driving license

Thinking of hiring a car out in phuket. Does anyone know if you just need the card part or do you have to take the counterpart bit as well.

thanks

driving license

card bit worked for me

tom

driving license

Although many get away with using UK licence it is actually illegal to drive with it. If stopped you will probably have to pay a fine, depends on officer. You should have a International Driving Licence. If you decide to risk it, have card and photocopy counterpart, some baht, and also good idea to photocopy passport page with visa on and carry that instead of passport. Some will fine you for not having passport even though you have IDL. Car Hire companies will accept UK licence only.

they call the fine ';tea money';

Have pasted some info from another site on Licenses, insurance etc I found on another site, some good info in it.

Cathy

Driving License. . a valid International Driving License is compulsory for all visitors driving any motor vehicle in Thailand.

When renting a vehicle only your passport will be requested to prove identity and is usually retained until return of the vehicle. Normally, no-one mentions anything about driving license legal requirements.

In the event of an accident then you must show the police an IDL to support any Insurance claim.

No IDL then the Insurance compnay will reject the claim.

Insurance.. don’t be fooled by the “with insurance” signs. Check-out what insurance is really being provided. All vehicles by law must have basic insurance, but basic means very basic. It only covers minimal hospital costs for the driver and passengers of your vehicle only. It does not cover any mechanical damage to either party, or hospital costs to the other party, or loss of earning to ether party, or theft. Let me explain that a bit more, minimum medical insurance is 15,000 Baht (US$ 375) per person no matter who caused the accident.

If you can prove to the police that it was the other party’s fault and all your paperwork is valid (license, insurance %26amp; road tax) then the payment rises to 50,000 Baht (US$ 1,250) per person. I recommend that all visitors have some sort of personal holiday insurance to at least pay for all medical/hospital costs. Next up, no mechanical damage paid. So that means you have to pay for both vehicles repair if it was your fault or you have to try and get the other guy to pay if it was his fault.

If you have an accident with a Thai national then you will have a hard time proving it’s his fault and the police will usually be on the side of the local (that’s normal in most countries) plus there will be a language difficulty. Lastly, compensation payment for loss of earnings.

Thai nationals will almost certainly try to claim some compensation, for example if you hit a taxi (the major cause of accidents, in my opinion) then you have to pay for lost earnings while the taxi was being repaired or while the driver was in hospital recovering. You’ll be asked to pay loss of rental earning for the vehicle you hired while it’s being repaired and the other vehicle if it was also rented.

Rental Contract… read it carefully before you agree and sign. You might get a surprise and just decline %26amp; use a taxi. I always read before I sign anything and the first time I rented a motor bike I was very surprised to see that I was responsible for everything, even the price of replacing the bike I was hiring in the event of theft or complete write-off, price not defined, just a blank space!

This is the time to really find out your personal liabilities and what the insurance on offer really covers. Almost all motorbike rentals only offer the very basic insurance described above. Jeep and car rental maybe have a more comprehensive insurance but check it out before you rent! BUT BEWARE that Thai law declares that the driver (not the owner) is totally responsible for the condition of the vehicle and the validity of all vehicle documentation.

Really check out the mechanical condition of the vehicle, point out and note any body damage, make sure the brakes work effectively. Some of the vehicle offered by the road side independents are very poorly maintained, but are always painted bright colors and look really smart.

Thai Law… every motor vehicle must have a valid road tax disk (affixed to the vehicle), valid insurance (also affixed to the vehicle) and a number plate. If the number plate is red then that’s a temporary number (issued to new vehicle for the first month or so) and the vehicle must not be driven from sunset to sunrise, i.e. must not be driven at night.

The driver must have a valid Driving License (International License for Tourists) and there must be a least a copy of the vehicle registration document available for police road check inspection.

Much of these requirements are somewhat extreme and the typical tourist would not be required to provide such documentation at a routine road check, but if an incident occurs then all the documentation is required.

ALL riders on a motor bike (including the passenger) MUST wear a crash helmet at all times. This law is ignored by many people and most motor bike hirers do not highlight this legal requirement and do not even offer a crash helmet with the bike. Even worse, you may have to pay an extra cost or deposit for the passenger’s helmet. Since late 1998 both driver %26amp; front seat passengers in a car must wear seat belts at all time.

The Phuket police are quite vigorous at applying the crash helmet law (fine 400 Baht = US$10.00) and they are now starting to enforce the seat belt law. In my opinion, it’s always sensible to wear a crash helmet at all times and a seat belt at all time for one’s own personal safety.

Thank you all for information dont think will bother with hiring a car as havent got idl will stick to taxis, tuk tuks etc.

I just went to the post office to get one as instructed and they looked at me as i i had just asked for a short back and sides.....

Only certain post offices are supposed to do them. Can be got by post from RAC, forms online.