Getting a motorbike licence

[wildwildbill]

Is this a straight forward process? Can you ride bikes of any size once you have one? Cheers

[rennie1988]

How long are you staying? You might find it easier to get an international driving permit

[gk10002000]

what country are you a citizen of?  Are you licensed to drive a motorbike in that country or state?  Don't forget looking into driving insurance.  If you are an american, have an auto driver license, your vehicle insurance will likely only cover auto driving. 

[Kwasaki]

4 hours ago, wildwildbill said:

1.  Is this a straight forward process?

2.  Can you ride bikes of any size once you have one? Cheers

1. If you have home full driving licence that has motorcycle included. Yes if not No.

 

2. Yes.

 

Thailand motor & bike forum has info on applying for Thai DL's.

Edited June 19, 2017 by Kwasaki

[malt25]

I had never ridden or owned a motorbike before coming to Thailand. I gained my license on the second attempt. Didn't get enough questions correct first test. Riding test is a joke. Rode about 200 meters & the official wasn't watching. I'd guess most testing centers are the same.

Yes, once you have your license you can ride whatever you like.

I was 68 when I took the test.

Cheers.

[wildwildbill]

Sorry, should have given more detail:

 

UK citizen

Coming to Thailand for 12-15 months on a non imm 'o' visa

No UK bike licence (car only) but spent a few years on bikes living in Thailand. Want to go legit this time

[wildwildbill]

19 hours ago, malt25 said:

I had never ridden or owned a motorbike before coming to Thailand. I gained my license on the second attempt. Didn't get enough questions correct first test. Riding test is a joke. Rode about 200 meters & the official wasn't watching. I'd guess most testing centers are the same.

Yes, once you have your license you can ride whatever you like.

I was 68 when I took the test.

Cheers.

Yes, this will be me. So you failed the theory? Did you have to do it in Thai or something?

[malt25]

7 hours ago, wildwildbill said:

Yes, this will be me. So you failed the theory? Did you have to do it in Thai or something?

Na, I thought I was smarter than I actually am & rushed through the test. Silly ol fart.

[WhyYouTalkMeBad]

There is a guy on Craigslist bangkok selling "genuine" motorcycle licences for 5k

[Kwasaki]

7 hours ago, wildwildbill said:

Sorry, should have given more detail:

 

UK citizen

Coming to Thailand for 12-15 months on a non imm 'o' visa

No UK bike licence (car only) but spent a few years on bikes living in Thailand. Want to go legit this time

UK photocard car licence will get you a 2 year Thai DL at your nearest DLT office IMO get that asap if you want to drive a car.

Thai motorcycle DL you get at same office but you need to go through the test process,  as mentioned there are quicker ways available at the moment. 

[topt]

2 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

UK photocard car licence will get you a 2 year Thai DL at your nearest DLT office IMO get that asap if you want to drive a car.

Thai motorcycle DL you get at same office but you need to go through the test process,  as mentioned there are quicker ways available at the moment. 

Depending on the office you use you may get lucky.

Worth investing in an IDP before you come (£5.50 at a post office) and then applying for both licences at the same time. I did this some years ago and was given a car and bike licence even though, like you,  I had no UK bike riding experience and the IDP did not mention a bike endorsement. I also did not sit through any tests other than the basic colour, vision and reaction ones but that was some years ago.

 

Comments directed to the OP not Kwasaki of course

Edited June 20, 2017 by topt

[wildwildbill]

Yeh got a IDP from the Post Office last year when I came on holiday last year. I will try and apply for a cheeky bike and car licence too. TBH my licence has pics of bikes on the back and various codes, so I doubt a Thai official is going to look too closely into whether I am licenced in the UK or not! What is the cost for a two year licence? 

[Kwasaki]

2 hours ago, topt said:

Depending on the office you use you may get lucky.

Worth investing in an IDP before you come (£5.50 at a post office) and then applying for both licences at the same time. I did this some years ago and was given a car and bike licence even though, like you,  I had no UK bike riding experience and the IDP did not mention a bike endorsement. I also did not sit through any tests other than the basic colour, vision and reaction ones but that was some years ago.

 

Comments directed to the OP not Kwasaki of course

OK history, you were lucky 2 times simple as that TiT,  l would think that it would be something different for the OP now.

 

[Kwasaki]

10 minutes ago, wildwildbill said:

Yeh got a IDP from the Post Office last year when I came on holiday last year. I will try and apply for a cheeky bike and car licence too. TBH my licence has pics of bikes on the back and various codes, so I doubt a Thai official is going to look too closely into whether I am licenced in the UK or not! What is the cost for a two year licence? 

l would ask what is the cost of your life without proper motorcycle training. 

[stubuzz]

1 hour ago, wildwildbill said:

TBH my licence has pics of bikes on the back and various codes, so I doubt a Thai official is going to look too closely into whether I am licenced in the UK or not! What is the cost for a two year licence? 

15 years ago when i applied for my licenses, i had to give them something like this.

[topt]

17 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

l would ask what is the cost of your life without proper motorcycle training. 

Kwasaki I hope you are not suggesting that if he takes the "full" Thai test he will actually be trained to ride............

Unfortunately many of us who move here have not ridden motor cycles in our home countries and getting proper training is not a very viable option. Not saying that's right but it is what it is. Just as most Thai driver training in cars teaches them to pass a test which actually has little to do with actually driving on the roads.

