Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing driving licenses, pink cards, that is Pink ID Cards and yellow books, that is yellow house books also called Tabian Baan. What are these three documents? 

Well driving licenses are exactly as the name implies; it's a license to drive in Thailand. I made a video recently where I was quoting something from a service that primarily assisted with driving licenses, talking about the fact that it looked like driving licenses were not going to be possible in 5-year intervals for folks on Non-immigrant Visa status. That has apparently subsequently proven to not be the case; it pertained more to folks that were on Tourist Visas. Long story short though, driving licenses in and of themselves are a bit difficult to obtain at the best of times, and it looks like they are engaged in an even more heightened scrutiny and tightening up the rules regarding driving licenses here in Thailand. So that maybe something that many foreigners may need some assistance with here in Thailand, especially new folks coming into the country for the first time who really aren't used to dealing with the Thai bureaucracy. I do have to say, even amongst the Thai bureaucracy, the folks that issue driving licenses are special even among them; it can be a rather exasperating experience dealing with trying to get - especially a new - driving license here in Thailand. 

Meanwhile, other documentation that folks will often talk about with regard to ID documentation especially here in Thailand, are pink cards and yellow house books. What are those? A Yellow House Book is a Tabian Baan. Thailand utilizes what I would sort of calling an ongoing census system insofar as you have this house book system wherein all Thais, Thai nationals, are in a house registration book. Non-Thais aren't necessarily in anything. So foreigners in Thailand, they have Visa status and things, but they don't necessarily go into a house book. Thai nationals and Permanent Residents - and by that, I mean Lawful Permanent Residents as defined by the Immigration Act of 1979 - are both or can both be in Blue Books, blue house registration books. Foreigners however, pursuant to the Civil Registration Act of 1991, can be registered in what are called Yellow House Books. These are house books; they provide the same function as an address registration document, but it is for a foreigner as opposed to a Thai. Many folks who own condos here in Thailand oftentimes avail themselves of the ability to get a yellow house registration book, then they can be in the house registration book system. 

It is an ID document. In the Thai context it is sort of the touchstone or keystone document for all further identification documents in Thailand. In a farang context, it's not overly, I have even made videos where I have kind of said look these things are not overly necessary, and in some ways they are somewhat superfluous, but as anybody will tell you that has one, they can be useful in certain contexts for example when you're dealing with banking, they can immediately see your house ID book and they can say, "oh that's where you are at, and we can just enter that into the system and we are done." And it can make things easier, and you have an ID number associated with the book, and that can make things easier. One ID document that emanates from a Yellow House book is a Thai ID card. Now for Thai nationals, that is a blue card that identifies you as a Thai citizen, as a Thai national - that is why it is called the Thai national ID card. For a foreigner, you can get a pink ID card based on the issuance of a Yellow House Book for foreign nationals in Thailand. 

So this is something to think about and all of these documents can have varying levels of usage for a foreigner in Thailand. I would argue from a purely utilitarian standpoint, the driving license alone is the most useful; it acts as an ID, it also allows for a privilege insofar as you can drive in Thailand, so that is something to bear in mind. But long story short, all of them can provide certain benefits to foreigners here in the Kingdom of Thailand.