Thai license
That’s it, I have my Thai motorcycle license, a provisional license, as indicated above, that is to say valid for two years and which I will then be able to renew for five years.
I explain in detail how I did to get it I think many will be interested.
First of all, prepare all the documents:
Certificate of residence
Photocopy of the international licence
Photocopy of passport page with photo
Photocopy of the passport page with the last entry into the kingdom. ATTENTION! It’s very important, it’s the last entry and not the first entry with this visa
French double-sided license
Certificate of fitness to drive by a doctor
Some details:
The certificate of residence cannot be issued at the Blúport immigration office. You must therefore go to the central immigration office which is located west of Hua Hin, about 5 km away (Google Maps link at the end of the article)
To obtain the certificate of residence, bring:
The rental contract of the house or condo or possibly title deed
Another photocopy of the passport page with photo, because they will keep it
Another photocopy of the passport page with the stamp of the date of entry because they will keep it.
Of two passport photos
Once in possession of all these documents, make an appointment with the Pranburi transport office on the DLT smart queue website.
This appointment is not mandatory, but it partly avoids a wait that can be very long because there are always a lot of people at this transport office.
You can also register on the DLT eLearning site to watch the four mandatory videos to obtain the license. If you have not watched these videos in advance on the site, you will have to spend an hour in front of a computer during your appointment at the transport office.
So there are four videos.
The first two are in Thai with English subtitles.
Be careful the subtitles are not always very well done sometimes a little too white on a light background it makes it difficult to read.
The following two videos are in English.
So, VERY IMPORTANT WHAT FOLLOWS for smart kids
It is not possible to advance videos quickly
If you interrupt a video before you finish it, or if you leave the website, you will have to restart that video from the beginning the next time.
When you reach the end of a video, it is automatically saved as viewed.
To prevent you from launching the video and going to have a beer or take a walk to the beach during this time, a question is displayed at regular intervals that must be answered for the video to continue. If you take too long to answer, you will have to start over.
When you have finished the series of four videos, you get a barcode that you take a picture of. It is this proof that will allow you to avoid watching videos during your appointment.
These 4 videos are a little long but rather nice. They give safety advice and some elements on the rules of the highway code in Thailand, rules that are obviously, you have realised, very little respected.
Last step, so the appointment at the transport office.
ATTENTION: if you arrive before the time of your appointment (for me, it was 8 o’clock) the young person at the reception will simply tell you to go sit down while waiting. But if at 8 a.m. you are not going to see her again to get your ticket you may wait all morning for nothing.
When it’s your turn, you give all the documents to the person at the counter. I don’t know if it’s still like that, but the day I went there, she was particularly unkind to a Thai girl.
And here we must hope that you have all the papers and that it suits him. In this case the photocopy of my international license did not suit him I did not quite understand why but I went to redo it. There is a small shop that does this right at the entrance of the transport office. No need to discuss or argue in these cases, it can’t get things done.
Once the file has been created, she asks you to verify the information and sign and you must wait until you are called for the physical fitness tests. Having given a medical certificate does not exempt from these tests.
The person who took care of these aptitude tests was on the other hand rather friendly and even funny.
She takes a series of files and forms a group of people. She first explained all the tests in Thai to the group. Obviously I didn’t understand anything (I’m starting Thai classes this week) but as several people passed before me I had time to understand what it was about by observing.
There are four tests:
The first test is intended I suppose to verify that we are not colour blind. A coloured light comes on and each time it is necessary to indicate whether it is yellow green or red.
Second reflex test. We have an accelerator pedal and a brake pedal. By accelerating, it activates a green light that after a certain random time turns red. It is then necessary to brake in a sufficiently short time which is measured by a machine.
Third test. There is a box about 2 m in front of us in which there are two vertical white sticks, each on a horizontal rail. The stick on the right does not move. It is located approximately in the middle of the box. The young woman pushes the left stick to the bottom of the box, it is then necessary by pressing a button to move this stick forward and stop pressing when it is at the same height as the right stick. I think it verifies notions of relief perception.
Fourth test, you place your chin on a support by fixing it straight in front of you. A light turns on on the left or right. It must be said on which side the light is turned on.
And it’s over! Yay!
Last formality: get a picture taken (we call you) and wait five minutes for the license to be manufactured.
Cost of the operation (in addition to photocopies of course):
500 baht for the establishment of the residence certificate
105 baths for the establishment of the permit
Hoping that this post will allow you to calmly prepare for this "feathing" test.
I specify that I hold a motorcycle license in France, I do not know to what extent this changes the game.
Immigration office address
https://maps.app.goo.gl/7Qgwu7fAJke4iDyPA? G_st=ic
Address, transport office