Tod

I got the the Nikon D90 with the 18-200 VRII from Pix-One. If there's an issue, they send to Nikon Thailand. As I recall, Capa sent to Japan. In the end, I saved about 17k baht vs buying at another shop...

I went to Nikon Thailand on Silom, they said they didn't accept to repair "grey imports" cameras under warranty and that they have to be sent to Japan. Whether this is true or not I can not say.

Saving 17k baht is very tempting though...

Ok I see... It's all about the warranty. Pay 30% more for a proper warranty is a tough decision to make or a gamble.

What I don't really understand is that I tought Nikon's were made in Thailand. So why would grey imports come cheaper?

Hi everyone, I am in the market for a new DSLR, still hesitating between the Nikon D90 and the Canon 50D with a 18-200 lens.

However, I don't understand why such a massive price difference depending on which shops you ask.

It's seems that in Fortune tower at Pix-One or in some shops in MBK, one can get the aforementionned Nikon set for 49'000 baht, while if you ask in the Nikon office on Silom, they can't do any better than 6x'xxx baht.

What is the reason for such a big difference in prices? Can anybody recommend a reliable shop?

I'd rather buy everything from an authorized Nikon or Canon dealer but a 30% price difference makes me hesitate.

Thanks for your help.

Police found 0.3 gramme of crystallised methamphetamine and 20 gramme of marijuana inside the room.

-- The Nation 2009-06-20

Wow! I am shocked at such a staggering amount of dope. It clearly wasn't just for consumption but obviously part of a massive international traffic

Ping-pong shows are definitely a Thai invention. Nobody can take that away from them

Cheers beer has gone up from 31 baht ( 500 ml ) can to 38 baht ,at all 7/11s

Who the fuc_k drinks Cheers beer anyway? That stuff shouldn't even be called beer.

Unbeatable but known by few is Hotel 27 on Sukhumvitt soi 22.

350B/night with aircon and hot shower! Right in the middle of the street in a small alley on the left.

Old and rough looking, but clean with safe deposit box at the reception and 24 h room service.

You wont find any better for your money in the area...

No problems driving out of Bangkok with all the shit going on?

That is one big ride. There is a very high possibility of a lot of rain once you get south of Chumpon at this time of year. Be prepared for long stops and unexpected overnight stays unless you are a masochistic torrential rain enthusiast. I have done it, and can have coped with dreadful weather, but female pillion riders?

The plan was to be in the south for the end of april/beginning of may, when it's supposed to be relatively dry. I hope the weather will still be bearable. If there is a few rainy days I don't mind, will use them to rest and relax and hopefully go surfing the andaman coast.

Tod,

When are you hitting the road, I'm back home end of April and due to go working in end of May so the SSR crew might be on the roads so we could maybe meet you on the road somewhere...

That would be with pleasure, just let me know when you will hit the road and I'll arrange my journey.

As the OP is a tourist, I doubt whether the "buy and sell option" is really an option.

I am not a tourist, but I work a lot

7 months on everyday and then 5 months off.

Tod

In your initial post you inquired about a decent bike for touring Thailand for a couple of months. Hence my thoughts that you can do that on a Cbr150r.

Money no object..get what you want. Do you want or need to do it without spending a lot of money? Get the Honda. Do you want to be in Nakhon Nowhere needing repairs to a Ninja 250 or Kawasaki 650? Forget the price and availability of the parts, what about the mechanics you'll be dealing with?

The Honda gets about 100/mpg. Probably twice as good as the other 2 bikes. Every kilometer you are either saving money or spending up to twice as much.

Cruising at 100kph, you are at approx. 7000rpm in 6th gear. Redline is 11500. Need to get going? Drop it into 4th, Redline. 5th, Redline. Hitting 6th doing 130-140+, you've increased speed by 30-40kph very quickly. If that's not enough you are not choosing your moments correctly.

Luggage? Unless you are riding a big bike with lots of storage built-in, you have got to scale back on the take-alongs. A small tankbag upfront and the pillion rider wears a backpack. You'll be doing laundry.

Two months rental of the bikes mentioned or other older bikes as shown above even with a "rate" will run Bt.40,000-60,000. Never to be seen again. Buy the Honda new for approx. Bt65,000. Sell after 2 months for Bt.45-50,000. Buy gently used for Bt45,000 and you could get almost all of it back.

The Ninja 250 is over-priced at just under Bt.150,000, proven by the small increase to move up to the 650 at Bt.225,000

I sold my Suzuki 750 when I came to Thailand 7 years ago and bought the Cbr150r. You can adjust. I did.

