Complete guide to getting a Thai motorcycle license

Welcome to the complete guide to getting a Thai motorcycle license in Bangkok for foreigners! I just got mine last week, so I wanted to share before I forget. The whole process including documentations shouldn’t take more than a few weeks, but it can be confusing since Thai governments don’t give official guidelines. So I hope this information is helpful to many. 

Required documents:

1. Certificate of residence:  You can get this from your embassy or immigration office. I got mine from the embassy of Japan. At the embassy, I couldn’t get the certificate on the same day, and had to come back a few days later to pick up the document. Required lead times might depend on embassies so you’ll need to check your respective embassy. 

2. Medical certificate:  You can get this at a clinic right next to the Department of Land Transport (on the day of the appointment) in Mochit for 150 thb. It’s just formality and anyone with four limbs should pass. You can get this at any hospital or clinic, but if you go to high-end ones, it could easily cost you 5-10 times more, so just go to this one. It’s a worn down “clinic” but it doesn’t matter. There’re usually several locals queuing up but you should be able to get it within 30 min. Date of issue needs to be within 30 days from the exam date, so don’t get this too early.

คลินิกแพทย์หญิงลำดวน (Dr Lamduan)

3. ID photos (2.5 x 3.25 cm):  They aren’t too picky about photo sizes. Just bring a few ID photos. 

4. Passport and copies:  Bring the original passport and copies of the first page and the visa pages. 

Note: It seems that the number of remaining months on your visa matters. I have a spouse visa, and I was scheduled to renew it soon, and was told at the counter at Department of Land (building 4) that it’s better to apply after renewing my annual visa, because the remaining months were less than 3 months. It could have been because I had an expired Thai motorcycle license already (expired more than 3 years) and was re-applying. The lady at the counter said if I applied after renewing my visa, I’d get a 5 years license, but if before renewing my visa, I’d only get 2 years. 

Application steps:

1. Book an exam appointment with the Department of Land Transport (DLT)

You need to book an exam appointment with the DLT in advance. They do have an app for this called DLT smart queue, but they never work. I tried it but couldn’t find Mochit in it and everything IT related with the Thai government rarely works, so it’s usually just better to just do it the old fashion way and show up at the DLT building 4 counter for foreigners on the first floor. If you ask for a motorcycle exam appointment, they’ll make a booking for you on the spot. They have exams every Mon, Wed, Fri from 8:30am (must register by 8:00-8:30am).  

2. Day 1 physical test and online exam

7:30 – Got a medical certificate from the clinic (ex Dr Lamduan) near DLT in Mochit. 

8:00 – Registered at DLT building 4 counter for foreigners on the first floor (on the right after entrance)

8:30 – Got to 2nd floor, wait to be called, then went to 4th floor to take tests for color vision, distance perception, brake response, and peripheral vision. These tests are basic and easy. If you have the ability to drive normally, everyone should pass. 

Color vision:  Call out the signal colors in English (red, yellow, green)

Distance perception:  Push button to move stick on the left to roughly align with a static stick on the right

Brake response:  Step on the brake pedal within given time which was around 1 second, which is plenty of time

Peripheral vision:  Place head on chin rest, call out left or right while looking straight ahead when you see a white circle appear on each side

9:00 – Waited in a video room for a half hour with around several other foreigners before a 3 hour video training starts. It’s in Thai language but has English subtitles. 

12:00 – Lunch break. Can eat in canteens in DLT. The one right next to building 4 didn’t look so appetizing so I walked 5 min to another canteen closer to the station, which had more options. There’s an Amazon cafe there too.

13:00 – Staff instructed us to practice an online exam by using a QR code link on the wall. Practice the online exam for about 90 min. This helped me a lot, because you can check where you got wrong, and why, and learn on the spot. I probably practiced the full test 4-5 times, which helped me pass the exam on my first try. Without this, I’m sure I would have failed. 

Online practice test provided by DLT

https://www.thaidriveexam.com/testExam-type-carbike

https://www.thaidriveexam.com

Other external practice links

https://thaidrivingtest.com/ > This was the most useful 3rd party exam. Just practice this until you ace all the questions. 

https://www.driving-exam-thailand.com/en > Also did this a couple of times. Was somewhat useful, since some questions were different from the above link.

14:45 – Online exam started. You need to score at least 45 out of 50 to pass. You have 50 min but most people finish within about 30 min, because you either know the answer or you don’t. If you fail, you can retake the test up to twice per day, but on this day, they said we only have one shot and have to come back another day if we failed, because it was already late in the afternoon.  

15:15 – Passed exam. I barely passed with exactly 45/50. So again, practicing with external practice exams before the exam date and re-practicing with the official practice exam right before the exam is key to save time.

Right after passing the online exam, I was told to come on another day to take the riding test. No appointment required, registration times are 8:30, 9:30, 10:30, 13:00, 14:00, 15:00. The motorcycle riding test course is right next to DLT building 4 after walking towards the main gate towards where you came from on BTS. It’s a small hut with a small motorcycle driving course. 

3. Day 2 Riding test

8:30 – I came the next day. Unfortunately it was raining, so we had to wait until the rain cleared. 

9:10 – Registered in the hut next to the small motorcycle driving course. Paid 50 thb to rent a motorcycle. Watched a 5 min video on endless repeat until enough people registered to start the riding test.

9:45 – Road test started. Basically 2 tests: balance test and stop sign test. 

Balance test:  You need to ride straight across a 10m strip, 30cm wide and 5 cm high, without falling off the strip. If you stay calm and drive slowly and carefully, you should be able to pass. If you fall, you are given one more chance, but if you fall twice, you need to retest on another date. Out of about a dozen participants, one westerner who had 30 years of motorcycle driving failed, so do be careful and don’t be over confident.

Stop sign test: You are instructed to drive a short course with around 5 stops. You just need to make sure you know what a stop sign looks like, where they are, and to make sure you make a full stop at each stop. Pay attention when the instructor explains where to stop and where other participants are stopping when they go before you. So it’s probably better not to be first to go if you are not sure.

10:15 – Go back to DLT building 4’s 2nd floor where the many booths are, take a photo, license issued.

So that’s how I got my Thai motorcycle license. Finally, I just want to state the obvious that driving in Thailand is 10 times more deadly than in your home country. Always wear a helmet (preferably full face), wear as much protective gear as you can, drive like every car is out to get you, and pretend that you’re invisible, because you kind of are and that’s how people get killed. Don’t be fooled by locals riding around without helmets and on sandals because we don’t see the dead or the injured, and trust me there are many.

Here is an official link to how many people died on the road this year in Thailand. Ride safe and good luck!

I hope this article was helpful. I’m the owner of an online maid cleaning service in the greater Bangkok area. So if you ever need weekly or daily housekeeping service, please do check us out from the link here. We have the best quality of maids in Thailand. 

===

Written by Daigo Yoda

Founder and CEO Bluuu

Disclaimers: Official process, links, etc, changes frequently and I probably won’t be able to keep up with the updates. So at the time you read this, some process or links may have changed.