Thai Driving licence

Renewed my license to a 5yr. last March. They only gave me a couple of extra months and it does expire on my birthday in May 4 years from now. Sounds like you got a little bonus.

the writer of the sanook column in the bkk post wrote how he took the thai driving test and at first i thaught he was taking the p/// out of the thai. the test consists of driving round a mock up of a road while someone watches you.they are not in the car. what got me was at the end of the test you must park the car within two meters of the road side. there was also a greeter 200 meters from the test site who for 500 baht would get you through the test.i suppose things have changed since but looking at driving standards ????

Hi,
Stargate.
It's still like that. Wife took hers, went wrong way round the roundabout and the tester was so busy talking to a lady he did not notice it.
You had to park between some bollards. One Thai lady knocked all the bollards down and parked at 45 degrees to pavement. Guess what she passed. No wonder driving standards are bad. I had a good 2 hrs watching this while wife was taken the written test etc. Wife said one person took the test three times, that day, before she passed.
Parrot. A couple of months ago a driving instructor was offering a 7 day intensive driving course with a pass on your test on the seventh day. On this site. Can't remember all the details or phone number. Other board members might be able to help

Here it is.....udon-thani-driving-school-t12510.html

Update on the International driving licence , it has been talked about that the IDL from Western countries is only valid for a period not exceeding 30 days. With that thought in mind anyone using an IDL for longer periods could fall foul of the Police, now to many the small fine incurred is not a lot, but before one considers treating this post as a joke, consider if you had an accident then the full might of Thai law would come into play and the results could be draconian. Therefore anyone failingto acquire a Thai driving licence who has lived here for more than 30days would be a foolish person.

far be it for me to advise all those who treat Thai police as stupid but they are not , neither are the Insurance companies they are also fully aware that the IDL is only valid if the holder also has a full valid DL from their own country.

So take note people get sorted before the police act. As is often said, most accidents are trivial but more often than not most farangs are not at fault, BUT if the DL is not valid then neither is the INS, and the right of that person to be on the road is also removed so be careful, they are catching up and fast. .

i have a idl and it says valid for 12 months.last week driving back to udon from pattaya i was stoped boys in brown asked for my driving licence uk then i showed him then he asked for my idl which i had with me. then he said u speeding then my wife said what about the two cars that passed us like a bat out of hell he said ok beer chang i acted as if i was stupid i said i no drink.he just waved us off.i have a thai driving licence in cases of speeding i would rather use my uk licence.

MALC wrote:i have a idl and it says valid for 12 months.last week driving back to udon from pattaya i was stoped boys in brown asked for my driving licence uk then i showed him then he asked for my idl which i had with me. then he said u speeding then my wife said what about the two cars that passed us like a bat out of hell he said ok beer chang i acted as if i was stupid i said i no drink.he just waved us off.i have a thai driving licence in cases of speeding i would rather use my uk licence.

Good to see you ran into an Honest Cop Malc, otherwise we would have had to post bail for you

The rules do appear to have changed slightly in the UK now Jack.
On the AA page about applying for an IDP it now contains the following note:

2. Persons going to a country to take up residence or employment, or for any reason other than tourism, should make enquiries about their personal position before relying on a permit.

http://www.theaa.com/getaway/idp/

This might look like a small change, but it did not used to be there - no mention was made previously about the use of an IDP possibly being restricted to holders of a Tourist visa only. It is certainly handing back the rules governing the use of IDPs to local authorities. As a Tourist Visa lasts 60 days & are repeatable (howbeit not for ever) I can't see that Thailand could restrict the use of IDPs to 30 days using that, but, technically, would appear to be able to introduce a 30 day limit under this for persons on everything other than a Tourist visa..

I was directed towards the AA site to examine the rules associated with a IDP by the UK Government's Direct Gov site. So while it is not 'official' I would suspect that it is as probably as good a piece of advice as is available to UK citizens without paying for legal advice.