Foreigners Applying for Thai Driving Licence – A Brief Guide

The good news is you are actually allowed to use an International Driving Permit for 60 days prior to obtaining any other licence issued in Thailand. This is issued in conjunction with your existing licence issued in your own country. (So you still have a chance to change your mind after this initial period and decide not to get one—just kidding!)

So What Is Involved in Getting a Thai Licence?

The process of acquiring a Thai driving licence is one of the few relatively easy processes that a non-native may have to get involved in. This is especially true if you already possess one from your own country.

If you are lucky the whole thing can easily be accomplished in a single day at a cost of only a couple of hundred baht, and after that you can even use it in a total of 10 ASEAN countries.

Applicants who are applying in the capital need to head down to the Department of Land Transport, which is walking distance from the side of Chatuchak Park on the weekend market and Saphan Kwai side. If this is your first Thai licence you will be issued with what is basically a temporary, 2-year permit to begin with (as is the case for new Thai drivers and their licences).

The actual address of the ministry is 1032 Phaholyothin Road, Chatuchak, Bangkok.

What Documentation Will I Need?

You will obviously need to be super-prepared in terms of having all the necessary documentation to hand. Including a couple of copies of each document is also wise as well just to be on the safe side and save any potential time at the ministry.

The notoriously stony-faced Thai government administrative officials are not the easiest or most pleasant of individuals to deal with in Thailand (they are low-paid and seem to generally have the hump). This is particularly true if you are foreign as some of you may have experienced from immigration, and any attempt at trying to be the ‘friendly foreigner’ will only fuel any existing contempt.

This is all serious stuff. So be a good boy and turn up with all the right documents and keep your best straight and serious face on while waiting patiently in line for service. You’ll be just fine. Humour aside, what you will need is:

• A valid medical certificate dated within 30 days of the application
• Your passport and your non-immigrant visa (include copies of the first page of your passport and the pages that contain your valid non-immigrant visa, as well as the page that contains the last entry stamp for Thailand). Also include your TM6 departure card and copies
• A residence certificate or work permit. The residence certificate has to be obtained from immigration with documents like your rental agreement (yes you should have one of these wherever you are staying unless in a hotel)
• Obviously you’ll need other relevant documentation such as your current visa and passport to get hold of this, and it’s also worth noting that this certificate doesn’t actually mean you have ‘resident’ status in the country, it’s just tying in where you are staying with your visa status and who your I.D. says you are etc
• Your own valid driving licence issued in your own country. If you are not yet in possession of a valid international driver’s licence, the one issued in your home country should be certified by your embassy or consulate (within 30 days of the application)
• The completed application form (available in the office or online but it is recommended that you download and complete this before turning up at the office)

Other Considerations:

If for any reason your current licence from your own country has expired you’ll find that you need to take a theory test if it is over a year and (heaven forbid) if it is more than 3 years out of date you’ll need to go through the process of taking both a theory and a practical test—the Thai Driving Test in full, basically.

Foreigners and Thai Police when Driving

It’s worth noting that it’s reasonably true to say the majority of Thai Police are likely to bypass foreigners due to complete lack of foreign language or other communication skills.

This doesn’t mean you should discount the possibility though, and unless you are familiar with ‘local’ ways of dealing with such matters, a Thai driving licence might prove invaluable in any potential stop-and-search. Certainly it will make any attempt at trying to intimidate or make a fast buck off any unwitting foreigners that much more ridiculous.

Final Point

One Last Thing: Before heading down to the Department of Land Transport office, make sure to book an appointment first. This can be done online now with the DLT SMART QUEUE application (available in both iOS and Android). Be sure to go to the office early to ensure you get everything done within a day.