Applicants urged to take note of new licensing process for drivers' license

[Goat Roper]

Hi All,

I've got the old lifetime driving licences - one for a car and one for a bike.

They are both getting very old and shabby, and the photo no longer looks like me.

Can I still exchange them for new lifetime licences, or do they only issue replacement 5 year licences, even to lifetime licence holders?

Cheers,

I read somewhere a couple months ago that ALL lifetime license in Thailand would be revoked and would be no longer available? I don't remember where I read this. Perhaps others might know.

[personchester]

Hi All,

I've got the old lifetime driving licences - one for a car and one for a bike.

They are both getting very old and shabby, and the photo no longer looks like me.

Can I still exchange them for new lifetime licences, or do they only issue replacement 5 year licences, even to lifetime licence holders?

Cheers,

There is no official request for a lifetime D.L to be replaced to a five year one, should this be

publicly announced then the lifetime D.L. holders will of course be obliged to apply for a five year one, and that includes technical ability tests, and a hospital eye test report.

At this stage don't worry, your aged photo does not cause a problem, the importance is the clearly printed outline of your full name and your date of birth.

[hobz]

The police is not the issue in this case. The official fine for driving without license is 200. Bribe is usually 500. Paying bribe lets you go without Long queue at station

[personchester]

The tests should be carried out on the open road,not in an office

or car park,under real driving conditions,lets see how many should

really be on the roads.

regards Worgeordie

This takes place in Western countries when D.L applicants are being tested on open traffic roads.

In Thailand this does not take place on open traffic roads because D.L. officials do not want to be in general traffic within the car of an inexperience D.L. applicant because they are afraid of accidents.

Haha and there you have it...why even hand out licenses to these inexperienced applicants then!

Driving tests to happen's in the offices private parks with small roads, signs indicate where to stop, to turn right, to turn left, make a U-turns, reverse the car, etc... and then stop the car straight in the parking line.

The officer does not sit in the car, he observes the driving matter from the outside, thus there is no accident danger for him.

[arisaje]

The whole system is a joke. There is no test for eye glasses In any sytsem If you cannot see with eye glasses then its mandatory to where them This will resolve some problems Then make child restraining seats the law for Thais It drives me nuts when I see kids in cars standing up or sitting on MOMS lap No safety

Your first point here is pretty valid, i know of numerous Thai friends who have terrible eyesight but don't even own a pair of glasses, let alone wear glasses when they drive.

Worse than that, most of my Thai friends, at least 50% of them, bought their licenses when they were home visiting parents up north so never even took any form of test.

[krishnan]

I went to Mo-Chit today to get my Thailand driving license (This is my first one, valid for a year). I have an India driving license and also an International driving permit. I wanted to get licenses to drive a motor car as well as a motor cycle (geared). The information was on second floor. The guy could speak decent English and explained me that if I want licenses for a car as well as for a bike, then I need to prepare 2 sets of documents....the documents he asked me are as follows..

Photocopy of the passport (Front, last, visa page)

Photocopy of the Work Permit (Front page where there is Photo and pages that are filled...(dont know what it says till date as the script is Thai)

Photocopy of my India License (Front n back)

Photcopy of my International Driving Permit (Pages where there is photo, where the permit says what u can drive and what u cannot, translation page in English). I think since I flaunted it he asked for a photocopy of the same...I don’t think it is necessary at all.

Medical Certificate (I did not have one so the chap at information told me to go out and ask any motorcycle taxi and they will help. The Moxi promptly took me to the medic, who verified the documents and asked me if I am perfectly fit for which I answered in affirmative and asked me, showing two pens which are red and green in colour, what colour they are...i remembered my nursery school days and answered correctly. He took THB 80 and issued the certificate..the Moxi ride cost me another THB 80 for up n down)

Armed with all above (2 sets(Only if you want to drive 2 diff. vehicles) photocopied at ground floor and self-attested) again approached the information counter at second floor. He verified all the documents and gave me a token. There are separate counters for foreigners. On being called my documents were once again verified and then few slips got attached to the bunch then I was asked to go to 3rd floor for "Physical"!!!! Test. On 3rd floor again I was given a token and made to sit for about 15 minutes. There was a video informing the candidates (both in Thai and English) what the tests, we were about to undergo is all about.

