My UK car license has got "A" and "AM" I've never done a CBT course, I did mine a few months ago in Pattaya, at the chonburi DLT on a tourist visa, with the assistance of an agent, they also assisted me with opening a bank account, the only question they asked was does your licence have "basic motorcycle entitlement" they said that is all you need, to convert it into full Thai car and motorcycle licences, and said I need 30 days or more on my visa to open the bank account, but sorry a don't have any knowledge of Krabi immigration or DLT, if your local just go and make some enquiries, they usually give you a list of requirements, there should be a local agent that can help you out if your struggling.

@Michael *******

if you're applying for the non O yourself, apparently it's much easier to do it on the official Thai e-visa website, I've heard stories of some immigration offices, making it very difficult to do the initial non O, and heard of people having to travel to Vientiane in Lao, and apply at the thai consulate there, not sure why 🤔

Not worth all the messing around, with the cost of booking a hotel etc, just pay an agent 🤷

You say he has a full UK car license, Does it have "basic motorcycle entitlement" ?? If so, together with an IDP, it can be converted into full Thai car and motorcycle licences, by attending the DLT and completing a simple reaction and colour blind test, lots of agents can assist, I'm speaking from experience, not just guessing like most of these commenting.

I'm sure some money goes in the back pocket, don't be bitter because you have paid tax all your life 🙏😉

They are not "receiving money" illegally from anyone, what they do with that money is their concern, i don't know about Thai tax paying businesses.

@George ********

okay you can tie up the ฿800k and it doesn't bother you, (me making an assumption) what about that person that has a pension coming in, but most of his/her money is invested, and they are getting a good return (this person is on a budget) that person is obviously not poor and can take care of themselves, and got more than enough money to live on, so why shouldn't they "circumnavigate" the unnecessary rules, and get a Thai visa using an agent, to live in Thailand happily ever after, it is something that thousands of people do every year, it's not doing any harm to anyone else, otherwise I wouldn't say it is acceptable, a lot of these people are enjoying a well earned retirement, that wouldn't otherwise be possible, can you blame them??

@Brian *********

Stuart Cumming I'm aware in this instance, he said he didn't have the ฿800k in the bank, but anytime anyone mentions using an agent, everyone jumps on the bandwagon, saying you will be tied to them forever!! But I have met people that did have the ฿800k in a Thai bank, but just used an agent for the first year, simply because they didn't want to deal with the Thai bureaucracy of the immigration office, needing to have all the extra documents for the first year of applying for the non O, and then the 12 month extension, after that they did it themselves, by using the 800k or the monthly method, nobody ever talks about that. 🤷

@Frank *********

use the cardless withdrawal function in the banking application, for out of province withdrawals it's free, you only get that ฿15 charge if using the physical card.

@Andy *******

cardless out of province ATM withdrawals are free, it's usually around ฿15 if you use the physical card out of province, most people just open an account wherever they can get one, when you get settled somewhere permanently, and your on a long-term visa, you can open another account anywhere yourself.