Renewing a 5 year licence?

[ChomDo 130]

Has anyone renewed their 5 year drivers licence lately? Mine is expiring in March and I need to get it done soon. I'm just wondering is it as simple as going there with the old licence and you just pay for the next 5 year licence? Last time I renewed my first 1 year licence to this 5 year one, I remember it was pretty much that simple – if I remember correctly. But now with all the discrimination towards foreigners, who knows? Could anyone advise on this?

 

Thanks!

[Kwasaki 10,999]

6 minutes ago, ChomDo said:

Last time I renewed my first 1 year licence to this 5 year one, I remember it was pretty much that simple

Just the same, the thing at the moment is whether the DLT office is open. 

[Pilotman 19,375]

I am told that you can book online appointment and then go along as normal to the DLT, at least you can apparently do this at Pattaya DLT. Not sure about other areas. 

[connda 17,912]

I've been told by Lamphun DMV that no one will renewed until April 1st.
If your license expires, your good to March 31.

Now think about that?  Mine expires in mid March.  But you can't book an appointment for a renewal until April, and given the shear numbers of people in the same situation maybe until May?  June? 

Now.  You're driving illegally and without a license from March 31st onward, but no fault of your own because DMV isn't issuing licenses. 

I think both the cops and the insurance companies will love this one.
You can't get a renew appointment until May.  Pulled over at cop checkpoint.  "License expired - 500 THB!" 
Or you're in a accident.  Insurance company.  Your DL is expired.  We not pay.

Yeah.  At not fault of ours.  You're just screwed.

Edited January 19 by connda

[recom273 1,456]

My 5-year ticket runs to the end of March.

 

Im prepared to go and get a note from the witch doctor, and a certificate of residence. 
Guessing I need to do a vision and reaction test. 

 

Do we have to sit through the video again? (not that I ever did yet, they dont see, to worry about westerners down here)

[ChomDo 130]

48 minutes ago, recom273 said:

My 5-year ticket runs to the end of March.

 

Im prepared to go and get a note from the witch doctor, and a certificate of residence. 
Guessing I need to do a vision and reaction test. 

 

Do we have to sit through the video again? (not that I ever did yet, they dont see, to worry about westerners down here)

Ok so the others say it's just as before that we just go with the old licence and get it renewed just by paying the fee. You're mentioning some paperwork? I really hope they won't start asking for any documents other than the licence. At least for myself I'm now on an STV visa but that really should not matter since I've already had a 1+5 year Thai licences. So some of you actually did this recently and nothing was asked, right?

[recom273 1,456]

27 minutes ago, ChomDo said:

Ok so the others say it's just as before that we just go with the old licence and get it renewed just by paying the fee. You're mentioning some paperwork? I really hope they won't start asking for any documents other than the licence. At least for myself I'm now on an STV visa but that really should not matter since I've already had a 1+5 year Thai licences. So some of you actually did this recently and nothing was asked, right?

 

It depends on DLT of course, they are all different.

 

But I have never heard of anything being done without the CertRes or 100B doctors note (So.. are you feeling ok? Yup? Thats good news, 100B there you go!)

 

Things have also changed over the past 5 years, They do a 2 year "temporary licence" now, you can only get a 5 year if you have non-O visa.

 

I would love to hear that its a matter of rolling up with the old license, but I dont it is.

 

 

Edited January 19 by recom273

[ChomDo 130]

And how do I get a certificate of residence? That was never asked at the DLT before.

[KhaoNiaw 1,163]

11 minutes ago, ChomDo said:

And how do I get a certificate of residence? That was never asked at the DLT before.

It depends where you're doing it. The Bangchak office in Bangkok has always required work permit or certificate of residence. I think I've done 3 extensions there. Also always required in Samutprakan for years before that as well. If you have a work permit, you don't need a certificate of residence. I've never needed a medical certificate for 5-year renewals and wasn't asked for one at Bangchak in September.  

[ChomDo 130]

11 hours ago, KhaoNiaw said:

It depends where you're doing it. The Bangchak office in Bangkok has always required work permit or certificate of residence. I think I've done 3 extensions there. Also always required in Samutprakan for years before that as well. If you have a work permit, you don't need a certificate of residence. I've never needed a medical certificate for 5-year renewals and wasn't asked for one at Bangchak in September.  

Thanks but that didn't answer the question above. How do I get a certificate of residence? I'm on an STV visa. Like I said, I've never been asked for any documents like that when extending my licence so have they changed this lately (I've done my licence at DLT, area 3 Sukhumvit)? I think last time I extended to the 5 year licence I was on a tourist visa also. 

 

I'm just about to buy a new car so really need to figure this out so there won't be any surprises later. I can call the DLT but was sure someone here has the facts – if they even exist (I guess also depends on the officer's mood how easily they renew it). Now in this thread there are many types of opinions, so it's contradicting at the moment.

