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03-07-2020, 10:45 AM | #1 |
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: N Texas
Posts: 706
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Riding rules for Thailand. (with pics and a couple short vids)
Most will not read all of this. That is OK, I did it more for myself. But do look at the pics. I think they are cool.
1. Riding style: Simple, ride just like you would ride in the USA, Canada ect.......if you are a massive hooligan squid riding a ragged out gixxer 750, have no regard for traffic safety or rules and had a deathwish. (This is normal) 2. Lane splitting: Lane splitting in Thailand is more like a free for all. Direction of the lane, sidewalks, shoulder, mean nothing to a Thai motorcyclist. Just try to get to the front of EVERYONE by any means necessary. (I realize there is no front but they act like there is and they at least want pole position for every stop) 3. Red lights: You may abide by this if a light turns red.....BUT you will be rear ended and/or honked at. I call it the 50/50 rule of stopping. Red lights mean go until the drivers with the green start to filter through the perpendicular traffic and build up enough volume to make it double suicidal to go through the light. So 50% of the time you will be going through an intersection on a red light. 4. Share your lane: The lines on the road are 100% optional. Many times you will find yourself sharing the lane with a tuk tuk (3 wheel motorized carts for tourists that drive like the devil is trying to steal their soul), cars, trucks, and of course 2-4 bikes side by side in one "lane". Also not that on a bike you can drive through opposing traffic by the opposite curb or just outside your lanes of direction into opposing traffic as long as you stay within say 2 feet which gives you about 6-8 inches of buffer between you and the cars coming at you in their lane. 5. Checkpoints: I only rode in Chiang Mai and Ao Nang but I assume there are checkpoints in most major cities that you must stop at. I am sure it is to congest already wickedly congested traffic. 5. International drivers license: No need, our rental guy asked me if I had one. I said "No" and began to gather my stuff as I was sure he would not rent me a bike. He said "it problem no" or something and wrote me out a paper and told me "Show police for stop". Oh, a temporary permit or something on official paper. AWESOME! 1st checkpoint, hand the paper. He looks at it, hands it back and waves me along. 2nd and last checkpoint, looks, says "You already pay fine?" I think he means for money for my permit and say "yes". He says "You get license next one." I say "OK" even though I just got this one. We take off. Later when I got back to the hotel, I used google translate to see what my "temp permit" said.........IT WAS A FORGED CHIANG MAI POLICE CITATION THAT SAID I HAD ALREADY BEEN PULLED OVER AND FINED EARLIER THAT DAY! Hey it worked, does that make me an international criminal and biker badass? 6. Turning lanes: Easiest one, turn from whatever lane you are in if you think you can make it. 7. IF YOU AIN’T RUBBING, YOU AIN’T RACING!: This holds true in Thailand daily driving, honestly I cannot believe I only saw 2 accidents. (one was some french tourists who obviously have never ridden and wrecked within 50 feet of the rental shop by trying to stop while avoiding....well nothing I saw or maybe he felt he was going too fast but slammed the brakes with the handlebars turned I think. I saw the whole thing and knew they were in trouble from the first 10 feet that they almost fell over. My wife comforted the girl who used her kneecap to break their fall. Other accident was 2 cars) My scoot touched at least 8 other motos in the hours we drove like it was no big deal a couple times the floorboards touched mostly it was front or back tires which is scary at 40 kph. But they were all very gentle and I fell into the rhythm of the traffic quickly. You can figure out what KPH is as I never bothered. My max speed was about 90 KPH in the straights. 