I decided that since I had bought a truck now and was now here on "O" visa I would get legal and obtain a Thai drivers license for both motorcycle and car. I have a valid US drivers license and International license, both for car only. Below are all the issues and supposedly new laws I had to deal with in my week long process. Since most of the problems were with Immigration I decided to post in this section.

I went to the Land Transport Office and asked the lady at the information desk what I needed to get a drivers license and she gave me the following list:

1) US and Iternational Licenses if I have them
2) Passport
3) House book (If Own House)
4) Copy of Landlords House book, ID and rental agreement (if rent)
5) Medical clearance letter from hospital
6) Letter from immigration
7) Two photos

I rent a house so got copies of land lords house book and ID and I have a rental agreement with her. Went to Watana Hospital for a letter. The nurse weighed me and took my blood pressure. Saw the doctor and he asked me why I wanted the letter and I told him for drivers licenses. He asked me if I had any illnesses and I said no and he turned over my hands and looked at my palms and said OK. 90 baht later I had the letter. I'm thinking everything is going easy so far as I head over to AEK the next morning and find out they are closed for good so head on to NongKhai for the letter from Immigration.

I arrive at the NongKhai office and it's not crowded at all and the officer asks me what I want before I even have a chance to sit down. I tell him I need a letter for a drivers license as me and my wife sit down. He starts immediately yakking to my wife in thai and at the end she tells me we need to go get a letter from the Land Transport Office requesting what purpose I need a letter from Immigration for. I said that is where we had already been and they told us to come here. He yak yakked to her in thai some more and took my copies of the landlords house book and asked me how long we had been staying there and then wrote on the bottom of that in thai and basically dismissed us. She again explains to me that we have to go back to the Land Transport Office and that also my land lord has to come in person with us as the copies of her house book and ID are not good enough. She said he pointed her to a sign written in thai at the door and she said it did say that our land lord did have to come in person. I thought OK here we go again so we leave and head back to Udorn.

The next morning we go back to the Land Transport Office and ask the girl again at the information desk and she does not have a clue what immigration is talking about and sends us up to the window that processes applications for car drivers licenses on the second floor (window #1 and they close at 11:00am). Lo and behold the lady there did know what immigration wanted and took copies of all my paperwork assembled them together and sent us to window #3 whom for 40 baht typed up and gave us letter addressed to immigration stating that I was getting a drivers license and they needed a letter from them as to my status. After this I took the whole package to a supervisor who reviewed it and signed the immigration letter and put it into an envelope addressed to immigration. She said we now had to take this letter to immigration in order to get the letter from immigration that we needed. She told my wife that immigration had made some rule changes and that I was the first farang that had been sent back needing a letter from the Land Transport Office first before they would issue the immigration letter. They did not speak a lot of english at the Land Transport Office but were always very nice and polite and seemed to go out of their way to help.

Now I have everything I need and go see the landlord to see if she can go with us to NongKhai and schedule a trip for the next day at 1:00PM. We get to immigration at NongKhai the next afternoon and this time it is empty except for us. It is the same guy and we sit down and give him all of the paper work. Now he has another suprise for us. It seems that there is a law on the books that a Thai has to notify immigration with in 24 hours of letting an alien (farang) stay at their property. Since we had been there a month and a half already there was a 1000baht fine for reporting late. There were now 3 more forms to fill out, 2 for her to sign, one Notification Form For House Master Where Alien Has Stayed stating her information and one Name Of Aliens In Residence listing my information. The third form was for me to sign stating why I was there in the first place which was to get a drivers license. He then took copies of all of our papers and told us to have a seat.

We were sitting there waiting for about an hour for my letter. As a side note about 6 or 7 farangs came in asking to extend tourist visas for 30 days and the oficer told them all "new law only 7 day extensions now and they are still 1900baht and if they want more go to Laos". I asked my wife to ask him how long the new law had been in effect so my land lord asked and he went into a bit of a rant about farangs but never answered the question. I really don't know what was said so I won't put her translation on here but I liked my wife's translation "he speak no good farang". An hour later we had my letter in an envelope addressed back to the Land Transport Office. The letter I had to fill out requesting a drivers license also was for regitering a car in your name, selling a car, changing the registration name, and the last block "others". I did ask him if I did any of those actions in the future if my land lord had to come in person and he said yes each time. Wow!!!!

