Thailand - Touring on a 125cc ???

[kentfallen]

My brother-in-law and myself are touring Thailand for a full month in February.

The idea I have is this -

We will travel long distances on the railway and when we find somewhere we like, will hire a 125cc motorcycle to tour locally.

I think a small engined 125cc bike can be hired for about £4 a day or £25 a week.

OR

Do I hire a 125cc bike in Bangkok and ride it long distance?

I prefer to use a small engine bike to cut down on fuel costs and avoid having to pay additional travel insurance for larger capacity bike.

I don't have a problem riding a wee bike (I have my beasts at home).

We intend to concentrate on South Thailand.

No jokes about sex tourism please - We are going there to see this beautiful country beside's I'm happily married.

[Snakeboy]

I have to agree with "Wuming" here. North Thailand is a blast riding around in. Start in Chiang Mai and travel around the north and also a bit to the northeast. Visit Chiang Rai province and ride along the border Mountains Ridge to Myanmar and the golden triangle area. Do the Mae Hong Son loop with 1864 curves from Chiang Mai and visit the smalltown of Pai and the extremely cosy and idyllic town of Mae Hong Son and then Thailands highest mountain Doi Inthanon. Visit Nan province, the hidden gem of the North and ride around beautiful and curvy roads all day and look at temples on mountain tops. Stop and get off the bike for a day or 3 and do a jungle trek, visit Caves ethnical tribes, waterfalls etc etc. Visit Loei province and the national parks of Po Kradung and Po Reua. Further to Udon and Nong Khai and the border to Laos. Visit Uttaradit and get Your bike ferried over the Sirikit dam on a bamboo raft. Visit Tak province and drive the "Death road" to Umphang. And so much more. Mountains, landscape, winding roads, villages, mid-size towns, ethnical minorities and their dwellings, Laos on one side, Myanmar to the other. And its less touristed and thus cheaper than the South. The beautiful Places of Southern Thailand are mostly the islands. Those are not best visited by motorbike.

Riding out of Bangkok isnt easy either. There are several main roads that are prohibited for motorbikes in that area.

A 100-125 semi-automatic Honda Wave/Dream costs from 3000 baht for one month and these bikes are bullet proof. Check brakes and general condition before renting however. Personally I would prefer a 250 ccm, the New Honda Crf250L is just a lovely bike. But a 100-125 will get you around as well....

[dommiek]

I agree with Snakeboy; avoid hiring in Bkk, head for Chiang Mai (take the o'night train or fly) and rent there.
CM is an ideal base as there is a thriving bike community there. You can hire an old 125 dream for as little as 100bt/day or a 250 CRF or KLX costs about 800bt/day. I've been all over the north on a 125 dream, probably best to get a newer one and make sure the tyres are in good condition. Strap a bag on the backseat and use a small/medium size rucksac to hang over the handlebars, resting in the step through part of the bike. For more local info have a look at the gt rider website
Have fun !

[mollydog]

Another rider for the NORTH. I've done BOTH. Rented both of my big Thai trips.
Up North you can really get lost and have a ball on dirt roads, going right along the Burmese border. A ton a great mountain roads too. The South is HOT, Touristy, Hectic and populated.

All that said, no matter where you end up ... you'll love it. Thai people are the best ... and any little roadside shack can fix a flat on your 125 ... and they'll clean and oil your chain as well! All for about a £1.

Have fun ...

[ridetheworld]

Limited experience here Kentboy but like the others said Chang Mai (rented a scooter for a day and it was a blast!). The north is lush and hilly and seemed great for two-wheels and you can't go wrong with a 125

[kevinhancock750]

Im here at the moment and riding a 125cc honda wave... bullet proof and have ridden up from kuala lumpur. With the others on the north is nicer. If you rent a small wave check oil regular as they only carry a small amount, but theres enough power for me and my baggage

[kentfallen]

I have booked the flight so the trip is definitely ON.

