kuma

and....just did the 02:00 7 run and saw these other names to add to the list, all in shops just outside the house here, within 5 minutes drive....Bridgestone, Nexen, Dunlop, Thunderer, Maxxis, Advan, West Lake, GoodTyre, Leao, Nankang...truly mind boggling amount of choice, some have never heard of.

You actually think touring bikers would equate flying and renting a 200+ /day POS scooter (or whatever- a BIG bike) with touring the country with their ride??? There are only two wheels spinning in your own wheelhouse perhaps?

Did you make a final choice? I ended up with a flat yesterday and today when getting it fixed was told that I need new tires, at less than 50K km. That is a fair bit less use than I was accustomed to in the great white north but after checking further it does seem as if 50=/- and 4 or so years is what is to be expected here, given the harsh conditions ie:heat. Do others find that to be the case? The choices for tires are bewildering....BF Goodrich / Goodyear / Conti / Cooper / Yokohama / Pirelli / Hankook / Michelin / Firestone / Nitto and on and on ....for the size I want, 262/65 R17. Hankook has a few nice choices but they are made in Indonesia it seems so not as easy to find here. Was surprised to see Pirelli making a tire that size,, thought they were race only. I am in no rush but figure will get new ones by year end, always interesting to hear what others found worthy. We stay in Chan so rain is a big factor for us. Cheers

Love Roi Et, so compact how could it be difficult to find the places where people congregate? Just tool around on bicycle/moto etc and sure to find something - unfortunately you might run into the agro maritimer with the bee in his bonnett lol, or maybe thats only when he has not had enough to drink or has not slapped a soi dog around yet so still edgy....life in Issan!

Biggest plus for me, you can't take your truck as part of your luggage on Bkk Air

Sad to hear, I was waiting for vax rules to ease to make the trip but alas it is never to be. Good luck with the Samui hustle, hope it works out.

From Asok you can make your way to 10 and get across the wooden bridge in morning to the park (now expanded with tobacco monopoly gone) and do that 20x - or take the sky bridge from that park to Lumpini (portaging the bike in places is required, I used to do that ride back and forth to work everyday) and you can tool around both parks and the sky bridge in between....that way you can avoid getting to swampy (no tree cover so it gets hot on clear days). You can also go down to Tha Rua behind the big market at 21 (Asok rd) and Rama IV and take a long tail o boat ferry across the river with your bike and ride around prapadaeng - none of these options give you the wide open long stretch runs like the airport but they are interesting and fun rides with lots of scenery and distractions, so depends what you want. And by the way, virtually any Tuk Tuk will strap your bike to the back and take you out there but bike is exposed to some risk. Have fun.

I keep to myself for the most part out here in south east Thailand (Chanthaburi/Trat) but have to say I am amazed every night I am out on my empty jungle street in the middle of the night (work thru the night) and a motorbike passes or a car, and the single rider/occupant is wearing a mask still over 90% of the time around here, and during the day when we do some errands mask use is easily still well over 90%. The wife says many woman like it for the presumed protection from the sun they get / less need for make up if in a rush, but it is amazing to me how many have them glued on even though there is no requirement. We go everywhere with no mask and never get hassled about it so I am grateful for that, but we do get looks as we often are the only people in crowds of over 100 that have no masks. What can you say.....