Horizons Unlimited Travellers Meetings

Fifth Annual Thailand Travellers Meeting,
Chiang Mai

January 8, 2011

Rally Location - Where is it?
Other Accommodation
Information about the area
Local hosts, information

Short History of HU Meetings

How you can help - put up a few posters! Please post it everywhere!

 

THAILAND 2011 HU Meeting Report

By M. LLoyd

A whopping good time was had by nearly 50 attendees at the Fifth Annual Horizons Unlimited Traveller’s Meeting.  Held in Chiang Mai, Thailand on January 8, 2011, motorcycle travellers came from as far away as Texas (United States of America), Cape Town (Republic of South Africa), Madrid (Spain) and London (Great Britain).  French, Spanish, English, Thai and even some Italian were languages that could be heard around the meeting room.

Dave Guezuraga arrived at the meeting from Singapore bringing greetings from the ”Singapore Dream’s” Goh and Samantha who had recently finished their world tour and invited HU travellers to visit them in Singapore.

An afternoon group photo was taken of several of the travellers with their loaded adventure motorcycles parked on the street near the meeting point, the Chiang Mai Saloon #2. A wide variety of motorcycles, ranging from Kawasaki to BMW, were represented, with several local travelers coming on the Thai made motorcycles.

Some of the attendees brought their motorcycles fresh from the road to the meeting for a group photo.

Many of the travellers were coming from or going to neighboring countries like Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia and Vietnam. Others had just arrived in Thailand and were beginning their trips by exploring The Golden Triangle. Some were seeking answers to the annual question: “Is Burma open for overland travel yet?”

Thai adventurist Soontharee Sahuttecho attended and volunteered to translate, record attendees and offer local recommendations for sightseeing, sleeping, swilling and chilling.

Maps were studied during the dinner meeting with advice being sought of given on which were the best routes. The preferred maps and GPS downloads were also a topic of discussion.

Route and border crossing planning were a hot topic of discussion as travellers had heard spotty reports about road conditions and border problems for motorcyclists through parts of Southeast Asia.

Tom Forde from Australia, but now a relocated expat, gave a multi-media presentation on how he had given up life in his home country and ended up transplanted to Thailand. Forde emphasized his travels through Indonesia with a fascinating array of photographs of his travels through Sumatra on his BMW 650GS.

A special presentation about some of the secrets behind the first ‘round the world motorcycle tour was given by professional motorcycle adventurer, author and columnist Dr. Gregory W. Frazier. The first man to circumnavigate the world by motorcycle was Carl Stearns Clancy in 1912-1913 aboard a 1912 Henderson motorcycle, one of five manufactured that year. The 16-year research project by Dr. Frazier resulted in a book, MOTORCYCLE ADVENTURER, about the Clancy accomplishment, with an Introduction written by Guinness World Record holder Dave Barr.

Jane Cavell shared some tips about her experiences traveling with John McComb from the USA HU Meeting in Colorado (August 2010) to Australia, and then through Malaysia into Thailand two-up on a 660 cc Yamaha Tenere.

 The tentative date for the sixth Thailand Horizons Unlimited Traveller’s Mini Meeting was announced as January 14, 2012.

(Thanks to John McComb and Globe Rider Productions for the photographs and the Rider’s Corner Bar, Restaurant and Hotel for providing a warm welcome and secure parking for HU Travellers)

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You can help!

If you have a few minutes, please download the poster (Adobe pdf format) and print off a few and hand them round your club or your local bike shop or anywhere seems like a good place.

(You may need to right click and choose "save target as...")

2011 Poster in pdf format 900kb) full colour poster

Thanks for the help!

Camping, Accommodation

Top North Hotel
41 Moon Muang Road
8 rooms are reserved under "Horizons Unlimited"
1,050 TB per night, with air con
Tel: 053-279-6235
topn...@hotmail.com, www.topnorthgroup.com

Top North Guest House
approx 600 Thai Baht (Big Room, air con) 500 TB (Small room, A/C), 400 TB (Small, fan)
15 Moon Muang Road, Soi 2
Tel:  053-278-9000
topn...@hotmail.com, www.topnorthgroup.com

Lai-Thai Guest House
No rooms reserved, but vacancies
111/4-5 Kotchasarn Road
750 Thai baht - Double/Twin
Tel: 053-271-725
m...@laithai.com www.laithai.com

Note: All three of the above are short walking distance to Amora Tapae Hotel, Art Café, "Chill and Swill" Oasis's on The Moat, as well as Internet shops, Starbucks, and numerous other restaurants and tourist shops. They are also very popular with motorcycle travelers attending Chiang Mai Bike Week and have off-street motorcycle parking. Chiang Mai is experiencing an extremely high influx of tourists this year because of it's world wide designation as the #1 tourist destination, so make hotel/guesthouse reservations early.

Other Accommodation Possibilities

Other accommodation possibilities are nearby, but do reserve early.

The Meeting Location

Chiangmai Saloon #2
30 Ratchawithi Rd.,
T. Sriphun
Chiang Mai

(Located in the heart of Chiang Mai, inside the old moat, three minutes walking from Tapae Gate. Easy to find by tuk-tuk from most hotels and guest houses.)

Menu: Western (Voted #1 Burger in Chiang Mai), Thai, Vegetarian and Tex-Mex!

HU Mini Meeting Special: 15% off all drinks for HU Meeting attendees by Nim, the manager!

Free Wifi, free pool, street parking, open late, English spoken and "HU traveller friendly" atmosphere. Motorcycle traveller DVD player with two big screens! Got your special adventure travel DVD? Bring it along, the management will try to play it on the house system.

Getting There - GPS, Maps

If you're heading there, check out the HUBB for the Thailand Meeting thread, who's going etc!

GPS Co-ordinates:

BIER STUBE
N18.78637 E98.99308

ART CAFE
N18.78786 E98.99367

TOP NORTH HOTEL
N18.78696 E98.99218

TOP NORTH GUESTHOUSE
N18.78362 E98.99192

LAI THAI GUESTHOUSE
N18.78194 E98.99330

GOODWILL/JOE'S BIKE TEAM
N18.78898 E98.99602

AMORA TAPAE HOTEL
N18.47.362 E98.59639

Swill and Chill Points:

BIER STUBE (Oasis on the Moat)
N18.78637 E98.99308

Information about the area

Can you supply us with links, and other info on the places to ride, and interesting things to see in the area? Let us know here.

Local Hosts

The Thailand HU Meeting "Official Travel Agency" is:

Boutique Travel Service
E-Mail: serv...@btsthailand.com
Tel: +66 (0) 53 284 042 or +66 (0) 89 433 1505

If you have any questons, please contact Grant or Greg: glob...@yahoo.com

The Horizons Unlimited events couldn't happen without the support of the local organisers and other helpers, and we greatly appreciate their assistance and support - please be sure to thank them too!