Want a driving license? Just go to a driving school

[LivinLOS]

4 hours ago, fruitman said:

5 whopping hours! And there's me with my European licenses which took me 50-60 hours of driving together with an instructor in real traffic and costed me 200.000 baht. I also had to do 10 hours of theory and do an exam for that as well.

 

I did 3 hours of driving lessons.. 

 

I had been driving cars off road since about 12 though so.. 

[IMA_FARANG]

WWhen i was 16nyears old in the U.S. I took a Drivers Education Course at my school to learn to drive.

The real reason for that was that drivers were requies to get insurance to drive a car.

And,

 

[Daryle]

WWhen i was 16nyears old in the U.S. I took a Drivers Education Course at my school to learn to drive.
The real reason for that was that drivers were requies to get insurance to drive a car.
And,
 

Thai drivers don't need lessons or insurance because they are such good drivers [emoji2]

Sent from my SM-T530 using Tapatalk

[outsider]

More incompetent nitwits behind the wheel, then.

[alphaflight]

13 minutes ago, edwinchester said:

Almost every one of my Thai friends back in the UK has taken and passed the driving test there.

They all said it was not easy but it shows what they and indeed anyone is capable of when they want to.

They also must have stated that the actual practice of driving is much easier now, that they are in the UK?

[Broken Record]

I took my UK test in a Triumph Vitesse 2.0  that I had been driving about in as a Learner Driver, piece of cake back in the day, I think things have changed now.

[bkkgriz]

Good lord, if anything they should be making it MORE difficult to get a license. Being all too aware of the academic and school culture of Thailand, how long will it be before we are reading about stories of schools not doing any teaching and just giving out certificates upon payment? Yet another recipe for disaster. 

[Kasset Tak]

Woo hoo... I think I will get myself a Thai drivers license if all I need is a 5 hour course!

 

3 hours ago, tingtong said:

93 private schools nationwide?

 

those unlucky, might have to go to the next province to school, i guess that fill the figures on the practical hours.

5 hours with instructor, 2-5 times driving across the province to school for another 4-5 hour per occasions or more unsupervised?

in the "old" system students had to provide their own car for the driving test, bet nothing has changed much on that part. 

amulet sales will rise.

 

Seatbelts = safety for foreigners
Amulets = safety for Thais

 

[irwinfc]

regulations tantamount to corruption. be prepared to see "blind" people with driver's licenses. 

[Chicog]

The way some people drive, I'd guess they haven't had five minutes of instruction, let alone five hours.

[ttl]

Before the prospect gets anywhere near a car they need to obtain a copy of the ROAD CODE (NZ is a good example and available on line should you wish to check) www.nzta.govt.nz/resources/road code. There are 4 categories of vehicles covered seprerately

I do not think Thailand have such documents,why not.?

There may be more than one written test,and the acceptable accuracy is quite high 85% from memory   This leads to a driving test IN TRAFFIC,WITH AN INSPECTOR.who produces a document  for filing,indicating fail  and need for redrive or pass.

Then the other thing missing here is ENFORCEMENT!

 

 

[maoro2013]

This is more than a bit scary.

 

The money trail now has a new direction!

[wvavin]

A sure population reduction formula and resulting in great shortfall in the crematoriums.

[JustNo]

wow there was me thinking Thailand will progress in the next few decades with clamp downs on people in the back of trucks, 4 people on a bike etc, you know like developed countries; this seems like a step backwards lol... 

[The Old Bull]

4 hours ago, smedly said:

to keep them right all they have to do is send in a bogus applicant with the intention of slipping them a back hander to get the certificate - then introduce stiff penalties for those caught taking a bribe - like a mandatory jail sentence and stiff fine plus revoke the operators licence - that should work

it won't work because of the low hanging fruit the Thai legal system feeds off. The money in the envelope goes all the way up the chain but it's the bottom end guys that go to jail and they are soon replaced.

[IMA_FARANG]

When i was in high school in the U.S., which was long ago in 1961, there was a school sponsored course called Drivers Education.

