Confused and in Need of a Little Help

[Voodoo]

Right now Pon and I are caught in a Catch 22.. We went down to Nang Rong to apply for driver's licenses.. Things went well enough for me, except there are some new changes that have been made and even more coming in the New Year, but, for the most part, sooner or later I'll get licenses for both car and motor bike.. Pon is a whole different story.. She's back in Thailand but on a US passport and an O-A retirement visa the same as me.. She's trying to renew her old Thai ID but according to Nang Rong she doesn't exist.. They have no record of her anywhere in their computers.. They searched the whole data base for Buriram Province and nothing.. It seems that since her old ID is over 30 years expired they simply deleted her from the records assuming she was dead.. Now the fun part.. We went to KCI last week and got all the paperwork for driver's licenses through them.. No problem with her being a US citizen at all.. They gave her the same paperwork that they gave me.. We got the medical certificates in Non Suwon yesterday and handed everything over to the Traffic Division in Nang Rong today.. They told her that she can't get a driver's license until she renews her Thai ID.. They refused all her paperwork as a US citizen, accepted mine and sent her on her merry way.. This is insane.. Her and her sister are talking to the PuYai right now because they're trying to get her reborn, so to speak and get her that Thai ID.. My question to the forum is does anyone have any suggestions or answers for this?  Right now my wife is rip roaring pissed because they won't accept her as a Thai and now they won't accept her as an American citizen either... I'm running out of ideas guys.. BTW things are changing in the driver's license division very quickly.. Your home country or stateside license is no longer any good in obtaining a Thai driver's license.. The only thing Nang Rong will accept now is an international driver's license.. If you don't have that then you have to go through the whole Magilla same as any Thai applying for a first time license.. I spent the whole day there going through classes and taking the written test for both car and motor bike.. Tomorrow I go back and have to take road tests on each vehicle... Next year will be even worse.. Even renewals will require you sit through the classes and take the written test.. We just got that word today, directly from the people in Nang Rong..Whether this is true for any other city or province I have no idea.. GL I need to borrow Wiley's sign... Help!!!

[urleft]

I would recommend Pon ensures she has an IDP (International Driver's Permit) which requires an associated valid drivers license. 

I personally think IDP are BS and you can get them at any US AAA with 2 passport photos, and US DL, and $15.  No training or anything.  Also make sure the IDP is for both cars and Motorcycles.   And to make it easier, this can be done by mail.  So the actual worth of an IDP is suspect. 

Voodoo, think you and Pon are screwed for a bit. 

[Voodoo]

Thanks urleft.. We thought of that as an alternative and temporary fix until we can get the ID issue rectified.. At least we can get her a license temporarily since her stateside license expires the end of October of 2014.. Will, definitely, look into it and get her one for the short haul.  It just boggle our minds that they wouldn't even consider her US credentials.. We gave them everything except the actual naturalization certificate.. My own observation is that they are a bit in a panic over all the changes that have been put in and when they don't know what to do, in certain situations, the answer is just NO.. Hopefully, I'll do well on the road test today and at least one of us will be able to drive here.. Thanks again for the good info and a Very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family..

[andy]

Just do as most of the locals do, drive your car with out a licence, tax and insurance - then if you have an accident just pay 200 baht fine and blame it on a farang who might be passing by. 

[nookiebear]

Especially if the said passing farang happens to be eating a cheese & onion pasty at the time

[toffo]

Or the farang that listens to his wife and goes and visits the girl the next day to see if she is ok even though it wasn't his fault and then has to payout..

[smoooth2]

Voodoo ... hope your test went ok today. I totally agree with urleft's Reply#1

If you visit www.aaa.com/vacation/idpf.html they have a very simple one page description of how to get an IDP whilst already overseas. Looks like it takes 4-6 weeks via mail system.

At least Pon will legally be able to drive whilst you sort the nationality/ID thingy. Hard to imagine why Licensing people gave you such a hard time. Immigration were obviously happy with Pon's status as an American. Anyway ... good luck with that one.

The frequent times that I've been asked to produce my license in LOS, my Aussie issued IDP has always been sufficient.

[Voodoo]

Thanks for the good info Smoooth2... I will go that route for both me and Pon now that I F***ed up trying to get the Thai license the legal way.. Haven't been on a bike in years and they put me on this little motor scooter and I just couldn't control the damn thing.. Last thing I rode was a 350 Yamaha, but that was in 82 back in New Mexico.. Then on the road test just couldn't parallel park to save my ass.. Bad part was that I dumped the scooter on the last turn and it belonged to the gal administering the test .. So all in all, no license and it cost me 3000B in damamges on the scooter.. Merry Christmas.. So much for one old American farang making a fool of himself.. Will go the route with the IDP.. I'll also practice here and retake the road tests again.. No charge for that but I"ll make sure that I do it on a bike that I'm familiar with and a car or truck that I'm familiar with.  The car I drove was over 15 years old and you could barely see out the windows on it.. No excuses though.. To put in plain English... This Ole Boy just F***ed up..

[gotlost]

And you thought Thailand would be milk and honey. Your sure on a very hard learning curve.. Sorry for the head aches. Just wait tell there is a wedding next door..
P.S. It does get better. Its time for a large leo..

[Voodoo]

Thanks GL...  That Leo sounds real good right now.. Think I'll have 1 or 2 or 3.. Haven't said that for a long time.. Things will, eventually work out.. We will find a way somehow.. Anyway.. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Mate.

[nookiebear]

What time are you going back to do the test ,,,,,,,,,,,,I'll get a TV camera crew to be there to capture the event!

[Voodoo]

Should bring back some old memories of Bennie Hill or Monty Python

[Starman]

Voodoo ... hope your test went ok today. I totally agree with urleft's Reply#1

If you visit www.aaa.com/vacation/idpf.html they have a very simple one page description of how to get an IDP whilst already overseas. Looks like it takes 4-6 weeks via mail system.

At least Pon will legally be able to drive whilst you sort the nationality/ID thingy. Hard to imagine why Licensing people gave you such a hard time. Immigration were obviously happy with Pon's status as an American. Anyway ... good luck with that one.

The frequent times that I've been asked to produce my license in LOS, my Aussie issued IDP has always been sufficient.

You may wish to check with your insurance company on that one.

[Voodoo]

Thanks for the info Starman .. Will do...

[nookiebear]

I think only valid over here for 3 months!