PE Thaiand Elite Visa - Denied IDP at Phuket LTD

[CroBiker]

Despite having 5 years valid car and motorcycle licenses I was denied IDP earlier today at Phuket LTD. I need IDP for vehicle rentals in Europe, otherwise in case of accident insurance is void.

PE visa, which is valid for 5 years is in fact tourist visa. They said in order to obtain IDP I need at least non-O visa even if it's valid for 3 months only. Same goes for renewal of 5 year license. Also, I was told that if I lose (5 years) driving license they will replace it with 1 year license unless having non-o visa.

Spoke to TE reps and there is nothing they can do about this. 3 months non-o visa has more validity then 5 year PE visa. Quite disappointed. Guess I have to run to Penang and get myself non-o.

[ubonjoe]

I am not sure they will issue you a non-o with a valid visa in your passport. I am not sure you truly need a non immigrant visa to get the IDP.

Many people have 5 year licenses with tourist visas because they were able to get a residence certificate form immigration.

[casualbiker]

Can you not just try another LTD. Phuket are notorious for making up their own rules!

[CroBiker]

Ubonjoe, according to immigration officer I am allowed to have another visa besides PE.

LTD official even called Immigration for clarification. And yes I presented residence confirmation certificate issued this very morning by Phuket Immigration. Still refused. I called TE reps in BKK asking them to do this for me in Bangkok and they were given same answer. No chance.

[ukrules]

Ubonjoe, according to immigration officer I am allowed to have another visa besides PE.

LTD official even called Immigration for clarification. And yes I presented residence confirmation certificate issued this very morning by Phuket Immigration. Still refused. I called TE reps in BKK asking them to do this for me in Bangkok and they were given same answer. No chance.

It is my understanding that you can only get a 1 year driving license with the TE visa alone.

I use my foreign license from the UK for driving abroad and will continue to do so but I have a 1 year Thai license which was issued when I was using an Ed visa, I went down and got it about a week before my previous Ed visa expired as I knew all about the licensing regulations.

However, you're right when you say that you will be able to get more than one visa at the same time as the TE visa so if you really wanted a 5 year driving license you could add a separate visa into your passport once every 5 years just to get and renew your driving license. For me the 1 year license will be sufficient.

Don't you have a foreign license as well as a Thai license ?

My UK license expires in 2042 although apparently I'm meant to update the photo every 10 years.

Edit : Your experiences could be very different if you lived in a different part of the country.

Edited September 26, 2014 by ukrules

[Soutpeel]

in all honesty I think they are all talking BS and misinterpreting the the rules, think there may be a rule about having an Non-imm visa to be issued a 5 year DL enforced in some places but as far as I know there are no such rules to be issued an IDP based on a 5 year Thai DL, after all an IDP is only an "official" translation of an existing DL, you already have a valid 5 year DL

I have had mutiple IDP's based on my Thai DL issued over the years from Mo chit and all they have ever asked for was a copy of the data page from my PP and copy of the 5 year DL

[CroBiker]

ukrules, my foreign license expired July 2013.

[CroBiker]

in all honesty I think they are all talking BS and misinterpreting the the rules, think there may be a rule about having an Non-imm visa to be issued a 5 year DL enforced in some places but as far as I know there are no such rules to be issued an IDP based on a 5 year Thai DL, after all an IDP is only an "official" translation of an existing DL, you already have a valid 5 year DL

I have had mutiple IDP's based on my Thai DL issued over the years from Mo chit and all they have ever asked for was a copy of the data page from my PP and copy of the 5 year DL

Mo Chit....here I come..wherever that may be

Seriously, check the attachment. It is the document forwarded to me short while ago.

Driving License Acquisition Request Document & Process.doc

[Soutpeel]

in all honesty I think they are all talking BS and misinterpreting the the rules, think there may be a rule about having an Non-imm visa to be issued a 5 year DL enforced in some places but as far as I know there are no such rules to be issued an IDP based on a 5 year Thai DL, after all an IDP is only an "official" translation of an existing DL, you already have a valid 5 year DL

I have had mutiple IDP's based on my Thai DL issued over the years from Mo chit and all they have ever asked for was a copy of the data page from my PP and copy of the 5 year DL

Mo Chit....here I come..wherever that may be

Seriously, check the attachment. It is the document forwarded to me short while ago.

If I am reading this correctly, this is for a Thai DL, not an IDP, so it seems they have no clue what they are on about, unless your looking for a Thai DL of course, which your not you already have that...

this is the document your looking for, scan of one of my old ones...

[kriswillems]

The best thing to do is to go to another office. They refused my 5 year Thai drivers license in Sriracha, so I went to Pattaya. Each place makes up their own rules.

[CroBiker]

Followed Soutpeel's advice and went to Mo Chit DLT and received IDP in less than 20 minutes. Officials couldn't care less about what visa is in my passport as long as I have 5 years driving license. It just shows Phuket DLT has different set of rules than rest of the country.

[balo]

TIT , different rules in every region , if you try to apply for a bank account in one branch you will get the answer No can not do, go to the next branch and they can do everything for you.