What is an insurance excess?

The excess is the amount you'll only be liable for in case of damage (under Collision Damage Waiver) or theft (under Theft Protection) of the vehicle. Information about the excess will be clearly stated in the price inclusion when you reserve a car on QEEQ.

How can I add an additional driver?

You are advised to make a request upon your arrival at the rental counter. Additional charge per day will incur unless '1 Additional Driver Included' is stipulated on the rental. Please note that the same licence and age requirement applies to the additional driver. The additional driver is supposed to present the required licence document along with the main driver at pickup.

Essential Thailand Self-Driving Tips & Traffic Rules

The Complete Thailand Driving and Rental Guide

Hiring a car to drive in Thailand can be very pleasant as highways are well maintained throughout the country. However, when you are driving in the big cities, heavy traffic may make your road trip far more challenging. This brief guide will provide a complete cover-up aiming to help you when planning a trip to Thailand.

Speed Limit and Traffic Signs

Driving in Thailand is on the left-hand side of the road. Some driving norms in Thailand can somewhat be seen as particular depending where you come from. For instance, tailgating is quite common and accepted by the locales, and people often cut each other off or cut into lines of cars.

Speed Limit

The speed limits for Thailand are 90 km/h on open roads, 50km/h in towns and 120km/h in motorways unless signs say otherwise.

Traffic Signs

There are mainly three types of road signs in Thailand, including regulatory signs, warning signs, and informational signs.

Thailand regulatory signs have different shapes, most of them featuring red border and white background. Note that the Stop Sign is written in Thai language instead of English or by pictogram, but a typical Octagon is applied to imply its meaning like most of the countries.

Stop(Thai Language)

Give Way(Thai Language)

Slow Down(Thai Language)

No Overtaking

Give Way to Oncoming Vehicles Used to Traffic Bottleneck Points

Thailand warning signs mostly feature a yellow background with black pictogram.

Hump

Divided Road Begins

Divided Road Ends

Pedestrian Crossing

Wild Animals Crossing

No Overtake Zone

Thailand information signs are blue with rectangular or square shapes.

Dead End

Clinic

End of Motorway

Seatbelt and Child Safety

Seatbelt Laws

A new law has come into effect from the 5th of April 2017, stating that passengers in the rear seat of a car are now required to wear seatbelts in addition to the driver and front seat passenger. Failure to do so can result in a fine of up to 500 Thai Baht.

Booster Seat Laws

The Thailand law states that children should be restrained in an age-appropriate system. Children under 12 years old should not sit in the front of a vehicle.

Parking, Fuel and Toll

Parking

Because of the heavy traffic, parking in some Thai cities can be difficult to find. Parking rules and rates are usually marked on signs with English translations in tourist areas.

· Permitted Parking

- White rectangle on the road indicates a designated car parking space. Many shops, malls, restaurants, sights and hotels offer to park and if payment is needed, it will not be expensive.

- Yellow and white markings indicate a short-term parking space only, for usually no more than five minutes. These markings also indicate a bus stop. It is therefore not advised to park there.

· No Parking

- Red and white markings indicate a no parking zone, which means cars may not park here.

Thailand Parking Red and White Markings (Image from shutterstock.com)

- Multiple white diagonal lines indicate parking spaces for motorcycles only and no cars can park here.

Thailand Multiple white diagonal lines

Fuel Prices

The average price for Thailand gasoline price between July and November 2017 was 34.36 Thai Baht, and diesel was 26.79 on 4th Dec.2017.

Toll

Only the big Bangkok-area expressways demand electronic payment, while cash can be used in other places. The usual charge is between 40 and 50 Thai baht. If you do not have an electronic sensor (automatic deduction), do not go to the easy pass lane with blue marks on the ground.

Failing to pay the toll in time may lead to the car rental company paying on your behalf by debiting your credit card, charging a total amount of the toll fee and its management fee from your credit card. Please be aware that this management fee can be costly.

Traffic Violation

DUI Laws

Drivers who have had their licenses for over five years are allowed to have a Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) of up to 0.05% when behind the wheel, while divers under 20 years are only allowed to have maximal BAC of 0.02%. A hefty fine of 60,000 THB and/or a 6-month prison sentence will be applied in case of DUI.

Foreigners driving after an excessive consumption of alcohol may also risk being deported, depending on the severity of the case.

Traffic Fines

Speeding fines in Thailand are between 200 THB to 400 THB. Parking in the wrong place or exceeding the time allowed will result in a parking ticket. Finally, parking in a non-parking area may result in a fine of 200 Thai Baht.

Some of the fines can be paid on the spot. In case you have not paid a fine, your car hire company will collect the fine’s charge as well as an added administration fee directly from your credit card.

Should you have questions in terms of traffic fines collection, you are always welcome to contact QEEQ for assistance.

Driving Licence and Age Requirements

As a tourist or visitor driving or renting a car in Thailand, it is necessary to have a valid foreign driving licence with a photograph. Many car hire companies require a full driving licence held for a minimum of 2 years with no major endorsements.

If your domestic driving licence is not in English (Arabic, Japanese, Cyrillic etc), an International Driving Permit (IDP/IDL) or an official translation in English or Thai is required when you drive in Thailand. Please note that an International Driving Permit (often referred to as an International Driving Licence) does not replace the requirement for a regular driving licence. And you must carry your current overseas driver’s licence, IDP or translation with you all the time when driving in Thailand.

