Staying Alive on a motorcycle in Thailand.

Hi, CJ here, I qualified as a British Motorcycle Instructor in 1987. I have worked for four of the largest training schools in the UK as an Instructor trainer. I have passed the IAM advanced motorcycle test and have held a full UK motorcycle licence for over 30 years. I am also a professional Driver with multi vehicle experience.

Recently, along with my partner Jayne, I have spent three months touring Thailand using various mods of transport but mostly hire bikes. On our last visit I planned and arranged a months tour including hiring bikes on Koh Samui, riding across the country to Phuket for the Tenth Phuket Bike week. Then back to Koh Samui via a ten day stay at a lodge in Koh Sok National Park.

Hopefully sharing our experience of this amazing adventure will help others to do the same. Follow in their footsteps. Or plan adventures of your own. I do not claim to be an expert on Thailand's affairs or to have all the answers. Just a wish to help make Thailand's roads a little safer for everyone to enjoy.

Experience

So have you ridden before? A push bike is a start. Common in Thailand are twist and go scooters have the same brake controls as a push bike but with a twist-to-go throttle. These are often 125s that can do 60 mph or more. The streets in tourist areas of Thailand are full of companies offering hire scooters. On the tourist islands like Koh Samui for instance, there are thousands of hire bikes available. Often seen as easy money for Thais or even sometimes just as a courtesy vehicle for an out of town hotel. Everyone is using them. Must be easy?

In the UK there is a requirement to have at least done a basic training course before being allowed loose on the road on even a 50cc moped which is restricted to 30mph. This basic training course covers simple stuff like – how to start and stop the bike, how to move off and stop the bike via use of the brakes. Gives you a chance to get used to the bike and make sure you are safe before you head out onto the road. It also makes sure that everyone has at least got a basic level of competence before being let loose onto the highway. When hiring a bike in Thailand there is no need to worry about any of that is there?

If you start digging then you can easily find statistics that suggest some caution before just jumping on a hire bike. Thailand is the second most dangerous place to be a road user in the world. Ok that's a headline statistic. But ask around. You do not have to go far before you will met someone who has been affected by a road accident. Many horrific stories. I have the honour of counting as a friend a guy who is both a Thai Police Officer and Volunteer rescue Crew. He says that there are motorcycle accidents every day and regular fatalities. There are two state-of-the-art hospitals on the island of Koh Samui. Both have all the time, a number of patients injured in road accidents on hire bikes and scooters. I have heard many horror stories. Unless you are really sure you know how to operate one. Don't hire one.

It seems there is always many who will. On our travels we met many genuine bikers. Both Thai and Tourists/Ex-pat's. We have had the pleasure of riding alongside many of them. But we have also seen many Idiots. People with no experience and no riding gear, jumping on to large bikes and riding around at high speed. Darwin award winners in the making. I value the freedom Thailand offers and respect someones right to kill themselves, I however will take issue with people who endanger others.

Who am I to deny others the freedom and pleasure that riding a bike brings me?

That is not my wish. Just if you want to tour Thailand on a bike at least get some training first. Do a basic training course at home. Easy to approach a local training school and ask for some guidance. A days CBT in the UK will cost you £100 (5000 bht). It will at least give you some basic skills.

Hire Bikes.

We have used a whole variety of hire bike shops. We normally have tended to go for the cheap scooters. Preferably the semi automatic Honda 'clunks' that are legendary but getting harder to find. Most tourist shops offer a range of scooters that start from about 250-300 Bht per day. We found that, as with all things, the price goes up with demand and they go up with CC as well. Scooters are common as muck, dirt cheap to hire. Bigger jap bikes can easily be around 1000 bht + per day for a 650cc or bigger. When only staying local to a hotel or for getting around the local tourist spots a scooter is great. We also hired larger bikes on Koh Samui with the intention of touring the main land. Although we did find some it can be hard to find a Hire shop that will allow you to take the bikes on a longer excursion especially if you don't want to leave your passport, unless you are paying them to guide you as well. We ended up leaving a heavy deposit for the privilege.

