My Ultimate Experience of Getting Thai Driver License as a Tourist
Welcome everyone, I’m doing this because all the information I got regarding this subject was from Reddit — from posts and comments you people made. So, I thought I might help other people who want to go through the same process I did, and ensure they don’t suffer as much.
First of all, my status was Visa Exempt (60 Days).
First Step: TM30 and Certificate of Residence
At this point, I was in Bangkok. I asked my hotel to print out the TM30 confirmation for me as it’s necessary for the Certificate of Residence. No big deal, I got it in 5 minutes.
The Certificate of Residence was a pure nightmare. First of all, as far as I understand, to get the Certificate of Residence in Bangkok, you need to have filed at least one 90-day report, which I obviously didn’t have. I knew if I went to Division 1 Immigration, there was absolutely no way of getting it without the 90-day report, so I tried a different immigration bureau. That was the beginning of the nightmare.
First, I went to Samut Prakan Immigration. At the information desk, a nice lady gave me a form, I filled it out, and went to the counter. At the counter, the officer told me I couldn’t get it there because my residential address was outside of Samut Prakan. No argument interested him, so I gave up there.
Next, I went to the Lat Prao branch, which was in an abandoned shopping center (crazy experience btw). At the information desk, I was told this branch was only for ASEAN citizens. At this point, I was absolutely done, so I thought I’d try Pathum Thani Immigration, which turned out to be extremely useless. An older officer told me that I couldn’t get a Certificate of Residence on a Visa Exempt status AT ALL (which is not true, of course). At this point, I gave up.
A few days later, I went to Krabi and expected the same experience, but I was absolutely wrong!
TM30: No problem.
Certificate of Residence: Absolutely not a problem. 500 Baht and 10 minutes later, I had it. I couldn’t believe how easy it was compared to Bangkok, where I spent so much time trying to get it.
Next Step: Medical Certificate
This sounds scary, but it’s very easy and simple. I got my certificate at a random clinic in Ao Nang, paid 150 Baht, and had it in 10 minutes again!
Driving License Process
I thought I finally had everything, so the next day at 8 a.m., I went to the DLT without any appointment. I was brutally sent back, and no one wanted to speak to me without an appointment. On the same day, I tried to book an appointment and was extremely lucky to get one two days later!
Two days later, I went back at 8 a.m. This time, it was different. My documents were accepted, and my passport was taken from me. First, I was sent for some tests:
Breaking Test: I had to press the brake on a simulator as soon as I saw a red light, which I did without any problem.
Colorblind Test: I had to call out the colors I saw (in English), which was simple.
Later, I was sent to a room. The first lady spoke Thai and then played us a video about driving safety, crashes, and so on. After 2 hours of videos, all Thai citizens were told to leave, while I and two other tourists were told to stay.
We were sent to the E-Exam Room. I thought this would be fast, but I was wrong. For the next 4 HOURS, we watched videos about Thai driving rules. The actual driving rules video was only 40 minutes long; the other 3 hours and 20 minutes were random road safety videos, mostly from the USA DMV, which seemed pointless. When I asked the lady why and if I could skip it, she just repeated, “5 Hours Training.” So, I sat there.
After the 4 hours, we were told in broken English to come back the next day for the test. We were given a little paper sheet for the test results.
The Test Day
The next day, at 8 a.m., I was ready at the DLT. I went to the E-Exam Room feeling confident. However, the test turned out to be extremely hard — not because of the questions, but because of the translation, which was often completely off.
For example, I had a question with 4 cars labeled A, B, C, and D, but the labels were in different places. The question asked which car should go first. I couldn’t figure out which car was which. When I asked the lady, her answer was, “5 Hours Training.” I guessed car B, and of course, it was wrong.
Another question was even more confusing: “If you are opening doors in a car that is under the water, what should you NOT do?” A) Open the doors so the pressure is the same inside and outside. B) Turn on the engine. C) Open the windows so the pressure is the same inside and outside. D) [I don’t remember].
As far as I know, if I were in a car underwater, I’d open the windows, so that’s the answer I chose. WRONG. The correct answer was not to turn on the engine. What?!
Somehow, I managed to pass on the second attempt. The lady told me to come back at 10 a.m. for the driving test and that I should have my own bike. But how was I supposed to have a bike without a license?!
The Driving Test
At 10 a.m., the examiner (in a yellow shirt) came in and called the candidates outside for the test. I was the only tourist; the others were Thai. The examiner didn’t speak any English, so I just observed what the others did.
I told the examiner I didn’t have my own bike, and he let me use his. It was too small for me, but I somehow managed.
The test involved:
Slalom driving.
Turning left.
Stopping at a stop sign.
Driving through a small hill.
Driving between two bollards.
Stopping at the sign again.
That was it, and just like that, I passed.
Final Step: Getting the License
The examiner gave me my documents, and I was told to go to the second floor. I paid around 100 Baht for the plastic card. My photo was taken, and 5 minutes later, I had my driving license.
All this information is accurate for 2025.
This is my personal experience, and you can treat it as a guide. Everything I mentioned was based on real events and reflects the current procedure in Krabi.
EDIT:
I forgot to mention that for the Certificate of Residency, you need the TM30, a scan of your passport’s front page, and the visa page.
Also, for the exam, I studied using a few websites:
https://traffic-rules.com/en/thailand/practice-test (good for street signs)
https://safedrivedlt.com/ฝึกทำข้อสอบใบขับขี่/ข้อสอบเสมือนจริง/ (most of the questions were 1:1 from here).