How to Drive from Thailand to Malaysia with Own Car – a Step-by-Step Ultimate Guide for Foreigners of Thailand ("Farangs") 😎

Hi everyone, I've been living in Thailand for 10 years and over the past few months I've made 2 trips with my thai car to Malaysia (duration 35 days combined, and I'll go again for a 3 weeks in next month 😆) and decided to make such car trips a little easier for all foreigners of Thailand 😉

This guide will help (to one degree or another) everyone who is planning to travel by car from Thailand to Malaysia and wants to be as well prepared as possible in terms of documents and in general.

Important note! This guide is valid as of January 2026 (some things may change over time) for persons with visa free entrance to Malaysia passports, to a car that is registered in Thailand and owned by the person crossing the border (not Thailand-registered car or Thailand-registered, but rental cars require additional documents), and to the Thailand–Malaysia border at Sadao (Sadao Border Checkpoint — other border crossings may have different conditions or requirements).

Here is literally everything you need to obtain and do before traveling from Thailand to Malaysia by car:

There are only 5 mandatory items in total, and the step-by-step algorithm — what to obtain first and in what order — will come later.

#1. Vehicle registration certificate

This is the official English translation of your "blue book" from the DLT.

"Blue book" — the vehicle ownership certificate in Thailand, which looks like tiny book with ~10 pages and yes, it's blue 😁

DLT (Department of Land Transport) — the transport authority in Thailand

It is a single A4 sheet and looks like this:

To obtain the "Vehicle Registration Certificate", you need to go to the DLT with the following documents:

the original "blue book" (important: if the paid annual vehicle tax expires before your planned return date from your trip to Malaysia, first pay the tax for the next year — otherwise you risk not being able to obtain the mandatory document "ICP (International Circulation Permit)" in Malaysia at the JPJ);

JPJ (Jabatan Pengangkutan Jalan) - the Malaysian equivalent of Thailand's DLT.

a copy of the "blue book" page with the owner's name;
a copy of the "blue book" page with paid taxes;
a copy of the passport page with your full name;
a copy of the passport page with the current immigration stamp.

You will also need to pay a government fee of 25 baht on-site.

Depending on how busy the specific DLT office is (this varies from region to region), you may receive the "Vehicle Registration Certificate" either quickly on the same day or within a few days after submitting the documents.

#2. International Driving Permit

If you do not have an international driving permit from your home country (that small gray booklet that is issued in addition to the plastic card), or if it expired a long time ago like mine did, then if you have a local Thai permanent (i.e. 5-year) driving license, you can obtain an international one in Thailand. It looks like this:

To obtain an International Driving Permit in Thailand, you need to go to the DLT with the following documents:

residence certificate - a proof of your permanent address in Thailand, issued at your local immigration office;
the original of your permanent (5-year) Thai driving license;
copies of your driving license (both sides) — important: each side must be on a separate sheet. They sent me back when I tried to save paper and put both sides on one sheet 😐;
the original passport;
a copy of the passport page with your full name;
a copy of the passport page with the current immigration stamp;
two 2-inch photos in a jacket on a blue background (you don't need to buy or look for a jacket or background — all of this will be photoshopped for you at any photo studio where you get your pictures taken).

You will also need to pay a government fee of 505 baht on-site.

Depending on how busy the specific DLT office is (this varies from region to region), you may receive the "International Driving Permit" either quickly on the same day or within a few days after submitting the documents.

#3. Insurance for your car in Malaysia (the local equivalent of Thailand's 3rd party insurance / "por ror bor") + license plate stickers in Latin characters

You can do all of this in two ways:

1. Through one of the many insurance agents whose offices are plentiful right before the Thailand–Malaysia border (just watch for the signs during the last few kilometers before the border). The main downside of this method is that, according to online reviews, the whole process of arranging the insurance and making the EN license plate stickers for your car can take up to 4 hours, which will obviously slow down your trip a lot.

2. Contact one of the insurance agents in advance online, send them photos of all the required documents, and then:

either receive the finished insurance and stickers by mail (in this case you'll also have to pay for postage, but it's usually only 50–100 baht);
or pick them up in person when you pass by their office near the border (but in this case make 100% sure it will be during their working hours — no so many agents work after 5–6 PM 😆 — and make 200% sure that they understood you correctly and that your documents will definitely be there when and where they should be).