8. Driving on the WRONG side of the road: They do it in Thailand although sometimes I drove on the right (or correct as I an American would say) following a pack of motos. My brain screamed every time I made a right hand turn. Lefts were easy. No need to even slow on a left hand turn even if you have a red light. (I started feeling like I was less a motorcyclist and more a part of a school of fish. Follow the school because if you find yourself outside the school you can be picked off by a predator. Safety in numbers) 9. Gear: Street clothes are fine. Apparently flip flops are the preferred moto footwear. Moto taxis and delivery people did wear long sleeves and real shoes. Saw maybe 2 guys with real, full gear. A few girls wore oversized long sleeve shirts backwards over their clothes. I have more rules but I am rolling on about 2 hours of naps in the last 48. What a great time and what a great bike culture most bikes I saw were modded in some way. Most were 150 CC or smaller. Saw a few bigger bikes. My son said best way is the instagrams for sharing. So I did one and have no idea what I am doing so here are many pics I took on the instagrams. My wife took the pic of me on the scoot. I have no idea why she did not center it but that scooter served us well and it got DOGGED! My wife is 140# and I am 175# which is what a whole Thai family of 5 might weigh. I think it was about 250 cc as I could outrun the guys on the CB150s and MX15s both 150 cc full sized motorcycles. I am no picture taker, and by the short vids I included you will note I have a fetish for 2 strokes and those ancient vespa style scooters (one pic in those is in Doha Qatar. cannot remember which. Look for Arabic writing on a sign.) I attached a google maps screenshot of that awesome mountain road. https://www.instagram.com/p/B9b9XI4h..._web_copy_link https://www.instagram.com/p/B9b-LThh...on_share_sheet https://www.instagram.com/p/B9b9_azh..._web_copy_link Last edited by roundhouse; 03-07-2020 at 11:22 AM. |
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03-07-2020, 11:39 AM | #2 |
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Yuma, Arizona
Posts: 9,055
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WOW! Just WOW! Sounds like a ton o' fun, albeit scary! But, I have ridden a similarly powerful scooter (Yamaha SMax) in downtown L.A. traffic, so I know a teeny bit of what you were going through
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"They say that life's a carousel, spinning fast you got to ride it well..." TGB Delivery Scooter 150 TMEC 200 Enduro--carcass is sadly rotting in the backyard |
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03-07-2020, 01:13 PM | #3 |
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Volcano, Ca
Posts: 7,112
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DANG! Makes Bay Area traffic seem tame!
Thanks for the awesome read, roundhouse!.... and I thought culcune delivering pizza's in LA was crazy....
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"Light a fire for a man, and you heat him for a day. Light a man on fire, and you heat him for the rest of his life." 2007 Suzuki DRZ400S (SM convert) 2009 Q Link XP 200 1967 BSA B25 250cc Starfire 2022 Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 2023 Royal Enfield Scram 411 1948 Royal Enfield Model G 350 |
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03-07-2020, 02:42 PM | #4 |
Join Date: Mar 2018
Posts: 123
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I loved riding in Thailand, there is often a strange order to what at 1st seems chaos. There are thousands of miles of amazing roads and trails. If your riding a dualsport look up Chud Bikers House Cudjen. Chud is a great guy and he will take you on amazing rides. There is also a really fun little motocross track called Hang MX nearby.( May have been renamed but still found by Hang MX on google)
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2019 Brozz 250 1999 Gas Gas EC300 2003 ZX6R 1991 Voyager XII |
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03-07-2020, 03:46 PM | #5 |
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: ChCh , NZ
Posts: 2,265
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I love Asia... a very cool layed back place.. and cheap..
I prefer riding around Thailand or Asia in fact , than at home.. apart from driving a car around Bangkok... Never again NEVER.. Good to see you got away with the 500baht fine for not having the correct documents ..they love fining farang's for something/anything.. Passport / Home drivers licence / international driving permit you need to carry to keep them all happy.. You went to early... a few weeks later and there is the Bangkok bike show on the 25th March and the Songkran 12-15 April… You had fun.. Seen something new and that's what it's all about.. started planning your next trip.. I fly back on the 29th for a month in Khon Kaen is north east Thailand up towards the Loas boarder.. I hope to do a trip riding along the Mekong river... Meaning to do it for a while now but every time there I never seem to get around to it.... this time.. .
