FolkGuitar Posted November 7, 2013 Share Posted November 7, 2013 Having been back in town for half a year now, I figured it was time to get my regular Thai driving licenses and stop using the International license. I had a Thai license for 10 years before, but it had expired a few years ago. I went to the Dept of Land Transportation office across from the runway on the Hangdong road, brought all the required paperwork, including my U.S. license, Japanese license, International license, all of which were valid for both car and motorcycle, and my expired Thai license. I figured it would be a 'walk in, pay my money, and walk out with my 5-year Thai license' sort of deal. More fool me... Had I not brought my Thai license, that would have been the case. But because it was expired for more than the set length of time, the rules required that I sit through 4 hours of the most boring videos and lectures (all in Thai, of course,) take the 30-question test, and take driving tests for both motorcycle and car! Now, none of this was particularly difficult (except perhaps for sitting through the 4 hours of looong and boring lectures,) but could have been avoided completely had I just not told them I had a previous Thai license. True, they would have just given me one-year tickets rather than 5-year ones, and I'd have to go back and re-new the following year to get the 5-year cards, but believe me... it would have been worth it to avoid having to spend from 8:30 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon dealing with it all! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naam Posted November 7, 2013 Share Posted November 7, 2013 because it was expired for more than the set length of time can you be more specific and tell us that length of time? my 5-year license expired 5 days ago. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luther Posted November 7, 2013 Share Posted November 7, 2013 My wife went in there with an expired license. It had expired about ten months before. The woman was all set to make her go through what FolkGuitar went through, but then had a change of heart and let her watch a 30 minutes video, but which time here new license was ready. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FolkGuitar Posted November 7, 2013 Author Share Posted November 7, 2013 (edited) because it was expired for more than the set length of time can you be more specific and tell us that length of time? my 5-year license expired 5 days ago. Not to worry... It was a matter of how many 'years,' not days. My license had expired over 3 years ago. It was one of the old paper licenses with the glued-on photo, not the newer plastic 'real' looking ones. Edited November 7, 2013 by FolkGuitar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenside Posted November 7, 2013 Share Posted November 7, 2013 You'll probably have to do the 30 minute video. If the Thai version is as good, it expains a lot about the driving here. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoonman Posted November 7, 2013 Share Posted November 7, 2013 because it was expired for more than the set length of time can you be more specific and tell us that length of time? my 5-year license expired 5 days ago. 12 months and under it is a straight up renewal, 12 months and over you will have to watch the vid and do the test. Folkguitar, not sure why you assume that concealing the fact you have an expired licence would have avoid the pain of watching the vids as surely there would be a record that you have one and would have shown up on their computer when they punched in your name. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davehowden Posted November 7, 2013 Share Posted November 7, 2013 because it was expired for more than the set length of time can you be more specific and tell us that length of time? my 5-year license expired 5 days ago. 12 months and under it is a straight up renewal, 12 months and over you will have to watch the vid and do the test. Folkguitar, not sure why you assume that concealing the fact you have an expired licence would have avoid the pain of watching the vids as surely there would be a record that you have one and would have shown up on their computer when they punched in your name. Remember you are in Thailand, more than likely it would have shown up nothing! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Spoonman Posted November 7, 2013 Popular Post Share Posted November 7, 2013 (edited) because it was expired for more than the set length of time can you be more specific and tell us that length of time? my 5-year license expired 5 days ago. 12 months and under it is a straight up renewal, 12 months and over you will have to watch the vid and do the test. Folkguitar, not sure why you assume that concealing the fact you have an expired licence would have avoid the pain of watching the vids as surely there would be a record that you have one and would have shown up on their computer when they punched in your name. Remember you are in Thailand, more than likely it would have shown up nothing! The country is not as backwards as you would like it to be but lets not let that get in the way of some good old fashion Thai bashing. Edited November 7, 2013 by Spoonman 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dante99 Posted November 7, 2013 Share Posted November 7, 2013 It would not be wise to underestimate their record keeping. Some years ago I went in for a Drivers License because my old one was lost and long expired. With my name, they quickly came up with the paper documents from that old license and gave me a new 5 year license, lucky day. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paangjang Posted November 7, 2013 Share Posted November 7, 2013 I need to apply for my first motorbike license. Do i just go to this same office? What documents do i need to take? Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wales01 Posted November 7, 2013 Share Posted November 7, 2013 My Thai One Year expired January of this year. Can I apply for the 5 year or I have to apply for the 1 year again? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoonman Posted November 7, 2013 Share Posted November 7, 2013 My Thai One Year expired January of this year. Can I apply for the 5 year or I have to apply for the 1 year again? Assuming you have the required documents they will give you a 5 year licence. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post FolkGuitar Posted November 7, 2013 Author Popular Post Share Posted November 7, 2013 (edited) because it was expired for more than the set length of time can you be more specific and tell us that length of time? my 5-year license expired 5 days ago. 12 months and under it is a straight up renewal, 12 months and over you will have to watch the vid and do the test. Folkguitar, not sure why you assume that concealing the fact you have an expired licence would have avoid the pain of watching the vids as surely there would be a record that you have one and would have shown up on their computer when they punched in your name. It wasn't an assumption. It was what the woman at the counter told me. We had a good laugh (cry?) over it. My last license was listed under my previous passport. They had no listing for my current passport. When they went looking for my name in the computer, they did so under my new passport number and could find nothing. It wasn't until I told them that it was an expired passport that they checked my previous address in Chiang Mai. With the combination of my name and old address, they were able to locate my old license records. They need at least two pieces of information to be certain. There is a positive side to having watched the video, taken the written (machine) test, and the driving skills test... I now completely understand why there are so many traffic accidents in Thailand. Edited November 7, 2013 by FolkGuitar 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadMac Posted November 7, 2013 Share Posted November 7, 2013 (edited) I've heard all kind of different things when renewing a license. One guy came 3 weeks earlier and got only another temporary (1y) one. Others came some weeks late got the 5y "permanent" one. I did my last renewal with more than a year after expiry of the 1y license for both bike and car and got the 5y cards (Chatuchak in BKK). There are no rules, just the daily form of the officer and perhaps the weather Edited November 7, 2013 by MadMac 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktm jeff Posted November 7, 2013 Share Posted November 7, 2013 Does not seem to be any consistency in all things Thai , but at least your all "legal" now , with more licences than anyone knows what to do with ! No worries for 5 years - have a beer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackr Posted November 8, 2013 Share Posted November 8, 2013 The one year should be extended before expiry, the five-year after expiry... up to something like six or 12 months. The video for farangs should be in a separate room with computers/headphones though for a new license you'll have to sit through the spiel. They do it in groups, like at 9am, 11am, 1pm etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoonman Posted November 8, 2013 Share Posted November 8, 2013 The one year should be extended before expiry, the five-year after expiry... up to something like six or 12 months. Can you please show were on the Land Transport Dept website where this is listed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nov 13 Posted November 8, 2013 Share Posted November 8, 2013 The one year should be extended before expiry, Incorrect. You can only extend (replace with a five year) the 1 year Temporary License once it has expired. This is due to the fact that to get the 5 year license you need to have held a Temporary License for at least 12 months. Thus, it needs to be expired for you to replace it with the 5 year DL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KRS1 Posted November 8, 2013 Share Posted November 8, 2013 my license is valid for lifetime - never expires they dont make them anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piewarmer Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 (edited) Good to have a real license when stopped by the boys in brown CM version. They pulled a group of us farangs up a few days ago, We all had real Thai ones. I don't think a library card will pass anymore. There's another thread about a crackdown on dumb foreigners on scooters. Edited November 9, 2013 by piewarmer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khwaibah Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 (edited) The one year should be extended before expiry, Incorrect. You can only extend (replace with a five year) the 1 year Temporary License once it has expired. This is due to the fact that to get the 5 year license you need to have held a Temporary License for at least 12 months. Thus, it needs to be expired for you to replace it with the 5 year DL. Not necessarily the LTD has been known to issue a new 5 years with a month to go on your provincial DL. Also if you were on a tourist visa when you want to renew they will only give you another 1 year provincial DL. Edited November 9, 2013 by khwaibah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khwaibah Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 my license is valid for lifetime - never expires they dont make them anymore. My wife has one also Two weeks after she got her life time DL they stop it. Lucky....... Question ? Can you change your paper life time DL for the new smart card dl for life.? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sealbash Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 my license is valid for lifetime - never expires they dont make them anymore. My wife has one also Two weeks after she got her life time DL they stop it. Lucky....... Question ? Can you change your paper life time DL for the new smart card dl for life.? Yes Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KRS1 Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 where is the DL office in CNX anyway ? thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khwaibah Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 where is the DL office in CNX anyway ? thanks Land Transportation Department (LTD) highway 108 or Hang Dong Rd .. If you go past Big C heading south YOU WENT TO FAR, Its before Big C on your left going south just before Big C. GPS 18.744963, 98.962083 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KRS1 Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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