I really have an issue with leaving my passport with someone as collateral on a hire bike return . I will not do it and have always found a way not to. Thailand's law has recently changed so it is no longer a legal requirement for you to have it on you however the UK government advises me not to leave it with anyone and I prefer it that way. I have normally either left a bigger deposit. Left a photo copy of my passport or lucky to have been vouched for by one of my friends.

Insurance? What Insurance? I know there is limited insurance and some companies do offer some proper good packages but with most hire shops its going to be down to you to put right any damage caused to the bike.

Maintenance can either be really good or completely non existent. Some Hire shops look after and maintain there fleet of bikes in a professional manner. Normally the ones offering larger bikes. But it is always a good idea to check over your hire bike before you use it. Your vehicle will not be subject to an MOT or you home countries standard hire safety requirements. It may be in very good condition or just as easily could be a dangerous death trap. If you don't know how to check it out then find out before you go, or ask a friend to look over it for you.

Helmets and Equipment.

I have a flip front Shoe helmet for my home use. £550 worth (27000 bht). They are a real pain to carry when you are travelling economy. They take up a lot of room and I have heard of horror stories where they have had to be transferred to hold luggage and then returned damaged (normally due to not being able to fit in over head lockers on smaller local connection planes). We have in the past used helmets borrowed from the Thai hire shops. However we decided that it was very important to have a better quality of head protection when we returned to go on a long distance road trip on bigger bikes. We consider it to be insurance for our heads, what's your head worth to you?

The sort of helmets generally available in Thailand are more akin to Cycle helmets or Building Site Safety helmets than what is required for EU or American Road Safety Standards. You can get better quality full face helmets but they are hard to find. The hire shops often have a poor selection of tatty helmets that I really don't even want to put on my head let alone consider if they will save my life. One thing I also noted was that even those wearing helmets often did not fasten them on. What's the point in wearing something that when at the very second you actually need it to save your life - it falls off?

If you want to ride with the wind in your hair then that is up to you. I value the freedom. However My father who spent many years in the Ambulance Service put it in simple terms “I've scrapped too many vegetables off the road – always wear a helmet!”

Also I consider that when I ride at home, if I was to have an accident, the local Ambulance should be with me in a reasonable time. I can then assume I will receive top notch care at a local hospital. I know |I can expect this as I have experienced it first hand. I also know that I am not going to get that treatment if I have an accident in Thailand. Don't get me wrong. Thailand has some top rate, top notch hospitals that I would trust with my life. But more often than not the local ambulance crew is volunteer service. It is a basic mini bus with limited equipment. There is no Air Ambulance and depending on where you are, you may find that the hospital is not to the standards that you would expect.

We carried cordura bike jackets with us from the UK. Cordura or Ballistic Nylon motorcycle jackets have similar abrasive resistance qualities to leather but some are more breathable so help to keep you cooler. We left the linings at home and opened all the vents. In traffic they still got hot but it was bearable when we were moving. I also found that spending too long enjoying riding in just a T shirt and my waistcoat led to sunburned arms. I would always wear at least Jeans and Boots when riding a Bike. Too many hot sticky out bits!

Also don't forget your gloves. As I have always told people on basic training days – how you gonna wipe your ass when you got no skin on your hands? Find Thai wipe ass cheapy cheapy? Think not!

On the Road

they mostly drive on the left. But don't be surprised if you find a vehicle going the wrong way down a duel carriageway or along the verge in order to get to their exit. If where they are heading is located half way along the duel carriageway or so then they will just cross onto the other side at the start of the split in order to get to their destination.

