Gsxrnz

Everyone knows it's better to have 2 feet of water on Beach Road than holes in the sand!

I have a USA drivers licence but no USA bike licence

and was the call to the landlord needed ? Since I am staying in a Hotel

Will an Internation drivers licence be better than A USA drivers licence to get a auto drivers licence ?

and is there a link to getting it in one day or 90 minutes ?

thanks

I have a USA drivers licence but no USA bike licence

That was the situation for my son. I don't think there is any way you can get a license staying at a hotel. You must first go to a Medical Clinic and get a medical certificate stating that you are alive. You then go to immigration and show them the medical certificate, passport, and a copy of your lease. Immigration will give you a Certificate of Residency that you take to the Dept. of Land Transport (DMV). As I stated before, right now they are not doing a license in one day, but over 3 days. There is no link to one day or 90 minutes except for the places on the street in Bangkok that illegally make you a fake driver's license with your picture on it. I am sure the police know how to spot those.

Of course you can use a hotel address as residence proof. Immigration will issue a proof of residence document for any address in Thailand, if that is where you live - hotels included. A letter from the Hotel or a bill/invoice with your name and their address on it will suffice.

Buy you could have avoided all the drama and been in and out in 90 minutes if he'd got an IDL (International Drivers Licence) before he came over. All you have to do then is the eye and coordination tests. No watching videos and no practical test.

Not correct at all. Since he did not have a motorcycle license in the states, the IDL would have shown a license only for a car. You then have to take all of the tests required for a motorcycle license.

CORRECT, because the IDL is good for whatever class of licence it is endorsed with in your home country and you will not need the tests in Thailand. Be it car, motorcycle, or moon buggy.

The OP did not state that the son didn't have a motorcycle licence, which in the context of my post is irrelevant anyway.

It's the clutch. Combination of being glazed from slow take-offs, and to the dust build up inside the clutch housing. The dust build up encourages glazing so the key is to prevent the dust from accumulating.

A good solution is to take off the drum and drill holes (about 1/8) through the drum. Do 4 holes on an angle across the drum, and probably about 20 sets of them. The overall effect looks like drilled brake rotors.

This allows dust to escape from the shoes/drum, prevents glazing, and offers some cooling.

You can buy one as an aftermarket part if you don't want to do it yourself (I did). However, the part will cost you about 1,000 baht, a drill bit will cost 50 baht.

Most scooters will experience shudder when riding very slowly in traffic, say at 1 or 2 klm/h. Makes it hard to control and you're inclined to put your feet down often or do a lot of stop start riding or worse, start paddling. Paddling any bike is a no no.

It's easier to use the rear brake to control your speed - over rev the bike slightly so the clutch has a little (the operative word being LITTLE) slip, and apply brake to slow down or release slightly to increase speed - the throttle stays in the same position. You'll keep your balance easier and find riding slowly much safer and stable. Sure, you'll get a little clutch wear, but minimal in the grand scheme of things. If you have the drum with the holes, this will keep cooler and reduce wear anyway.

If you master the technique properly you can virtually stand still and not put your feet down with no problems. Obviously works on manual clutch bikes as well

If you add up all the figures published about the numbers of deaths caused by all the things we eat or breathe, the human death rate would be 200 deaths per 100 people and the race should have died off a few centuries ago.

A few years back it was even published that eating BBQ meat that was slightly burned was likely to cause cancer. A bit rough for those that like their steaks well-done.

And they've even taken the uranium off the markers on our watches so that now the night glow is totally crap. Even though it was proven that it would take a million years exposure to the uranium to have any noticeable affect.

And how do you avoid air pollutants anyway? Live in a bubble for goodness sake?

I take all this health crap published by various organisations with a barrow to push with a little scepticism. Eat, drink, and be merry - for tomorrow we die.

Buy you could have avoided all the drama and been in and out in 90 minutes if he'd got an IDL (International Drivers Licence) before he came over. All you have to do then is the eye and coordination tests. No watching videos and no practical test.

re

Best place to sit on bus

on a thai bus ...... near the back !

dave2

Classic photo, but typical!

If anybody asks me for travel advice in Thailand I have one standard answer. You have a choice of the suicide bus, the suicide van, the suicide train, or the suicide taxi.