Since I have been living in Thailand for 10 years already, and have learned from many cases of personal experience, so I absolutely always prefer NOT to rely on Thai promises if possible. So I strongly recommend that you also do everything well in advance and order all of this to be delivered to your home by mail 😁

What documents you will need to send to the insurance agent online in order to get Malaysian car insurance and the stickers:

a photo of the Blue Book page spread that shows your name as the car owner;
a photo of the Vehicle Registration Certificate (#1 of this guide);
a photo of your driving license (both sides);
a photo of your International Driving Permit (#2 of this guide) — the page that shows which categories you have open/authorized;
a photo of the passport page with your full name;
four photos of your car: from the front, from the back, and from both sides;
your phone number and your address in Thailand where the Malaysian insurance and EN license plate stickers should be sent;
tell the agent your planned date of entry into Malaysia so that the insurance starts working not from the order date, but from the day of entry — or maybe 1–2 days earlier, just in case.

For 30 days of insurance, agents usually charge 900 baht, and 200 baht for the two stickers.

When you receive the stickers, you will need to put them on your car — one on the front and one on the back. On my car, the front one looks like this:

In the center is the regular Thailand license plate, and on the right under the headlight is the Latin-character sticker, which is mandatory for driving in Malaysia for a car that is registered in another country.

#4. ICP (International Circulation Permit) — a permit to drive around Malaysia in a foreign-registered vehicle

It's a piece of paper like this, issued by the JPJ (Jabatan Pengangkutan Jalan) — the Malaysian equivalent of Thailand's DLT:

If you obtain it yourself at the JPJ (this will be explained in detail later), it will be FREE OF CHARGE!

But at the stage of arranging Malaysian insurance, agents always offer to make it for you as well, and ask up to 1,000 baht for it!

Considering that this paper is made easily and quickly (literally 5–10 minutes — you just need to submit a set of documents and wait a bit), I see absolutely no reason to pay agents for this, but of course it's up to you.

What documents you need to prepare to obtain the ICP (International Circulation Permit) yourself at the JPJ:

a copy of the Vehicle Registration Certificate (#1 of this guide);
a copy of the passport page with your full name;
a copy of your driving license (front side only, the one with the photo);
a copy of Malaysian insurance (#3 of this guide);
two completed forms (one JPJK9 and one JPJK9A). If you're lucky with the insurance agent in #3, they will send it to you already filled out together with the insurance and the license plate stickers. If not, no problem — you can find the forms online, fill them out and print them in advance, or take them directly at the JPJ office when you come to get the ICP and fill them out there (nothing complicated, it will take a couple of minutes).

An important note about the ICP: when your car trip around Malaysia comes to an end, you must return the ICP back to the JPJ when leaving the country, otherwise you'll get in trouble and a fine of 300 Malaysian ringgit!

#5. Fill in the online MDAC (Malaysia Digital Arrival Card) form → https://imigresen-online.imi.gov.my/mdac/main

This must be done right before the trip, no earlier than 3 days in advance. For example, if you are going to enter Malaysia on January 25, you can fill in this form on January 23, 24, or on the day of entry itself, January 25.

You don't have to print the received QR code — just save it on your phone as a screenshot or a PDF, for example, so it's handy if they ask for it at the border.

#6. Download, print, and fill out the Thailand forms TM2 and TM3 (two copies of each)

Both copies of each form are filled out identically, and note that TM2 is a double-sided form!

That's it for the absolutely mandatory items.

Now about the things that are better to do than not to do — but these are already optional items, it's up to you whether to do them or not:

#7. Travel medical insurance

Medical care in Malaysia costs more or less the same as in Thailand, meaning it is very, very expensive.

Over the years of living in Thailand, I've already seen a lot of times huge hospital bills (many hundreds of thousands and even millions of Thai baht!), which victims or their relatives then have to pay by selling apartments or trying to raise money on social networks, so to speak, penny by penny.

That's why I strongly recommend absolutely everyone to always have travel insurance when traveling to Thailand, Malaysia, or any other country at all.

#8. Hotel reservation in Malaysia

I've been to Malaysia about 8 times over 10 years, and 7 times nobody asked me anything at the border, but one time a border officer did ask me to show a hotel reservation — good thing I had one 😉

You don't need to print it, I think it's perfectly enough to just have it on your phone in some form.

