Thailand Driving Licence in Chiang Mai: Documents and Fees

A foreigner applying for a temporary licence submits an alien certificate or passport, proof of residence or a work permit, and a medical certificate. A foreign licence of the same vehicle type may go in too. The fee is THB 205 for a car or THB 105 for a motorcycle. A car licence does not cover a scooter.

By Vincent Nguyen

Put your documents in one folder before you drive south-west to the Chiang Mai Provincial Land Transport Office in Mae Hia. A foreigner applying for a temporary private car or motorcycle licence must submit an alien certificate or passport, or a document used in place of a passport. The office is at 192 Moo 7, Chiang Mai-Hod Road, Mae Hia. Call 1584 first if you have a question.

This page covers a first temporary licence for a foreign resident. Fees and tests are national Department rules, and the fees match those in the Chiang Rai provincial guide used below.

Documents to bring

The Ministerial Regulation sets the list for foreign applicants. A Chiang Rai provincial guide, a government release and the Department’s older English page add detail.

• Passport or alien certificate, with a photo. The Department’s English page asks for a passport with a non-immigrant visa, original and photocopy.
• Proof of residence. Bring the certificate from the Immigration Office. The regulation accepts a residence certificate under the immigration law or official evidence of a residence in Thailand, and a work permit as an alternative. It is a document issued by the Immigration Office in the area, and your landlord must have notified your stay with form TM.30. Get it from the nearest Thai Immigration Office. The certificate is “valid for 1 year” under the older rule. No newer validity rule was found, so get it close to the appointment.
• Medical certificate. It must show no disease or condition a physician considers dangerous while driving. Any hospital or clinic can issue it for a driver’s licence. Ask for the driving-licence version: it is called a “5-diseases form”. It must be issued within the last 30 days.
• Passport validity. The Immigration Bureau’s page asks for at least 15 days of validity remaining.
• Photos. The Chiang Rai guide asks for 2 photos of 3 x 4 cm taken within the last 6 months.
• Training evidence. The regulation lists evidence of training for a foreign applicant. One accepted source is a driving school the Department certifies under the land transport law. The 2024 release lists an e-learning training certificate, and the Immigration Bureau’s page names a 1-hour online course for foreigners on dlt-elearning.com.
• Your foreign licence, if you have one. A licence of the same vehicle type from another government may be included. The Immigration Bureau’s page asks that it still be valid for the length of your allowed stay. Without a valid licence you may have to take a driving course and test.

If the foreign licence has no English on it, certification from your embassy or consulate is needed.

ต้องมีหลักฐานการรับรองจากสถานทูตหรือสถานกงสุลเป็นภาษาไทยหรือภาษาอังกฤษประกอบด้วย

…there must be accompanying certification from an embassy or consulate in Thai or English.

กฎกระทรวง การขอและการออกใบอนุญาตขับรถ พ.ศ. 2563, ข้อ 3 (1)(จ)

The regulation also lets a licence issued under an international agreement that has not expired go in the application, with a photo if there is one. Whether it waives any test is set by Department announcements, not by the regulation.

The medical certificate has a short life. One without a stated validity is valid for no more than one month from the date it was issued. The Chiang Rai guide asks for one issued no more than 1 month before you apply. Collect the residence paper and the medical certificate in the same week.

The steps at the office

The Chiang Rai provincial guide is the only readable step list from a Department office, so it sets the order below. The counter order in Chiang Mai may differ slightly.

1. Hand in the documents and take the physical fitness test.
2. Attend the training: 4 hours in the Chiang Rai guide, while a 2016 Department regulation sets not less than 5 hours for most applicants. A foreign resident may be able to do it online: there is a 1-hour online course for foreigners.
3. Take the theory test on a computer (E-exam).
4. Take the driving test.
5. Pay the fee: THB 205 for a car licence or THB 105 for a motorcycle licence.

Does your foreign licence shorten the tests?

Some documents bring an exemption from training and testing if you have them. One is a licence of the same vehicle type issued by another country’s government. Another is a licence issued under an international agreement to which Thailand is a party.

The 2016 Department regulation cuts the training to not less than 1 hour for a foreign applicant holding an unexpired licence of the same vehicle type from another government. The regulation is old, and a June 2025 draft would change the rules for foreign applicants.

A foreign government-issued licence may be used as part of the application. The announcement in force today was not readable, so bring the foreign licence and ask the counter whether the theory test is waived.

Office hours and location

The Chiang Mai office is open 8 AM to 4:30 PM Monday to Friday, closed Saturday and Sunday. The Department’s call-centre number is 1584.

Fees: temporary and longer licence

The Chiang Rai guide and the U.S. Embassy page give the same temporary fees. A 2016 press item names the fee regulation behind them as the Ministry of Transport’s regulation on fees under the motor vehicle law, No. 6 of 2016.

To get a longer private licence you must have held a temporary private licence for at least one year. The guide lets you apply up to 60 days before the temporary licence expires. The Department’s English page covers the move from a two-year licence to a five-year one.

Article 4 of the regulation, on the longer private licence, rules out people permitted to enter for tourism, sport or transit, and foreign workers allowed temporary stay by Cabinet resolution. A retiree on a long-stay non-immigrant visa is in neither group as the article is worded. If you came in on a visa-free stay, check your status first. See Thailand visa types and the DTV visa guide.

Motorcycle licences

The fee lists give separate amounts for a car and a motorcycle. Australian government advice says a valid motorcycle licence is needed to drive a motorbike, and that some rental companies will say otherwise. A Chiang Mai rental shop says a car licence does not count.

The extra training and riding test apply to a motorcycle of thirty-five kilowatts or more, or a cylinder capacity of four hundred cubic centimetres or more. A typical rental scooter sits below both limits, so an ordinary motorcycle licence applies as the regulation is worded.

Renting a bike meanwhile? Read motorbike rental in Chiang Mai and the international driving permit rules.

Rules may change

A June 2025 draft Department announcement would revise the training and testing rules for foreign applicants. No later publication of it was found in the Department’s legal-office listings, so it stays a draft and the regulation and existing announcements remain the reference.

In early September 2025 the Royal Gazette site published an amending Ministerial Regulation, No. 2 of 2025, effective 180 days after publication. The start date has passed, so it should be in force now. Its headline subject is renewal. Whether it changes any paper for a first application by a foreigner was not checked.

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Not confirmed: The in-force Department announcement on tests was unreadable, so ask the Chiang Mai counter whether your foreign licence cuts the tests; bring it either way. Booking rules for a slot are not confirmed. Whether a DTV counts as a non-immigrant visa for this application is not confirmed either.

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General information checked against the sources listed above, not legal advice for your situation. Rules and office practice change; confirm with the immigration office or a licensed adviser before you act. See how guides are checked.

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