Driving a motorbike in Thailand.

One of my many bucket list items was to drive in a foreign country.

In America, we drive on the left side of the car on the right side of the road which is unusual to a majority of the planet.

I thought that learning to drive on the left would be way harder than it is and though it does take some getting used to (I do still find myself occasionally stopping the desire to drift to the right) it’s not completely mind boggling so never fear. 

Driving in Thailand, I have found that the locals give lots of grace and are overall accommodating and welcoming in general but especially on the road.

In Thailand, it is illegal not to have your motorcycle license when operating a scooter. Let me also point out that I am not driving an actual motorcycle with gear switching madness but an automatic scooter which is a lot less daunting in general.

It is worth it to note that if you are not comfortable with driving yourself, you can hop on the back of a “Grab” motorcycle to get comfortable with the motion of the bike. These bikes are operated by a driver and do the same task as a taxi or uber/lyft if you will, but it is a bike.

To obtain a license in Thailand, you will need to convert your home country’s license into a thai motorcycle license at the Department of Transportation. You can also hire an agent or go through a driving school like Chiangmai Driving School to make the process smoother for yourself for an extra fee. 

In addition, you will need to obtain a residency certificate (this is not your TM30) from the immigration office. Expect for it to take as little as 1 day to as long as 3 weeks to come back to you depending on the immigration rules at the time and whether they will expedite it. 

If you would like to fast track it and receive it the next business day for certain, you can head to “The Colonel” which is an office across the street from the immigration office that is next to Chiang Mai Airport for 1000 baht.

In addition to the residency certificate, you will need to obtain a medical certificate. You can do this at any hospital or medical center for 100-500 baht. I recieved mine from Klaimor Hospital near the airport for 200 baht same day. 

I chose Chiang Mai Driving School to complete my tests and book my picture appointment for 1000 baht because I did not want the hassle of doing it all myself and needed it quickly. I reached out on facebook messenger and let them know I was hoping to get my motorcycle license.

They offer classes mon-thurs and sat/sun. The class is 2 days (15 hours) and yes you have to be there the entire time or you will not be allowed to receive your certificate.

When I arrived on my scheduled days, I brought my bike with me and parked inside the lot. If the class is big, they may not have enough bikes for everyone. In our case, they asked if we drove to school and the ones who did were able to use their own bike. 

The first day, we sat in the classroom and watched instructional videos that covered what was on the written and physical tests. At the end of the day, we took our written tests as many times as needed to ensure a pass and were able to leave. The tests were common sense and easy to understand, I passed on my first time and know many others who did the same.

On day two, we were outside practicing with our bikes on the track that they have in front of their property. They gave us different activities to do with our bikes, taught us how to check oil, tire pressure, brake pressure, etc. and took us through the track course section by section.

(See here for a vlog of my driving school experience).

The driving school booked my appointment to take my license picture at the Department of Land Transportation. I received my license the same day and TA-DA! Now we are driving legally!

Here are some helpful tips for navigating the roads of Thailand as a tourist:

• Treat the road as a river and glide with other drivers in transport accordingly. 

• Exercise caution on rocky and wet terrain. The ground becomes extremely slippery even with riding straight in these conditions and can throw off your balance. 

• Understand the rules and regulations are “guidelines” and drive defensively according to that knowledge. 

People will drive on the wrong side of the road although warned against, people will do things like U-turn where it says not to, drive across lines you're not supposed to, etc. You have to be prepared to witness something “off” to your visual eye and be calm enough to assess and adapt.