Best Time Of Year: N. Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos

[mollydog]

Been twice to Thailand (short visits, did Vietnam & Cambodia too). I rented bikes in Thailand and Vietnam but only there a couple weeks, so not really familiar with weather and seasons.

1st visit was October, 2nd trip, November. I'm hoping to get a clue when weather is coolest, lowest humidity. My trip in November was good. Some mud left over from rainy season on dirt roads but temps were tolerable everywhere around N. Thailand, Golden Triangle area. Earlier trip in Oct. was in South. Hot and humid down South.

How long does "cool period" last for? Seems by March/April it's already hot?
Any comments/help on this?

What about Tourism? Is there a "slow" season for Tourism? :confused1:

I plan a month-six week trip, so no RTW aspirations on this trip.

Gear & luggage plan as follows:
Joe Rocket Alter Ego Mesh Jacket (good armor)
Klim Mojave pants
Rain gear, top & bottom
Small throw-over panniers (20 ltrs. ea.)
Wolfman Top bag (35 ltrs.)
2 ltr. Camel Back drink system (also holds bits and bobs)
Tool kit/tire patch kit (I worry airline security may confiscate?)
HJC flip-up helmet

Not sure on Boots. Are moto cross type boots are good for a 125 or
250cc bike? Street boots OK? (I can walk in mine all day ... but not much protection) Moto boots aren't bad, but clunky. Thoughts?

I could probably eliminate either the panniers or the Wolfman top bag. The Wolfman holds 35 ltrs. Enough? I'm learning to travel lighter ... but a big challenge. I hate heavy loads on little bikes. But the panniers are adjustable and will fit perfectly on most any small bike. No racks needed. Not sure about mounting the Wolfman, depends on bike I guess.

Plan is to either buy or rent a bike. Not positive on this yet. I plan to start in Chiang Mai. Hang out there, rent a bike, get info and details on other countries, ride around some, then move on from there. Short trip to Myanmar without bike.

Any and all suggestions appreciated.

[Snakeboy]

Its quite a large area those countries and thus the climate isnt totally the same all over - but in general:

Cool season is from November to February

Hot season is from March to May

Rainy season from June to October - usually August and September have most rainfall.

The cool season is also the high season for tourism in these countries - because its winter in Europe and northern America and most westernes dont like the heat up to 35-40 degrees in the hot season.

Slow season for tourism is from middle of April to beginning of July and the months of September and October arent very well visited either. (This is my experiences from Thailand at least - I guess the situation is similar in the other countries as well)

As you say in November end even December you can meet mud and destroyed roads from the rainy season. And also southern parts of Thailand, Cambodia and southern parts of Vietnam can still face some rain after the "official" rain season has ended.

In northern Thailand, northern Laos and northern Vietnam you can face quite cold tempratures after sunset and through the night and of course at higher elevations. And by that I mean tempratures down to 5-10 degrees celcius in the months of december and january. So be prepared for that as well. But at daytime there will seldom get under 20 degrees - so it should be tolerated well by a european or northern american.

About gear and equipment - its a little difficult to find a balance between thick and protective gear and the discomfort this gives in tempratures of 30-35 degrees and maybe even more and lighter clothing that are more comfortable to wear on a very hot day. It must be an individual decission. Personally I must admit that I have skipped rough motorbike trousers most of the time travelling around in the area. I have also skipped boots most of the time, just wearing hiking shoes. How wise this was is of course doubtful. I had one "touchdown" in Laos with just a pair of jeans on and it resulted of course in a real "roadtattoo" on my knee. I would have been much better off with a pair of decent motorbike trousers with hard knee pads

Wearing motorcross/enduro type boots sounds very discomfortable in 30-35 degrees heat and seems a little overkill on a 125 scooter. But its all down to personal choice and balance between safety and comfort. You have been in the area before and you have seen what the locals wear when riding motorbikes, right?

You dont need a lot of luggage space for a 4-6 weeks trip. Laundry service are available almost everywhere and very cheap too so you dont need a lot of clothes.
Puncture kit could be an idea, but no more bike spares are needed. There are bike repair shops almost in every village in these areas.

I plan to be in this area with my own bike (not Vietnam as its very hard to get in there with a big bike)
in this coming november/december/january and Chiang Mai is my "home" around there. And I have been doing some trips around northern and northeastern Thailand and northern Laos as well - so if youre up to chat and exchange of informattion just let me know.....

[mollydog]

Thanks for the detailed input!

