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Wow! I'm seeing the web site from the HKT office and ThaiVisa tell me that I don''t need an addy or meddy for renewal and I can do it up 1 year after me expiry date????

 

Last week I had a TG burn many minutes of AIS ime on hold o the office in Suk....The Concied at the J.W. had the phone program try many times with no ansser....

 

 

what about change of address...I guess you would need a new addy then as you would be at a new office etc.

 

I'll have a got first not showing the meddy/addy etc.

Reporting back in a few weeks.......

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thanks,,,,of the many places to look it seems that you can go in with your DL up to 1 year old. If you've the first (temp) one valid for 1 year you have to wait for the full year to renew. a lost DL on the first one gets you another 1year. I guess they want you to have a clean year. Meaning you could pay your way out of anything that came up....

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According to the treaty that provides for International Driving Permits, the maximum period of validity is 1 year.

 

You may be able to buy a 10 year permit, but it is not valid. Having said that, some police in this country may accept it -you never know. But that's the problem. Better to have a valid driving license from your home country and a valid International Driving Permit, or a Thai driving license -that way you will be both legal and sure of where you stand.

 

My notes from going through the Thai driving license process a few months ago:

 

You'll need the following:

a valid passport with a valid non-immigrant visa

a valid International or local driver's license

a medical certificate

two - 1"1" color photos

a certificate of residency

105 Baht for an automobile driving license.

 

You'll also need to have several pages of your passport copied:

data page

visa

last entry stamp

departure card

 

1. get there early - any later than 10AM might force you to go there the

next day

 

2. you can get an auto license - a motorcycle license requires a test, unless you have a motorcycle license already.

 

3. even with a medical certificate, you'll take a vision test.

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suadum said:

Wifey sez I was wrong and that is correct. To renew, you only need the old license and an ID (obviously passport for us farangs). No idea on how long you have to renew.

 

Cheers,

SD

 

I renewed mine in late 2005, for both car and motobike, down past On Nut on sukhumvit. In my case, they wanted:

 

1) Passport with valid non-imm visa. Also a work permit, if applicable. Had to make numerous copies of certain pages in the passport and sign them each.

 

2) Completed forms. Everything was in Thai so the guy at the initial counter completed it for me.

 

3) 4 pics

 

4) Old DL

 

5) Certificate of residence from the embassy. Note: the guy told me this is only needed to get the 5 years DL. Without the certificate I could renew it only for one year, subject to points 1 to 4. Easy choice, I returned the following day with the certificate......!

 

Was cheap (can't remember) and the whole process went by pretty quickly. Also note that i was NOT asked to provide a medical certificate.

 

The guy told me this is the proper process, although i can't vouch for this in other places....

 

Hope this helps.

 

Cheers,

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Looks as if TIT is in play as usual. The med is a 150 10 min visit and you may not eve see the Dr. Proff of res etc can be a number of ways the worst being the embassy letter....OK, so how much trouble wouild you go to so as to avoid the DL visit for 5 years....remember the DL is valid for 5 years....Yeah, go for the 5 year because the Polizza prefer it and that is what a Thai DL is all about. I got in a fender bender, hit in theck of my Fortuner, by some drunk German....Clear case but we all know nothing is clear. Well, Heir Big Mouth stated about being a German Citz etc and his booze stink, big mouth, being in the wrong v. my Thai DL put him in handcuffs and off to the slammer.. Good for me he rented from Budget (and not a beach road guy) cause I had my car at the dealer the next day... Heir Big Mouth... I have no idea of his disposition but as we all know, it wasn't good!

 

If you live in Thailand you MUST obtain a Thai DL afterf 90 days from the first day of arrival... this from a thai Lawyer, if you have any O or B visa get a thai DL cause you might be found to be drinving sans a valid lic...

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I don't drive in Thailand but I do have a Thai DL, mostly for ID purpose. If I drove, I would definitely want to drive with a Thai DL.

 

I'm not sure what's the discussion about cost and inconvenience all about.

 

The highest expense listed in the thread is the embassy-issued letter of residence.

 

First of all, it's my understanding that if you present a Work Permit you don't need the letter of residence. I did have one, and they never asked to see it.

 

Secondly, you can get a letter of residence from the Thai Immigration at no cost. Last time I went for my 90-day reg I asked for the letter and I received it in the mail a week later.

 

I went the the Morchit office and they processed me in about an hour. Not painful at all. In fact, they kept me entertained the entire time by making me make copies of copies of various documents, signing each copy, measuring my reaction time, and similar nonsense.

 

Total cost:

Medical 150

Licence 105

BTS 36

 

Total: 291 Baht which is about $7.25. If you can't afford it, maybe it's time to consider moving to a country with a lower cost of living, such as Zimbabwe or Bangladesh.

 

Both the procedure and office locations are available online. Plus, there are several online documents detailing the process at the Pattaya office.

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