Hi bobbin,

The first bike I ever had was a CBR125. Even at the time I thought it was too weak and got rid of it quickly. I guess the 150 doesn't make that much difference with the 125.

I know it's possible to tour with pretty much any bike, even a scooter, but that's not what I'm looking for.

"Do you want to be in Nakhon Nowhere needing repairs to a Ninja 250 or Kawasaki 650? Forget the price and availability of the parts, what about the mechanics you'll be dealing with?"

That's the point of buying a new bike. To avoid mechanical problems as much as I possibly can. The chances of a breakdown with a new bike are still possible but a lot less than with a 2nd hand.

That leaves me with one option, rent one of these ER6N for a couple of months, and in 6 months hopefully there will be some bikes available at the kawa dealerships again, buy one and equip it with a full set of givi boxes.

Hey Tony,

I will definitely do that. Just called him a moment ago, he quoted 24'000 baht for one month, which seems reasonable.

Will be in Chiang Mai on the 20th, then Nan, Loei, Udon, Kanchanaburi, Hua Hin, PangNga, Krabi, Koh Lipe, and back to Chiang-Mai through Mae Sot, Tak, Mae Hong Son etc...

Cant wait...

Just have the Ninja's pillion seat (AND rider's seat) recovered.

I did this on my Cbr 150r for the grand total of Bt.300. For both seats. Added foam and used a better covering fabric. That is a less slippery (more textured) cover.

And you could do your touring on a Cbr 150r. All the posts I have read over the last months regarding the Ninja 250 have not convinced me that it is worth paying more (much more) than double the price of the Honda.

2-up at 100kph all day long, with reserve power to pass. 400km to a tank riding solo, a bit less 2-up.

Some of the posters here have a "need for speed" and not just on the track. On one outing they were not welcoming anyone not willing/able to cruise ar 140-160kph. A little over the top for Thai roads. Not to mention illegal.

Heh heh, ok, I'll confess that I'm one of those "need for speed" SSR riders , but there are some reasons we set some minimums for our rides.

First there are stretches of highway in Thailand that really do call for blasting. I'm in Bangkok and love to ride up north and north east, but let's face it, when you're going to Chiang Mai, there is NOTHING worth seeing until you reach Tak. In between the roads are straight and generally well paved, and the chances of being hassled by the BiB for speeding are minimal, so yeah, we blast it.

Second, by setting minimum speed requirements for long trips it helps to weed out the guys that might otherwise show up on beaters. I'm relatively new to biking in Thailand, but noted early on that a lot of guys show up for rides on aging bikes that are not mechanically fit for the trip.

I don't NEED to ride fast, BTW. I'm perfectly happy to putter along at 100km/hr with my friends who ride classic SR400s or Phantoms, etc. It's actually nice to go slow sometimes and enjoy the scenery.

Back to the topic at hand- the OP is asking about a bike for touring 2-up. That implies 2 passengers, plus some luggage. Yes, you can 'tour' on a Honda Wave if that is what you call "touring", but you'll be puttering along the side of the road with all of the other scooters, and that to me is neither fun nor safe.

If you want to be able to ride on normal roads at the speed of general traffic (that means ~120km/hr on highways) and have adequate power for passing and accelerating out of dangerous spots then I would respectfully say that 250cc would be the bare minimum for 2 people plus luggage. I loved touring solo on my Ninja 250R and hated touring on it when my wife was on the back. The light weight, incredible handling, and 33 HP of the Ninja 250R was great fun for one, but just didn't cut it when you added a passenger.

Chiang Mai has by far the greatest selection of legal, insured large bikes in Thailand and I would recommend the OP start his trip there. My first choice for 2-up touring would be a Kawa ER6n because they are only a few months old so pretty much guaranteed to be mechanically sound, but you can also find other decent bikes like CB400's, Viragos, XJRs, etc etc. Really all depends what kind of bike you like and are comfortable with.

Happy Trails!

Tony

I got the message and agree with you. Of course you can go touring around Thailand with pretty much anything, even a honda dream will do. But to do it in good conditions with 2 peoples on the bike and bags, the ninja 250 is definitely not a good choice.

My last bike was a ninja 636, kept it for 2 years before moving to Thailand... Downgrading to a 250 would probably bore me very quickly as well. Too bad I cant get my hands on an ER6N

If anybody can confirm that they are for rent with insurance in Chiang-Mai, I will do it that way.

Thanks again for all the answers.

Thanks Bigbikebkk and jchfriis for your answers...

That's what I was fearing

I was also considering renting an er6n, but the problem with rentals is that you can't get insurance. If anything happens to the bike or I have an accident with somebody on the road, I'm fcuked.

