Thai D.Licence for life @ AEK D.Centre

douglas wrote:Hi,
Called in the Udon Lic. center when coming back from Kalasin this week. Showed them my Thai driving Lic'c, and asked them can i now get a lifetime one. The answer was no. and they said my Thai D.L.'s for Bike and car, had another 3 years to run. When that expires you will be issued with another five year Thai D.L.'s.
My friend in Kalasin had a one year Thai D.L. and he asked them if he could get a lifetime one, He is only 50 and thought it would be cheaper for him and less bother than changing every five years. They smiled and said, no sir, so he ended up getting a five year one. TIT.
I would like to see one of these beasties. Or hear from someone who has obtained one. Cheers Doug.

My wife has one. The only difference to my 5yr license, mine has a purple colored strip near the top, hers has a red colored strip with the words "Type Life Time Private Car".

Just checking if the TDL place is still open underneath AEK Udon and what their hours are.

I got my first 5-year TDL a couple of years ago and it wasn't until a few weeks later that a car rental shop noted there was no expiration date... it was blank. They accepted it and I never bothered to get that changed. Do you reckon it's worth the extra time & expense to get this corrected? When they gave me the license, they asked me to check the details and I only checked that the name and DOB was correct. They didn't see their mistake either.

Thanks,
tam

Perhaps we don't qualify for lifetime driving licence on account of being a foreigner, only here as a Non-Immigrant.

OT's wife (who can be a bit of a handful) has told me that she has set fire to OT's Thai driving licence among other things during one of the tantrums I had caused her. So rather go through all the hassle of getting another Thai licence I got an international one from the Post Office here in the UK yesterday. Cost me £5.50, took 10 minutes and lasts for a year. It acts as both car and motorcyle license as per my UK licence.
Just another way of driving legally in Thailand without going through the Thai Driving Licence system.

OT...................

i have just checked with the wife to make sure the following is true.two years ago i bought the car, my wife told me she was very lucky because 30 years ago her father told her to get a driving licence, this is for car and motor bike and for life. if she had not done so she would have had to get a driving licence for the car and after the first year she would only get a licence for five years.

old-timer wrote:OT's wife (who can be a bit of a handful) has told me that she has set fire to OT's Thai driving licence among other things during one of the tantrums I had caused her. So rather go through all the hassle of getting another Thai licence I got an international one from the Post Office here in the UK yesterday. Cost me £5.50, took 10 minutes and lasts for a year. It acts as both car and motorcyle license as per my UK licence.
Just another way of driving legally in Thailand without going through the Thai Driving Licence system.

OT...................

I am not sure that is correct legally OT in relation to the countries / Thailands laws on their use.

I was led to believe you can only drive on the international DL for 3 months and then you must apply for a Thai one.

I got a yellow document with mine in the UK some time ago listing the amount of time you are legally covered by the way for many countries, one of them being Thailand.

While it is a 12 month issue I also believe it says somewhere in this leaflet a reference to check locally in the country you are using it ?

It is important as you will appreciate that the letter of the Thai law is followed to the letter ( well for farang anyway ) as otherwise your insurance will be void after this 3 month period.

You may well get away with it if what I read up on previously is correct, but as you know should you need to call on your cover God Forbid they will go for this straight away to avoid paying out.

Take care and perhaps you can post any later interpretations on this issue from the Thai law that differ from my observations.

Drive as safely as you can weaving among the no brainers and idiots on the roads.

marshbags