Then on being called I went for the tests...there is no separate special treatment for forigners here....

The first test is for colour blindness...a lady keet pressing a sort of remote control the kids use to play and the traffic signal lights up..showing diff colours randomly and you have to call the colour correctly. I said, Red...Red...Amber...green...Amber...green. The lady made me sit in a separate place while letting others go. After a few minutes another gentleman from Korea joined me when the world went about its business around us. After making us, sweat for few minutes...she grandly declared we failed the test.!!! We both were shocked as we knew we called the colours correctly. She said she will give us one more chance (I was listening in the mean time the Thai calling the colours...Red...Red...Yellow..Green..Yellow..Red..which made me realise what the issue was). I told my other partner in crime, next time dont say Amber or Orange...say...yellow..he too got the drift. In the second attempt we both passed the test with flying COLOURS. The lady looked at both of us disapprovingly and scolded us...there is not Amber or Ornage in Thailand...IT IS YELLOW.

The seond test was for depth perception (where u play with a joystick and match a pole which is about 6-8 inches in height and about 1/2 inch in thickness which slides at about 6 inches distance against a pole which is stationary. If you can match the poles within an inch of each other, you pass. The distance from where you sit the poles are about 10 feet approx. I passed this as well without any drama.

The third test was for your speed of reaction. You sit on a stool and in front of you on the floor, is a simulator with a brake and an accelerator. As you step on the accelerator, you should watch for a red light to glow on the panel in front of you. As soon as the red light, lights up you need to hit the brake. If you could react within 0.75 seconds (that is 750 milliseconds) you pass. I did. There was a girl in front of me in the queue. She tried and tried for almost 3-4 minutes and could not get it right!!! I told her.....If you want to travel in a car...you better be sitting next to me...probably this comment scared her (hvg to sit with me in the car) and she passed the test in the very next try.

The fourth one is for your wide angle vision (what they call 75 deg vision...which is your ability to see through the corner of your eyes). You are asked to press your nose to a fixture and there are 3 small LEDs (What else...Red...Green..and YELLOW only) on both sides of your face. The lady operates a remote and one of the colours lights up...you have to call the colour correctly. I was going well on my left side, where actually my vision is bad..since I had an industrial accident and lost part of the vision on my left eye...Red..Green..Green...Red..YELLOW....YELLOW). On the right side I was Red..Red...YELLOW...RED...then NOTHING..i knew the lady pressed a button but actually i could not see anything...so I said...Green..then...Red..Red..YELLOW....nothing.....i said Green. So I passed the test. (Actually I think they have to change the green LED on the right as it was emitting very low light or probably the voltage is low??) and most of the people were fumbling and some of them are getting smarter..LoL

After I came out of the test rig!!! I was again asked to go to second floor from third and collect the token again. Which I did and when my number was called went and presented the test results to the officer who took a photograph and collected the license fee (THB 205 for motor car + THB 155 for Motor Cycle) and gave me the licenses. The THB 205 has got 2 receipts...one for THB 100 and another for THB 105 and the THB 155 has got 2 receipts. One for THB 100 another for THB 55. (I feel like totally uneducated in this place!!!!).

I entered the building at 10 am and I was out with 2 licenses (they give 2 separate licenses!!!) by 11:30. So, it took me all of 1 1/2 hrs...including understanding the procedures, go to the medic and back, wait after failed test to get my licenses.

Expenses...THB 80 for medic, THB 80 for Moxi, THB 20 for photcopying, THB 360 for the licenses and my pride...having failed in any test for the first time in my life and not knowing there is no amber or orange in signals in Thailand but only YELLOW.