traveling through thailand on motor cycles

[weshard]

me and 2 friends want to travel throgh thailand ,laos vietnam on motor scooters. can anyone advise on border crosses etc. and whether its worth buying your own bike or renting....wes

[MikeS]

I met an Aussie guy in Laos who bought a brand new moped for around $400 and was going to give it away at the end of his trip. He just strapped his rucksack to the rear and that was him sorted.

[pecha72]

Could be problematic to cross borders in that area on a rental vehicle. I´ve done that many times (Thailand-Cambodia-Laos), but the person, who owned the vehicle, was always with our group. May be hard to explain to them what you want to do, unless you speak the local languages.

Crossing overland into Vietnam with vehicles registered elsewhere is known to be a problem. Minsks or other bikes bought from Vietnam seem to be able to cross into Laos or Cambodia and back.

Which is better, renting or buying, usually depends on many things, how much time you have, etc.