Booked flight with China Southern airline - London Heathrow to China (11 hours) then change plane for last leg to Bangkok. PAID £442 return. Most other airlines were quoting upwards of £500.

We will be staying the first few days at the Livingstone Lodge Hotel in Bangkok (£28 a night). Will need a few days to recover from long flight and aclimatise to the 40 degree searing heat. We are a bit concerned to see that Bangkok is currently unsafe in some parts due to political unrest. We will keep and eye on this and will change venue if it gets any worse. I understand western tourists are not the target in any case.

For those of you interested here is my budget for the month (30 days). There are two of us (myself and my brother in law) -

COSTS PER DAY

Accommodation £15 (x 2 of us gives us £30 a night).
Food £3
Travel £5 (combination of railway / motorcycle hire).
Other £5 - No jokes please, we're both happily married and want to remain AIDS / Hep A free. Lol.

TOTAL PER DAY: £28

Should be enough for mid-range hotel or a good guesthouse. I understand railway travel is cheap and a 125cc bike can be hired for about £3 a day (leaving us £2 for fuel). We are taking British Army jungle sleeping bags with us so might even decide to camp out on the beach or under the stars if it's safe to do so (thieves and bugs accepted)...

We will eat using street sellers.

The exchange rate for Sterling is currently 58 Bh. This seems pretty good.

I have travel insurance in place (Cover For You - DIAMOND level) - £64 for the two of us.

The whole trip will cost a total of £1,200 - Not bad for a trip to the other side of the world for a full month. A package tour holiday to Thailand costs upwards of £3,000 for a full month!!!!!! A huge saving eh....

I have taken on board what you chaps say here. We will travel the long distances by train and then hire bikes locally when we find somewhere we like the look of. We will go North instead of South.

Is there any Hubbers who would like a meet up? We arrive 23 February and will leave 22 March.

[kentfallen]

Got excellent information here -

Train travel in Thailand | Train times & fares from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, Ko Samui, Phuket, Nong Kai etc.

and this is good to take with us - The Thailand Railway Guide.

CLICKING THE LINK BELOW WILL DOWNLOAD A LARGE .PDF DOCUMENT

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/30006269/SRT...0Timetable.pdf

I have back-up copies of all important documents on my phone and on my online email. This rail guide is truly brilliant.

[farqhuar]

I'm also heading up to Chiang Mai next month with my wife. We want to rent a bike and travel into Laos and back to Chiang Mai. Does anyone know if we can take a rented bike from Thailand to Laos?

Last time I rented up there was close to 40 years ago - I think times may have changed!

[Snakeboy]

Originally Posted by farqhuar

I'm also heading up to Chiang Mai next month with my wife. We want to rent a bike and travel into Laos and back to Chiang Mai. Does anyone know if we can take a rented bike from Thailand to Laos?

Last time I rented up there was close to 40 years ago - I think times may have changed!

Its not totally impossible to rent a motorbike in Thailand and take into Laos but I would say its rather PITA difficult. First of all - most companies that rent out bikes in Thailand will not allow you to do so. However I did stumble upon an advert from a rentout company in Chiang Mai or Chiang Rai (I think it was)that allowed to take their bikes into Laos. But this was a couple of years ago and I dont remember exactly where and when. Use the net and search - and you might find.
To take a bike that you dont own yourself out of Thailand and into Laos you will need a paper that the owner says that he or she allows you to do so - so theres no way you can do this if you dont have the right papers and acceptance from the bikes owner.
Secondly - most companies that rent out motorbikes in Thailand keep your passport as a security for the time you rent the bike. To secure that you return the bike. And if you dont have a passport - you cant cross the border. However - not all of the companies does so - some only take a copy of your passport and your international driving licence.

Thirdly - TIT (this is Thailand) most things can be arranged for money in the land of smiles/svindlers - so if youre really after it and are willing to cash out £/$/€ - its probably possible.

