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| Phuket Land Transport Office |
Go to the Phuket Provincial Land Transport Office in Phuket Town on Rattanakosin Song Roi Pee Road at 8.30am Monday to Friday. There's not much point in getting there early as no-one really forms an orderly queue but just pushes in when the doors open.
Those applying for a new license will be directed straight through to the eye test room. Those renewing a license should show their papers at the information table and she will collate them with the necessary form and then send you to the eye test room to the right.
Papers you need:
One copy of passport signed
One copy of visa and entry stamp signed
Proof of address which you can get from the Immigration office
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| Eye test |
On entering the eye test room place your papers in the tray. There is a short video showing what the three eye tests are. This was shown to us three times. There was then a 5 minute presentation in Thai explaining why we couldn't do those tests but would do others. The first test is an emergency stop test. Hit the break before the green lights hit 75. It's easy to do. Then second test is a colour blindness test. Pick the numbers out of the patterns like the photo here. The whole process takes about one minute. You then sign your name in the book and wait for the next stage in the process, the road safety video.
The Road Safety Video is shown upstairs on the second floor at 10am (we were told 10.30am but it started at 10am). You are free to leave the building while you wait. The video lasts one hour and covers 16 areas of the Thai highway code. It's a bit of a drag but there are some laughs in there because the laws stated will not exactly gel with your experiences of driving here.
As soon as the video finished head down stairs to the counter and tell them that it's finished. They will give you your papers back and a queuing ticket to get your photo taken. This is also where you pay the renewal fee (255 baht for bike license, 505 baht for car license).
Next step around the corner to the photographers booth, put your papers in her tray and sit on the benches and wait. She will call you to have your photo taken and a minute later you'll have your new plastic license in a little plastic wallet. Hand over another 110 baht and be on your way. I was finished and out of there by 11.30am.
Tips.
- Do your car and bike licenses together to save time.
- You can do the test three months before or three months after the expiry date. Licenses always expire on your birthday and a 5 year license will run 5 years from your next birthday. So by doing the test just after your birthday and the expiry date you get almost 6 years instead of 5.
