Thai Motorcycle Driving License (Chiang Mai, Sept 2020)

Being a foreigner in Thailand, having transportation that can carry you anywhere fast and comfortable is a necessity, especially if you are living where no public transportation is not effectively available.  However, having private transportation means to be responsible for it, including its documents, such as a driving license. Although fine for not having the license can be negotiated "peacefully" with the police, it is a wise decision to have one with you. 

This is my personal experience in Chiang Mai of making a Thai driving license for a private motorcycle. Overall, I could say the process is lengthy, due to a lot of paperwork needed, and if you are unfamiliar with the Thai language, this will slow down the process. 

Actually, there is a shortcut to this lengthy process. If you already have a valid international driving license, you can skip some steps and get the driving license faster. I do not have any idea of how the process will be. 

The very first step is to prepare all the required documents, which are as follows:

1. Certificate of residence, you can read how to obtain it here.

2. A medical certificate, you can go to a clinic or hospital to get. A basic one will do, just say your purpose to have this medical certificate. Usually, the cost is 80-100 baht. They will just check your blood pressure, and asking your weight, height, and if there is any disease you have previously.

3. Passport personal page, 1 copy

4. Last arrival stamp on passport, 1 copy

5. Visa page, the most updated, 1 copy

6. Work permit page (optional, bring 1 copy if you have)

Once you have all of these documents, bring it to the department of land transport (license bureau). For Chiang Mai, I am going to this place. You can also check other places, some provinces may have more than one license bureau. 

When arriving in the office, find the nearest information stand, and ask the officer where to make the driving license. Next, hand the documents to the correct officer and he/she will ask what day are you available for the training (อบรม). Normally, training days are available on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. After that, the officer will give you an application form with few pages. The last few pages are the test form (entirely in Thai). After selecting the day, leave the office and return on the scheduled day and time. 

Day 1: Training Day (Movie Time)

This is a long session of movie and training. During this time, my passport is held by the office (maybe for ensuring I will watch all the movies, and won't run away in the middle of training). On the first day, there are around 20-30 people coming. The first 30 minutes started with a video showing the basic way how to drive a car and how to maintain the car. The format of the video looks like it is taken in the 2000s. The audio is in Thai but it has English subtitles which are dramatically understandable. It is advised to sit in front especially if you rely only on the English language for the theory test. 

Next, we have to sit in a room, and later the officer will separate the Thai-speaking person. Normally, the officers refer to the Thai and Taiyai brothers (Taiyai is ethnic minorities who speak the Thai language). For the non-Thai speaking person, we had to form another line. I realize this is just to make easy the officers when to speak English and Thai.

The first test is the color recognition test. Do not imagine a colorblind test; this is to test how fast your eyes and brain to perceive the colors on the traffic light. There is a group of the round-shaped object; some objects are larger than others. As in Thailand traffic lights, there are three colors represented in those multiple objects: red, yellow, and green. The officers said, "you only need to say quickly what color that I point, no need to have additional phrases such as 'this is red, this is green', just say, red, green, or yellow". So, in the line, each person is asked to respond quickly to around 8-10 objects. As usual, Thais will say either 'daeng', leuang', or 'khiaw', and foreigners need to respond in English; no other languages are accepted apart from English and Thai.

Taken from forum Thaivisa.com

The second test is the reflection test. This test is quite easy. You need to sit in a machine and step on a pedal until the light on the machine turns green, but do not let the light reach the red light. The duration from the light green to become red is 1 second, so you need to hit the brake before 1 second. The officer will fill the test form and hand it back to you. This seems complicated but when you see the machine, it is not complex. 

After that, there are several activities, such as practicing how to aim for direction for the motorcycle rider. The hand movement is needed to be understood and the officer will ask us to practice it in the room. He also explained about hand movement done by the police in a traffic area. In this session, foreigners are given a book about Thai road signs. Interestingly, there are multiple languages in the book apart from Thai such as Japanese, Chinese, English, and even Malay language written in Jawi script. The entire session for this is in Thai, sometimes the officers speak English to summarise what he just spoke. 

Then, it comes for a very long video, which has a duration of 2 hours. Most of the content of the video is about driving a car. The audio is in Thai and the subtitle is in English. In Sept 2020, the video shows three persons that each of them has a different style of driving. The content seems to be repeated again and again, but it is still within one video. After the video finish, it is time for lunch. The officer asked us to return by 1.00 PM. 

At 1.00 PM, we were separated to be Thai-speaking and non-Thai-speaking. For non-Thai speaking, we were told to go to a smaller room, where we have to watch a 45 minutes video. Compared to the previous video, this video audio is in English and you can also watch it below. After this, day 1 is finished, take your passport, and leave the office. Before leaving, the officers will tell you what day to do the theory test. For me, time is the next day at 10.00 AM.