Oncoming vehicles will overtake others coming towards you. It is assumed you will get out of the way. This is especially if they are mini buses and Coaches. When you board nearly any Thai vehicle you will always find many charms hanging in the windscreen. Possibly even obscuring a large chunk of the view. The driver is of the opinion that if he reaches his destination then his spirits have looked after him that day. He has a schedule to keep. Planes to catch, connections to make. If he leaves a few mins late then he will try to make that time up. Coaches can only do 60 or maybe 70 mph. But the driver is intending to keep that speed as long as poss. If that means he has to overtake on a bend then he puts it in the hands of the spirits as to keep all concerned safe.

There is no lane discipline. On a duel carriageway there is no urgency to keep left. If someone wants to do 30 in the right hand lane then so be it. I tried keeping the self discipline of only overtaking on the right but with so many vehicles crawling in the outside line often the only choice is to pass on the left. On certain roads you will find signs telling Motorcycles and/or Slow Vehicles to stay left. This can be good but is often ignored or used as an overtaking lane. There is also a risk of vehicles pulling out across the bike lane to give way to the main carriageway.

What ever you feel is a safe gap between you and the person you are following a Thai driver will try and put something in it. Mini Buses and Motorcycles will all bunch and cram into whatever space there is. Meaning at light controlled junctions, the free for all as the lights change often nearly stalls into a road block. But then by some miracle normally just works out. Something to note is that at Junctions the common practice is that you can turn left through a red light, long as you give way to the right, or you are bigger than the other vehicle and can push your way through!

Thai vehicles are often heavily overloaded and badly maintained. Also make sure that you keep your self out of harms way. You might be in the right, but that is not going to save your life.

Weather conditions can change rapidly, as a rule of thumb it is normally better to stop and rest when the road turns into a river as it normally does not last long. The Thais are used to regular short rain storms and you will find many shelters dotted along the roads. Although riding in warm rain is a beautiful experience especially when used to the cold rain of England.

For an experienced rider the Thai roads can be a satisfying ride. Many are in good condition and there is some great routes to be enjoyed. But if you are looking to have a knee down experience save it for the racetrack at home. Road conditions change very quickly. You will find big potholes, lips at the ends and starts of Bridges. Missing drain covers, lanes that end abruptly. Also it is common for roads to flood. It is a amazing experience to come round a corner and find an Elephant coming the other way. However it is not so much fun if you are going too fast. Many of the Thai duel carriageways have U-turn points. You can often find lorries and Coaches doing a U-turn across a busy highway.

Petrol is cheap, you will find many different petrol stations. From big multi-pump filling stations with attached eating areas and shops (never self service – they will always serve you). To local shops selling bottles of petrol. There are also some barrel and hand pump stations. We stopped at one station, they overfilled our bikes by a few bahts each, rounded down the figures to the nearest –0 then gave us a free bottle of water each. Don't get that service in the UK!

When Training to Advanced Standard you are warned about Red Mist. I found my biggest issue that started my blood boiling was aggressive tail gaiters. Any attempt to leave a safe travelling distance between me and the vehicle in front would lead to vehicles coming right up behind me and where possible (and often when not) trying to get into what ever space was in front. This was not a reflection on my riding as we would often witnessed it from the drivers of coaches and mini-buses. As if the only thing that matters was getting to the destination as quick as possible regardless of safety. On a few occasions I decided to back off. On our ride to Phuket bike week, for example: I was waiting at lights to turn right at a major junction. Centre of the right hand lane. A mini Bus pulls up to my left. Then tries to force its way into the lane in front of me, I really don't know what he was trying to achieve as the space was occupied by a car. I used the bikes acceleration to get out of the situation soon as the lights changed. But that left me with the bus driver still behind me. A few miles on I pulled over just to let all pass by. I do not think he was being aggressive towards me, just they don't understand that it is wrong in some way. Better to have aggressive drivers in front than behind. After all what is the Rush? As the Thais say Sabai sabai.

The Thai's are naturally nice courteous friendly peaceful people. But they are also very spiritual. On a dangerous corner where Westerners would place traffic calming measures the Thais will place spirit houses as obviously the reason for so many accidents in one place is that the spirits are angry there.

