International Driving Permit for Thailand: How Do You Get One Before the Trip?

In Russia an IDP is issued at the GIBDD traffic police or an MFC centre. Gosuslugi lets you book an appointment and pay the fee online, but you collect the permit in person. It is usually issued in one visit, often the same day. There are no exams: the IDP is based on your valid licence with the same categories, and a car needs category B.

Sort it out before the trip. Tourists cannot get an international permit in Thailand, and you cannot get one online either: websites that promise to post you an IDP sell paper with no legal force.

• GIBDD or an MFC centre, booking and fee via Gosuslugi
• Usually one visit, no exams
• In person only, and only before you fly

The list is short: passport, valid national licence, a photo and the paid state fee. No new exams are needed, because the IDP translates a licence you already hold. Check your national licence before the visit: the IDP is never issued for longer than it is valid.

The state fee for an IDP in Russia is ₽3,200. It doubled on 1 September 2025; before that it was ₽1,600. You can pay it on Gosuslugi when you book the appointment or at a bank in advance, and there are no other mandatory charges.

At the GIBDD traffic police an IDP is usually issued the same day if you book ahead and bring every document. Through an MFC centre it takes longer: the application goes to the GIBDD, and you are told the ready date when you apply. With less than two weeks before your flight, go straight to the GIBDD.

• State fee: ₽3,200 since 1 September 2025
• GIBDD: usually the same day with an appointment
• MFC: longer, the date is given when you apply

A Russian IDP is valid for three years, but never longer than the national licence it is based on. If your licence expires in eighteen months, the IDP ends on the same day. Neither document can be renewed in Thailand.

Check the dates before you fly: both documents must be valid for every day of the rental, including the return day. An expired national licence voids the IDP too, and then the insurer can refuse to pay after any incident.

Keep the IDP and your national licence together and on you, not in the glovebox: if the car is towed or you walk away from it, the documents stay with you. Save photos of both and of your passport on your phone. Phuket police run random document checks near bridges and at the entrances to Patong; without an IDP you are fined up to 1,000 baht.

Without an IDP, the insurer can refuse to pay after an accident, and damage to the car and to third parties falls on the driver. How the excess and deposit work when your documents are in order is explained in the rental insurance guide.

• IDP and national licence: together and on you
• Photos of the documents and passport: on your phone
• Without an IDP: a fine of up to 1,000 baht and a risk of a refused claim

MonkeyCar hands over the car on your original national licence and passport; copies and photos are not accepted. An IDP is not checked at handover, but Thai law requires one for everyone who drives. The booking steps from request to keys are in How to Rent a Car in Phuket, and the full list of documents is in driver documents.

• At handover: original national licence and passport
• At the wheel: the IDP together with your national licence
• No prepayment, you pay when you collect the car