DualSportBiker

Please confirm what visa class this is for.

Rules have changed at this border as of yesterday (16 June 2014): you can hop the border three times in a row getting 30 days (for G-8 countries) and then the fourth time they will start giving you only 7 days until you get a proper visa. This includes times that you flew in from another country, not just over land.

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In the last two weeks I have heard just three ambulance sirens at night in my neighbourhood, a drop from one to three a night. If you think 'rolling' with the death and aguish that comes with it is OK, you might want to think again, if thinking is something you can actually do.

Roads deaths will be on the rise again once the curfew is lifted. Would be a good idea for the army to be on the streets with the police to stop the crazed drunk drivers. After all it should be the job of the police but...

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Way to rain on everyone's "Happiness" Chicken George. The sky is not falling. Roll with it. Wear a helmet.

It would be surprising if the weight was an issue; loaded panniers and a top box would top out at say 15 kg on your 650.

Can't follow your lead; my 8 dogs range from 22 to 38 kg...

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I am thinking it was louder then stoc exhausts that was being scrutinized. Wasnt a big problem

Yes, you're right of course. But the loud exhausts (apart from those noisy boy-racer rides) were nearly always attached to big bikes.

Anyway, the point is, there should be no problem for riders of big bikes (even Hardleys), regardless of the decibel level of their exhausts, to get into the park.

Not always true. I think it very much depends on who's at the entrance gate. Recently, a group of us (10 riders) went through KY National Park. I was on a Ninja 1000 with stock exhaust so no issue with noise. However, there were some riders with overly loud pipes. We devised a plan than I and a couple of others with stock pipes will approach the entrance first and pay for everyone.

This worked and everyone got through. On the way home, we split up into different groups. Some of the louder pipes were stopped but they showed their ticket from the first time in. The guards were a bit confused but had no choice but to let them through again (the ticket is valid for the whole day, you can go in and out of the park as many times as you want within the 24 hour period).

Off-topic, but this reminds me of stag nights in Macau when living in HK. Someone would forget their passport, every time. We would crowd the official and hand in all passports at the same time and never failed to get through! 4 times per trip - amazing really. Would never happen post 9/11.

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Banana's real name is Patima Kongpetch. His email is [email protected]

just don't mention where you got his details - he knows I think he is a bunghole...

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Late one night in the mid 90s I was surrounded by a troop of dec-weng at the lights at Asoke-Petchaburi, approaching Fortune on my way home to the Chinese embassy soi. They made it pretty clear they expected me to race, and as the lights were about to change, I 'prepared' myself... The lights changed and I sat still waiting for them all to go. One held back and once he saw I was not going to play, gunned it. They all turned into the same soi as I was headed to, an unfortunate coincidence.

When I got to the one of those poorly made bridges, I saw the kid who held back on the floor, his bike twisted up and he was bleeding dark blood from the body and head. He was still jerking, but was dead in a few more seconds.

Needless to say, I don't have high opinion of those who race on the streets or encourage them.

The only place to race is the track... but you all know that already

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You ask for an FB name which I supply, and now you want a link. If you can't look them up, then bikes are going to be your undoing...

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Thanks.

Sorry, I have never attended. I will dig up an email for Banana, the guy who runs it. Give me a day to get it together...

Their website does confuse me abit . Can you give me any infos about their rates and offers?

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Look up the Bangkok Weekend Warriors.

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There is always Storm Academy...

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Neither is being stupid or absolutist; go flog your BS elsewhere.

Trollish, rumor-mongering post, intent on creating fear.

but the answer is so simple--not safe at all, riding bikes in Thailand, anytime, is dangerous

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Event-free 440km ride on Saturday. Hotter than buggery though...

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When riding in Bkk I wear an MX helmet and sunnies/clear glasses. Get better airflow that way, but still get chin protection. I have an airflow Viper jacket that offers reasonable protection and good cooling when moving... Always wear gloves and shoes you can kick cars with.

Enjoy.

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If you have spent your adult life as a passenger, then you have got to get some training. You have outsourced road awareness for a while, and now want to jump in the deep end by riding in Thailand. That is as steep a learning curve as you can pick.

Both Yamaha and Honda have reputable courses, but are in Thai. After 6 years, I hope you can...

Many here will provide opinions on bikes; I will offer no opinion other than get some serious training. You should spend every minute you are a pillion passenger observing the cars and bikes around you so you can learn to anticipate how traffic moves. You may have done this already, but as a passenger you can take a break from it, when riding you cannot.

I learned to ride when 14, off-road in the UK, and only to a basic level. I was a pillion passenger here for years before I borrowed a mate's bike for a month to commute Petchaburi 19 to Sukhumvit 4. I'd never turned on a road before, only in mud... Bought myself a Yamaha 650 shaft driven bike and commuted in Bangkok for 5 years. I had reasonable road experience from racing bicycles and driving cars up to that point...

Best of luck.

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Riding to just north of Suphanburi later this morning to talk to a guy about killing mould... If I don't get back to you all, the lichen got me!

In honesty, I might slow down for speed traps and check points today...

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Great stuff, hope to follow you up there sometime this year... Cheers.

