Five Year Thai Drivers Licence
In order to drive legally in Thailand long term residents are required to apply for a Thai drivers licence. The initial licence is valid for one year after which you need to apply for a five year licence. This is the procedure for obtaining a five year Thai drivers licence which is completed at your local office of the Department of Land Transport.
Documents Required at Land Transport Office.
The documentation required is exactly the same as that which you produce when you apply for your initial(temporary) one year Thai drivers licence with one exception. Instead of producing a valid international drivers licence(or valid home country licence) you replace this with your temporary licence which you surrender.
Procedure at Land Transport Office.
When I renewed my licence the procedure took 10 minutes. I presented a nice neat pack of documents at the reception window including my actual passport and of course the licence I was surrendering. The lady checked the documents and asked for the fee-605 Baht for which I was given a reciept.
I then waited a couple of minutes and had my photograph taken on the machine that produces the actual licence by a very friendly officer who was trying to get me to smile! A further couple of minutes and I was handed my new licence in a nice pink wallet.
There were NO tests(like the first time you apply). A very efficient and pleasant procedure. I now have a Thai drivers licence valid for five years and one month since the expiry date is taken five years from your next birthday(mines in December).
Costs Incurred:
Residency letter from Immigration-500Baht
Doctors certificate of mental and physical fitness to drive-50 Baht
Licence Fees-605 Baht
Photocopies-15 Baht
Notes:
If you wish for both a car and motorcycle licence prepare a pack of documents for each licence, the doctors letter in the second pack may be a photocopy, however the residency letter needs to be original since the Immigration office will insert the type of vehicle licence you are applying for in the text of the document. So two licences e.g. car and motorcycle(they are separate) then two letters from Immigration.
You CANNOT apply for a five year licence UNTIL your one year temporary licence expires. So it must be at least the day after expiry before you apply. You can apply before(say you are going to be out of the country) BUT you will only get another one year temporary licence.
You may apply for a five year licence up to one year after your temporary licence expires. After that time the procedure must be started again.
Apart from driving legally in Thailand there are certain advantages in holding the correct Thai Drivers Licence. Importantly the plastic card acts like an ID card since it also contains your passport number and is readily accepted by the police as proof of identification. That said the law requires foreigners to carry their passport at all times. I tend to have a photocopy of the passport in the car and just produce my licence if stopped.
A second less important(for some) use of the licence is producing it to get into attractions that charge foreigners a different rate to Thais. Usually production of your licence, a big smile and a few words in Thai get you in at a reduced or similar rate to your Thai friends.
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