What are the steps to obtain a Thai driving license with a Washington State license and how to handle translation issues?

If that is what immigration wants do it. Or get a visa agent to do for you. In Pattaya the office accepts driver’s license in English. Only if license is not in English you have to get translated. Be glad you don’t have to get the translation authenticated by your embassy. In Pattaya the embassy will only accept translations from a translation office which they have approved.

I assume you are in thailand already. Maybe you can try approach a driving school that can take a class for a few days then get a licence test on the spot. That's what i did as a thai. Ask them if they can do the same for a foreigner

If you are in the US then try get an IDP before coming to Thailand. We accept both IDP under Geneva and Vienna treaties

That is right, take the test, which is also available in English language. Else you would have to have an International Driving Licence from your home country. But really, the test is the smoothest alternative.

Just take the test it was so easy and was not expensive.

Try Bangchak

As much as I try to avoid them where possible use a agent so much less hassle

I got my license in Oct. They accepted my US license, but I had to watch the videos for "training".

My husband's license was expired, so he had to do all the testing. Driving and test on computer for both motorbike and car.

Bottom line (in all of Thailand) is that it can totally depend on what officer you get.

Just do the test. It's not that difficult. There used to be a practice test online.

Looks like a LOT of people had a hard time getting a licence. 8am I went to Ubon licence building a couple of months ago with my Thai fiancée. I took my passport, UK driving licence and International Driving Permit, no explanation of any codes. I had a 'medical' (asked 2 questions, Dr ticked a few boxes) passport copied, upstairs to have documents checked. Enter 2nd room, stand in line for traffic light test, stand in another line for reaction test, about 7 minutes total. Passed both, goto another room, have photo taken and pay for licence. Start to finish almost exactly 2 hours. Maybe I was lucky!

In the United States, each State has their own license codes. For example, in California, I have a class C/M2 license (normal car + motorcycle of any size). For Washington State, it looks like they are called "Endorsements" (?) (Source:

> but the land transport office in Samut Prakan demanded a notarized translation of the different classes and endorsements from the embassy even though none are applicable to me

Different provinces in Thailand have different requirements. You may have to go to the US Consulate, sign an affidavit saying that you have a license letting you drive [whatever] from Washington, and then get that translated and approved by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 🙁

When I applied for a Thai driver's license in Bangkok, I had to provide a translation of my original EU license. I translated it myself and got it certified by my embassy.

tdl-service.com

Weird. When I obtained my first license (quite a while back, mind you) I had a Canadian license for cars and motorcycles AND was here on a non-Canadian passport where the name differs slightly.

They did not require any of that.

Try getting your license in another district or province.I did that recently because of queue space. It's totally allowed. Maybe you get a more reasonable request for documents.

I just did mine so easy with an international license 🙂

I'm English, but all I did was get a proof of residence at the local immigration office, then go to test centre, sit through a 10min video, have colour eye test and reaction tests, all in all about 1hr from entering to having both bike and car licenses, same as in England.

Go to the the Land Transport office at Mo Chit .

just make the license new - not use your home country one -

Can't you just get an international driver's license?