motorcycle licence

[Nirish guy]

Having been the recipient of many a fine as outlined above and I can confirm that if stopped then yes it is much easier and you are expected to wave an international drivers permit / licence at them and then you are simply waved on - BUT - I should add a few caveats to that :

1) An international drivers licence / permit is just simple admin and is just basically someone in the post office here confirming that you do have a valid licence in this country, nothing more than that. There's no test to take or any thing like that.

So, if you're in the Uk ( or I guess any Country ?) you simply go to your main post office and I think for around £8? they can provide you a permit instantly over the counter while you wait. You just need to bring two passport photos and your UK licence fill out the form they'll give you when there. Depending on how easy going the post office staff member is thats serving you there is from memory a section where it's meant to be stamped by the police or something ( maybe in the Country your intending to drive or something, sorry I cant remember what it said on the form just now) BUT in all my years I've never yet ACTUALLY had had that carried out and the staff member ( who usually couldn't care less anyway) just stamps all the required boxes for me.

2) BUT more important / the most important point for when it REALLY matters (i.e if you've had a accident etc) IF in the UK you do NOT hold a full MOTORBIKE licence then your international drivers permit does NOT cover you to driver a motorbike when overseas anyway !!! So if you have a serious accident and that fact is checked it could end up having serious repercussions for you insurance wise etc - so if you do do the quick and handy post office get a permit thing just be aware that you still actually aren't licensed to drive a bike if you dont hold a UK bike licence here in the first place away !!

That being said IF all you care about is being quickly waved through the average Thai police check point then the international licence will be fine. I've also gone through a few times on just my usual UK car drivers licence and whilst the police did start to flap a bit about "ahhh your licence not show bike code" I put up enough of a "oh nonsense of COURSE that licence covers me" that he gave up his quest for his "fine" and just let me go with a dirty look and nothing more said as I think he just couldn't be arsed arguing the point ( which he would have won ultimately).

My own annoyance is that usually even after me going to the trouble of getting my permit in tadvance of my trip and carrying it to Thailand, I STILL end up forgetting to put it inside my bike seat and so when I get stopped I end up having to do the whole "yes officer I DO HAVE a licence BUT it's in my hotel room" and you can just imagine how far I get with THAT line in Thailand ! That then usually resorts in me either having to "ask for help" OR if the police man is a particularly nasty piece of work I just say "no, fuck ya, just write me the ticket mate !" and then have to go to Soi 9 to pay it. But as Gerefan has pointed out by the time you go on the motorbike taxi ( which funnily enough is sitting right there parked up and waiting to take you) then you pay the driver for his TWO JOURNEYS that he charges you for and then fine, if can be an expensive and inconvenient "fuck you" - but as I'm on holiday and doing nothing else usually then just sometimes it IS worth it just to ensure the fucker that pulled you over in the first place doesn't get what he stopped you for going into his own pocket.

Also dont forget that if you get your ticket then that's you covered for 24 hours as you cant get a ticket again in that 24 hours for the same offence and if stopped again just wave the existing ticket at them and you're on your way.

Accordingly much easier of course just to go to the post office before you go and pay the few quid for your permit, which is as I said purely nothing more than basic administration process anyway. Have two say that for me it's usually little odds as even on the rare occasion that I DO have my licence in my bike I've then usually inevitably forgotten to put my helmet on and end up getting pulled and fined for that anyway ! lol