Have a cigar wrote:Hi, I am curious to how safe people regard it to hire a car and explore the surrounding areas of Hua Hin & Cha`am etc. Are the rules of the road pretty much the same? Is my UK license valid for use in Thailand?
In a car you should be ok for the most part.
Just be aware of u-turners on the highways etc.
That sounds a sensible option. When I go over I always get an international driving permit from the post office, costs £12 and lasts a year. Ive not had to produce yet, but its in many languages, including Thai.
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I was thinking of getting the IDL but reading on the AA website it says you have to apply 3 months before you intend to use the license. Its now 2 &1/2 months till i leave for Thailand. So too late [/quote]
I may be wrong, but I thought it was about 6 weeks before flying out. Check again would be my advice. BB is correct in saying the post office do it all for you. You even get the permit there and then, rather than through the post. All you need is a passport type photo. They give you a sheet to fill in and you need to put which permit you need on it (2 types of idp). All the information is provided.
Riders second video shows perfectly one of the major problems of driving in Thailand, no not the woman stepping out between stationary cars but the motorcyclist squeezing up between stationary cars and weaving from lane to lane. While they (the motorcyclists) all pile up between two rows of cars they are happy to exploit the tiniest of gaps, once the traffic starts moving those same people expect to be given space on the road where there isn't any because they've filled all the available space between the cars.
I know that happens all over the world but the sheer volume of motorcycles here make this a deadly practice.
In general, driving here isn't difficult (in a car/truck), keep your wits about you, expect nothing from other road users, don't trust peoples signals, don't get involved in a race/road rage situation; just like the UK. The only couple of things that are really not like the UK is that you will be at fault if you hit a motorcycle (or it hits you) not because you are foreign just because that's the way it is and lots of motorcycles don't have lights that work and really no-one pays any attention to any traffic regulations, especially to drink driving laws.
The one thing Thai people get right is flashing their headlights - in Thailand and in the UK this means - 'I don't think you've seen me coming so I'll flash my lights to let you know' somehow in the UK this has been forgotten and turned into 'I give up my right of way to you' unless you're hogging the outside lane of a motorway when it turns back into what it supposed to mean.
If you are renting a car, get it from a proper place with proper insurance. I'm not sure that some of the on-street car renters will really be covered properly and reading a Thai insurance document is as difficult as reading and understanding an English one.
My brain is like an Internet browser; 12 tabs are open and 5 of them are not responding, there's a GIF playing in an endless loop,... and where is that annoying music coming from?
Re-read the AA website...my mistake (i was on my 1st nightshift).
Will pop in to the post office when im home and get it sorted and will be sure to hire a car from a proper hire company rather than a street side vendor.
Have a cigar wrote:Re-read the AA website...my mistake (i was on my 1st nightshift).
Will pop in to the post office when im home and get it sorted and will be sure to hire a car from a proper hire company rather than a street side vendor.
Full UK license is good enough for the car hire companies and validates the insurance. Strickly speaking you should have an international license for the police but in 20 years of driving hire cars in Thailand I have never bothered. Just remember if you get stopped just pay the on he spot fine do not let the police take your license to the station. If you worry about legalities just think that half the Thai's driving around don,t have a license they just pay the on the spot fine.
On driving a word of warning when turning into a street look out for motorbikes/cycles coming the wrong way on the wrong side of the street. If you hit one you are always in the wrong
Not to be a pain in the ass Rider, but I wonder why or how you are still in one piece with the video game flics you show us........and this IS one of the most dangerous things motorcycle riders do in traffic. If thrill seeking is your game this is the place to be, that's for sure!
I was wondering if a the forum knows if a US drivers license (Kentucky) has the same consideration as UK and which credentials are needed for scooter or motorcycle driving?
tuna22 wrote:which credentials are needed for scooter or motorcycle driving?
Thank you
Two hundred baht kept separately from your other cash, to pay on-the-spot fines if or when the need arises.
As a side note, all Farang driving through HH today can expect a fine just before you get to MV if driving from north to south, or just after MV if driving from south to north. They have a check point set up by the overhead pedestrian bridge and they pulling just about every Farang on a bike, or in a car if you have clear untinted windows. I stopped just short of the check point and approached on foot, and then sat there for about 30 minutes or so, and apart from the occasional Thai not wearing a helmet, they were targeting Farang only, and almost all of those who were stopped ended up paying a fine. I was going to record the discrimination, but decided not to just in case. Not sure how long they'll be there for, but I guess their game will end once school gets out this afternoon.
And no, I never got fined since I did a quick u-turn just before the check point, and then went up over the train line and cam back along the back roads.
Don't try to impress me with your manner of dress cos a monkey himself is a monkey no less - cold fact
So what are they targeting for. I've been fined a couple of times in Hua Hin and they always had a reason. You must have broken some law or other no matte how small. I've been through those checkpoints and usually when they see my windshield sticker is up to date they just wave me through. A couple of times I have been asked to present my Thai driving license which I have and was waved on.
The times I had to pay was when I wasn't wearing my seat belt or when I accidentally stopped with the nose of my car in the pedestrian crosswalk at the red light in the center of town.
My brain is like an Internet browser; 12 tabs are open and 5 of them are not responding, there's a GIF playing in an endless loop,... and where is that annoying music coming from?
I have to agree with hhFarang. If all your papers are in order the police will not extort money - you always have the option to take a ticket and go to the police station if you have done nothing wrong. If you don't have a Thai driving license (or suitable) or your road tax is out of date or no helmet on a bike, they'll have you. What's wrong with that?
I get stopped a lot on the bypass and they usually just look in the car and wave me on, sometimes they'll ask to see the driving license, ask where I'm going, where I've been, check my address, sometimes they'll ask what kind of job I do, if I'm married, got children or whatever, I'm not sure if this is in an effort to catch out people working with no permit or no visa or if it's just the usual police banter. I've only once been asked to do a road-side urine test near Tha-Yang and I passed and they were fine.
Only when being stopped for speeding do they ever ask for money and it's a lot less hassle just to play along than it is to let them take your license and have to get it back at the station later after paying a real fine and possibly points on your license (not sure what the points limits are these days).
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