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09 XT660R ... 06 TTR250 ... 80 Montesa H6 125 Enduro... 77 Montesa Cota 348 MRR "Malcom Rathnell Replica"... Current resto projects.. 81 Honda CT110... 80 Kawasaki KL250A1... 11 Husaburg TE125 enduro... "sold" along with another 31... Lifan 125 Pitbike.. "stolen" ... KIWI BIKER FORUM...... http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/content.php All the best offroad rides in NZ... http://www.remotemoto.com/ E-mail... xtpete1@gmail.com |
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03-07-2020, 06:24 PM | #6 | |
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: N Texas
Posts: 706
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Quote:
No man, ZERO fine due to forged documents from the bike rental guy. HAHA. Guys it was an excellent experience. I doubt I will ever get to go back unfortunately. It was tough this time. In a few years it will be far more difficult. |
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03-07-2020, 08:30 PM | #7 | |
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: ChCh , NZ
Posts: 2,265
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Quote:
Yes I know.... You managed to dodge a bullet there... That the police never picked up on it " westener using forged official Thai document's ".. that would not have turned out well... .
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09 XT660R ... 06 TTR250 ... 80 Montesa H6 125 Enduro... 77 Montesa Cota 348 MRR "Malcom Rathnell Replica"... Current resto projects.. 81 Honda CT110... 80 Kawasaki KL250A1... 11 Husaburg TE125 enduro... "sold" along with another 31... Lifan 125 Pitbike.. "stolen" ... KIWI BIKER FORUM...... http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/content.php All the best offroad rides in NZ... http://www.remotemoto.com/ E-mail... xtpete1@gmail.com Last edited by pete; 03-08-2020 at 12:15 AM. |
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03-07-2020, 09:29 PM | #8 |
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Yuma, Arizona
Posts: 9,055
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I was thinking when I read Roundhouse's post that you have ridden Thailand as well, Pete? I know you were going soon as well, but you had been there?
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"They say that life's a carousel, spinning fast you got to ride it well..." TGB Delivery Scooter 150 TMEC 200 Enduro--carcass is sadly rotting in the backyard |
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03-07-2020, 11:58 PM | #9 | |
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: ChCh , NZ
Posts: 2,265
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Quote:
enter 2 times in any 12 month period on tourist visa's.. The flights are quite cheap and only 10 hours flight time from New Zealand I will live there half the year when I retire from work.. roundhouse.... where was the picture of the coast taken ? Chonburi … Samet area... ..
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09 XT660R ... 06 TTR250 ... 80 Montesa H6 125 Enduro... 77 Montesa Cota 348 MRR "Malcom Rathnell Replica"... Current resto projects.. 81 Honda CT110... 80 Kawasaki KL250A1... 11 Husaburg TE125 enduro... "sold" along with another 31... Lifan 125 Pitbike.. "stolen" ... KIWI BIKER FORUM...... http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/content.php All the best offroad rides in NZ... http://www.remotemoto.com/ E-mail... xtpete1@gmail.com Last edited by pete; 03-08-2020 at 12:29 AM. |
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03-08-2020, 09:26 AM | #10 | |
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: N Texas
Posts: 706
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03-09-2020, 04:41 AM | #11 | |
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: ChCh , NZ
Posts: 2,265
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Quote:
you got around in a short time... one end of thailand to the other... ..
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09 XT660R ... 06 TTR250 ... 80 Montesa H6 125 Enduro... 77 Montesa Cota 348 MRR "Malcom Rathnell Replica"... Current resto projects.. 81 Honda CT110... 80 Kawasaki KL250A1... 11 Husaburg TE125 enduro... "sold" along with another 31... Lifan 125 Pitbike.. "stolen" ... KIWI BIKER FORUM...... http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/content.php All the best offroad rides in NZ... http://www.remotemoto.com/ E-mail... xtpete1@gmail.com |
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03-09-2020, 07:07 AM | #12 | |
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: N Texas
Posts: 706
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Quote:
Flights from Bangkok to Krabi and from Krabi to Chiang Mai were all under $35. Back to Bangkok was only $27 each. Way better than spending 8 hours on a bus. Flights were all less than 2 hours a cab was normally $200 Baht or so to get to town. Glad we got to see more than just Bangkok. |
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05-11-2020, 09:16 PM | #13 |
Join Date: May 2020
Posts: 2
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Very Cool read Man ! I got into it enough to read every post. Thanks for sharing ! Oh and your girl was putting some scenery in the pic and you thought it was all about YOU. LOL !!!
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05-18-2020, 03:35 PM | #14 |
Join Date: Mar 2020
Location: Arizona
Posts: 29
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I have seen so many fatalities in Bangkok. Scary stuff there for sure
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