Rent car in temporary Thai DL USA & Thai Credit Card

[rhinoboy]

Hello,

My Michigan DL is expired and wonder if I can rent a Car with the above mentioned? Unable to contact car company directly without getting a rental in advance. Any experience first hand out there?

[khwaibah]

Yes. Thai 5 year dl is accepted not the 1 year as it is a temporary dl and says so at the top. Thai credit cards are also accepted.

[phuketrichard]

as above;

i have used my 5 year license and Thai American express to rent cars in San Francisco

[stevenl]

If you do manage to rent with temporary DL, take into account that you're driving around without a valid DL.

[craigt3365]

I've rented from 2 different agencies here in Europe with my thai DL. No problems. Budget and National.

[rhinoboy]

Thnaks for your replies. I could not renew online, so all I have is the first go on the Thai drivers license. If it was me renting the car, the "temproary doesnt jump off the page" and I would probably accept it. Having worked for many years in the supermarket business when younger dealing with credit cards etc. But it would be good to get a reply from an actual temp that did it. Problem is of course, I would be up a creek if it didnt work. Thanks again.

[rhinoboy]

Thanks I am in Chiang Mai, but I think you would be screwed if you got stopped with something like that.

[craigt3365]

Sorry, but a post has been removed discussing an illegal activity. Don't want our forum to get into trouble! ;-)

[stoli]

If you do manage to rent with temporary DL, take into account that you're driving around without a valid DL.

Could you please explain this comment?

[stoli]

Each month I rent a car from National Rental Car, an international company. They easily accept my Bangkok Bank ATM card as a deposit, and never even ask to see a drivers license. (I do have my Thai 5 year license, but I don't think they even know that.) Never had a problem.

[Smokin Joe]

Michigan does not require an IDP (which you can only get with a 5-year Thai license) for using a foreign license. The Thai temporary license would probably be accepted by a rental agency. If you were going to immediately go get a new Michigan license you could take your chances.

I'm just talking about acceptance at a rental agency, not whether the license is valid for driving.

Excerpt from Michigan policy on foreign licenses:

"The licenses of residents of foreign countries that are considered valid are listed below. An international driving permit is not required."

www.michigan.gov/documents/Reciprocity_Agreements_and_Underlying_Authority_170819_7.pdf

[stevenl]

If you do manage to rent with temporary DL, take into account that you're driving around without a valid DL.

Could you please explain this comment?

A temporary DL, so 1 or 2 years, has limited validity also in regards to geography.

Edit: that is the way I have always understood things to be. I just tried to get this confirmed, but can't get any reliable answers online, one way or another.

Edited July 6, 2015 by stevenl

[stoli]

Thanks for the reply. I am still unsure if the OP is trying to rent a car in Michigan, or Thailand. That would be valuable to know for correct advice.

[BB24]

Help !! I have been trying for over a day to organise a hire car for a trip in November for a few weeks. All the 'reputable' national car rental companies want a credit card against which they will make a 'deposit/holding' charge. I have a Visa Debit Card and it is rejected by them all. Given I have hired cars many times before in Aus and never had this 'demand' up front, I can only worry about what the car rental company can do if I get and then give them my credit card. Seems to me that they do this so that they can easily charge me for anything that goes wrong - and I could do nothing to stop them - unlike a Visa Debit Card where they cannot (which is why many preople now have debit cards). This is especially a concern given that the consumer laws and protection in Thailand are essentially non-existent for an Expat. And then I came across this statement in the fine print of one of them: ECDW is not included for Collision Total Loss of the car (Group C) the renter will be responsible THB 50,000 for the additional charges. I sent an email and asked what this meant, but I have not yet had a reply. Seems to me that it means that even if I have full insurance, if I have an accident and the car is written off, I am liable for 50,000baht. Unless I am convinced otherwise, I cannot see that providing a credit card when renting a car in Thailand is a viable option - there are no protections here and if they have your credit card and someone goes wrong, you are in trouble. I am aware that many TV members have hired a car by providing a credit card, but is there anyone who has done so and then had an accident where the car was written off. If so were they charged a fee against their credit card? And even if I did have a credit card, why would I pay a 20,000+baht 'deposit' now and then have to pay the bank at end of this month and then hope for a refund in 4 months - or have I got that wrong?

[stoli]

Help !! I have been trying for over a day to organise a hire car for a trip in November for a few weeks. All the 'reputable' national car rental companies want a credit card against which they will make a 'deposit/holding' charge. I have a Visa Debit Card and it is rejected by them all. Given I have hired cars many times before in Aus and never had this 'demand' up front, I can only worry about what the car rental company can do if I get and then give them my credit card. Seems to me that they do this so that they can easily charge me for anything that goes wrong - and I could do nothing to stop them - unlike a Visa Debit Card where they cannot (which is why many preople now have debit cards). This is especially a concern given that the consumer laws and protection in Thailand are essentially non-existent for an Expat. And then I came across this statement in the fine print of one of them: ECDW is not included for Collision Total Loss of the car (Group C) the renter will be responsible THB 50,000 for the additional charges. I sent an email and asked what this meant, but I have not yet had a reply. Seems to me that it means that even if I have full insurance, if I have an accident and the car is written off, I am liable for 50,000baht. Unless I am convinced otherwise, I cannot see that providing a credit card when renting a car in Thailand is a viable option - there are no protections here and if they have your credit card and someone goes wrong, you are in trouble. I am aware that many TV members have hired a car by providing a credit card, but is there anyone who has done so and then had an accident where the car was written off. If so were they charged a fee against their credit card? And even if I did have a credit card, why would I pay a 20,000+baht 'deposit' now and then have to pay the bank at end of this month and then hope for a refund in 4 months - or have I got that wrong?

Each time I rent a car in Thailand they do ask for a 20,000 baht deposit. They fill out a card with my card number on it, but they do not run it through any machine or account. When I return, they simply hand the card back to me. It is a transaction which never takes place.

It seems like maybe you are making a lot of assumptions on what they may or may not do, because frankly, you don't feel that you trust Thai's much. Open yourself up. Show some faith in people, and you will enjoy things going smoothly.

[craigt3365]

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