[recom273 1,456]

https://axleaddict.com/safety/Renewing-a-Thailand-Drivers-License

 

This seems to cover everything - if correct and up to date, it says that you need to watch the damn video. When I first got a 2 year, I got the wife to speak to them and while I pretended I couldn't speak Thai. They gave me a pack of road signs and told me to come back and take the test. Going from 1-5 year there was no need.

 

You get a certificate of residence from immigration.

 

No medical required .. 

 

Here is the page from DLT 

 

https://www.dlt.go.th/en/two-year-license/ (the site doesn't have an upto date SSL certificate so your web browser might complain that its a fake site)

 

You can see it states you need a non-immigrant visa.

 

But there are a few other untruths on that page. 

 

Im going down there tomorrow because I need to get a written request from DLT for my immigration to issue a certificate of residence and to confirm my visa. They work a little differently down here, other immigration you can just walk in with your rental agreement and a photo or two.

 

 

 

 

 

[ChomDo 130]

19 hours ago, recom273 said:

https://axleaddict.com/safety/Renewing-a-Thailand-Drivers-License

 

This seems to cover everything - if correct and up to date, it says that you need to watch the damn video. When I first got a 2 year, I got the wife to speak to them and while I pretended I couldn't speak Thai. They gave me a pack of road signs and told me to come back and take the test. Going from 1-5 year there was no need.

 

You get a certificate of residence from immigration.

 

No medical required .. 

 

Here is the page from DLT 

 

https://www.dlt.go.th/en/two-year-license/ (the site doesn't have an upto date SSL certificate so your web browser might complain that its a fake site)

 

You can see it states you need a non-immigrant visa.

 

But there are a few other untruths on that page. 

 

Im going down there tomorrow because I need to get a written request from DLT for my immigration to issue a certificate of residence and to confirm my visa. They work a little differently down here, other immigration you can just walk in with your rental agreement and a photo or two.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the info. Well for myself, I'm now on an STV visa. From what I remember, they might have required a non-immigrant visa for the very first Thai licence but hardly for the renewals each time? Well hope not. 

 

So I can just go to the immigration and ask for a certificate of residence? I mean when you're on a tourist visa, then you would get certified that you live in a certain address? I guess I can do this at the same time I extend my STV in March. But then again we really don't know that they want at the DLT. I think if you're lucky and get a nice officer they would probably just change it without much hassle.

 

Watching the video and having to do a theory test would be a nightmare – we all know there are hardly any traffic rules here, so a test like that could be tricky. I never had to do any theory or driving tests here when I got my first licence, because I had an EU licence with the required paperwork at the time.  

[recom273 1,456]

1 minute ago, ChomDo said:

Thanks for the info. Well for myself, I'm now on an STV visa. From what I remember, they might have required a non-immigrant visa for the very first Thai licence but hardly for the renewals each time? Well hope not. 

 

So I can just go to the immigration and ask for a certificate of residence? I mean when you're on a tourist visa, then you would get certified that you live in a certain address? I guess I can do this at the same time I extend my STV in March. But then again we really don't know that they want at the DLT. I think if you're lucky and get a nice officer they would probably just change it without much hassle.

 

Watching the video and having to do a theory test would be a nightmare – we all know there are hardly any traffic rules here, so a test like that could be tricky. I never had to do any theory or driving tests here when I got my first licence, because I had an EU licence with the required paperwork at the time.  

 You only need to do the theory if your license has expired for longer than a year.

 

it’s the video that is a waste of time for me.

 

I have never done anything with regards to transferring a vehicle or getting a license without a certificate of residence. When I went for 1 to 5 years, I had an recently expired one, which they accepted. 

 

You might also want to consider, a lot of things have changed due to COVID - some places you need to book an appointment rather than just squeeze in a waiting room and wait your turn. 

[ChomDo 130]

1 hour ago, recom273 said:

 You only need to do the theory if your license has expired for longer than a year.

 

it’s the video that is a waste of time for me.

 

I have never done anything with regards to transferring a vehicle or getting a license without a certificate of residence. When I went for 1 to 5 years, I had an recently expired one, which they accepted. 

 

You might also want to consider, a lot of things have changed due to COVID - some places you need to book an appointment rather than just squeeze in a waiting room and wait your turn. 

Sure, you're right. We can't know what to expect this time! Let me know if you get more info when visiting there or at any time. My licence is due in March but they're saying that it will be closed until end of March anyway as we already discussed here, so still have some time to figure it out I guess

[jaiyenyen 411]

You get the 'Proof of Address' from Immigration at Mueang Thong Thani. You fill in a form and they send the

P of A by post, to your home (About 2 weeks). If you are going to use a work permit to prove your address, make sure it has your address in it, the new ones don't.