If funds are an issue and you place very little value on your life, go for the suicide bus or suicide van. You'll probably (hopefully) get there in one piece but you can be sure the adrenalin will stop you from sleeping for a day or two - been there, got several T-shirts.

But for the same cost of one ore two night's accommodation in a reasonable hotel in Farangland you can take the suicide taxi from virtually anywhere to anywhere in Thailand. At least you have control over the pit stops. And you can even get the driver to take you for a 20 minute spin before you contract him to make sure he knows his arse from his elbow.

But if you're gonna take the bus, the best seat is right beside the driver so you can be the one that makes sure he stays awake.

Not to even mention that Aus is full of Aussies.

Agreed ... but that's a positive !

Actually, speaking of who actually lives in Australia ...

... could the last KIWI moving over turn out the lights in NZ please ...

We believe Kiwis moving to Australia are doing both countries a favour by raising the average IQ's of both countries.

David, I was home in NZ last week and one of my business meetings highlighted the fact that there was a net annual population gain from Australia in the last 12 months. It appears that many ex-pat Kiwis have seen the light and are returning home.

I also spent a week in Sydney and my credit card will be suffering for a long time. Everything is ridiculously priced from simple café food, taxis, public transport, parking etc. I saw a chap pumping so many coins into a parking meter in the CBD I was sure it was going to start playing music and give him a payout any minute!

I had a casual snack there, coffee, sausage roll and small salad, 1 small pastry - AUD15-00 or about 460B. Just got back to Thailand and had Fried rice with shrimp, 2 fried eggs, white rice, coffee, bottled water, orange juice,1 pork dish and 1 chicken dish that I can't remember the names of because the missus ordered them - 475B plus 25B tip.

EDIT: My only consolation was that I took $600 off them at the roulette tables. Annoyingly it only took about 5 minutes to win it so had to spend the rest of the afternoon eating and drinking - that cost me a fair whack of the winnings alone.

TO be fair, NZ no cheaper for similar food.

Aall you TV'ers who were thinking about buying a nice plot of land or an existing house/condo out there had better think again.

Good advice for anybody before buying land or a house/condo in Thailand is to see it in the rainy season so you know where the high water mark is likely to be. That way you know how high on the wall to mount your widescreen tele to avoid damage.

Imagine the coinage that could be made from doing LH drive conversions to all the RH drive vehicles on the road in Thailand. Me thinks the dishonourable minister is just testing the water for a potential business opportunity.

The mind boggles when you consider the logistical nightmare of moving and rewording all the traffic signs and then re-routing all the entry/exits to motorways etc . The only thing that wouldn't need changing is the U-Turns and one-way streets - whoops, maybe have to change the direction of the one-ways, but it wouldn't be that noticeable anyway. (on a side note, I'm currently visiting my son in Sydney and he keeps laughing at me for looking both ways before I cross a one-way street.)

But wait......maybe the minister just wants to convert all the cars to LH drive but just keep driving on the left! Ah.....problem solved "Thai style".

If you're riding hard I'd go for the full Monty. Leathers with the armour in all the right places is the best way to go. I don't have a sportsbike in Thailand so cannot recommend where to buy gear.

Back home I used a two-piece set that zipped and velcroed together - always good to be able to take off the jacket so probably a good idea for Thailand. Mine also had a few zipped vents in the jacket at the chest, forearms and shoulders so let some fresh air in. You could probably get these added by a tailor in Thailand. The pants had a mesh gusset at the crutch and upper inside leg area that also let the breeze in.

They were a no-name brand Chinese import but were really well made and designed. I did try them out a few times on the road surface (involuntarily) and they held up well. I used Icon one-piece leathers on the track but full leathers are a sod for Sunday riding in hot weather.

I have a few buddies that have come off wearing various styles of Kevlar and related products with varying results. If you're putting around at 80klm/h then they're probably OK and if the armour is well fitted it will give you some abrasion resistance. However if you're pushing the envelope a little bit then it's as much about the impact as it is the abrasion resistance that you need to consider. Had a friend come off wearing Kevlar at only 120klm from a low-side and his hips, elbows and shoulder got some real abrasion punishment, and the brand of the gear was way up there in quality.

Also, never forget the importance of decent armour for your back. If you buy anything with built in padding it's guaranteed to be crap. Pull it out and wear a proper CE backpad.

