International Driving Permit in Thailand: what it covers and when it isn’t enough
An International Driving Permit works in Thailand only together with your home license and only until it expires. You can’t get or renew an IDP in Phuket: it is issued only in the country that issued your home license. Once it expires, the only legal way to keep driving is a Thai license.
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What an IDP is
An International Driving Permit (IDP) is a booklet that translates your home license into several languages. It isn't a license in its own right: without the national license it is not valid. It doesn't work as ID in Thailand either.
An IDP is issued by the licensing authority or the motoring association in your home country. Its categories repeat those on your home license.
Do you need an IDP in Thailand
Legally it is disputed: Thailand signed the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic, and some publications conclude that a home license is enough. Both sides of the argument are in the guide do you need a license in Thailand.
In practice, police and rental shops in Phuket go by the IDP. For a bike both documents need category A, for a car category B. There is no separate "scooter IDP": it is the same IDP with category A.
How to get an IDP in Phuket
You can't. Only the state that issued your home license can issue an IDP, so no office on the island can make one. Ads for an "international license in a day" sell either a souvenir booklet or a forgery.
Such stories reach the press. In the comments under a Phuket News article on licenses, a reader said he had bought an "international license" from a private office in Chalong that assured him it was legal, and was fined at the very first checkpoint. What happens to people who try to buy documents is in why you can't buy a Thai license.
The Thai international permit
A Thai international permit is an IDP issued by Thailand's Department of Land Transport (DLT) on the basis of a Thai license. According to the Bangkok Post, since May 2021 the DLT has issued two kinds: under the 1949 Geneva Convention, valid for one year, and under the 1968 Vienna Convention, valid for up to three years. Each cost 505 ฿. Holders report that a full five-year Thai license is needed to apply.
Within ASEAN you don't need one: a Thai card with the details in English is valid on its own in nine countries of the region. More in the guide to where a Thai license works.
When an IDP stops working
- It has expired. It can't be renewed in Thailand, a new one is issued only at home.
- The category is wrong. An IDP with category B doesn't cover a scooter.
- Your home license has expired. Without it the IDP is void, even if its own date hasn't passed.
- It is lost. It can only be replaced in the country that issued it.
IDP or Thai license: a comparison
| IDP | Thai license | |
|---|---|---|
| Issued | Only in the country of your home license | By the DLT in Thailand |
| Home license needed alongside | Yes | No |
| Renewal in Phuket | Impossible | Possible |
| Validity | As issued | First license 2 years, then up to 5 years |
| Valid across ASEAN | Depends on the country | Yes, a card with the details in English |
Moving from an IDP to a Thai license
While the IDP is valid, your home license can be converted to a Thai one with no exam and in one visit. Through Phuket License conversion costs from 5,500 ฿. There is one condition: the categories on the IDP and the home license must match the ones you want on the Thai license.
For Russian license holders it is simpler: no IDP is needed for conversion at all, the Russian license with the right categories is enough. The IDP's expiry date, a notarised translation and the booklet's categories don't matter in that case.
For other licenses the conversion window closes on the day the IDP expires. After that a notarised translation won't help, and what remains is a new license from scratch: from 10,000 ฿, legally and in the shortest time on the island. Documents and the conversion process are in the guide to converting a foreign license.
