Fees for temporary driving licenses up 100 percent beginning May 23

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Fees for temporary driving licenses up 100 percent beginning May 23



BANGKOK: -- Beginning May 23, the Land Transport Department will double the fees for temporary driving licenses for private cars, samlors and motorcycles and, at the same time, double the expiry period of the licenses from one to two years.

The new fees for a temporary driving license for private cars, samlors and motorcycles will be 200 baht, 100 baht and 100 baht respectively. The expiry period of the licenses is two years instead of one.

Land Transport Department deputy director-general Mr Nanthapong Cherdchoo maintained that, in a way, the department did not increase the fees for temporary driving licenses because expiry period was extended to two years instead of one.

Holders of temporary driving licenses can upgrade the licenses to five-year licenses after one year of obtaining the temporary licenses, he said.

As for cars which are brought into the country by visiting tourists for tourism purpose, the tourists must seek permission from Land Transport Department in order to obtain a plate for the use of the cars in Thailand. The fee is 500 baht for a car and 200 baht for a motorcycle.

Cars which are brought into the country for tests before production are charged 2,000 baht in fees each while motorcycles are charged 1,000 baht each. Cars for test runs are charged 5,000 baht each.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/content/163677


-- Thai PBS 2016-05-18

[stoneyboy]

Thought they were free if you sent 4 empty packets of Mama noodles and a stamped addressed envelope.

[andrew55]

Not sure that it's fair to headline the the fee as having a 100% increase when they've doubled the licence's duration at the same time.

I'm going to go and get my abacus and run the numbers...

[Thechook]

My wife's driver licence is for life, she never has to renew it.

[stevenl]

In march 2015 the temporary licence was already changed from 1 to 2 years.

Very strange article.

[apetley]

My wife's driver licence is for life, she never has to renew it.

Lifetime Thai drivers licence stopped being issued years ago although they remain valid.

[Pimay1]

In march 2015 the temporary licence was already changed from 1 to 2 years.

Very strange article.

You're correct. I got mine June 11, 2015. They expire June 11 , 2017

[Bear0Mack]

The part about being able to renew the temporary licenses to 5 year licenses after 1 year is no longer true. They will initially tell you to go and pay 500 baht and waste away a few hours or a few weeks to get a document that lists your address, which you ultimately just tell them anyway and then you will be told you can't apply for the 5 year license. For those of us that use tourist visas of any kind, I have been informed directly by the staff at Mo Chit that they refuse to renew my license for a 5 year license. Therefore, they also refuse to issue me an IDP. Extremely frustrating to say the least.

[johng]

They won't give you a 5 year license because you don't have a long term visa...I've also heard that those with "Thailand elite" visas are only eligible for temporary licenses too.

[stevenl]

The part about being able to renew the temporary licenses to 5 year licenses after 1 year is no longer true. They will initially tell you to go and pay 500 baht and waste away a few hours or a few weeks to get a document that lists your address, which you ultimately just tell them anyway and then you will be told you can't apply for the 5 year license. For those of us that use tourist visas of any kind, I have been informed directly by the staff at Mo Chit that they refuse to renew my license for a 5 year license. Therefore, they also refuse to issue me an IDP. Extremely frustrating to say the least.

Yes, correct, officially a non-immigrant visa is required for a 5 year licence.

[KhunBENQ]

In march 2015 the temporary licence was already changed from 1 to 2 years.

Very strange article.

They simply forgot to double the fee

[lordblackader]

Odd, obtained my temporary license in February, got two years, the cost was also 405 baht., maybe there's farang pricing?

[andrew55]

Yes, correct, officially a non-immigrant visa is required for a 5 year licence.

Perhaps this rule is not always enforced.

I am on my third 5-year licence after an initial 1-year.

I have only ever had a 30-day visa exempt status. I do have the other required paperwork. I also have a lot of Buddhas on my dashboard.

[tigergrl]

i got stopped by police yesterday where they showed me a colourful brochure about having a driving license (which now i realise they meant
a temporary thai one) and the cop was excited pointing to the line where it said "a fine of not more than 1000 baht" to which i said incredulously
"1000 BAHT!!" and he said, "Ok, 500." i realise ignorance of questionable and sketchy laws is no excuse.. but i really had no idea i could get
a temporary thai license.

[Bear0Mack]

I go as fast as I can when I see the police. Nothing good can come of them.

[stoli]

In march 2015 the temporary licence was already changed from 1 to 2 years.

Very strange article.

Yes, they have already changed the temp to 2 years, but not the price before. Since it cost 5 times as much to get a 5 year license over the 1 year temp, this move to double it for 2 years makes sense. This is still chump change, as I am sure that the OP understands, or hopefully so. The 100% increase is to make it a news story. Why the OP didn't say going up 100 baht meant that no one would care to read his post I guess.

[Tomtomtom69]

Interesting that they slip in that paragraph about foreign cars brought into the country for tourism purposes at the end of the article. How is that relevant to this fee increase?

That particular law is scheduled to go into effect on June 27. Originally, the LTD had announced May 23rd along with this rule, because some idiot decided to publish two things at once, making us confused. Here's a suggestion: write a separate article for each news story. The fee increase is worthy of it's own article, while the foreign car rules has absolutely nothing to do with getting a licence in Thailand.

Foreign car rules are aimed at foreign tourists (not Thais), while local licences are for Thais and expats. Don't mix up the two.