Car rental in Thailand is not for the
inexperienced driver. You will have to drive defensively and keep
your distance from other vehicles carefully. Thailand offers inviting
beaches and is a host of tons of cultural attractions all over the
Kingdom. Bear in mind that they drive on the left side in Thailand
and you should never drive when it's dark. And what is most
important, the Thai drivers are very pragmatic drivers.
By that, I mean they do not always
follow the words in the traffic laws. If you have physical space on
your left side and a driver in the opposite direction want to pass
the car in front of him, he will pass and expect you to give him
necessary space to do so with a smile. And you never see a finger or
fist up or hear any horn honking except for tuktuk or taxis that want
a possible costumers attention. If you see e finger of fist up or
hear a frenetic horn honking, the driver are most likely to be from
USA or Europe...
To rent a car in Thailand, the driver
must be at least 21 years (minimum age may vary depending Car
Category you choose). The driver must have held their license for at
least one year. For drivers under 25 are additional fees paid
directly to the car rental when picking up the car. An international
driving license is recommended in addition to your own driving
license. In Thailand it is mandatory with seat belt in both the front
and rear seats, even though the locals don't seems to care. I
recommend that all children under 135 cm sitting in the back seat,
sits on a child cushion or a special safety child seat if they are
less than 3 -4 years old.
Be aware of if you have to give
the car rental your passport or other documents as a deposit, just go
away so you will avoid being scammed for huge amount of money in fake
claims.. The serious ones, like Avis, Budget and other international rentals will only have a copy of your driving
license, International driving license and passport. And they will
only claim 5.000-10.000 Bath in deductible if any damage have
occurred. They will also be able to help you, even with a replacement car if you have an accident.
General speed limits are 50 Km/h in
cities, towns and villages, 90 Km/h on highways and 100-120 on
motorways with separated driving lanes. But remember, this is just
GENERAL rules. Local rules and limits occur all over Thailand like
other countries. And the road signs are not always easy to spot. So
use your eyes and preferably let your front seat passenger help you
spot the road signs while you concentrate on the traffic.
Traffic signs are usually both in Thai
and in English but don't expect easy navigation in and out of the
cities. It is not allowed to use mobile phones while driving. And
again, I will recommend that your focus is on the road all the time
and drive defensively and watch out for users of the road and
surroundings. You should try to avoid driving at night because of the
drunk drivers and other ones without lights on their vehicle.
In and around the larger cities there
are many gas stations. Most of them do not take credit cards so bring cash.
In the smaller places there are mostly this gasoline bottle stations,
but it is starting to pop up more ordinary gasoline stations in
remote places also. So plan your route well. There are also popping
up a lot of large gasoline stations along the roads near the cities
with 7-11, restaurants, rest rooms, car wash and so on to suit
travelers by car. This is also normally a safe place to stay if you
want to sleep in your car for a few hours.
Some of the motorways in and around
Bangkok are toll roads. And it is planned several toll roads in the
future several places. They are not expensive and gives normally a
smoother ride trough the city.
Because of the large number of vehicles
in Thailand it is also difficult to find a parking space in the
larger cities. I would use hotel's parking, shopping mall parking or
even parking in addition to markets or maybe a monitored private
parking. Never leave valuables in the car in Bangkok. Personally, I
never drive in Bangkok due to dense traffic and the fact that other
means of transportation is cheap and plentiful.
Insurance regulations vary from country
to country. In all rental prices there should be included fire and
liability insurance. When renting in Thailand also includes accident
insurance and theft insurance in all prices. You can read more about
the details of insurance policies from your preferred rental shop.
Some important remarks:
When you rent a car in Thailand it is
normally not allowed to take the vehicle abroad. It is
normally not allowed to put a rental car on a ferry. Always
ask specifically if your rental company allow you to use the rental
car on a ferry, like the ferry to Koh Chang.
One Way Rentals within the country is
allowed between certain locations and additional fees will apply.
International one way rentals (between countries) are normally
not allowed.
See more here
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If you have some remarks or advice about renting a car in Thailand, feel free to make a comment below.
