Renewing my 5 Year Thai Driving license.

[NE1]

After reading various posts on this subject I photo copied everything in my passport that had a Thai Visa stamp , old and new.

Photo copied all relevant documents of the wife , had photos done , and went off to Immigration to get a proof of residency letter for the driving license authorities.

I am sure I am not alone in this , where I have to make a 240 kilometre round trip to my Imm. office , when there is one 40 kilometres away , but it is in another district.

Anyway , We left the house at 06:50hrs and arrived at the Imm. office at 08:30hrs. I looked at all the forms , there was not any thing that looked like proof of residency.

I spoke to the nice lady behind the counter , " what do you want it for " a driving license renewal I replied.

Before she would give me the form , she asked for all my photo copied doc. rummaged through , took what she wanted and gave me the form to fill in and also gave the wife a declaration form to fill in .

We completed both forms took a ticket and sat down. The nice lady told us to put the ticket back and she dealt with our forms immediately.

After a 10 minute wait she called us across , there you go , one proof of residency doc. free of charge .

Time taken , 40mins from entering the building.

Set off back to our driving license centre with all docs. intact. Did the traffic lights , the emergency braking , depth perception and peripheral vision tests, then sat around till 12:45hrs.

" Excuse me sir , but your passport number on your old license does not match the passport number on your present passport "

after a 20 min explanation of how when you renew a passport you get a different number we were good to go.

Now I have to sit through a video for one hour , is there English sub titles , as my Thai is very limited , no , but it doesn't matter if you cannot understand it , everybody has to do it.

There were 12 of us in there ( 11 Thais and myself ), first timers and those renewing , Two managed to fall asleep and one was continually texting on her phone.

After the video , went down stairs to get my photo done . 10mins later , that will be 605 baht please , here is you license , thank you.

Finally got home at 15:00hrs knackered but pleased. It could have been worse.

[KhunBENQ]

Good to read a success story

New passport number.

Typical surprise for Thais who have a life long citizen ID which appears on the DL.

Maybe its a good idea to always keep your old passport(s) and take them with you for office visits.

[ukrules]

I've never been asked to do anything like a test, watch a video, etc. I just fill out the forms and they give me the license based on my current UK license.

I changed my previous 1 year license to the 5 year one last week.

I do wonder if this would be different if I turned up much earlier in the day but I guess I'll never know as I always go to any official offices about an hour before they close when they're generally empty, there's no waiting around and they're eager to finish their work quickly and go home.

[ubonjoe]

Excuse me sir , but your passport number on your old license does not match the passport number on your present passport "

after a 20 min explanation of how when you renew a passport you get a different number we were good to go.

You probably did not think of it at the time but there is a stamp that immigration did when they transferred your stamps that has your old passport number on it. It is the one with info about the visa entry you have been extending.

Showing it might of made things easier.

[NE1]

Excuse me sir , but your passport number on your old license does not match the passport number on your present passport "

after a 20 min explanation of how when you renew a passport you get a different number we were good to go.

You probably did not think of it at the time but there is a stamp that immigration did when they transferred your stamps that has your old passport number on it. It is the one with info about the visa entry you have been extending.

Showing it might of made things easier.

The visa I have been extending on is in the passport I am using now.

I am sure it was because my old passport number on my old driving license did not match up with the new passport number.

Should have taken my old passport but at the time it didn't cross my mind.

anyway it was all pretty painless and worth it.

On a footnote , my license had actually expired a month ago , and on the day I was going to renew it I hit 3 police checks ( sods law ) but luckily enough we were waved through each time.

[hkt83100]

I changed my previous 1 year license to the 5 year one last week.

The transition from 1 to 5 years never needs a test. Wait until you do the 5 to 5 years, you will get the pleasure of entertainment.

[giddyup]

I changed my previous 1 year license to the 5 year one last week.

The transition from 1 to 5 years never needs a test. Wait until you do the 5 to 5 years, you will get the pleasure of entertainment.

Do you mean 5 to 10 years?

[hvdkerkh]

On a footnote , my license had actually expired a month ago , and on the day I was going to renew it I hit 3 police checks ( sods law ) but luckily enough we were waved through each time.

Do you have to wait till after the epxiration date for renewal?

I have to renew my 1 year to a 5 year license next month and was planning to go exactly on the expiration date, to avoid driving with an invalid license.

[patricev]

Renewed mine about a week before expiration. Had to do the test, but no video. Also had a change of passport number, so I brought along the old passport, but they never questioned that and put the new number on the new license. The only papers I brought with me was old license, both passports, work permit and two photos for the international "permit" (only good for one year, need to get a new one every year).

Painless but it did take about 4 hours total with the waiting time along the various steps.

[KhunBENQ]

Do you have to wait till after the epxiration date for renewal?

I have to renew my 1 year to a 5 year license next month and was planning to go exactly on the expiration date, to avoid driving with an invalid license.

No, you don;t have to wait. As far as I remember you can go at least one month before.

But remember in this case you will get "just another" 5 years of validity.

Expiry date is always on your fifth birthday after renewal.

So if you go one day after (your birthday = expiry date) then you have almost 6 years.

[hvdkerkh]

Do you have to wait till after the epxiration date for renewal?

I have to renew my 1 year to a 5 year license next month and was planning to go exactly on the expiration date, to avoid driving with an invalid license.

No, you don;t have to wait. As far as I remember you can go at least one month before.

But remember in this case you will get "just another" 5 years of validity.

Expiry date is always on your fifth birthday after renewal.

So if you go one day after (your birthday = expiry date) then you have almost 6 years.

Very good hint, thanks very much.