[howard ashoul]

17 hours ago, wildwildbill said:

Yeh got a IDP from the Post Office last year when I came on holiday last year. I will try and apply for a cheeky bike and car licence too. TBH my licence has pics of bikes on the back and various codes, so I doubt a Thai official is going to look too closely into whether I am licenced in the UK or not! What is the cost for a two year licence? 

Car licence and motocycle licence are two separate ID. Not one as in UK.

 

To get car licence, you have to have UK car licence. To get motocycle licence, you have to have UK motocycle licence.

 

Although I assume in UK car and motocycle are on one card, there are 2 cards. Two times more paperwork.

[Kwasaki]

3 hours ago, topt said:

Kwasaki I hope you are not suggesting that if he takes the "full" Thai test he will actually be trained to ride...

No of course not    what can l say other than people wanting to ride motorcycles who have not ridden on roads should be very aware of their vulnerability.

 

Ride for several hours in a quiet or deserted area so you can concentrate on control of the bike,  experience heavy braking and build up speed gradually.    

 

Don't wanna ram western practices down peoples throats just wanna see em safe,  in the UK to obtain a motorbike licence is a pain but l support it.  

[ben2talk]

I'm going to get flamed here - but here goes. You can look into it when you come, but don't get too worried about it (depends partly on where you're going, if it's Pattaya then all bets are off).

 

Since 2001 I rode bikes almost daily here - from scooters to my GSX-R750. I had accidents and went to court once... Insurance always paid, and I had no problem with my licence.

 

 

I would avoid Pattaya though... and I wouldn't recommend anyone with less than 5 years of experience riding bikes in the UK doing it here...

 

Edited June 21, 2017 by ben2talk
disclaimer

[Mover1]

I've just got a Thai bike license this month, it wasn't as straightforward as others have mentioned! Haha. When i applied i was given a ticket to come back TWO months later and do what i thought was the rest. Turns out that was to be tested on whether you can tell green/red/amber lights apart, then sit through 4 hours of mind numbingly boring (and a bit strange) videos about road safety, then do a multiple choice theory test afterwards - which i failed. I got 43 out of 50 right, the pass is 45 out of 50. Two weeks later i went back and took the test again, and failed again (42), but was told to take it again straight after, then passed it :) Then onto the practical test on the little training course. The examiner walks everyone round and tells you what they want you to do, its not difficult. Consists of three tasks - go / stop at lights - go along a raised 2ft wide, 20 ft long platform for no shorter than 10 seconds to test your balance - then go round a roundabout. It's hard to fail that to be honest, and then that qualifies you to drive any size bike you like! No wonder the roads are dangerous lol. Total outlay around 800baht for application and docs, plus petrol, and about 8-9 hours of time spent  i'd guess. Bit of ball ache but what isn't eh? It was pretty frustrating at times because you're sort of left in the lurch after each thing, i'm sure it could've been done in much less time.

 

Anyway, having a Thai bike license is great. Today me and a mate got stopped at a police check and the copper was well happy that i'd made the effort to get a Thai license, my mate on the other hand was fined 500 baht for not having any license on him. Well worth the time and effort IMO.

[howard ashoul]

17 minutes ago, Mover1 said:

I've just got a Thai bike license this month, it wasn't as straightforward as others have mentioned! Haha. When i applied i was given a ticket to come back TWO months later and do what i thought was the rest. Turns out that was to be tested on whether you can tell green/red/amber lights apart, then sit through 4 hours of mind numbingly boring (and a bit strange) videos about road safety, then do a multiple choice theory test afterwards - which i failed. I got 43 out of 50 right, the pass is 45 out of 50. Two weeks later i went back and took the test again, and failed again (42), but was told to take it again straight after, then passed it :) Then onto the practical test on the little training course. The examiner walks everyone round and tells you what they want you to do, its not difficult. Consists of three tasks - go / stop at lights - go along a raised 2ft wide, 20 ft long platform for no shorter than 10 seconds to test your balance - then go round a roundabout. It's hard to fail that to be honest, and then that qualifies you to drive any size bike you like! No wonder the roads are dangerous lol. Total outlay around 800baht for application and docs, plus petrol, and about 8-9 hours of time spent  i'd guess. Bit of ball ache but what isn't eh? It was pretty frustrating at times because you're sort of left in the lurch after each thing, i'm sure it could've been done in much less time.

 

Anyway, having a Thai bike license is great. Today me and a mate got stopped at a police check and the copper was well happy that i'd made the effort to get a Thai license, my mate on the other hand was fined 500 baht for not having any license on him. Well worth the time and effort IMO.

If you had letter from from your embassy (translated to thai, legalized at Thai Ministry of foreign affairs) stating, that you are holder of driving licence in your country, you would skip 4 hour class/50 question test/pratical test.

 

You would show letter from embassy, do green/yellow/red test and was given driving ID. 

[wildwildbill]

Thanks for all the comments. Sounds like I need to save up 800 Baht and plan for a day out in some government office, with possibly a test or two thrown in. I will probably go with my wife too who also needs a licence and has a UK one too and can aid with translation. 

 

I was planning on doing my UK bike licence before heading over, however we've decided to head over sooner so no time. I have rode a motor bike mainly around Chiang Mai for over two years but agree it would be nice to actually get some formal training. Experience on the road though is really what makes you safe or not. 

[Kwasaki]

8 hours ago, wildwildbill said:

I was planning on doing my UK bike licence before heading over

Your lucky you'll get your Thai DL lot easier and cheaper and less hassle in Thailand.

I'll think it's 2 day for motorbike DL from scratch in most DLT's.

Many TV threads knocking about on Thai DL's.

Goodluck,  Ride to Live.