Day 2 - Theory Test

On this day, we had to go to a computer room. In Chiang Mai, it was quite large, with around 30 computers available. Seats are not set so it is free to choose a wherever seat. On the first time users, we have to register with the provided username and also have to register our fingerprint. There are now only two languages available: Thai and English. Previously, there are 5 languages (Thai, Chinese, Japanese, English, Malay in Jawi script). The English language test is understandable but some answers are illogical. Moreover, the questions are mixed for both cars and motorcycles, which add more confusion to someone who never drives a car before. Questions range from maintenance to decision taken in an intersection. An example of the question can be studied here. Be careful of mistranslation. Another official example of the question can be found here, but it is shown in Thai language only. 

After logging in, the option to begin the test is in the Thai language in white character with a purple background, click that one. Choice in every question can be changed before submitting, so make sure all the answers are selected wisely. After submitting, the system will ask to confirm, select confirm and look at the result. Every result, including the failed one, has to be recorded in the test form by the officer.

There are 50 questions, and you need to at least get 45 questions correct in order to pass. That is like a minimum passing percentage of 90% to pass. Failure at the theory test is fine, you can do only twice a day. If still failed, come back another day, either at 10.00 AM or 1.00 PM, do not come too late otherwise they will close the door. I personally failed 4 times at the test before finally pass on the 5th attempt. After passing, there are two options: either to take driving test directly at the driving test arena if there is time available, or return again tomorrow. The theory test cost nothing; it is free.

Day 3 - Driving Test 

The driving test requires good concentration, it is suggested to have enough rest a day before the test. There are two driving tests here: cars and motorcycles. Cars are more difficult than a motorcycle, and there are several stations which they need to show their skills. A motorcycle requires only 3 stations to be completed and it is easy to do. Overall, people do more car test than the motorcycle test on my day. There are three times for driving tests: 10.00 AM, 1.00 PM, and 2.30 PM, first come first served. For all tests, if one station is failed, they need to come again 3 days later to repeat only the failed station, and the test needs to be completed within 90 days after the first-day filling the application form.

The three motorcycle test is: following the traffic sign (not less than 5 signs), zig-zag test, and the most difficult, riding on a small heightened lane with 30 cm with (take a ruler and see 30 cm, see how narrow it is). 

My experience is I need to use my own motorcycle, and the helmet has to be worn properly (the instructor told me to fasten the belt). In case you do not have a motorcycle yet, maybe the officers will lend you one. 

Following the traffic sign is easy, you just follow the signs (turning right, stop, turning left, go over a bridge, and stop before zebra cross). This is totally easy to do, just make sure you understand the instructor (at that time, he explained in Thai with me ;) ). 

The second test is zigzag. Soon after the zebra cross line, in front of you, there are around 7-8 traffic cones place with a space of 70-100 cm. Your task is to do a zigzag movement by motorcycle passing each cone. Do not hit the cone, or let the engine stopped in the middle of the test. Do it slowly (speed have to be not more than 30 Km/H), be concentrated, and believe you will pass it. 

The last test is heightened lane test. This test requires balance and concentration. What adds more to this challenge is you need to pass the lane not more than 10 seconds. The lane is around 3 cm height and around 4 m long with 30 cm width (not really sure, but it is as big as a dashed line in the road). When riding, be stable and when the front tire hits the lane, quickly adapt yourself to the height and run the motorcycle over it. Once you successfully pass all the challenges, head to the parking area, and receive the form test from the instructor. 

The test form

Paying and Taking the Driving License

Now, you passed all the tests. You need to return to the office and head to the information stand again to ask where to give the documents. In Chiang Mai, I had to go to counter 27. In counter 27, they give me a queue ticket. Expect long queue, mine one was 76 queue. When it is your queue, you need to pay 105 baht for the motorcycle driving license (205 baht for the car). The first-time driving license type will be 2 years temporary license and can be extended to 5 years in 3 months before its expiry date. Want to have a 1-year international license with this Thai license? You can, but it has to be 5 years driving license. I will not discuss this process in detail here, but certain ages are needed to type of visa. For example, changing to 5 years driving license is allowed only for 18 years above. 

After paying, wait for a queue for taking the picture. Hand over all documents (application form and documents mentioned above) needed to the officer and he will take the picture, process it into and card, and print it in front of your eyes! This is amazing while compared with some countries that wait for a long time just for a piece of card. After that, receive your driving license and head to home safely. 

This writing relies only on my memory especially regarding the regulations, any discrepancies of the information found, please let me know by the comment section. 

Thank you!