richard_smith237

Where in Thailand can you buy a CB50 or CB90 ???? Does it have ABS ??? No motorcycle with gears and a clutch and without ABS is ideal for a newbie... I understand your point about gyroscopic stability provided by larger wheels, but that really doesn’t matter much when riding around at city speeds. Your advice is more valid for someone who wants to learn to ride a motorcycle and progress through stages to larger motorcycles and ride and explore throughout the country on a larger machine. For someone who’s only goal is to have a motorcycle to ride around town there is no need for anything more than the standard ‘twist & Go’ scooter type motorcycle such as a Honda Click, Yamaha Aerox etc....

It is very dangerous to cross the road in Thailand. A much safer alternative would be not to cross the road or only cross where there is a bridge..... (see, I can make an equally moot and irrelevant comment !). In almost every thread concerning motorcycles there is always someone who pipes up and suggests getting a car because motorcycling is more dangerous in Thailand. A comment usually made by someone with no experience of riding a motorcycle in Thailand. Motorcycling is more dangerous anywhere..... In Thailand a significant amount of risk can be cut out by not riding at night, not riding in the wet, not riding after drinking, not speeding, riding defensively - by applying these ’sensible’ factors we eliminate the vast proportion of risk and remain only exposed to the ‘freak events’ which of course still present and elevated level of risk compared to driving, but place riding a motorcycle in Thailand at a far more tolerable level or risk which is more realistic for the riding many of us do.

Doing something for a long time is not experience.... maybe you have 1 year experience and repeated it 45 times... Agreed.. but only once reasonable speeds are reached... The gyroscopic forces with larger wheels are also something which needs to be overcome when manoeuvring the bike. Thus, smaller bikes are easier to manoeuvre at lower speeds - would have thought you’d know that with 45 years experience. Precisely - Larger bikes require greater experience than scooters because they are more difficult to handle - the Op has no experience. Erm.... 170kmh, really ??? .... while factually correct, who’s riding a scooter / motorcycle at 170kmh through Bangkok or other cities / towns in Thailand ?? - the point you are trying to make is rather daft when considering the Op is new to motorcycling. Well done... but somewhat irrelevant when you can’t fit a larger motorcycle between the cars, trucks, lorries etc in gridlocked traffic.

Outstanding input... extremely helpful.... Its a semi-auto... so if a higher gear is selected too early the auto-clutch engages preventing the stall. In this case it seems the auto-clutch didn’t engage properly, not only resulting in a stall, but the gear engaged and locked up the rear-wheel - just like applying the rear brake full on !!!... Quite dangerous and should definitely not happen. Thus: the fuel suggestion is a valid one (check the fuel filter)... The recommendation to go to a quiet area and re-create the issue is also a good idea. There could be an issue with the auto-clutch itself.

In case you missed it: The possible problem is that the IKEA guys, or any other installation guys, do bad quality work. That is what this discussion is about. DIY slowly and carefully with little experience and with the goal in mind to make something nice for my own home. Or get it done by someone else who's interest it is to get it done quickly, get paid, move on, and never see that installation again. The perfect situation would be to get it installed by someone professional who is proud of his work standards and does a careful job. Finding someone like that, especially in Thailand, is the difficult part. Understood... I imagine mileage varies... First hand recent experience: The IKEA guys installed our Kitchen and did and excellent job. They are familiar with their own kits etc.... someone earlier mentioned that the guys don’t know what they are doing and we could do a better job ourselves... thats not my experience at all with IKEA.

Very strange comment. A scooter is much much easier to master.... Twist and go... no clutch, no gears, no footbrake, a scooter is a lot lighter, easier to handle in traffic. A larger motorcycle with larger wheels is more stable when riding at a reasonable speed and has better brakes etc when riding at speed... but it takes a little time to master, particularly in heavy traffic, feathering the clutch etc...

Erm... Theoretically yes... Sometimes in practice, no... I obtained a Thai Motorcycle Licence with my UK Driving Licence. Enforcement A_79(3) is for ’trikes’.... But the picture looks like a motorcycle. I guess the DLT in Thailand do not know this and thus were happy to issue a Motorcycle Licence based on this endorsement. As always, experiences my vary, of course.

Discharged.... I doubt he cares one bit... Early retirement with a pension and whatever ‘extra’ he was given... In Thailand there is no incentive whatsoever ever to be anything other than corrupt. Corrupt is the norm here. It's socially accepted and expected. You are the odd one out and strange if you are not part of the corruption... You will face trouble IF you go against the status quo. ----- I have a mate, from a wealthy family, decent position as police officer, refused to be corrupt. His car was scratched, his house was shot at... he’s now part of the system and just accepts things the way they are... he gets his promotions and takes his ‘extra’... Scratch the surface of Thailand and we see the vapid rot destroying the fabric of society.

Isn’t this discussion itself is already more hassle than simply getting the IKEA guys to come and fit the units ??? !!!!

