using a Thai license. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johng Posted October 10, 2013 Share Posted October 10, 2013 If you have a valid UK license you are to produce that, and if your valid UK license was suspended you can not circumvent the law by using a Thai license. Thank's I suspected that was the case... Still puzlled why they would let you drive a car on a Thai licence but not a motorbike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kwasaki Posted October 10, 2013 Share Posted October 10, 2013 Would not like to see you in trouble with plod so here's the bad news' " You cannot ride your motorbike in the UK on a Thai licence ". Not even with a Thai Motorcycle licence ??? What I have read on UK gov sites before the answer was no, you could get a UK provisional and ride with ' L ' plates but the site has been updated and now it would seem and be read as you can ride a motorbike in the UK, so if that's possible good luck. As for ' Bigdod ' I assume he use to have a UK motorcycle licence before and now it seems he can ride in UK on his Thai motorcycle licence that's fine but I would check with UK insurer to make sure it's OK though. With respect and not wanted to be Thai knocking but it has to be said that if you take in to account the way a Thai motorbike licence is acquired here and it's accepted in the UK, I would be a bit concerned about that. If you have been riding around on a motorbike in Bangkok say you be able to survive ok in UK I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johng Posted October 10, 2013 Share Posted October 10, 2013 With respect and not wanted to be Thai knocking but it has to be said that if you take in to account the way a Thai motorbike licence is acquired here and it's accepted in the UK, I would be a bit concerned about that. Yes quite concerning.... but I think if anyone has survived a year of driving a bike in BKK without major incident then driving in the UK will seem very tame.... of course you do have to remember to obey traffic signals, no speeding, no driving the wrong way,no driving on the pavement etc etc. Bigdod please do check and double check that you can ride a bike in the UK on your Thai licence and let us know the outcome. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve187 Posted October 10, 2013 Share Posted October 10, 2013 You should be able to re-apply for your UK licence, and any conditions attached to it at the time it was suspended/taken away will still apply, (if a retest was required then that would still apply), as regards to driving here on a Thai licence, the bigger problem would be obtaining insurance and paying the price required without any non claims and you would still have to declare any points or bans that were on your old licence that would still be applicable, if you were stopped for any motoring offence whilst here using the Thai licence, you would not be able to go the fixed penalty route and a court appearance would be required, and they would then link to your uk licence record Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigdod Posted October 10, 2013 Author Share Posted October 10, 2013 Gents, thank you all for your input - much appreciated. There are, it would seem, more than a few if's, but's and uncertainties about the whole affair, so I'll maybe drop DVLA a quick mail and see what they have to say on the matter, however; I suspect that as stevenl says, I may end up in the face of some home-grown shitty rules. They dont make it easy to be law-abiding sometimes.... I'm also fully aware that given my history there, insurance is not going to be cheap, but it will i reckon be cheaper than taxi-ing all over the country - i nearly sh1t myself the last time i had to take a taxi there..... £40 to cross Aberdeen (15mins) and that was about 3 years ago.... I do have 5 yrs Thai licence and i did have full UK car & motorcycle licence for about 20 years before they took it away so I'm hoping that this will count for something, however; again, given the whole "jobsworth" attitude of UK white collar 'persons' I'm not holding out a whole lot of hope in that department. I might even move back to the UK just so they HAVE to give me my licence back then leave again - just to pi$$ them off..!! I'll give it a crack and let you know how i get on... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigdod Posted October 10, 2013 Author Share Posted October 10, 2013 According to Gov.uk, motorcycle is OK too. check here: https://www.gov.uk/non-gb-driving-licence/y/visitor_to_gb/other cheers... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kwasaki Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 According to Gov.uk, motorcycle is OK too. check here: https://www.gov.uk/non-gb-driving-licence/y/visitor_to_gb/other cheers... Yes mate, when I read that too and I had to laugh. I reckon it's been re-written on there up-dated quick answer web site by an illegal immigrate. The e.g. bit about ( you can drive any small vehicle (eg car or motorcycle) listed on your licence for 12 months. I answered the ( is there anything wrong with page ) replying with :- is a 1400cc Harley Night Rod or a Yamaha 1000cc R1 classed as small. No reply yet. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigdod Posted October 11, 2013 Author Share Posted October 11, 2013 According to Gov.uk, motorcycle is OK too. check here: https://www.gov.uk/non-gb-driving-licence/y/visitor_to_gb/other cheers... Yes mate, when I read that too and I had to laugh. I reckon it's been re-written on there up-dated quick answer web site by an illegal immigrate. The e.g. bit about ( you can drive any small vehicle (eg car or motorcycle) listed on your licence for 12 months. I answered the ( is there anything wrong with page ) replying with :- is a 1400cc Harley Night Rod or a Yamaha 1000cc R1 classed as small. No reply yet. hahahaha - yeah, I wonder where my 'Busa would fit in on their scale too right enough... from what I've gathered though, they dont really 'do' humour...so dont go holdin yer breath 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soutpeel Posted October 12, 2013 Share Posted October 12, 2013 If say I as a British citizen holding a full valid UK and Thai licence was stopped by plod whilst driving in the UK can I produce my Thai licence and it be acceptable ?? No cannot, but of course this presumes they catch you out....but if you have an accident etc and they find out you have a UK DL and presented the Thai DL, you could be in a sticky situation.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevenl Posted October 12, 2013 Share Posted October 12, 2013 If say I as a British citizen holding a full valid UK and Thai licence was stopped by plod whilst driving in the UK can I produce my Thai licence and it be acceptable ?? No cannot, but of course this presumes they catch you out....but if you have an accident etc and they find out you have a UK DL and presented the Thai DL, you could be in a sticky situation.. Thatwould not be a too bad situation, maybe a fine but that's it. It would be different if the UK DL would be suspended and he would be driving on a Thai DL, that is a clear and easy no go. The Thai DL would not be valid, so he would be driving without DL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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