A step-by-step algorithm for traveling from Thailand to Malaysia by car — in what order and how to do things:

Step 1:

After you decide on an approximate date for your car trip to Malaysia, about 2–3 weeks before it (this depends a lot on where you live — for example, in Phuket they say the queues at the DLT can be such that even a month might not be enough!), you should first obtain the Vehicle Registration Certificate (see #1), then the International Driving Permit (see #2), and then the car insurance for Malaysia (see #3).

Step 2:

When there are 3 days left before the trip (including the day of the trip itself), on any of those days you fill in the MDAC form (see #5).

Step 3:

On the day of entry into Malaysia, you drive your car to the Sadao border checkpoint from the Thailand side and join the car queue together with your passengers.

It seems there is a rule that there must be no more than 4 people in the car in total — if there are more, you have to drop the passengers off so they go through border control separately in the nearby building and then "pick them up" after the Thailand border (but BEFORE the Malaysian border!). But I'm not 100% sure, because I've never personally encountered this — we always travel just the two of us with my wife 😊

This is where you drop off the "extra" passengers. In the same place, you can also take and fill out the TM2 and TM3 forms from #6 if for some reason you didn't do it in advance (if you don't have any "extra" passengers and the forms are already filled out, none of you need to go in here — just continue driving in the car queue):

The TM2 and TM3 forms from #6 are located on the right in the corner immediately after entering the immigration building:

When it's your turn and your car reaches the immigration booth, everyone gets out of the car with their passports and the 4 filled-out sheets of TM2 and TM3 forms from #6 and hands all of this to the immigration officer.

He will put exit stamps in your passports and also take one copy of TM2 and TM3 for himself, and stamp the remaining two copies that you keep — these copies must be kept until you return to Thailand and when crossing the border in the opposite direction handed over together with your passports as well!

Step 4:

As soon as you get your passports back from the Thailand border officer and drive a little further, don't rush to go straight to the Malaysian border booths. First, you need to stop in the neutral zone right in front of the JPJ windows to get the ICP (International Circulation Permit) from #4. This is what the small building looks like, in front of which you need to park:

Park right in front of the windows in the yellow wall — from there, a JPJ officer will look at your car (if they want to; they don't always do this):

After that, turn off the engine and go to this yellow wall — to the left of it there will be a gray door with a JPJ sign:

Go inside, give the officer the set of documents prepared in #4, and wait until they issue you the ICP paper. Let me remind you once again that all of this should be FREE OF CHARGE! There are even notices posted inside saying this, apparently hinting that if someone tries to squeeze money out of you here, it's illegal.

Step 5:

After receiving the ICP, attach it somewhere on the windshield, then get back into the car and drive to the Malaysian immigration booths. When it's your turn, everyone gets out of the car, goes to the window with your passports — a couple of minutes, and your stamps for 30 days (count of days depends of your citizenship) of visa-free stay in Malaysia are ready.

Congratulations, you are officially in Malaysia! 🥳

P.S. A bit more useful information at the end.

Literally just a few kilometers after crossing the Malaysian border, you will come across gas stations whose shops have ATMs where you can withdraw Malaysian ringgit, buy SIM cards from local operators for fast 5G mobile internet and most importantly buy the very useful TnG (Touch 'n Go) card for road trips around Malaysia and top it up with at least 50 ringgit to start with.

The Touch 'n Go card with an NFC chip — I don't recommend getting one without it, it's much more convenient this way:

Without a TnG card, it is practically impossible to travel comfortably around Malaysia, because cities in this country are connected by good roads, but all of them are toll roads!

The thing is that absolutely all toll roads accept payment with a TnG card, but far from all of them accept payment by Visa / Mastercard (and things like Apple Pay / Google Pay, respectively) or cash — without a TnG card you will get stuck in such places for a long time.

Traveling around Malaysia without toll roads is extremely uncomfortable — free alternatives make routes much longer, sometimes by whole hours. Be sure to get a TnG card at the first opportunity, because literally about 20 km or so from the border, the toll roads will start and you will need it.

And to conveniently monitor your TnG card balance, install the corresponding app on your phone (on Android OS it's called TNG eWallet).

Have a great road trip from Thailand to Malaysia!

I spent a whole 3 weeks of my free time systemating all the information and photos to create this guide (no any AI used, only my own real experience and my hands to type all of it), so if you will copy some part of it please make sure to include an active link to the source — https://backlinkvalidator.com/info/how-to-drive-from-thailand-to-malaysia — thank you very much 🙏

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