You perhaps exude the same pheromones as bbi1... the LB’s know you are just too much man to handle.... Seriously though... with these LB’s... (walking st etc) if they accost you, if you react negatively things can go sideways quickly... they can be a nuisance.... So.. when they grab a foreigner is it considered sexual assault?... the indian guy had to pay 200,000 baht for ‘grabbing a female’ on walking street (although I don’t know the extent of the ‘grab or assault’...

So you have no idea, no proof only your thoughts of possibilities and motivations. In fact you have nothing. He's just clutching at straws because carrying cash is outside of his understanding...

No... To renew a Thai Licence, you just show your existing (expiring) Thai Licence. To get a Thai Driving licence for the first time - you can show your home county driving licence, if its not in English language and / or have a photo, it must be accompanied with an IDP. I’m not sure if Thailand accepts licences from every country in this manner or has a specific list of countries it will accept for a simple ‘licence transfer’.

IMO - if you have an address in the UK keeping your UK DL is a no-brainer. I have my parents address.. so I keep a UK licence..... When I worked in Dubai recently, I needed to get a UAE driving licence... Extremely simple with a UK licence.. I booked an appointment, turned up at the RTA office and within 10mins had been issued a licence based on my UK Driving licence. This was not possible with a Thai Licence - I would have had to do a full test. Thus: for want of a better description; some countries recognise difference between licences from ‘developed nations’ and those from ‘developing nations’... Thus: for the sake of filling out an online form (20mins) and paying £25... If you have a UK address to which the DVLA can send their licence, do it. IF you are from a different country (I’m assuming DL renewal is just as easy as it is in the UK).

Of course many would... so they could have this view...

Maybe this is the solution...

Is it ???.... I wouldn’t think twice about travelling with 300,000 baht in cash... Higher end watches etc are more valuable than that... (and I’ve travelled with those in my carry-on). Its not stupid travelling with valuables... Its just stupid travelling with valuables and then being utterly careless about it... Its stupid being careless about your personal belongings full-stop, really, no matter the value.

I’m surprised this doesn't happen more with checked baggage (not the cash part, but the mistake of taking the wrong bag part). It's happened to me once - someone took my bag from the carousel and went home with it !!... I saw a bag the same as mine going round and round again... a bit inconvenient !!!... I’ve nearly mistaken someone else’s bag for mine (exactly same type of bag again).

Why would they? I've many times brought in that amount in US$ and it's within the legal limit. And I'm getting that amount transferred to my bank next month for a job I'm doing. Absolutely agree... there’s nothing illegal or questionable at all about carrying this amount of cash... ... but, I guess it may seem excessive to some people.... especially those who don’t even want to be carrying 20k baht for visa exempt arrival is excessive.

I do anyway... regardless of what ‘other contents’ I may have in my carryon, my passport is usually in there.... (I also lock the bag when its in the overhead lockers). ... It shouldn’t, but it does still surprise me how careless people are with their own belongings and valuables.

$8,600,00 is not a large amount of money, the limit without declaration id $20,000 USD! I have no idea why they'd carry 300,000 baht in checked baggage, in the pocket is safer! The money wasn’t in checked baggage.... Thongthai [the guy who was carrying the money] left his hand-carry [a grey backpack with 300k bahh cash) on the baggage trolley while he collected his check-in bag from the carousel. The Thai Elite Staffer, looking after several South Korean Tourists obviously confused that trolley with one from their group and inadvertently took the wrong bag. ----- The strange part of the story for me: Thai Elite are an arrival / departure service.... I suspect the report that the Thai Elite staffer was on the same flight is wrong and in fact the ’Thai Elite staff’ met Thai Elite members who’d been on the same flight as Thongthai....

Yes. I watched a Cambodian construction worker open up her waist purse, and it was stuffed with cash. Guess they don't believe in banks Indeed.... we’re probably due another ‘....left 800,000 baht in a bag in a taxi...’ thread....

I've always walked on Beach Rd very late at night/ early hours of the morning. Guess I don't look like someone who's approachable or someone or someone who's friendly. Its likely you exude the prowess of a true alpha-male with the presence of a masterful powerful Viking... the LB’s clearly too intimidated to go near you.... ????

Its always Beach Road.... for years its been beach road. For years, anyone (most) who visit Pattaya are surely aware that walking the ‘beach side’ of beach road is asking for hassle.... its is the reason for numerous ‘crack-downs’ over the years. Yet, even after numerous crack-downs, numerous similar reports re-surface year after year... Why ???... because the crack-downs do nothing... a week of police visibly patrolling the area, then they go back to the comfort of their stations... Policing the area is too much like hard work without the profit.

Harsh... Plenty of LB’s behaving respectably and working in businesses etc... Many at the Beauty counters in shopping malls etc... A lot of them are extremely hard workers having to prove that they can do it better than their peers. So... it os the many LB’s operating in area’s in and around red-light areas that contribute to their reputation... in these area’s their reputation is deserved. Outside of these area’s, they are a normal part of functioning society.... As with us ‘foreigners’ we don’t want to be tarred by the same brush as the foreigners who cause trouble, I imagine the same is for the respectable LB’s who don’t want to be tarred with the same brush as the ‘LB-crims’ operating in these areas.

Is Thailand the Hub of people carrying large amounts of cash around with utter disregard for security ???