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Proving once and for all that they will allow absolutely any idiot to get behind the wheel of a vehicle in Thailand, I was issued a Thai drivers license today.  I thought I would share my experience for others considering braving the streets of Bangkok in control of a motor vehicle.

First off, the required documentation:

1. Passport
2. A valid visa (more on this later)
3. A signed photo copy of your passport mug shot page and your visa page from your passport
4. Your Farangland drivers license
5. Note from your doctor saying you're in good health (more on this later)
6. Note from your embassy saying that you live where you claim to live

It's probably best to assemble all of this before you head down to the Motor Vehicle office though they do have someone who does copies for 2 baht each so if you get everything but the copies you'll be in pretty good shape.

A valid visa is a Non-Immigrant visa of some sort.  I saw some advice suggestion you had to have a work permit but I have seen others say that is not true.  I used my Educational visa which is Non-Immigrant and prohibits you from working under any circumstances.  Tourists visas don't cut it.  Sorry.

The note from a doctor can be obtained from many places.  I don't know the name or address (it was somewhere near Suk Soi 95) of the place I went to but my gf took me there, we walked in, I was asked for 60 baht, I signed a piece of paper and walked out.  That was my entire physical exam.  I have to admit she did watch me pulling out my wallet pretty carefully so maybe it was some sort of strength test which I was not aware of.  

I also got a medical exam for the same purposes about a year ago but never got around to going down to getting the license.  Again, I'm not sure of the exact address but if you head down Rama 4 it's near Lumpini.  This guy put a stethoscope to my chest for about 2 seconds (I guess checking that I had a heart beat) and gave me a clean bill of health for 100 baht.  Obviously the extra protocol of checking for a heart beat is where the 40 baht came in.  

The note from your embassy is easily obtained though very expensive.  I paid something like 3000 baht at the US embassy.  I've heard other outrageous figures from other embassies as well.  Basically, you go down to the embassy and ask them for statutory declaration (just say you need proof of residence for a Thai drivers license and they'll know exactly what you need) saying that you said that you live at a certain address under penalty of perjury in your home country.  A notary then co-signs the document and puts a raised stamp on it and you now have a 3000 piece of paper.  

You can also get something similar from Thai immigration and supposedly cheaper prices (some people have even claimed to get it for something like 100 baht.  Most of these stories come from people living outside of Bangkok though and I've seen a few people say that the Bangkok immigration office does not issue them.  I could have spent half a day going down all the way across town to sit in Thai immigration to find out but I chose to believe the people who said you can't get it in Bangkok.  

With all of the paperwork out of the way I went down to the motor vehicle office on Sukhumvit between Soi 99 and 101.  It's not on Sukhumvit so look for a looooong driveway and head back there.  

The other one (that I know about) is on Poholythin Rd across the street from Chatuchak (JJ's).  This one seems to be the most popular with many of the people who have posted their DL experiences.  

You go into the main building to the reception desk.  They give you some papers and check your existing documents and tell you what you need to do.  In my case it was to get a copy of my Farangland DL.  They seemed to speak a little English but I would seriously, seriously recommend taking someone Thai with you unless your Thai is pretty solid.  

From there walked right up and handed my papers to a lady who seemed to scan over everything with a fine toothed comb.  I asked about perhaps getting my motorcycle license and she asked if I was approved for one on my Farangland license.  Since I wasn't she said "No."  

Then I was sent to a testing room.  Don't get scared, it's a bunch of tests as daunting as the physical exam required to get your clean bill of health.  I was asked to:

1. Distinguish between red, yellow, and green at a distance of about 2 meters.
2. See if I could step on the brake pedal within an acceptable amount of time after they showed you a red light
3. Line up to sticks using some electronic contraption to test my depth perception
4. Asked to distinguish between red, yellow, and green using my peripheral vision (they hold your head in a machine and flash images to the side)

One word of note:  I was asked if I had viewed the video first.  I guess the video explains the tests and I hadn't and the woman seemed a bit pissed off that I didn't raise my arm when I had lined up the two sticks.  She also didn't speak a lick of English so when she asked me to do something I was either getting coached from my gf, winging it, or could understand her basic instructions in Thai.  Another good reason to bring someone Thai with you.

After passing that grueling test of my senses I was instructed to go to another line and I was given a number.  I was 2 spots away from the current number and was called within about 5 minutes.  I had my picture take and was handed a DL after forking over 205 baht.  

Total time was about 30 - 40 minutes from the time we walked in until I walked out with a drivers license.