[markharf]

For short trips on small bikes in the tropics when I'm carrying my own riding gear on the plane I've been compromising as follows: bring my own helmet (carry on); high top hiking boots; summer-weight riding gloves with good grip and knuckle armor; lightweight ("soft shell") stretch pants and upper body wear from USA outdoor shops; mountain biking armor, always including knee/shin and elbow pads plus sometimes more armor.

My goal is maximum bang for the bulk and poundage. I've brought along an uninsulated jacket with build-in armor, but it's difficult to wear it reliably in real heat, particularly in city traffic, and it's not stylish off the bike. It's all about style, right? I want my safety gear to be at least dual purpose and to be as comfortable as possible--else I'll stop wearing it, and we all know how that story ends. When I'm off the bike, I want all bike-related gear to stash at the bottom of my backpack. I'll still be wearing the clothing, but not the helmet and armor.

Hope that's helpful.

Mark

[mollydog]

Thanks Mark,
Your set up is similar to what I've done.

I'm OK on gear, just need to firm up which luggage and how it might fit on available bikes. Also still pondering which Boots.

I'm guessing my biggest problem will be finding my way around and finding the good routes off the beaten tourist path. I'm hoping the "Travelers" guys in Chiang Mai can help out here.

[mollydog]

Thanks Wuming,
I joined Asia riders forum four or five years ago. I did not find it useful for tourists. It's mainly X-pat focused and centers around their life in whatever country. (mostly Chiang Mai, Thailand)

Some members there (only about 6 or 8 regular posters who DOMINATE) Most live in Chiang Mai, have business interests and "steer" you towards their business rather than showing a way round or local alternative. This was my experience anyway.

I rarely saw info for visitors or those there a short time. I can't blame them, they're probably sick of tourists with the same boring questions over and over.

They have their lives (and businesses) there ... most have taken Asian wives or GF's ... and that's another story I have a problem with. I've seen this before ... back in the 60's.

In terms of what a tourist can get from the forum ... IMO, what they lack there is an editor. Someone who can boil down the facts, features and How To's in a short, concise manner and leave out all endless details. It's clearly NOT set up to help visitors ... but an X-Pat riders social forum .. which is fine, but not so useful to travelers.

It's a huge forum. No way to track it all. But the fact is ... it's not active at all. Most sub forums are dead ... with no activity for over a year or more.

I'd much rather rely on a HUBB regular who's a traveler with current info (rather than a resident) for relevant info from a travelers perspective ... not an X-Pat resident with an agenda.

[Snakeboy]

There is another site and forum which is about southeast-Asia motorbiking.

Tour Maps, Forum & Trip Reports S.E. Asia | GT-Rider Maps

Although it might be quite similar to Rideasia...

[mollydog]

Thanks for the link! Looks like a tour company, eh? I will be buying their maps!

That web site looks familiar. On my first trip to Chiang Mai in 1992 I met a guy (I think an X-Pat Aussie?) named David Unkovich (something like that) I think he is GTR's founder? (Golden Triangle Riders). If it's the same guy, he's run tours in the area for a long time.
Anyone know if it's the same guy?

Back then I sat down with him at his restaurant (Thai wife cooked I think) I bought the Beer and he hand drew a map of some routes ... which were ALL impeccable. He ran tours then but had nothing coming up ... so I went solo. Ran into a German couple along the way and some other "tourists" on bikes, but 80% solo.

I did the whole GT loop and them some. Ten days, about 1200 miles in all. Great trip with quite a few nice dirt roads and fun side trips. Did it all on a 125cc Honda CRM (??) two stroke dual sport version of CR125 (Oil injection and lesser components everywhere)

I rented it with 100 kms on the clock (brand new) a great little bike. I loved the twisty mountain roads (grew up riding same type of roads) the long neck women and other remote villages David had on the route. Excellent!

Did not appreciate the Tuk Tuk guy towing a big cage full of dogs for sale. Guess what they do with dogs there?

I should have let them all go and rode off ...thought better of it. I ate Chicken and veggie mostly after that revelation! At the time, I had no idea folks ate Dog in that part of the world.

Now I know what the Chinese Butcher in San Francisco's China Town meant when he warned "you watch your Dog!". (My dog was sniffing round his Meat Market!)

[M1Tanker]

Not sure if you have tried the Golden Triangle Rider website. It might be helpful.

Tour Maps, Forum & Trip Reports S.E. Asia | GT-Rider Maps

Activity Stream - S.E. Asia Motorcycle Touring Forums - Thailand, Laos, Vietnam

[Snakeboy]

I dont know about the founder or those who organises and runs the GT riders website - but that site has sure given me ideas about where to ride and what to look for when touring Thailand on a motorbike such as "The death road to Umpang", "Touring route 1143" (quite a rough offroad ride) etc etc.

