Requirements for 5yr driving licence

[drbrit]

 Hi, 

My 5yr driving licence has expired. 

In previous years, work permit was fine as proof of presence in Thailand. 

Receng work permits no longer show a workplace address, just a province name. 

I am hearing DLT offices are now requiring a certificate of residence from immigration to renew licence. 

Can I get confirmation or denial on that? 

I can do in bkk or Chonburi and would appreciate and experience recently

 

[guru]

55 minutes ago, drbrit said:

 Hi, 

My 5yr driving licence has expired. 

In previous years, work permit was fine as proof of presence in Thailand. 

Receng work permits no longer show a workplace address, just a province name. 

I am hearing DLT offices are now requiring a certificate of residence from immigration to renew licence. 

Can I get confirmation or denial on that? 

I can do in bkk or Chonburi and would appreciate and experience recently

 

I also used to use my work permit as proof of address till I changed jobs and got given this new version which doesn’t print home addresses anymore. Anyway I renewed in October.
 

For Mo Chit DLT, I had the choice of getting proof of residence from British embassy or from immigration. Embassy slots were full so I went to immigration muang ton thani paid 200 or so baht to be received at my home address by post in 3 weeks which was too long but paid anyway and got it in 2 weeks. On my way home in a taxi I checked the embassy slots and somebody had cancelled the following morning which I quickly booked. Before this (in October) I had been to my local DLT in Bang Jak (1 BTS stop from On  Nut) to make an appointment but nothing available till end of December. Went to Mo Chit after the embassy and walked in with no appointment required. New 5 year license no problem. 
Extra info: Bang Jak allowed me to use my yellow house book and pink card as proof of address without embassy or immigration letter. I also checked with Mo chit who said if I used my pink card then they would print on my driving license that I am not allowed to drive outside bangkok because of pink card restrictions. When I said Bang Jak would let me use it without any restrictions she told me to go back to Bang Jak then. Perhaps it is allowed because I live in Bang Jak but thought it would be the same at Mo Chit. Maybe the lady at the Mo Chit info desk was wrong but she wasn’t budging and you can’t progress through the system until she has approved the documents. However, the convenience of renewing in October outweighed pink card address convenience. 

Edited December 29, 2020 by guru

[bluemoon58]

On 12/29/2020 at 5:32 PM, drbrit said:

 Hi, 

My 5yr driving licence has expired. 

In previous years, work permit was fine as proof of presence in Thailand. 

Receng work permits no longer show a workplace address, just a province name. 

I am hearing DLT offices are now requiring a certificate of residence from immigration to renew licence. 

Can I get confirmation or denial on that? 

I can do in bkk or Chonburi and would appreciate and experience recently

 

All the requirements are on the DLT website 

[TigerandDog]

On 12/29/2020 at 6:05 PM, guru said:

I also used to use my work permit as proof of address till I changed jobs and got given this new version which doesn’t print home addresses anymore. Anyway I renewed in October.
 

For Mo Chit DLT, I had the choice of getting proof of residence from British embassy or from immigration. Embassy slots were full so I went to immigration muang ton thani paid 200 or so baht to be received at my home address by post in 3 weeks which was too long but paid anyway and got it in 2 weeks. On my way home in a taxi I checked the embassy slots and somebody had cancelled the following morning which I quickly booked. Before this (in October) I had been to my local DLT in Bang Jak (1 BTS stop from On  Nut) to make an appointment but nothing available till end of December. Went to Mo Chit after the embassy and walked in with no appointment required. New 5 year license no problem. 
Extra info: Bang Jak allowed me to use my yellow house book and pink card as proof of address without embassy or immigration letter. I also checked with Mo chit who said if I used my pink card then they would print on my driving license that I am not allowed to drive outside bangkok because of pink card restrictions. When I said Bang Jak would let me use it without any restrictions she told me to go back to Bang Jak then. Perhaps it is allowed because I live in Bang Jak but thought it would be the same at Mo Chit. Maybe the lady at the Mo Chit info desk was wrong but she wasn’t budging and you can’t progress through the system until she has approved the documents. However, the convenience of renewing in October outweighed pink card address convenience. 

There's a sentence in Thai on the back of your pink card that says not valid for travel outside the province in which you reside. So when renewing your license ONLY use your yellow book as proof of address. They are supposed to accept that.

[brianthainess]

17 hours ago, phartley58 said:

All the requirements are on the DLT website 

Unfortunately the staff at some offices don't read it or say its not true, older staff in particular stick to the older rules they where taught 20yrs ago, and won't budge, on fear of losing face. I now use a different office that excepts yellow book. Just like immigration who like to make up their own rules.

[Thingamabob]

3 hours ago, Deerculler said:

So you are showing your contempt for the country you have chosen to live in.

Not very bright are you.

Correct. Not very bright, and rather unpleasant I suspect. Just what we don't need in Thailand.

[sanuk711]

On 12/29/2020 at 6:05 PM, guru said:

I also checked with Mo chit who said if I used my pink card then they would print on my driving license that I am not allowed to drive outside bangkok because of pink card restrictions.

What would they put on the license  to indicate you could not drive a vehicle outside of BKK ...I wonder...............

[metisdead]

Some unhelpful snarky troll posts and the replies have been removed. 

[vogie]

Richard Barrows has just tweeted:

 

"The Department of Land Transport has announced that there will be no training or testing to obtain a driver's license at all offices from 2nd January 2021 until further notice"

[mark5335]

1 hour ago, vogie said:

Richard Barrows has just tweeted:

 

"The Department of Land Transport has announced that there will be no training or testing to obtain a driver's license at all offices from 2nd January 2021 until further notice"

My DL expires next week, so I guess renewal not possible until further notice.

On the Barrow's thread his followers are arguing that the DLT would continue to issue DL's but with out any tests, due the poor wording of his English translation (surely they're joking)?. Upon checking with a Thai person it means (which I thought was obvious) that no DL's to be issued/renewed as the tests cannot be performed due to covid risk in the DLT offices.