Shipping bike from UK to Thailand..advice sought
 

I'm planning to ship my bike from the Uk to Thailand in December '09 and I'm looking for advice about which airport and shipping agent to use. I've read on another site that Luthansa can ship bike and rider on the same flight although not sure where they fly to in se Asia and if this service is still available. Any info will be appreciated
thanks
Kev

I have not done this but have you thought about contacting James Cargo?
(details on this site)

Update Please
 

Hi Kev,

I'd appreciate an update on your travel plans. I'm going to be doing the same in January.
How long will you be in S.east Asia ? I'm planning on a 4 month stay .
Plan is to go nice and easy.

Thanks, Paul
oxford

Hi Paul
I looked into shipping my Tenere to either Bkk or Malaysia; I only had a few quotes and the cheapest was "James Cargo" (reccommended on the hubb).
At about £900 sterling each way I've decided it's just too expensive for a 3 month trip. Add to that probably some hastle with customs,(which would reduce my 3 months) it doesn't look too attractive. If I was going for longer I'd want to have my own bike there..... I'm now flying to Bkk for £379 return.
I'll be hiring bikes in Chiang Mai and plan to do some trips through northern Thailand; let me know how you get on
Kev

Same story
 

Hi Kev,
I've done my homework and come to the same conclusion. I'll be flying out 1st week of Jan. I'll hire a bike ,same as you, I will also be including a month in Cambodia. Bike hire is $550/month. I will do the same in Laos also. I assume the price will be similar. I've toured Thailand before but still have places to visit, so will probably go to C M for 2 weeks only.
Be good to meet up for a chat / beer and swap attack plans.

Paul

I'll be in Thailand from 5th Dec untill early March and plan to spend most of my time there in the north. I'm hoping to travel through Laos into Cambodia at some point, probably using public transport (uugh!). I visited Laos 2 yrs ago and it was not possible to hire a bike there (too many accidents with tourists crashing apparantly) and I know it's a nightmare/impossible to take a hire bike outside Thailand, not sure about Cambodia though??
Would be good to meet up at some point...
Kev

I'll be around in Jan, Feb and March 2010. Same issues with bike: Freight too expensive. Hiring in Thailand seemed a lot of hassel crossing borders to Laos/Cambodia and bigger headaches with Vietnam. Now, my outline plan is to buy a bike in Vietnam and begin the tour from there: Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and back into Vietnam. Still only a rough plan, but that's about as good as my planning ever gets.

meeting ?
 

Hi Guys,
We're all going to be in S.Esat Asia at the same time. Would love to meet up at some point and ride together. I can be flexible on my timings and locations.
One other thing, as we've all come to the same conclusion about shipping our own bikes, then maybe if several of us got organised then we could hire a container between us. Should keep the cost sensible I think.
Too late for this year but not for next. Ship the bikes to Malaysia....then ride home !!!!

14 weeks and 4 days..then I'm free.


Paul

A ''Meet'' sometime in the New Year sounds good to me. My planning's pretty 'Lose' at the moment, and probably will remain so until the end of the trip. I'll keep an eye on the ''threads'' and see what's happening closer to the time.
More Smiles than Miles :-)

Likewise, my 3 month schedule is very loose/flexible but would be good to meet up.
It would be interesting to find out how much a container would cost and how many bikes could fit in one; must be much cheaper than shipping solo

I've seen rental bikes in Chiang Mai (and Chiang Rai, I think) that you can take across the border into Laos. However, because they can't keep your passport as a security the rental cost is double. I don't know whether you take this into Cambodia.

Note that you need a special permit to cross the Laos/Cambo border with a vehicle, available only in Phnom Penh. This means you would need to exit Laos into Thailand and use another border crossing to enter Cambodia.

Also note the new visa regulations: you only get 15 days at the Thai border, except when flying into Bkk, where you get 30 days.

Cheers,
Peter.

Phnom Penh or C.M.
 

Hello all,

Looks like you will be in Asia before me. I will arrive on Jan 1. I can go to P.P first or to C.M. Anyone got any clue where you'll be around then ?
Maybe we can contact soon in U.K and put faces to names. I'm not too far away from either of you. Send me a p.m if you are interested.

Also, I'm asking questions about shipping several bikes together, I'll try a few agents and see what response I get. If it looks positive I can start another thread to see how much interest is generated. Any thoughts about this ?

14 weeks 1 day....not that I'm counting

Paul

If you´ve got 5-6 weeks before your trip begins, you can also send the bike by sea. Dont know the prices for Thailand, but I´ve sent from Sydney to Helsinki by boat for less than 500 euros (plus 180 euros at the receiving end). That took just about 2 months. By sea, it seems most of the costs come from the port handling/customs clearances, and shipping very close or very far doesnt affect the costs much at all.

On the other hand, I´ve been warned not to send to BKK seaport because of corrupt officials (this was 1,5 years ago, dont know what the situation is now). And you could send to Port Kland (Kuala Lumpur) but Malaysia officially requires the carnet, even though they seem to be very relaxed about it at land borders, but I wouldnt be able to tell you how it would be, if entering the country via a seaport.

I´ve sent my bike by air from India to BKK Suvarnabhumi, there it was a breeze to get it out, took about 2 hours and didnt cost much.