Do you need a license in Thailand to rent and drive a scooter?

We have already discussed in detail the issue of what kind of license is needed to drive a vehicle in Thailand and some of the intricacies of vehicle rental in the article “ Renting a motorcycle and a car in Thailand ”. In short, an international driving permit (IDP) is no longer required to drive a vehicle in Thailand (since 2020); Russian national licenses are also accepted.

But tourists often wonder whether they need a license at all to drive a low-power motorcycle or scooter in Thailand. After all, everyone is used to the fact that at home (at least in the Russian Federation) you don’t need any license to drive a moped or scooter with an engine capacity of less than 50 cubic centimeters and a maximum design speed of no more than 50 km/h. At least, this was the case until recently, until category “M” was introduced in 2014.

So do you need a license to drive a scooter in Thailand?

Despite the common belief that you don't need a license to drive a scooter in Thailand, there has actually been a law in place for a long time that requires a driver's license to drive any motor vehicle, including low-power mopeds and scooters, on public roads in Thailand. This follows from the 1979 Motor Vehicle Act, Article 42: 

Section 42
Anyone who wishes to drive a motor vehicle on public roads must possess an appropriate driver's license. The driver must carry the driver's license and a photocopy of the registration book and show them to competent officers upon request. This does not apply for those who are learning to drive a motor vehicle according to the provision of Section 57.

If the driver is an alien who doesn't have an immigrant visa, he may drive a motor vehicle with a driver's license specified in the Section 42-2. In such a case, he must carry documents specified by the treaty between the Thai government and the government which issued such driver's license, and show them to competent officers upon request.

Now, as for what category is needed to drive a motorcycle. Here, everything is not as simple as in any laws, but let's try to figure it out. The above-mentioned Thai law establishes a separate category for driving motorcycles, regardless of engine capacity and speed. And Thais do not know any category "M" for mopeds with a capacity of less than 50 cubic centimeters. But the police are well aware of the categories established by the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic, and these are categories A and A1 (A1 for motorcycles with an engine capacity of less than 125 cubic centimeters). And the current procedure in our country, when you can drive low-power mopeds that fall under category "M", if you have any open category "A", "B", "C", etc. does not work here either.

Bottom line: in order to drive a motorcycle, moped or scooter of any engine size on public roads in Thailand completely legally, you need to have an open category “A” license.

Previously, in practice, it was so that when renting a motorcycle or scooter, no one would almost never ask you for a license. But in 2019, the police issued an official message that renters must check for a driver's license, otherwise they will also be punished. So most likely, the situation will change dramatically in the near future. In addition, the police sometimes organize raids and massively check tourists for a driver's license, especially at popular Thai resorts . Also, if you break the rules and are stopped, you will also be fined for driving without a license (see fines for traffic violations in Thailand ).

Of course, you can almost always pay off, and here everything depends on your bargaining skills. As experienced tourists say, they got off with a bribe of 300 to 1000 baht for driving without a license ( see Thai currency and exchange rate ). But we still recommend that you open a category "A" at home and go to Thailand not for problems on the roads, but for completely different adventures.