The next day we head back to the Land Transport Office and give them the letter. They get the paperwork together and give me a car license for 110 baht for one year. Since I did not have motorcycle on my original license they were going to make me test on the motorcycle, both written and driving. I said no problem and went up stairs to the third floor and took a written test on a computer. It was 30 quesitons and you had to get 23 right. I got 22 right the first time and she sent me in a second time and I passed with 25 right. It was a different test both times and they are in english and are scored by the computer in about 1 minute after you finish. The tests are not too hard and for the most part commen sense, but some things you would not know. Even though I was testing for motorcycles, the questions all pertained to cars. The Thais have to take a class and get a book to study but none of that is in english. They then sent me outside for the driving test. I did not have my motorbike with me, but they have a Honda Wave to rent for 30 baht. You had to ride across a board about a foot wide and maybe 20 feet long then navigate a course following the road signs and using your turn signals. I passed that and 55 baht later had my motor cycle license as well.

Sorry for the long wind but I think the biggest thing out of this is, will in fact Immigration start enforcing the notification law and how many of us out there rent and the land lords have never notified Immigration. Also, how many land lords would be willing to fork over 1000baht and whos responsibility should it be to pay. The House Master Form states that they have 24 hours to notify Immigration and must use the Immigration Office in that area. It further states that if there is not an Immigration Office in that area the local Police Official must be notified. I guess Immigration is getting serious about keeping tabs on us and finding different ways to do it. I do have copies of all three forms if anyone is interested in seeing them.

Keg

Good write up Keg,

Would you know if this notification of residency of a Farang, would apply, if the farang was living with his wife, in a property, legally owned by his wife, in other words, not rented accommodation?

Incidentally, would it not have been easier for you to continue driving on your international licence?

RALPHCUSENS,

I don't know the answer to your first question but the title of the form is this:

NOTIFICATION FORM FOR HOUSE-MASTER, OWNER OR THE POSSESSOR OF THE RESIDENCE WHERE ALIEN HAS STAYED


My international license expires in Oct this year and also when stopped by the police they have no idea what it is. I lived in Loei for four months and got stopped numerous times in the check points and they had to ask my wife what it was I was giving them and one even said it gave him a headache to look at it. They never gave me any ticket but I just decided to get the licenses. If I had known before hand what it would take I may have thought differently. If this notification thing is in fact going to be policy, it may make people think about it before going ahead and getting the licenses or registering a car, especially if they rent.

Keg

Keg, I did as you did a written and a driving test for my bike licence. Me and an American guy both of us failed the first test and as we waited for the second test the American shook his head and asked if I understood the english language used in the test, I told him that English is not my native language but I did find some of the questions odd. luckily I passed the second time and the American failed, shaking his head and said he didn't understand the questions.. Did you find some of the questions to be drawed in an odd way?

Poor guy got the information that he had to start over from scratch with letter fromImmigration and so on..

He needed to attach a ''purple''note to his 3rd test

Seaserpent,

Yes, some of the questions were poorly written and the pictures were confusing. I think even one question on the first test was scored wrong that was actually right. The lady did tell my wife that she would take care of it if I failed it a second time.

Keg

Thanks Keg,

In Pattaya there were no offers to "take care of". A German man who asked if the they could explain a question, was simply replied to get himself a dictionary...

Corruption is long gone in Pattaya...

I guess having my house book paid off, one less reason to have to deal with NK Imm. I too failed my first time and got it on the second try. Kind of late but this might help others:

http://driving.information.in.th/thai-dmv.html

http://geocities.com/bkkriders/law/handbook/index.html

Top account. Virtually the same as my experience. Its strange how poles apart the courtesy and consideration of the lady upsatairs at the Transport office is to the rank indifference of the Immigration department at NK.