Your Missus won't care about the model of the truck you buy, but I guarantee she'll have an opinion about the colour and when is the most auspicious day to buy it.

She'll go and consult the fortune tellers about what day to buy the truck as well as the colour. She'll come back with an answer along the lines of "if you want a black truck, must buy on a Thursday, or if you want a blue truck, must wait until after xx date. Fortune teller says must not buy a brown truck ever".

Oh, and in your budget you'd better allow a thousand baht to pay for the blessing of your new purchase at the local Wat, complete with the dots and gold sheet on the roof lining. If you can, make sure the Monk isn't too blind and manages to put them in the centre of the rooflining, otherwise looks a bit dodgy.

And NO, this is not a joke.

"obliterated" "smashed" "plowed "

Found a thesaurus, no idea how to use it.

You beat me to that comment.

We can probably expect Trolleyed, Handbagged, and Shitefaced in upcoming news reports.

Still, it makes for amusing reading.

"obliterated" "smashed" "plowed " = Shitfaced

I think only Australians know Trolleyed, Handbagged, and Shitefaced. I've never heard of those. I'm not saying they are wrong..just not common outside of Australia.

Handbagged yes, but trolleyed and shitefaced are quite commonly used in Britain.

You can use virtually any adjective or noun and use it to describe being drunk.

The obvious one in this instance would be to describe the driver of the car as being "trainwrecked".

And that's all I have to say about that.

The BIB was having a slow day and behind budget - probably rent day.

Your mate was the unlucky one that had to cough up so the BIB could meet target.

On the good side, better him than me.

Dollars to donuts the BIB will have more than the usual number of checkpoints out to harass the tourists over the coming weeks.

Obviously the tea trolley has not been as lucrative as the fiscal budget demands so the collection rate has to be improved.

BIB - pack of tea leaves.

I reluctantly bought a double cab truck three years ago. Turns out to be the best decision ever.

Drives as good as a car.

Better vision.

Really handy for general shopping, never mind the big purchases such as a fridge etc.

Unlimited sets of golf clubs go on the deck.

Flooded roads are a breeze.

Economy is great.

Up-country roads are no problem with 4WD - I've had mine nearly vertical in low ratio on dirt roads and they just keep on chugging. OK, maybe 30 degrees, but you get the idea.

If somebody offered me a new Fiesta for my truck, I'd never swap. I don't love it, in fact I think most trucks look hideous - but practicality wins the day in Thailand.

On one of my previous projects I set up a shared computer with the password of 'NoPassword' It really confused people who could not gain access when they asked what the password was. Later I changed it to IdontKnow, which left even more people confused as they were sure I should know.

I'm still looking for the "Any" key............. you know, where Windows says "Press any key"

Could be worse. You ever had "keyboard not present - press any key to continue"?

True story.

My daughter had her laptop stolen and the police found it 2 months later when they raided a criminals house. It was returned to her but when I turned it on, the only available user was "Neo".

The password hint was "The One".

I wasn't really surprised when I tried "Matrix" as the password and it worked.

Sadly, all her files had been erased and Windows had been reinstalled so the baby photos of my first grandchild are gone forever.

^^ Great post ...

... and she is a strong believer in the som-num-na theory.

Now this is a genuine question ... what is the 'som-num-na theory' ?

I probably know it ... just don't know it by that name.

.

David, in the context she uses the phrase regarding her parents, the closest English equivalents are a combination of "it serves you right", and "what comes around goes around". The key thing being that she doesn't believe she owes blind allegiance to her parents simply because Thai culture dictates that she should.

Mind you, I did give her a bit of re-education in this attitude. Another Thai phrase is Boon-Kuhn which essentially means repay your debts/obligations. She believes she's done her fair share for her parents and the debt of raising and caring for her as a child is well and truly paid. She now believes her parents owe her some Boon-Kuhn which they aren't repaying (in an attitude/emotional sense), so she just says som-num-na to them.

Whenever her Mum calls her I hear the sum-num-na phrase a dozen times in 3 minutes and I have to leave the room laughing. Consequently her parents don't want to put up with the ear-bashing they know they're going to get from her so she's considered a very last resort for any assistance.

She's a classic example of a bad Thai daughter with a very black heart as far as they're concerned. All good for me though!!