Three Thai Truck Drivers Arrive in Japan Under Saga Prefecture's Recruitment Program; All Pass the Now-Difficult Foreign License Conversion 'Knowledge Test' on Their First Attempt!

Three Thai men, who were interviewed and selected in Thailand last August as part of the 'Saga-style Foreign Driver Challenge Program'—an initiative commissioned by Saga Prefecture to Factory Lab Co., Ltd. (Satake Group) to address labor shortages in the logistics industry—arrived in Japan in February 2026 and have joined the transport company Toward Co., Ltd. (Kanzaki City, Saga Prefecture). This program has garnered significant attention as the first model in Japan where a local government supports the recruitment of foreign drivers for companies within the prefecture. The entrance ceremony held on February 20th was attended by numerous members of the press from both within and outside the prefecture. Regarding the acquisition of Japanese driver's licenses, all three individuals utilized the 'Foreign License Conversion System,' which involves taking tests at a driver's license center to convert their Thai licenses to Japanese ones. As of October 2025, the procedures for this system were tightened and the test content significantly hardened, causing the pass rate for the knowledge test to drop from approximately 90% to 40%, and the driving test from 30% to 10%, making it a much higher hurdle to overcome. Despite this, all three individuals passed the knowledge test on their first attempt. For the driving test, they practiced at Saga Johoku Driving School (Saga City, Saga Prefecture), a partner of Factory Lab, and successfully passed within approximately three weeks. The key to their safe driving lies in careful candidate selection and an educational system established in cooperation with the driving school, focusing on candidates who are former technical interns with high proficiency in the Japanese language.