The easiest option is as others above have mentioned - rent one bike in Thailand and another in Laos. Take the very beautiful 2 days boat trip from Chiang Kong/Huay Xai to Luang Prabang instead. Its a very nice adventure!

[Snakeboy]

Originally Posted by kentfallen

I have booked the flight so the trip is definitely ON.

Booked flight with China Southern airline - London Heathrow to China (11 hours) then change plane for last leg to Bangkok. PAID £442 return. Most other airlines were quoting upwards of £500.

We will be staying the first few days at the Livingstone Lodge Hotel in Bangkok (£28 a night). Will need a few days to recover from long flight and aclimatise to the 40 degree searing heat. We are a bit concerned to see that Bangkok is currently unsafe in some parts due to political unrest. We will keep and eye on this and will change venue if it gets any worse. I understand western tourists are not the target in any case.

For those of you interested here is my budget for the month (30 days). There are two of us (myself and my brother in law) -

COSTS PER DAY

Accommodation £15 (x 2 of us gives us £30 a night).
Food £3
Travel £5 (combination of railway / motorcycle hire).
Other £5 - No jokes please, we're both happily married and want to remain AIDS / Hep A free. Lol.

TOTAL PER DAY: £28

Should be enough for mid-range hotel or a good guesthouse. I understand railway travel is cheap and a 125cc bike can be hired for about £3 a day (leaving us £2 for fuel). We are taking British Army jungle sleeping bags with us so might even decide to camp out on the beach or under the stars if it's safe to do so (thieves and bugs accepted)...

We will eat using street sellers.

The exchange rate for Sterling is currently 58 Bh. This seems pretty good.

I have travel insurance in place (Cover For You - DIAMOND level) - £64 for the two of us.

The whole trip will cost a total of £1,200 - Not bad for a trip to the other side of the world for a full month. A package tour holiday to Thailand costs upwards of £3,000 for a full month!!!!!! A huge saving eh....

I have taken on board what you chaps say here. We will travel the long distances by train and then hire bikes locally when we find somewhere we like the look of. We will go North instead of South.

Is there any Hubbers who would like a meet up? We arrive 23 February and will leave 22 March.

This thread should probably be moved to regional forums or similar and not "Which bike?" But nevermimd......

I dont know a lot of things very well, but I like to think that I do know a little about a few things. And since I also like to think that one of these few things I know a little about are Thailand I allow myself to comment a few parts in Your post. I hope you dont mind - its not criticism - just a few advices so that you hopefully can enjoy Your holiday and motorbike tour in Thailand to be even better.....

First of all - the unrest in Bangkok nowadays are about domestic politics. These people are not after foreign tourists. But there are pretty sharp political opponents against eachother - so its obviously wise to keep yourself away from protesting crowds as things can get very heated. But if you keep an eye in local media - you will find out where the protests are. Bangkok Post and The Nation are reliable English-Language newspapers and Your Foreign Department should likewise be able to give some decent advices about the turmoils in Bangkok.

You mention camping out in Thailand - well I have been around in Thailand for some time but still havent seen a foreign tourist spending a night in a tent or under the skies in a sleeping bag. Of course its still possible - but I am not sure how smart that is. Mosqitoes are plentyful all around Thailand - and camping out you will be and easy target. And its extremey discomfortable to be around in 30-40 degrees celcius with tens of tens of mosqito bites on your body. It will for sure make your days sour and discomfortable. And thats not the way you want to spend your holiday, is it? And mosqito-spread diseases like Malaria and Dengue fever are still to be found in Thailand - especially the latter one. Camping out in a army sleeping bag in 30-40 degrees also sounds like an extremely hot experience. I am not sure about Your sleep quality under such conditions.....and there are no beaches in northern Thailand.