So that leaves me with little options... I will probably be bikeless for my 2 months off. Boring...

I was planning to buy a er6n, but I heard that kawasaki thailand are apparently out of stock for the next 3 months...

So my question is, would it be really boring and uncomfortable to go touring around Thailand for a couple of months on a ninja250 or d-tracker.

I also need to specify that my girlfriend would be behind me on the bike most of the time.

Are they too small and weak to cover long distances comfortably?

Would really appreciate some input from peoples with experience about these 2 bikes.

Cheers.

More propaganda

Worse.

Propaganda about propaganda.

You mean like the same you're doing with PAD?

yes, sorry about the incorrect locale for my OP. I realized that right after I did it.

I still would like to know about the ways to get to Trat.

Thanks a billion!

No trains to Trat,

You can take a tourist bus from any travel agency in Khaosan road that will cost you about 250/300 baht including the ferry for koh chang, they usually leave at around 8:30 in the morning and arrive in Laem Ngop at around 4pm. You can also go to ekamai and get a local bus for about the same price.

Is anyone else having trouble with sites other than Thaivisa? A few times today, I have only been able to get on line here.

Me too,

I couldn't access websites such as hotmail, microsoft, etc... for about 20 minutes before

Hail to the grand TOT

If the answer is yes, that's where you will find one:

www.bahtsold.com/detail.php?id=39224

Only in Thailand...

philharris,agree with you,now they are now charging 150 Baht for a small Singha in most of the Go Go bars in Nana,and 95 Baht at the outside bars.

This is over 3 quid for a beer now,I never paid that in Rip Off Uk.

Yeah, but can you watch naked girls dancing while having a beer in the UK for 3 quid?

No? That's what I thought

Be forwarned: TESCO-LOTUS is applying illegal practises to lure customers into their stores by advertising products as "Buy 1 - Get 1 Free, but never have any stock"

This is the case with Dutch Mill Fresh Milk 830 ml bottle. I went last night to one of their small stores in Don Muang, but there was only a single bottle there. The 2l was also advertised as "Buy 1 - Get 1 Free" for 80 Baht for 2 bottles. Guess what: only one bottle available.

13 hours later, this morning, my wife went for me to the same mini Lotus. Same scene: 1 small bottle and one2 liter bottle available. When she asked the personnel when they would come back, they said, they don't know.

My IT friend just came along. He always buys that same milk from Dutch Mill. He told me that he only got 2 bottles on the day the campaign started which was February 26, but ever since that milk was out of stock e v e r y single day.

TESCO, shame on you!!! Taking the Thai people for fools ...

Wow!

You must really have a fascinating life... NOT

Seems to be a lot of sympathy for this type of person - I think this adds wieght to my observations

I think everyone should report one and thin out the numbers

No sympathy for these parasites but even less for peoples like you.

The words and tone you use are pathetic, now be a good informer and go do your job.

Overhearing a conversation or two over recent months I have become aware that many Brits residing in Pattaya are actually claiming invalidity benifit from the Uk. Doesn't sound right - considering that to claim such benifit they are supposedly unfit for work, yet they are obviously fit to travel long haul and holiday.

surely this cant be legal?

If they reside in Pattaya, they're not on holiday, are they. Not all disabilities preclude air travel. Even wheelchair bound people are capable of traveling on a plane.

When claiming that you are unfit for work then by definition you should not be able to travel long haul - if you could then by definition there are many jobs you could do

Whose definition? Please elaborate. Are you related to Norman Tebbit?

By definition even people in a wheel chair can work. Ok their are genuine cases - but I think Pattaya would benifit by getting rid of the cheap charlie shirkers living off invalidity when they are cabable of working.

Flame deleted. Mario2008.

same for me.

Not to go OT or anything, but let's keep things in perspective. The people who experienced the most hardship from Katrina in New Orleans were the first, second, third and fourth generation of welfare dependents. Most of these people have been born and bred to depend upon government handouts for the majority of their daily needs. They don't grow up learning to be self-sufficient. So when the local and state governments failed them in the face of crisis, and then the state government delayed in calling in the federal government (as required by law), these people had no idea what to do or did not have the resources to fend for themselves.

Getting back to retiring in Thailand from places like the UK and the US, I think there is a lesson to be learned from this perspective. If we are able to be self sufficient and save enough money to retire in our desired lifestyles, then good for us, as we will likely have a nice, leisurely retirement in Thailand without worry of money crises. If we count on government pensions for a significant percentage or majority of our retirement income, then perhaps a retirement in Thailand may one day not be affordable or there may not be enough income to support one's desired lifestyle.

Sean Hannity is that you??