Thailand Proposes Tougher Driving Licence Rules for Foreigners: Tests for All Applicants and Two Years of Visa Validity for a Temporary Licence, With Consultation Open to December 4
BANGKOK — Thailand's Department of Land Transport (DLT) published a draft proposal on November 4 and opened it to public consultation, seeking to amend the 2022 rules on driver training and testing and to tighten requirements for foreigners applying for Thai driving licences. Comments may be submitted until December 4; the proposal is not in force and no start date has been announced.
The draft makes three main changes for foreign applicants. First, a foreign driving licence or an International Driving Permit would no longer exempt an applicant from training and testing: foreigners applying for either a temporary two-year licence or a five-year personal licence would have to complete the required training and pass written and practical tests. Second, those tests would have to be taken at DLT offices; driving schools could still train foreign applicants but could no longer administer their examinations. Third, a foreigner applying for a temporary two-year licence would need a visa with at least two years of validity remaining, unless the applicant meets alternative conditions to be set by the DLT — which the draft does not define.
Under current rules, holders of a valid foreign licence or international permit can convert it to a Thai licence without tests. If adopted, the draft would directly affect long-stay foreigners in Thailand, including the large community of Chinese residents and self-driving tourists: many residents extend their permission to stay year by year, and the draft does not explain how the two-year visa clause would work for them, or whether it would apply to renewals.
The DLT said comments can be submitted through its legal affairs division and that it will consider the feedback before finalising the rules. Until any new rules are formally announced, existing application procedures remain unchanged.
(Source: Department of Land Transport, Thailand)
Source: Department of Land Transport, Thailand
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：泰国曼谷市景（资料图）。CC BY 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Bangkok, Thailand (file photo), CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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