If you want to drive in Thailand, you must be in possession of your national driving license. This is enough to rent a car, but it is better, in order to avoid insurance issues, to bring an International Driving Permit, issued freely in some countries, such as France, and cheap elsewhere (you will be charged £5.50 to get your IDP in UK). This can also help in case of police control. Even if the officer does not read English, the IDP will have a best effect than your old national permit card that went to the washing machine or which photo used to be yours twenty years ago.

 

If you do not have, or no longer have, your national driving license, you must pass a Thai driving license. There is a theory test and a practical test. The exam is not a very difficult, even if it is planned to make it harder than it is now.

If you move to Thailand, you will also have to get a Thai license, but you do not have to pass the tests: your national license is considered equivalent to the local license. You will “only” have administrative formalities.