I will give that site a

[mollydog]

Originally Posted by M1Tanker

Not sure if you have tried the Golden Triangle Rider website. It might be helpful.

Tour Maps, Forum & Trip Reports S.E. Asia | GT-Rider Maps

Activity Stream - S.E. Asia Motorcycle Touring Forums - Thailand, Laos, Vietnam

Originally Posted by Snakeboy

I dont know about the founder or those who organises and runs the GT riders website - but that site has sure given me ideas about where to ride and what to look for when touring Thailand on a motorbike such as "The death road to Umpang", "Touring route 1143" (quite a rough offroad ride) etc etc.

I will give that site a

Thanks much guys! I'm on it! I'll be reading and following along for tips and
route ideas. Hope to run into you guys sometime over there!
Cheers!

[JCee]

Hi Mollydog,

I have lived in Thailand for several years working for a UK company. Don't worry no-expat resident agenda here (english wife & kids here also )

I agree with what has been said re the climate, but would add that you can ride here at any time of the year if you are a little flexible. I ride a Triumph Bonneville and do trips year round (just got back from 4 days near the Laos border) and have done ~40,000 km over the past 3 years in all seasons.

When it rains it can be pretty heavy but you just do what the locals do and stop under a bridge, tree, shop etc until it stops. It rarely rains for hours on end - and its warm rain so you just get wet and then when the sun comes back out your dry again pretty soon.

Temperature wise, April through to July is the worst (hottest) with temperatures in the high 30's and somtimes in the low 40's - but when youre moving its not so bad. The thing you do have to watch is dehydration, so always keep a bottle or two of water handy. To keep more comfortable in the high heat I soak my T shirt & jacket in water at each petrol stop and that keeps me cool for the time it takes to dry out. You can buy special cooling vests that last longer also.

I would stick with the body armour, its easy to have an off over here due to bad roads, crazy drivers or your own mistake and there will not necessarily be the ready access to emergency services that we take for granted back home.

The GT rider website is a good source of info and contacts and if you want to browse ride/route reports I would also reccomend
http://www.captainslash.com
the guy who does this is a regular visitor and has written a huge number of detailed daily ride reports over the years.

I'm based in Bangkok but do most of my riding up north & always looking for excuses to get out again, so if you fancy a ride or a when you're over give me a shout.

JCee

[mollydog]

Hey JCee,
Thanks for the detailed weather info and invite!
I hear tales now about foreigners having bikes confiscated because they don't have a Thai driving license. Is it necessary for tourists on rental bikes to have a Thai license? And how can they confiscate a rental companies bike?

Thanks again for any advice!
Good travels!

[Bucket1960]

Originally Posted by mollydog

I hear tales now about foreigners having bikes confiscated because they don't have a Thai driving license. Is it necessary for tourists on rental bikes to have a Thai license? And how can they confiscate a rental companies bike?

There are always MANY different scam reports about rentals in Thailand, yet I have never struck one.
My tip - take many photos of any damage on bike in front of them, BEFORE you go. We have done 3 trips to various parts, with Chiang Mai -Mae Hong Son loop completed two months ago.
No Thai licence, just an Aussie (in our case) + International licence, got us through multiple roadside tourist blitzes & road blocks in many different parts of the country. I enjoy the police interactions strangely they are friendly & crack me up with their antics.
We have been twice in April - June. Burning season & damn hot too
Next trip in Nov for us & all should be well
Safe & happy travels to ya.

[pheonix]

I came across this thread because I'm searching 'vietnam'. I've already backpacked in Thailand, Laos and Cambodia & did several days biking in Thailand.

I hired a bike from Tony's Bikes in Chiang Mai - a straight forward guy who let me take a bike for a 'test ride' before hiring.

Apart from summer gloves, I didn't take any bike gear. I purchased a helmet from a Tesco Express (£8) and wore walking boots. It's not for everyone & if I'd had body armour (as I do now), I would have taken it then posted it back home. But I didn't & I'm OK with taking those risks.

I went for the month of December & we were very lucky with the weather. Chiang Mai was an ideal temp but I rode in just a t.shirt with a long sleeved shirt on top. However, it was freezing at the top of Doi Inthanon!

I'm considering visiting Vietnam in Oct/Nov & hadn't really thought through the climate so this is useful information, thank you