Driver License

I am so excited that I finally have my Thai Driver License!! If you added up all the time it took to acquire all the required paperwork consecutively, testing time, waiting time... I would estimate it took 4 full days to complete the whole process. I am so glad it's all over, I feel great accomplishment in having that license in my wallet. It all started with compiling all the paper work-passport copies, visa copies, we had to go to the Thailand Immigration office to obtain a permanent residence verification-that required a copy of our lease agreement and a copy of Mark's work permit, that took two trips in itself. After all the paperwork was compiled we then went to the Department of Transportation for our color test, reflex test and depth perception test. Obtaining a Thai license is really easy if you have a valid International driver license but they do not recognize a US license at all so we had to go through the entire process that any other Thai person goes through to become a legal driver. Bureaucracy in the Department of Transportation must be a world wide problem.(Maybe a little worse here, I was asking one of my Thai friends how she did when she took her testing and she just laughed and said her Dad gave her a driver license for her birthday when she was 18!! It's all about who you know here and how much you are willing to pay. We have been told many times if we are ever stopped just offer the officer 1000 Baht-$30!) Just think about the normal bureaucracy that we face in the US and then compound that by no signs in English and hardly any spoken. I just had to go in there realizing this was going to be a slow, tedious, frustrating procedure and it was! After passing the visual and reflex tests, which one of them was a close call because I couldn't understand the directions for a particular depth test and I was first up-the guinea pig if you will. After two times of trying to figure out the controls and what the tester really wanted me to do, she said very impatiently, "Last time, you done!" in not a very nice tone, it hurt my feelings. Thankfully I completed the task to her approval.

All the Farangs that had passed the visual and reflex tests were then taken into a room to watch an hour long English video on driving in Thailand. It was me and 6 old men, Mark had to reschedule a different time when he realized how much time this whole process was really going to consume. There were several chuckles heard in the room when they talked about certain laws, especially the one that only one passenger is allowed/motorcycle-yea right! After the video we were then taken to the computer testing area. Thankfully the test was in English, I failed my first attempt, you have to get 75% of the 30 questions correct. I wasn't too disheartened, it was tough and the guy setting beside me said his friend took it six times before passing. After the first test I was told to come back in the afternoon for retesting. When I returned I happened to find a review booklet in the waiting area that had pictures of the signs and other really helpful things. I passed, what a relief with exactly 75%, that was close! Have you ever seen a blue sign with a number in it? That's a sign for minimum speeds here. How about how many meters should you stop from a pedestrian crossing? 10 meters FYI! You aren't supposed to haul anything higher than 3 meters or 25 meters in length in the back of your pick-up. Sure I had a couple of really easy questions too. Here's one I bet you can get.

If you feel drowsy while driving you should:
1. Drink some coffee.
2. Take some amphetamines.
3. Pull off and stop engine until feeling rested.
4. Turn on loud music.

It was a random computer test and a couple of questions came up twice, of course not the easy ones like the drowsy question!

I was very thankful to pass on the second attempt and wonder if I could even pass a current test in the states, it's been so long.

I was then told to return the following afternoon for my driving test. Yikes! I was nervous. Can you imagine parallel parking on the left side of the road in a vehicle with a stick shift on your left and the steering wheel on the right side of the car? I still have trouble remembering which side the blinkers are on. Let's just say I was prayed up before all of my testing.

When I arrived, there were over 50 people waiting to take the driving test on the course. There was one other Farang and after talking to him I think he was from Austria. There was not one word of instruction given in English and no translation was available. I asked and the man seemed to take some pleasure in telling me, "Mai English!" I was lined up and we counted off, I thought that must be the order that we would be driving the course but some lady had mercy on me as I'm walking around asking, "Do you speak English?" that explained to me that they were just getting a total count and just wait for them to call your name and then line up in your vehicle to take the driving test. Finally after about 20 others my name was called and I lined up to take the test. Right off the bat you had to turn left and do your parallel parking right away. If you touched a pole, weren't parked in the painted box and weren't within 25 cm from the curb you were disqualified and had to try again later. The test waiting area was right beside the parallel parking spot, the pressure was on for sure. After being satisfied with your attempt you had to stick your arm out the window and call out your name to the test evaluator to get the signal to proceed into the rest of the course. I did it!!! I was so relieved and it was such a nerve racking experience. I felt like I had made a good impression for all the Farang women!! Mark said in his test there was one lady that never even got one tire in the required box! After the parking challenge it seemed rather easy until you had to back out of the testing area about 100 yards with the cones getting more narrow as you went along. I did see the one other Farang man fail the test at this point, he touched one of the cones with his tire. It's funny the things you think about at times. As I was stopping and putting it into reverse and took a deep breath I thought to myself, "Just remember the times you backed up a goose-neck trailer, this is easy!" I did it!! I'm really proud of myself! Mark passed his written and driving test on the first attempt. I'm proud of him too!

Then I had to return today to find my application and test results within 6 cardboard boxes that were in no order and I couldn't read one hint of instruction, I'm just fumbling through all these applications with 30 other Thai people until I happened upon mine, then I took it to the cashier and waited to have my picture taken. The whole thing cost 205Baht, roughly $6 and after another 2 hours I finally had my cherished license in my hand! It expires in one year and then after re-applying I can obtain a 5 year license. All of that and we will still retain our driver, Songkran full time. It is just good to have for all the trips to the nearby 7-11 or in case of emergency, we are legal! I am so glad that whole ordeal is behind us.