Minimum age in Thailand is 21 years(age may vary by car category). If you're 21-25, you are likely to have to pay a young driver fee. If you're 65 or older, you may have to pay a senior driver fee.

Guest reviews

1 /

Felicia Ho

June 18, 2025

Destination: Bangkok

4QeeQ saved the day with bad rental company

Counter staff were very very unhelpful and refused to release the car as it was booked under and different name and we used a credit card that reflected a slightly different name as our passport. We have rented in so many countries and have never encountered a request that the credit card and to match the passport name! After 45 mins of proving our identity in everyway possible, and only when we asked to speak to their management, did she suggest that we could call QEEQ to change the booking name. QEEQ only took 1 minute to send us a new voucher and we got the car. Yesaway staff has the solution the whole time but they rather spend 45 minutes trying to turn us away. Very bad experience!

Pamela Crofts

June 17, 2025

10Excellent

Great service.

Robert Field

Very satisfied

Parker Gladstone

June 16, 2025

Eileen Doherty

Overall satisfied, no upselling, recording a video during pickup and return will make the process faster.

Bing Dorothea

June 15, 2025

8Very good

Satisfied

Sandra Edison

Destination: Phuket

Professional service

Darnell Nixon

Destination: Chiang Mai

The service was excellent, truly outstanding.

Elma Ferdinand

Friendly and welcoming service

Genevieve

Very polite and provides reminders about various precautions.

Yves DeQuincey

June 14, 2025

The service was excellent, simple, and efficient.

Alma Hubbard

June 13, 2025

Frederica Anne

Fast service.

Renata Tate

Satisfied! The process is very smooth.

Ulysses Terry

June 11, 2025

Amelia Joel

Destination: Koh Samui

Very good, the staff will greet you at the airport meeting point with a sign.

Janet Bob

June 10, 2025

The service was excellent.

Teresa Herty

Very quick

Richard Wesley

4Average

I waited for over half an hour before getting the car. The vehicle's condition was average, with over 100,000 kilometers on it and a strong interior odor.

Michaelia Betsy

June 9, 2025

The service attitude is excellent, and responses are very prompt.

Ken Raman

Destination: Pattaya

The customer service team is enthusiastic, and communication in English is seamless.

Doreen Barrie

Very good.

Vivien Pritt

Very satisfied.

Rory Walpole

6Average

The pickup waiting time was too long. Shouldn't everything be prepared in advance? The car was very old, having been driven over hundreds of thousands of kilometers. It didn't have CarPlay or a phone mount, making navigation very inconvenient.

Faithe Finger

June 8, 2025

Excellent

Tabitha Webster

Very quick and convenient.

Mavis Eveline

Very satisfied. The car inspection was quick. Booked a Toyota Yaris but got a free upgrade to a Honda Civic. The car was in excellent condition. Drove for 1800 kilometers, and it was very fuel-efficient. Mainly, the overall quality of drivers in Thailand is high, so it wasn't overly tiring to drive.

Primo Maxwell

June 7, 2025

I rented a Honda City but was given a Toyota Yaris Ativ. The trunk space should be similar to the City. Surprisingly, there was no phone holder in the car, which was very inconvenient. The car's performance was mediocre—going up to a mountain lodge in Suthep, even with the air conditioning on, I almost had to floor the accelerator. It was slightly better with the air conditioning off. The vehicle had many scratches, but fortunately, they were all documented in advance, so there were no disputes.

Clara Bernal

Very satisfied, the vehicle is new and clean.

Rupert Hansom

The counter staff and the guy at the car pickup location provided excellent service.

Hedda Babbitt

June 6, 2025

Leopold Chapman

Very satisfied. The staff were patient and thorough in their explanations. The car was relatively new and very clean.

Natividad Harrison

Alfred Tout

June 5, 2025

The staff was very friendly during car return and even offered a ride to the airport. The entire process was smooth.

Stanley Dillon

The service attitude was excellent.

Isidore Augustine

The car was new, clean, and fully equipped.

Scott Tate

June 4, 2025

Doris Ingersoll

It was okay, but I wasn't happy that the sedan I booked was replaced with an old GLC, and it didn't even have CarPlay.

Malcolm Rutherford

The overall service was good.

Clarence Yerkes

Gordon Russell

June 3, 2025

I had to wait in line for over an hour and still didn't get the car, which delayed my subsequent plans. I was supposed to return the car by 2 PM on the third day, but I only got the car at 1:50 PM on the first day, resulting in an additional day's charge.

Tina Robbins

Very convenient.

Sandy Jenny

June 2, 2025

Excellent and very convenient.

James Whitman

2Poor

The counter staff had a terrible attitude. When returning the car, they came up with all sorts of reasons, claiming the car had an odor. Odors are subjective and hard to definitively judge, but the counter insisted on deducting a 5000 THB fee. This is outrageous and unacceptable. They clearly know travelers need to catch their flights after returning the car, yet they chose to ignore customers and delay, risking us missing our flights (I was held up at the counter for nearly an hour). It’s obvious they just wanted to pocket the 5000 THB deposit. This car rental experience was extremely upsetting. I never expected a Thai car rental company to act so unreasonably, blatantly charging unjustified fees.

Len Carter

Overall, the service is satisfactory.

Barnett Bray

Very authentic.

Very satisfied, will rent from this company again next time.

Diana Coverdale

Very satisfied, highly recommend.

Doris Harvey

June 1, 2025

Harriet Finn

May 31, 2025

Excellent.

Thailand Car Rentals