Accomodation in Thailand is quite cheap - even compared to most other South east Asian countries. In most places in northern Thailand you will find accomodation from 2-300 bahts pr night and upwards. The cheapest rooms usually comes with a fan and no air condition, sometimes with shared toilets and showers and not always with hot water and probably not a fridge. But for 5-600 baht you will most likely find accomodation with aircon, private toilet/shower, hot water and a fridge/minibar.
For example - I travelled around for 10 days in northern and northeastern Thailand in november last year. I paid 200 to 1100 baht for accomodation and alltogether I paid approx 4500 baht for accomodation for these 10 days - an average of 450 baht a night. And I wasnt looking for the dirt cheap ones. Only 2 of the nights were in rooms without aircon and private bahtroom.

So your accomodation budget seems more than enough.... Especially if you share room with your travel companion.

Renting bikes - rent for one month will usually be cheaper than say - rent for 10-15 single days. As I mention earlier - a 100-125 Honda wave/Dream or similar can usually be rented for from 3000 baht pr month. That is in my opinion dirt cheap! Pr day only 100 baht.
So your travel budget seems more than enough when it comes to this.

Fuel in Thailand costs around 40 baht a litre, some distant places a tad more for 91 octane - which is the preferred fuel for the bikes used in Thailand. A 125 semiautomatic bike will typically use around 2,5-3 litres pr 100 km. And if you travel 150-200 km pr day the cost of this will be 4-5 litres a 40 baht - around 200 baht a day. Depending on the travel distance of course. Some days you might not want to travel by bike at all - just take in sights by foot or do completely other things.
But organised sightseing, entering fees etc do cost money - but still in general quite cheap for a European.

Your budget for food seems a little low - its possible to live for 150-200 baht pr day if you buy your meals in the local markets or in the "4 table eateries" you find "everywhere" in Thailand. But you would like to have an icecram and a ice cold softdrink now and then from the 7-11 - after all its 35 degrees in the shadow around you. And you will need many bottles of water and/or other softdrinks to keep from dehydration in the march heat in Thailand.
And my wild guess is that you will long for some western food after days in and out living of rice and noodles. Pizzas, burgers, steaks, fries etc are more expensive than thai food - but still quite cheap. For me personally I would have doubled the food budget at least. One western meal a 200 baht, two thai meals a day a 50 baht and 200 baht for water, soft drinks and snacks - alltogether approx 400-500 baht pr day is the least I would have been comfortable with. Of course you can get away with less than that and live cheaper than my example - but to be cheap on yourself when coming to food, snacks and drinks when your on holiday - well I wouldnt.....

Your "other" budget are difficult to comment, but its always good to be on safe side. Laundry, toileteries, mosqito repellant, maybe souvenirs also costs. And what about s? Its not not fun to be almost completely out of founds when your abroad on holiday. Bring your visacards - ATMs are everywhere in Thailand and money talks....

Buses are also plentiful and a cheap way of transportation in Thailand. From BKK to Chiang Mai buses runs very frequently, as good as all departs from the North and northeastern bus terminal in BKK called Mo Chit. Most departs in the late afternoon/early evening. Mo Chit is a huge Place so its a good idea to be early for buying tickets. Usually around 5-700 baht.

If youre want to stay in or near the backpakker area in Chiang Mai head to "Soi Yellow" inside the moth of the downtown area. Around there there will plentiful of accomodation, bars and restaurants, travel agents, bike hiring Companies etc etc.

Other net sites for information are GT-rider.com and Rideasia. Reading a travel guide is also more or less mandatory!

If you want more information - send me a pm. I will be in Thailand again from 7 february to 6 march.....and at least one week I will be around on motorbike in Northern Thailand

A travel Insurance is after my opinion mandatory when youre travelling on motorbike in Thailand. Hospital care are not free for foreigners in Thailand and its not like travelling in Europe when youre safely secured of hospital ward when youre a EU/Schengen citizen.

By the way - traffic and traffic culture are different in Thailand than Europe, please reada more about that. Where a helmet always and preferably motorbike jackets and gloves. Even better with full protection! But it will be hot for sure.