One thing that Thai's generally don't like is aggression, which makes some of the driving exhibited hard to understand. I think that a lot of it is related to the eagerness to please? Maybe the lack of aggression makes it harder to confront issues such as bad driving as it involves correcting someone else? Loss of face is very important in Thai society. You will also find people are often very polite at junctions, giving way to others.

 A 'thank you' is not normally expected from the person who has been given way to, as the person giving way is gaining merit from being good to others. I love Buddhism.

I hope this information is of use to you and I also hope this has not put you off riding a motorcycle in Thailand. It is a beautiful experience. Just try to do it safely.

Ride free

Phuket Bike Week 18th - 19th April 2014

The ride out, Phuket by motorcycle

Carol riding the lovely Kawasaki ER6n

After a manic couple of days of riding on the scary locals roads, how much more relaxing can it be than to join a big ride out and block the streets of Phuket with about two hundred other bikers? Well actually it can really set you up for a day of fun and adventure. When there are two hundred of you, the other road users in Phuket suddenly start to be a little more polite to bikers, but having the Police stop all other traffic helps greatly. 

This was the day that Carol had been really looking forwards too, her favourite Thai band were headlining the stage later in the evening and the bike festival was under full swing. We had purchsed the obligatory pin badges for our waist coats and even a couple of tee-shirts each, so with the usual rally supplies stocked up, we were free to enjoy the ride out. The ride out was organised for three in the afternoon and so we did not miss the start we arrived at half past two and saw a line of bikes ready to go, all six of them were parked and there was no sign of any other riders joining in. Our hearts sank a little, we had hoped for a bigger event. However the thing to remember is that Thai people have a different concept on time, just ask the train company! At ten to three the queue started to grow and when we joined we were about ten from the front. At three o'clock, a mass of riders flooded into the paddock, custom Harleys, stretched out Honda chops and the standard big capacity sports bikes, the queue was now huge and the Police car at the front lead the procession out on the busy streets. At every Junction Police officers had blocked the roads so that we could pass through, bemused onlookers and shop owners lined the streets waving or taking pictures on their phones. 

As we paraded through the hot city streets moving slowly, the feeling of camaraderie was huge. It did not matter what kind of biker took part, patch club members, sports bikers, adventure bikers and just the average bikers all came together and rode as one big friendly group, the Thai culture although always friendly just seemed to spread through the bike clubs in a similar way that we do not see as much in the UK. Different clubs flying Thailand bottom rockers greeted each other with handshakes and the usual Thai greeting. Then we stopped. The street was not that long and all of the bikes totally blocked it as we stopped for a short break. Not speaking Thai we had no idea why we had stopped, but it soon became apparent when a beautifully dressed Bride and Groom walked towards the queue of bikes and posed for photos. I had visions of the Brides beautiful white satin and silk gown getting oil stained from some of the ratty old chops, but she remained as pure as her smile. The Groom sat astride a couple of the bikes in his smart suit and gave the biggest of smiles when he sat on a huge stretched chop and his friends took photos. This was clearly a very proud moment for him.

The heat in the street in which we had stopped was baking, we had parked in direct sunshine and as the rays hit the bikes, the seat pads warmed up until they were so hot they burned when we sat on them, talk about the hot seat! After a few minutes I was starting to cook in my clothes so I went and hid in the shade of a monument and sat on a wall next to a group of Policemen, all of whom gave me a beaming smile and a nod of hello. Carol was wandering about taking photos and talking to some of the British ex Pats that she had met and slowly in the high sun all of us baked until at last the ride out leader sounded his siren calling us back into the group and we set off once more. The Wedding couple left happy with their photographs of the bikes.

