Renting a Car in Thailand: Licence, Insurance and Excess

Rent a car with your home licence plus an International Driving Permit. Budget includes a collision waiver and compulsory third-party cover in its rate, but you still carry an excess of THB 10,000 to THB 20,000. Driving outside Thailand or off paved roads breaks the rental agreement, and the waiver is void.

Plan on two things before you reach the counter: the right licence, and a clear idea of the excess you will owe if the car is damaged. The rest of the contract is small print, and the small print is where the surprises sit.

Licence and IDP

To drive in Thailand, carry the 1968 version of the international driving permit together with your home licence. The permit is not a licence on its own: it must be used with the licence from your home country. Buy it before you leave, because UK advice is that you cannot buy one outside the UK, and a 1949-style permit is valid for one year from issue.

Immigration guidance for car rental lists three options: a valid Thai driving licence, an International Driving Permit, or a licence from an ASEAN country. Canada’s advice is an IDP or a Thai licence.

Some operators are looser than the law. Thrifty accepts a licence from your country of residence with an English translation, but the immigration guidance warns that if you rent without a valid licence and have an accident, you may not be entitled to compensation or damage protection. Do not rely on the counter’s leniency.

The licence also decides your travel insurance. If you drive without a valid licence, your policy could be invalidated and you could not claim after an accident. For the full permit rules, see the international driving permit guide and the driving licence guide.

What is already in the price

Both operators we read put the main cover into the rate. Budget includes loss damage waiver at no extra cost and compulsory third-party insurance in all rates. Thrifty includes its collision damage waiver in self-drive rentals.

The waiver does not mean you pay nothing. Thrifty applies a non-waivable excess of up to THB 10,000 if the car is damaged, and Budget caps your share at THB 10,000, THB 15,000 or THB 20,000 depending on the car category. If you choose Thrifty’s optional super waiver, the excess drops from THB 10,000 to zero. Ask for the excess for your exact car category before you pay.

The compulsory cover is thinner than people expect. It gives limited injury and death cover to anyone hurt or killed in an accident. If the injured person is the driver of the insured vehicle, it covers only preliminary compensation, and preliminary compensation for bodily injury is not more than THB 30,000 per person. Your own travel or health insurance is what carries a serious injury, so check it covers driving a car before you set off.

Charges that catch people out

Read the lines under “Notification” and “Petrol” before you sign, because the waivers have gaps that operators spell out.

The collision waivers do not cover tyre damage, and without theft protection a fixed excess of THB 30,000 applies if the car is stolen. Thrifty hands the car over with a full tank, and you return it full or pay for a refill.

Two charges surprise people more. A smelly interior, from smoking, durians, other food or pets, carries a THB 10,000 fine, and a partly flooded interior costs THB 10,000 whether or not you bought the super waiver. Extra drivers cost nothing at Thrifty, but each must be named on the agreement at pick-up.

Thrifty sets its minimum renter age at 21, and takes a THB 5,000 credit-card deposit at pick-up that is refunded when the rental is completed.

Where you cannot drive

Budget’s rental agreement lists driving off regularly maintained and paved roadways, and outside the Kingdom of Thailand, as use restrictions. That rules out a Cambodia or Laos road trip in a Thai rental. Driving while intoxicated or under the influence of any substance that impairs driving ability is also a restriction. If any use restriction is broken, the waiver is void, which means you pay for the whole car, not just the excess.

Rules on the road

Traffic keeps to the left in Thailand: TAT’s driving guidance for visitors is to drive on the left side of the road. In a car, the driver must wear a seat belt at all times, and passengers in the front row and in other rows must wear one too. A child aged 6 or under must sit in a child seat. The fine for the seat-belt and helmet sections is up to THB 2,000.

Speeding carries a fine of up to THB 4,000 (as of September 2022). Drink-driving starts at a lower limit than many visitors expect: every driver other than the groups the rule names counts as drunk above 50 mg% blood alcohol. For the full list of fines and points, see the helmet and traffic fines guide.

Before you sign

Check your travel insurance covers you, and read the small print of the lease agreement. UK advice adds that if you would not be legally permitted to drive the vehicle in the UK, your insurer may not cover you in Thailand.

UK advice is not to hand your passport over as a guarantee, for example to motorcycle or jet-ski rental businesses. For a car, Thrifty asks for a credit-card deposit instead.

For scooters the rules are different, so read the scooter rental guide and the helmet and traffic fines guide. For other ways to move around, see getting around Thailand, and for cover see travel insurance. The Cambodia crossing has its own page: Thailand-Cambodia border status.

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Not confirmed: We checked two operators, Thrifty Thailand and Budget Thailand; the deposit and excess at other companies are unchecked. Thrifty asks for a credit card; debit cards are not covered. Speed limits by road type are not stated here, because no readable government source gave them.

Prices, timetables and opening hours change; check with the operator before you travel. See how guides are checked.

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