Hello all

If you helped me out with my insurance questions, thank you! Now here's a new one...

I have been driving a motorbike (under 125cc) for 2 years in Cambodia. Haven't killed myself or anyone else yet and I drive a lot, so obviously I'm not a total liability.

But I don't have a license. And given that there is ambiguity about whether foreigners need them for all motorbikes under the law (I just read some threads and nobody knows the answer to this for sure), I would like to get one. Otherwise my new shiny insurance will be totally invalid if I get into a scrape. I have to have a license for the land I am driving in (I don't need one for my home country, I checked).

I have also checked other articles but they all seem to be for people with driving licenses trying to convert them. I have never held a driving license of any kind before, anywhere.

I just need the bare minimum to be sure I am obeying the law here. My heart sinks at the idea of all the red tape this is going to entail so if anyone knows a way for me to do this with little fuss, I will be incredibly grateful. I'm prepared to take theory and practical tests, but would love to find someone affordable who can walk me through the whole painful process...

If not, if someone can outline how to get started on the painful process, that would be great too.

So just to make it crystal clear, after reading the CNM article, if someone wants a 10 year motorbike license they have to take a driving test in a car...correct?

hdgh29 wrote:So just to make it crystal clear, after reading the CNM article, if someone wants a 10 year motorbike license they have to take a driving test in a car...correct?

I haven't read the article, but no. Car and bike are separate licences. If you want a bike licence you'll do a bike test.

You need not spend your time worrying about such things in Cambodia. In any case under 125cc does not need a licence. I have driven in Siem Reap for 7 years and never been asked for a licence. If I ever was a small donation to the Policeman's Benevolent Fund would resolve any issue.

samrong01 wrote:You need not spend your time worrying about such things in Cambodia. In any case under 125cc does not need a licence. I have driven in Siem Reap for 7 years and never been asked for a licence. If I ever was a small donation to the Policeman's Benevolent Fund would resolve any issue.

He/she needs one for his/her insurance =)

samrong01 wrote: ↑Tue Jul 02, 2019 7:06 am You need not spend your time worrying about such things in Cambodia. In any case under 125cc does not need a licence. I have driven in Siem Reap for 7 years and never been asked for a licence. If I ever was a small donation to the Policeman's Benevolent Fund would resolve any issue.

As you say, the odds are perhaps low that you won't get pulled over by the cops, and even if you do, then tea money is the fixer.

I recall reading somewhere on threads, I think on this forum or TOF, where a barang got pulled over, the cop asked him for his licence, he said he didn't need one and the cop said that's for khmer only. Of course this is anecdotal only and the cop would say that wouldn't he to justify tea money? So there's some discussion about whether it applies to barang or not and I'm not sure that the answer is clear.

But the more important issue in my mind which OP is concerned about is that in the event of an accident claim, your accident insurance wants you to have an applicable licence in the country that you're in. Now in that scenario, I wouldn't want to be arguing the case with them that I don't need one so I converted my home licence to a big bike one here to cover me just in case..despite having <125cc moto.

Yeah, thanks guys for the feedback. And yes, it's just for insurance purposes really.

If anyone knows anyone who is a fixer (not as in illegal, just someone who can navigate the bureacracy) let me know... cheers

I got mine a couple of years back, the process seems to be the same as PSD-Kiwi has recently outlined for a 10 year car license, so I assume it still mostly holds true.

You'll be able to get someone from a driving school to assist you in the process, though I know that now you'll need to get a proof of residence letter from your local Sangkat - which is possibly the only thing that's changed since then, the driving school just used their address for me. Mittapheap Driving School មិត្តភាព is the school I used, across from Naga casino - they arranged the paperwork and a girl to be on hand to translate and assist on the day.

I had to take the same written exam as the car exam, though the practical part was done on my own bike. It's multiple choice, but the English is shocking, plus a few duplicate questions. At the time they said foreigners needed to get 85% to pass, whilst Cambodians just needed 75%. I failed by one point the first time, but the second time I was a bit more pushy and had them try to interpret the most offending questions (they couldn't), when I failed again by 1 point I complained about the poor English and the guy in charge said it was OK because I was just applying for a motorbike license so it didn't matter and changed the score to a pass. He waved me off before I could offer tips or anything, so if you do fall a point or two short it's probably worth your time to hassle them a little about the poor English.

The practical side was straight forward, so I wouldn't worry about that.