The streets of Phuket can be narrow and when packed with bikers there is barely enough room down the sides for a Rizla paper, but this did not stop the ride out emergency team from racing past and closing the next junction. The sound of their sirens made us look in our mirrors expecting to see a large Police Car or truck, instead we saw a small 110cc scooter with a Police Paramedic riding through the traffic at breakneck speed. While in the city though the ride out speed was quite sedate and we rarely went above twenty five miles per hour, it was a different story though once we hit the main roads and things opened up. On wide carriage ways we were up into the high fifties and occasionally in the sixties. One thing struck me as odd though. On the main roads into and out of Phuket, there are small speed humps! The equivalent in the UK would be to put speed humps on the M32 into Bristol. There were not very big, but if you were not fully concentrating, they could throw you off line somewhat.

Back on the ride out, we were heading towards the coast and the local marina, we cut through the stationary traffic and were then directed up the jetty, all two hundred of us rode up to the end where the office was located, turned around and made our way back down again. The custom Trike with the big V8 engine growled as it went past, a truly impressive sound making the Harleys seem almost quiet and boring. Once back at the landward end of the jetty we stopped and parked up for a few minutes while the final bikes rode past us. Once it was clear we set off again and this time across the car park and up the hill to the Navy Base. Three quarters of the bikes peeled off at this point, but Carol and I being in the front group were led up through the gates, past some very serious looking Thai Military guards. Thai people may in general be very friendly, but these guys looked like they could pull off your head with out even messing up their smartly pressed uniforms. 

The ride came to a halt outside a large military building, stood waiting were several high ranking officers who guided us towards parking our bikes and then over to a memorial monument. Suddenly this felt like familiar territory, British Legion Riders often make donations and show respect to the Armed Forces of the UK. These Thai bikers were doing the same thing, there was an exchange of gifts and then a small ceremony on the memorial monument similar to the RBL remembrance parade. Then after posing for photographs, we got back on our bikes and rode back down the hill to the helipad and the Officers Mess. All of the other bikers rejoined the group and we all parked up. From this point it all got a little strange and Carol and I were often baffled as to what was going on.

We were directed down onto the sandy beach, the sand was like yellow talc and so soft to walk on, gathered about were various groups of sponsors of the event and they were posing for photos. Somebody then produced a series of large water filled plastic bags and handed them out to the bikers. Seeing that Carol was empty handed, someone passed her a bag and when we looked inside it held a small group of orange and white stripy fish, similar in shape and colour to the now famous Found Nemo! The bags were sealed with an elastic band and this was undone and the bag holders directed towards the sea. This it turns out was an ecological program to release rare reef fish back into the ocean and Carol and I were lucky enough to take part. Taking her bag, she gently knelt on the damp sand and lowered the bag to the water, releasing the beautiful animals to the wild. Shocked and stunned, the small fish clustered together into groups and tried to stay out of the wash that deposited them back on the beach, with a few flicks of my glove though, the beached fish were back in the water and still looking startled. As they calmed down though, they slowly moved out into the slightly deeper and safer water, but remained with in sight of the bikers who had released them. Hundreds of them must have been released and hopefully hundreds of them are now repopulating the local reef.

The press were gathering groups of the various bikers together with Military officials and taking photographs for their various publications and Carol and I stood back not really grasping what they wanted. The main photographer for Bike Week though spotted us and called us over to be photographed with the most senior Naval Officer in charge of the Third fleet of Thailand! Yes, little old us mixing it up with the big wigs once again. We explained to him that we were British Legion Riders back home and he politely acknowledged that he knew what we did. He was such a gentle and softly spoken man, I could have listened to his voice all afternoon, it was hard to imagine that at his command the legions of Thai Sailors would unleash a barrage of death!

The ride back to the Bike Week site was fast and fun as once again we took up the roads and watched interested drivers taking photos on their phones or trying hard to edge out on to the road, only to be waved to a stop by the Police Paramedics on their scooters. Pulling back into the pavilion was an altogether different feel, as the now hundreds of locals had gathered to welcome us back in, parking though was now at a premium and we struggled to find enough space to get all of us back in. More and bikers though kept coming and the place was rocking with happy drunk people, noisy bike clubs cheering each other and revellers just enjoying the music coming from the various acts on the stage.

Carol meets Barbara Blowjob and Jayne meets her nemesis!

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