Hi,

Hoping to get a quick answer for this before tomorrow morning so posted to general. Admins feel free to move to Thailand Motor Forum after..

I am about to go get a Thai driving licence at the land and transport department of Bangkok. I have all the possible documents including the international driving licence, which has been issued to me from Belgium. However, I just noticed that the licence is written only in the official languages of Belgium; French, Dutch and German. It is an actual international driving licence, which I separately requested from the town house on top of my Belgian licence.

I do note that on the website of the Land and Transport Department it says the following:

4. ORIGINAL AND PHOTO COPY OF INVALID INTERNATIONAL DRIVING LICENCE (1949 CONVENTION) OR LOCAL DRIVING LICENCE (TRANSLATE IN TO ENGLISH OR THAI LANGUAGE AND CERTIFY BY EMBASSY IF IT IS N'T IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE)

I interpret this as that only IF the licence is NOT an international licence, it must be translated and certified by the embassy.

Is this correct, or will my international licence not be accepted if it's not written in English?

Not the answer to your question, but I thought I'd tell you not to worry if it does not work for you.

I just went to get my Thai drivers licence, and since my international licence had just expired, I was required to go through the entire process of getting a Thai licence, including about 6 hours of training and instructional videos in the Thai language I could not understand!

I spent about a week looking at copies of the Thai written driving test my wife downloaded from the internet in preparation for the test.

I was amused to find that there actually are traffic laws against most of the dangerous driving habits I see in Thailand!

Contrary to the horror stories I have read here on TV about how difficult they have recently made the written test ( multiple choice questions, in English on a computer ), every question I had to answer, I had seen on the tests my wife had downloaded for me and passed the test with no problem my first try.

If you have any driving experience at all, the actual driving part of the test is very easy.

So, as I stated above, if you have any problem converting your international DL to Thai DL, just spend a couple of days reviewing the test online and you will have no problem passing the test.

It is not an international driving permit issued according to the various treaties going back to 1926. If it was it would have translations of your Belgium license in some 11 languages, including English.

TH

When I got my Thai license they weren't interested in my international license at all.

Yes, not interested in international one. If you have a english one from your home country, no problem. If you have a not-english one, you need a translation. That was in Chatuchak, but a while back. May have changed.

It is not an international driving permit issued according to the various treaties going back to 1926. If it was it would have translations of your Belgium license in some 11 languages, including English.

TH

Oh damn, thanks for this, my bad. I need to pay more attention to detail - I noticed now that all those empty extra pages are various translations (English too).

It is not an international driving permit issued according to the various treaties going back to 1926. If it was it would have translations of your Belgium license in some 11 languages, including English.

TH

Oh damn, thanks for this, my bad. I need to pay more attention to detail - I noticed now that all those empty extra pages are various translations (English too).

What languages does your home licence have? Give it a go, it might get accepted.

It is not an international driving permit issued according to the various treaties going back to 1926. If it was it would have translations of your Belgium license in some 11 languages, including English.

TH

Oh damn, thanks for this, my bad. I need to pay more attention to detail - I noticed now that all those empty extra pages are various translations (English too).

What languages does your home licence have? Give it a go, it might get accepted.

French, Dutch and German.

Unoftunately today's trip was a waste of time, as the international licence wasn't accepted. It states "Convention.. 1968" and apparently the licence needs to be from another "1949 CONVENTION" instead .

They told me to get the regular one translated at the Belgium Embassy instead and come again.

It is not an international driving permit issued according to the various treaties going back to 1926. If it was it would have translations of your Belgium license in some 11 languages, including English.

TH

Oh damn, thanks for this, my bad. I need to pay more attention to detail - I noticed now that all those empty extra pages are various translations (English too).

What languages does your home licence have? Give it a go, it might get accepted.

French, Dutch and German.

Unoftunately today's trip was a waste of time, as the international licence wasn't accepted. It states "Convention.. 1968" and apparently the licence needs to be from another "1949 CONVENTION" instead .

They told me to get the regular one translated at the Belgium Embassy instead and come again.

not trying to be a 'smart arse' but, according to what i was told back in germany where i grew up, Belgian's were the last european nation to actually HAVE drivers licences. no such thing until 1962 or so??? perhaps the 1949 convention just did not include you?

love your brightly lit highways, but...

happy to be wrong about this!

It is not an international driving permit issued according to the various treaties going back to 1926. If it was it would have translations of your Belgium license in some 11 languages, including English.

TH

Oh damn, thanks for this, my bad. I need to pay more attention to detail - I noticed now that all those empty extra pages are various translations (English too).

What languages does your home licence have? Give it a go, it might get accepted.

French, Dutch and German.

Unoftunately today's trip was a waste of time, as the international licence wasn't accepted. It states "Convention.. 1968" and apparently the licence needs to be from another "1949 CONVENTION" instead .

They told me to get the regular one translated at the Belgium Embassy instead and come again.

Or just forget about that and do the practical test.

not trying to be a 'smart arse' but, according to what i was told back in germany where i grew up, Belgian's were the last european nation to actually HAVE drivers licences. no such thing until 1962 or so??? perhaps the 1949 convention just did not include you?

love your brightly lit highways, but...

happy to be wrong about this!

Hahah.. wouldn't be surprised. They have a special reg plate starting with a number for old people, who can legally drive without a driving licence as they started driving before the licence was introduced

I am not from there by the way, just used to live there for some years.