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Without ped bridges, how can you cross in the shade?

Russia is similar to Thailand I guess: no functional crosswalks.

But plenty of pedestrian bridges that are too much effort to use.

One thing I dislike here is in many cases it is less safe to stop at zebra-crossings than to drive through them.

Neither the Thai pedestrians nor Thai drivers are expecting you to stop.

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There is a Vespa mechanic on Samakkee Road not too far from Nichada Thani. They have dozens of bikes in the shop, and most are hobbyists, not porters. Mainly young kids, they hang out with the mechanics most nights. When the new Vespa promotion started a couple of years back, the old bikes enjoyed a revival. The distinctive noise heard late into the night as they eventually finish their beers and head off home...

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0.8 to 1.2 is a 50% rise... You might consider it massive and alarming if it was the interest payment on your education loan...

Thailand's low unemployment has hampered growth and produced a fickle workforce for years. Small companies, the engine for growth and innovation, can't hire easily because they can't out pay and out perk larger companies. The grunt labour I employ will walk if you don't treat them gently, even for lower pay. They want easy jobs, and can't explain the difference between a job and a career...

"It has also predicted that unemployment rates will reach 1.0 to 1.2 percent in 2014 across the country, considerably higher than last year’s rate of 0.8 percent"

Yeah that is a massive and alarming rise in unemployment.

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Lights. I am surprised only a few mentions of brighter or more lights... You want to be seen, and for the driver ahead to know you are coming up on them faster than they assume a scooter would be. You can't be too bright...

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Reading this thread I realise I just don't get out very much socially, not anymore. Work takes me to industrial estates where most of the expats are rotated every few years, or have been here for a while; the conversation rarely gets to length of servitude here. I posit it's a steeper learning curve working here, more exposure to a wider range of what makes Thailand tick.

Personally I did not move here to engage in conversations with people who are not terribly different from those I left behind. I spend much of my time speaking Thai, and in situations where I am the only non-Thai. I rarely broadcast to strangers that I've been here a considerable while, speak Thai, or what I do for a living. That being said, I will help out if someone genuinely needs it, but in a world of Google and phones with maps, that is less of an issue. Perhaps selfishly, I consider talking to tourists of little value to me (where talking ≠ helping.)

Anyhow, I've found most people who need to ask you "How long..." have not been around very long. Not that it matters very much...

I have three LED. 900 lumens each at .75 amp draw. USD105 each.

Normally I keep two 35 degree floods on and have a 15 degree spot for special drivers...

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I've been trawling through my failing memory to see what I can recall about Thais overseas that I know well. Well enough to have had conversations germane to the OP. My list totals 15, of which 12 are women.

Six were 3 couples who went to study with intentions to return; never did. Five girls went over single to study, and are now married (2) or have good careers in IT. The four remaining girls met their husbands here and departed with them. One such couple planned to rotate 3 there, 3 here, and so on, but after a while shelved that plan as both were happier there. Of all of the girls, this last one was the only housewife with no intention of getting a career, here or there.

Does this small sample counter the claim that so many overseas Thai would be keen to return here given the chance? Not sure, but, it does suggest that those who leave for a while have their eyes opened to the fact that Thailand is hard work in many ways.

I still intend to retire here, and my wife begrudgingly agrees that a place away from Bkk would be workable when we are both approaching 60, but between now and then, we might just bugger off for a while and enjoy a more mature environment for a few years.

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On a flight from Zurich to Bkk in 2009 in business class, the seat next to me was occupied by a crew member. They were over-staffed so she got the easy ride home. When I asked her why none of the numerous Gold Card paying passengers in economy were not upgraded, she could give no good answer. Thai airways is not there to look after its paying customers, it is a club to look after its own.

There was a rumour that in the 90s at least 30% of their staff had never checked in to an office; they were all nominal positions to qualify for free flights. If 5,000 does equate to 20%, there might have been some truth to it...

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What percent% Philippines 99% want to leave. Hill tribe people 99% want to leave. Rohingya 99% want to leave. Thai women 1% want to leave. Of Thai women married to Farang 10% want to leave. Still the overwhelming majority want to stay given they could find a decent husband who would also stay.

Pretty spot on. Very few Thai women want to leave Thailand permanently and of those who do, majority are dirt poor and/or from dysfunctional families. Can't blame them, I suppose.

I would argue that many educated Thai will not want to return if they have been away for any reasonable period of time; several years up. The percentage will go up if they are working, and not housewives. Not working for a Thai boss for many years has made my Mrs. completely anti having a Thai boss.

If Thailand had not lost its moral compass and it's police force was less of a negative force than it is, I might think differently.

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How long ago do you figure Thailand lost it's moral compass?

Tough question.

I can tell you the latest and largest nail in that coffin, IMHO, was the total lack of outrage when children we're kill in Trat in a drive-by at a Democrat rally. Just days after Turkey was brought to a standstill by people united in disgust at the death of an innocent bystander, Thailand let 3 kids die without lifting a finger. That those who oppose the democrats publicly celebrated the deaths is repugnant.

I have only been here since 91, but the downward spiral has been constant; Saudi jewels, the war on drugs, numerous screw-ups in the south...

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