Tools
Driving in Thailand
The rules of the road as our desk recorded them, native unit first.
Left
60 / 90 / 120 km/h · 37 / 56 / 75 mph
urban / rural / motorway
Required · Both accepted
Police checkpoints ask for an IDP routinely, and insurance on a rented car or scooter is void without the correct licence category - a car licence does not cover a motorbike over 50 cc.
0.05% (0.02% for drivers under 20 or holding a licence under five years)
Tolled expressways in and around Bangkok only; the rest of the network is free.
Not required by day.
Legally mandatory under age six since 2023, though enforcement is patchy and rental stock is thin - reserve ahead.
Traffic discipline is loose and overtaking on blind curves is normal upcountry. The Mae Hong Son loop is a genuinely great drive; Bangkok is not worth driving in at all.