[kentfallen]

Yeah the thread has sort of descended from a "What Bike" to a more broader discussion on renting a bike in Thailand.

Thank you for that helpful post, I am updating my daily budget as follows:

£10 (500B) Accommodation (2 of us gives us 1,000B each night).
£5 (250B) Food
£5 (250B) Travel
£5 (250B) Drinks, Ice Cream ect..

Reduces to: £25 (1,250B) each day each.

We will be taking our ATM cards plus Credit Card (for emergencies).

We are limited to the amount of luggage we take because we intend to travel around Thailand during the month we are there.

I have a 60 Litre British Army (Turtle) Bergen which will put up with no end of abuse. I'm taking bungee straps to keep it secure on the bike. I'm also taking a Hi Viz bib to ride with???

I am taking COTTON clothing - 3 long pairs of Linen trousers, 3 shorts, 7 T shirts and 3 Linen short sleeve shirts for evening. My understanding is that we can buy clothing locally in country very easy?

I will be wearing open toe sandals.

I will ask the Livingstone Lodge in Bangkok to keep our winter (UK) flight clothing safe. We can collect it when we return for our home flight in March.

We simply don't have the room to take our helmets and jackets.

The problem I have is my damn back - I can't carry heavy weights.

Frankly I will be happy to ride ANY bike there. I suppose a 125cc will do the job perfectly well and very cheaply.

My offer to meet up with any Hubbers stands. We will be in country from 23 Feb to 22 March.

[kentfallen]

UK DRIVING LICENCE

I have heard conflicting things about this requirement - Some say you need an International Driving Permit, others say a EU Driving licence is all you need?

Getting a IDP is a pain - It's a trip to Maidstone Post Office and a £5 fee.

Surely my clean UK FULL motorcycle licence is perfectly okay. I will take the paper part with me too?

A IDP is ridiculous in any case, it's just another pointless piece of paper which replicates my UK driving licence without which you can't obtain a IDP?

[palace15]

Just returned from another Phuket trip, I know its a tourist Island and a bit more expensive, I hired a Honda 'click' 125cc scooter with only 500kms on the clock for 250baht per day, exchange was just a fraction over £1=53bht, accomodation varies from 300bht upwards, evening entertainment which you don't require starts at 1000bht, food was a bit pricier per day than £3-£5 unless you want to live on bush tucker grub.
Love the driving laws, there is none! at the moment its around 32deg, happily rode 1000kms in just vest, shorts, crocs, a big smile and obviously an helmet.

You will certainly enjoy, one other tip; try and get some ID card, good or made up to avoid leaving your passport for bike rental

[kentfallen]

Thanks for this advice Palace.

NO WAY am I going to hand a stranger my passport and leave it there!

The law in Thailand says clearly you must carry your passport at all times!

I have a spare outdated UK driving licence so they can have that instead. I don't give a fig what happens to it, I have another one. Or maybe an old outdated VISA credit card in my name which I still carry - They can keep that too cos it doesn't work!

I always carry a dummy wallet containing sh1te stuff like this and a few notes which can be handed over if mugged. This happened to me once in Lagos Nigeria - the dick head got away with 1 US dollar, 50p of worthless coins, an outdated condom, 2 Tesco club cards and a Morrison reward point card.

It's not unheard for seedy motorcycle hirers to refuse to return the passport until they get cash for made up bike damage. In these circumstances I'd contact the Tourist Police and tell them I'm about to kick off big time.

I'd rather walk than hand my passport over.

Same goes for handing passport to strangers in hotels. I'd rather sleep on the beach (or in my jungle sleep sack). I'm very happy to show them it but NOT keep it.

Anyone who gleefully agrees to this practice simply isn't helping those who come after them. My advice is simple - Show them the passport but politely refuse to let them keep it.

I have traveled the world widely (including most of Africa) and I have NEVER let anyone keep my passport (although I have been asked many times). Nine times out of Ten they are greedy pond dwellers and will back down if you wave a few notes in their direction.