Having acquired and renewed both licenses on 3 month Tourist Visa in Phuket I was under the impression that I could do it here. The camp guy looked at the visa and then sent me to the Transport office for the all-important letter. On returning to NK Immigration dept he then decided that I could not renew with anything less than a Non Immig 3 month. Like you, while waiting I was provided with the spectacle of the ill manners showered upon every Farang that entered.

keg,
It seems that there was a failure at the Land Transportation Office. They should have given you the letter when you first went there to find out what was required to get a license. I hope they straighten out the procedure soon.

I think I know which immigration office you are talking about. When I went to AEK last year to get my residence letter for my driving license, he came up with a very complicated wild goose chase for us as well. He even gave me a little scare once when I went in there for my 90 day report. He seems like a tough bird, and fortunately or not, tough birds like him have a way of sticking around for a very long time, and now that we won't be able to do business in Bangkok, I guess we'll have to find a way of living with him.

The owner of the house is responsible for making that report of an alien staying there within 24 hours. I believe that since its the owner's responsibility to make the report, its the owner's responsibility to pay the fine if he fails to fulfill his responsibility. Of course, as a nice guy, you or I would cover the loss.

From what I have read about it over the years, this applies to all foreigners staying anywhere in the kingdom (including hotels). Even though we report our addresses every 90 days, those who own the places we sleep must file their own report.

I think that if you plan to apply for a renewal of your license (which will be 5 years instead of one), and perhaps register vehicles in your name, it might be worth the pain of getting a yellow book. It was reported on in this forum a few months ago. Anybody remember which thread???

.

I'm not positive ,but isn't that the one where the wife was fined?

rickfarang wrote:
I think that if you plan to apply for a renewal of your license (which will be 5 years instead of one), and perhaps register vehicles in your name, it might be worth the pain of getting a yellow book. It was reported on in this forum a few months ago. Anybody remember which thread???

.

Yellow book thread....(click on blue link)

This Could Be The Thread Here

rickfarang wrote:keg,
It seems that there was a failure at the Land Transportation Office. They should have given you the letter when you first went there to find out what was required to get a license. I hope they straighten out the procedure soon.

I think I know which immigration office you are talking about. When I went to AEK last year to get my residence letter for my driving license, he came up with a very complicated wild goose chase for us as well. He even gave me a little scare once when I went in there for my 90 day report. He seems like a tough bird, and fortunately or not, tough birds like him have a way of sticking around for a very long time, and now that we won't be able to do business in Bangkok, I guess we'll have to find a way of living with him.

The owner of the house is responsible for making that report of an alien staying there within 24 hours. I believe that since its the owner's responsibility to make the report, its the owner's responsibility to pay the fine if he fails to fulfill his responsibility. Of course, as a nice guy, you or I would cover the loss.

From what I have read about it over the years, this applies to all foreigners staying anywhere in the kingdom (including hotels). Even though we report our addresses every 90 days, those who own the places we sleep must file their own report.

I think that if you plan to apply for a renewal of your license (which will be 5 years instead of one), and perhaps register vehicles in your name, it might be worth the pain of getting a yellow book. It was reported on in this forum a few months ago. Anybody remember which thread???

.

Here's the Immigration Act:

According to section 38 of the 1979 immigration act, "House owners, heads of household, landlords or managers of hotels who accommodate foreign nationals on a temporary basis who stay in the kingdom legally, must notify the local immigration authorities within 24 hours from the time of arrival of the foreign national." If there is no immigration office in the province or locality of the respective house or hotel, the notification is made to the local police station. In Bangkok the notification is made to the Immigration Bureau. The notification of residence of foreign nationals is made by the manager of licensed hotels according to the hotel act, owners of guesthouses, mansions, apartments and rented houses using the form TM. 30.
The notification of residence of foreign nationals within 24 hours can be made in a number of ways to make the notification as convenient as possible:

* In person at the respective office, or
* Through an authorised person at the respective office, or
* By registered mail, or
* Via internet.

Yep going to be an interesting year. Mr. grouchy wouldn't be running his mouth like that if his commander wasn't supporting him, simple as that. I don't think there is anywhere to complain at the moment. But this is Thailand and things will change.

Texas beckons Ray.