That's certainly worth going one day later.

[barrywells]

My 5 year license expires 6 Jan 2016.

I am going to be away from Thailand from 19 Sept 2015, until 16 April 2016.

What to do nah? Can I renew it 4 months early? Can I renew it 4 months late? Any advice appreciated.

[stevenl]

My 5 year license expires 6 Jan 2016.

I am going to be away from Thailand from 19 Sept 2015, until 16 April 2016.

What to do nah? Can I renew it 4 months early? Can I renew it 4 months late? Any advice appreciated.

You can renew up to 1 year after expiry date without any additionals.

[Smokin Joe]

I just returned from a visit to the Chonburi Dept of Land Transportation (DLT) today. This is the one by Regents School that serves the Pattaya area.

This is a notice that is posted by Desk 11 where farangs turn paperwork in.

"Renewal of 5 Year License:

You can renew up to 3 months early.

If you don't renew before it expires you will be required to take the written and practical tests again"

I don't know if they actually enforce that but the notice is pretty clear as to their rules.

[stevenl]

I just returned from a visit to the Chonburi Dept of Land Transportation (DLT) today. This is the one by Regents School that serves the Pattaya area.

This is a notice that is posted by Desk 11 where farangs turn paperwork in.

"Renewal of 5 Year License:

You can renew up to 3 months early.

If you don't renew before it expires you will be required to take the written and practical tests again"

I don't know if they actually enforce that but the notice is pretty clear as to their rules.

Yes, local policies will vary a lot.

It would surprise me though if these renewal rules were the norm throughout the country.

[MrJ]

I just returned from a visit to the Chonburi Dept of Land Transportation (DLT) today. This is the one by Regents School that serves the Pattaya area.

This is a notice that is posted by Desk 11 where farangs turn paperwork in.

"Renewal of 5 Year License:

You can renew up to 3 months early.

If you don't renew before it expires you will be required to take the written and practical tests again"

I don't know if they actually enforce that but the notice is pretty clear as to their rules.

just had my renewal at this office in Pattaya, licence was expired (up to 1 year late possible) no written test, only 1h video and color & reaction testing (but for all even if you come before expiry)

I waited for the expiry because I got 5 years and 364 days (next birthday + 5 years) for the new one.

[Soutpeel]

Excuse me sir , but your passport number on your old license does not match the passport number on your present passport "

after a 20 min explanation of how when you renew a passport you get a different number we were good to go.

You probably did not think of it at the time but there is a stamp that immigration did when they transferred your stamps that has your old passport number on it. It is the one with info about the visa entry you have been extending.

Showing it might of made things easier.

The visa I have been extending on is in the passport I am using now.

I am sure it was because my old passport number on my old driving license did not match up with the new passport number.

Should have taken my old passport but at the time it didn't cross my mind.

anyway it was all pretty painless and worth it.

On a footnote , my license had actually expired a month ago , and on the day I was going to renew it I hit 3 police checks ( sods law ) but luckily enough we were waved through each time.

On the police stops no luck at all, apparently you can renew a 5 year license upto a year past expiry date, according to Rayong traffic department at least, therefore would suggest the BIB where not going to bother you anyway

[Tomtomtom69]

Excuse me sir , but your passport number on your old license does not match the passport number on your present passport "

after a 20 min explanation of how when you renew a passport you get a different number we were good to go.

You probably did not think of it at the time but there is a stamp that immigration did when they transferred your stamps that has your old passport number on it. It is the one with info about the visa entry you have been extending.

Showing it might of made things easier.

The visa I have been extending on is in the passport I am using now.

I am sure it was because my old passport number on my old driving license did not match up with the new passport number.

Should have taken my old passport but at the time it didn't cross my mind.

anyway it was all pretty painless and worth it.

On a footnote , my license had actually expired a month ago , and on the day I was going to renew it I hit 3 police checks ( sods law ) but luckily enough we were waved through each time.

My situation is even more complicated as I have three nationalities and have used two of them for the purposes of obtaining driver's licences here without a problem and no explanation needed. One year I'm 08 - passport number (08 stands for a certain nationality), the next it's 40 - passport number, changed in the blink of an eye.

But I've always gone to get my licences done in Bangkok (well, I live here anyway) and given it's the busiest office in the country for foreigners, they are surely used to these kind of things, whereas at a provincial office it might be different.

[Don Mega]

I changed my previous 1 year license to the 5 year one last week.

The transition from 1 to 5 years never needs a test. Wait until you do the 5 to 5 years, you will get the pleasure of entertainment.

Do you mean 5 to 10 years?

No. he means when you 5 year license expires and you go to renew it again for another 5 years.

[Backwoods]

I changed my previous 1 year license to the 5 year one last week.

The transition from 1 to 5 years never needs a test. Wait until you do the 5 to 5 years, you will get the pleasure of entertainment.

Renewed my 5 year license today, they gave me 6 years on it and only did color test and didn't need doctors paper. Just waited in line for 15 minutes and gave her papers, did color test and took picture, was in and out in 20 minutes. Must of hit it right!

[KhunBENQ]

Renewed my 5 year license today, they gave me 6 years on it

Hope you had a happy birthday recently

[Phatcharanan]

So today I went to Bangkok Area 2 to renew my 5 year car and bike licenses but as my old licences had my old passport number on them and I no longer have my old passport, she couldn't (or wouldn't) do it.

She mentioned the British Embassy can give a letter confirming my old and new passport numbers? I live in Nong Khaem so before I travel all the way across the river, I wanted to know if what she told me is correct?

If so, does it also need to be translated into Thai? (Presumably)

Advice appreciated.