The reason we took that course to get our driver's license was that the license required insurance to drive a car on the highway and taking he course meant a large reduction in the cost of the insurance if you completed the course.

My father who was going to be paying for the insurance insisted I take the course to get my liscense.

We were taught to drive by special teachers who got a small amount extra for teaching the Driver's Education Course from our state government.

The Teachers had to be certified by the state to teach that course.

As I recall they were all male teachers then.

I wonder if they still have such a thing in the U.S. now?

 

[Yann55]

5 hours ago, Tallviking said:

And the driving school are not in any danger of being corrupt ?

 

No checks´s and balance-system  ?

 

Perish the thought(s) !!

[alex8912]

Does anyone know if you need any special visa to get your first license under this plan? Or my exact question would be: is someone on a METV able to get a drivers license?  I do have a drivers license from my current country and a METV.  Thanks. 

[HappyinNE]

Two comments:

First I got my first Thailand drivers license  by just showing my valid California (USA) drivers license pay 20 Baht for the picture and I was finished.

Secondly my wife who is Thai went to a driving school in Udon Thani (we live in Nong Khai) for one week.  When she finished she was not given a license because she had to go to the office in Nong Khai.  After that we went for a drive.  I am a former US Navy primary flight instructor and she scared the devil out of me.  Worse than all of my students expect one who tried to kill us three times on one flight.

This was followed by one month of very gentle instruction and now she is a good driver.

[jesimps]

4 hours ago, soalbundy said:

and they still have accidents in Europe, quite amazing really.

Yes accidents will always happen, some places much more than others. I think it's safe to assume the better the training, the less frequent the accidents.

[Matthew2027]

5 5 5

[wombat]

4 hours ago, fruitman said:

5 whopping hours! And there's me with my European licenses which took me 50-60 hours of driving together with an instructor in real traffic and costed me 200.000 baht. I also had to do 10 hours of theory and do an exam for that as well.

 

back in the mists of time if you made it round the block and back to the examiners desk at motor registry in one piece and answered 10 questions..... i had my license......my skills were later honed driving with one hand over one eye to stop the double vision, but thats another story.

 

[DinoSabanovic]

Haha, I love this LA LA Land.

[maxpower]

Gave the info to a Thai guy in our office. He is dancing with joy because his sisters husband works at a driving school.

[hobobo]

5 hours ago, Tallviking said:

And the driving school are not in any danger of being corrupt ?

 

No checks´s and balance-system  ?

I doubt it - after all they are recognised by Khun Sanit's department. Surely their word is like a bond!

[LivinginKata]

47 minutes ago, alex8912 said:

Does anyone know if you need any special visa to get your first license under this plan? Or my exact question would be: is someone on a METV able to get a drivers license?  I do have a drivers license from my current country and a METV.  Thanks. 

 

Tourist Visa should be just fine to get a Thai DL ... 

[alex8912]

3 minutes ago, LivinginKata said:

 

Tourist Visa should be just fine to get a Thai DL ... 

Great. Thanks 

[Clarinet man]

4 hours ago, Bill3173 said:

Four years ago my daughter obtained her drivers licence in Victoria Australia. First was the learners permit, then 120 hours driving on the road  with a fully qualified driver (yes 120 hours, a log book had to be kept). Took nearly a year to to obtain the hours, plus she had professional lessons near the end before drivers test. 5 hours here in Thailand seems ridiculous. 

Australian  rules are a bit over the top!  But this is ridiculous. Anyway traffic  lights  are only a suggestion.  I have gone through  red lights  in fear of the truck behind me didn't  stop, 9 times out of 10 times they didn't  stop. 

[NoshowJones]

6 hours ago, Tallviking said:

And the driving school are not in any danger of being corrupt ?

 

No checks´s and balance-system  ?

Corruption in Thailand, no, no, wherever did you hear that? I made a poster angry for even suggesting it.

[NoshowJones]

5 hours ago, Lammbock said:

Corruption I see on the horizon. (Certificate for cash)

No.no, you should not mention corruption, we are guests in this country, if you don't like it go home.