Drivers licence (21.5.2008)

You need to have the following:

  • proof that you are 18 years old (15 years is enough if you are applying for a licence for a motorcycle under 90cc)
  • permission of stay for 30 days or a visa in your passport
  • one doctor's certificate per license (issued by any local doctor / not older than 30 days. Expenses are normally between 80-200 Thai baht. The doctor's certificate affirms that you are healthy.)
  • residency certification. This is issued by the immigration police and you can obtain it within a few hours . You have to give a lease/ house register book/ land title deed, two passport photos and 200 Thai baht to the immigration police. All the certifications must have been issued within the last 30 days.
  • your own driving license. International driving permit is accepted. Get the translation from the embassy, where it costs 500 Thai baht.This translation is needed because the authorities in Thailand cannot know every driving license in the world. There are about 190 countries which issue drivers licenses and in many countries there are 2-3 different licenses. So authorities would have to know hundreds of different licenses.

Take 3 copies of all these documents. Also from your drivers license, passport, TM-card (which you filled during the flight and which was attached to your passport) and also from your visa. You should confirm all the copies with your signature too.

When you go to the local authority, you should apply for two drivers licenses: one for motorcycles and one for cars. In the office you can find forms which are only in Thai language, but the staff will help you with it.

It might happen that they test your vision and reactions, even if you bring the necessary doctor's certificate. Your vision is tested with differently colored traffic lights and as soon as the color of the light changes you should react accordingly. Your perception of distance is tested with two sticks. You are supposed to move them to same distance from yourself. Your field of vision is tested by looking forward and then different colored spots will appear on either your left or right side and you have to tell what color it is. The tests are simple for people without disabilities.

If you don't have a drivers license in your native country:

You must apply for a new license by taking a written test and driving test. Go to the office with the documents mentioned above and fill in the form which you can find on the second floor on the table next to the stairs. Then wait for your turn at desk number 5. There you will get the waiting number. Now you wait until your number is called and then proceed to desk number 1. The officer will go through your papers. Then they will call you and take you to the testing room where following tests will be made:

  1. Colour test
  2. Vision test
  3. Breaking test
  4. Distance test

After these tests you will sign up for the written test, which is made with a computer. Before the test you will watch a video about traffic rules, which lasts about an hour. After the video you will come back to the room where you will be given a card, which you put in the computer and start the test. You will answer to 30 questions. You may fail 7 of those and still pass the test. You can try the test two times. If you failed the first time remember to check which answers were wrong. If you fail two times - come back tomorrow! There is a training machine in the lobby, which you can use.

Driving test is last and it is made behind the office. If you drive with a motorcycle, follow the others and stop  when there is a STOP-sign or pedestrian crossing. The hardest part is to drive on a board, which is 30 centimeters wide and 15 meters long. If you fall of it, test will be failed and you can try it again on the next day. Driving with a car hardest part is to park. Listen the teacher's advises, which will be given with rather fluent English.

After test go back to the office when they say (can be next day) and wait for your turn at desk number 2, where you will pay the license. A drivers license for a motorcycle costs 55 Thai baht and for a car its 105 Thai baht. You will also pay for photographs and printing 100 Thai baht. After paying wait for the photographs and then wait for your license to be issued. In the same time you will pay 10 Thai baht for the card and you will receive receipts for what you have paid.

REMEMBER!

The driving test is done with a vehicle you have brought there. At least in Pattaya there are vehicle renting places near the office.

Remember to keep your driving lights on. In the driving test they will test the hill start, parking and etc.

This driving license is valid a year. After a year you can apply for five years permanent license. Before applying, your first (one year license) should be "out of date". But if it has been about 6 months out of date, you can only get a license for one year again.

If you apply for a five years license, go to the same office with your license, passport and visa copies. This five years license costs for a car 555 Thai baht and for a motorcycle 305 Thai baht. After the five years license you can apply a permanent license, which is valid until you are 64 years old. Then you can only apply for a year at a time.

You can also apply for an international license with your Thai drivers license, but only if you have a permanent license. This costs 505 Thai baht. This can only be applied for in Bangkok and in Chiang Mai from the Department of Land Transports. This license is valid for a year and it applies everywhere else than Thailand.

Traffic violations are punished!

If you do a traffic violation in Thailand you will not only get fined but you will also get points from 10 to 40 depending on what you did. Once you have gathered 60 points you will be given a 90 day driving ban. If you get two of these bans during the same calendar year, you have to take the driving test again.

The biggest fine you can get is 10 000 Thai baht. For driving under the influence of alcohol you could be sentenced to 3 months prison accommodation as well (you will have to be seriously wasted for that free accommodation tho). Please keep in mind that Thailand's prisons are no joke! When driving with a car everybody has to wear a seat belt and with a motorcycle you need a helmet.

Turning with a motorcycle you should show your attention with your right hand (on both ways). When turning left, wave your right hand above your head to the left! This is what the law says but hardly anyone sticks to it. In fact, I have not seen anyone waving the right hand over the head when turning.

Update to drivers license matter:

Get your residency certificate in Thailand, not in your homeland! It costs way less and it is faster. So get it from your local Immigration Police with 200 Thai baht.