Warning - Chiang Mai Police

[engineer]

On top of which, allowing unregistered big bikes on the roads here is an important contributing factor behind the theft of big bikes in Japan (and possibly elsewhere) that are then imported into Thailand as parts and reassembled for sale here. As one who lived in Japan and rode big bikes there and who still has many friends there who do the same, I would be very glad to learn that steps are being taken here that will result in fewer bikes being stolen there.

Just wondering, since you seem suck a good citizen and all that, is all the software you have on your computer original and those dvd in your living room, they are all originals of course.

I somehow do not think that the Thai police give a toss about wheather the bikes are stolen or not, they just want some money and as its coming up to songcran again, they will be out in force ticketing anything with wheels.

These " illegal " bikes come in with invoices detailing the serial numbers of the frame and the engines. If they were stolen then it would show up when they were exported. I dont think its worth any thiefs time to borrow some old big bike, strip it down and then ship it legally to thailand to make a few yen.

Cops regulary take these bikes, they impound them, you pay them to get it back . Its a cat and mouse game. The bike goes back on the road same as the fish goes back in the river so someone else can have the pleasure of catching it.

[Rasseru]

These " illegal " bikes come in with invoices detailing the serial numbers of the frame and the engines. If they were stolen then it would show up when they were exported. I dont think its worth any thiefs time to borrow some old big bike, strip it down and then ship it legally to thailand to make a few yen.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20061129f3.html

[IanForbes]

Police weren't so much in evidence today, and if they were it wasn't where I normally see them. I also noticed a lot more Thais wearing helmets today. I made sure my lady was wearing one when we went into the city around noon.

[davidgtr]

Interesting. I expected as much after the Pattaya raid, plus an earlier one here 6 months ago.

But today I went past

1. The Provincial police HQs

2. Kong Muang, main police station on Ratchadamnoen

3. The Mae Ping Traffic police station

& could not see any seized bikes.

So I wonder where they are. Does your mechanic mate or the som tam lady have any idea? Are the bikes on their way to Bkk already?

[Maejo Man]

Interesting. I expected as much after the Pattaya raid, plus an earlier one here 6 months ago.

But today I went past

1. The Provincial police HQs

2. Kong Muang, main police station on Ratchadamnoen

3. The Mae Ping Traffic police station

& could not see any seized bikes.

So I wonder where they are. Does your mechanic mate or the som tam lady have any idea? Are the bikes on their way to Bkk already?

.........and none in the pound at Chang Puak nick when I passed this afternoon either. Maybe they are in the som tum lady's back yard

[StevieH]

Police weren't so much in evidence today, and if they were it wasn't where I normally see them. I also noticed a lot more Thais wearing helmets today. I made sure my lady was wearing one when we went into the city around noon.

interesting to hear of the chiang mai police doing a helmets / bikes crackdown at the start of a month, i thought it was usually in the last few days of a calendar month to feed the monthly boozeup kitty?

[adjan jb]

So I wonder where they are. Does your mechanic mate or the som tam lady have any idea? Are the bikes on their way to Bkk already?

According to the Som Tam Lady, they were sent to Japan.

[Drew Aitch]

I have a large 900 cc chopper and it cost me all of 900 baht to register it and get plates easy peasy

What's the rest of the story?

LOL

Yep there is a bit more to it than i made out and figured I would have to come clean LOL

I bought my bike brand spanking new from the Kawasaki showroom just off the moat and rode it out the showroom without plates they called me 5 days later to tell me my plates and registration book were in an I could come and collect total cost 900 baht and a completely legal bike

I think you will find that the price you paid for your bike simply included the registration fee. Some shops will quote you with and without registration (approx 60,000 Baht on big bikes). Of course, if the bike is a second hand model that was registered by the previous owner, then your 900 Baht may have been admin fees for the transfer of ownership and or province.

Aitch

[mnbcm]

According to the Som Tam Lady

haha, only in Thailand will a reliable source on the confiscation of big bikes come from "The Som Tam Lady."

[PeaceBlondie]

These roadblocks, almost all of them reported here in recent days, are the usual helmet and registration checks. Other than the rumour by the som tom lady's husband's cousin's mechanic.. I passed a big one on the way home, somewhere in the old city at night. I hardly noticed because I had a helmet and a registered bike with license plate on back, stickers on windshield.

[IanForbes]

I have a large 900 cc chopper and it cost me all of 900 baht to register it and get plates easy peasy

What's the rest of the story?

That's only for Paul Harvey to know...

And he took the secret to the grave with him a few days ago.

[FarangCravings]

\

I think you will find that the price you paid for your bike simply included the registration fee. Some shops will quote you with and without registration (approx 60,000 Baht on big bikes). Of course, if the bike is a second hand model that was registered by the previous owner, then your 900 Baht may have been admin fees for the transfer of ownership and or province.

Aitch

Nope your wrong it cost me 900 baht on top of what the bike cost me, the bike was brand new zero miles on it i got the receipt for the 900 baht absolutely not 60,000 baht the bike is completely legal

[keo]

According to my Thai friends (who aren't som tam ladies), there is a new police chief in Chiang Mai who (and I quote) "doesn't care about money" and is just out to <deleted> with guys riding unregistered bikes. Apparently the police went into the Warm Up car park on Wednesday night and seized a whole chopper gangs worth of unregistered bikes. I don't know if any of you have been to Warm Up recently, but there are usually a sheet load of big bikes in the car park, very few with plates.

Anyway, I live to ride another day on my 100% illegal, stolen and shipped to Thailand Suzuki.

God bless the Yakuza. The greatest gang there ever was

p.s. any one got a spare green book for a Yamaha TW225?

[Rasseru]

According to my Thai friends (who aren't som tam ladies), there is a new police chief in Chiang Mai who (and I quote) "doesn't care about money" and is just out to <deleted> with guys riding unregistered bikes.

Cool if true. Even cooler would be if he next does the same to guys driving unregistered cars.

[Ricardo]

We are waiting for some kind on confirmation from the Som Tam Lady

Her daughter tells me, she waves at farangs with big Choppers, but that's only 2nd-hand rumour.

[Aussiejon]

cheers for the heads up, I know the places I must avoid over the next few days.

I have a Jap bike that has been imported in parts and reassembled. I looked into getting it registered after one too many fines from the BiB. Richard BKK told me I could get it done for 600 Baht. I had two different Thai friends phone the Department of Land Transportation (as he suggested), the first one was told that it would cost 30,000 Baht, the second one was told 50,000 Baht, and both said I would need to go to Bangkok to get it done. I gave up.

Farang Cravings - not seen you or George at Cue Bar for ages? Competition next weekend for 50,000 Baht. Would be interested to hear how you went about getting your chopper registered. cheers.

Yes, I have heard the same story for more than 10 years. Bangkok or Phuket for 50,000 or 60,000 baht. But you must register at these two offices only. Not in Chiang Mai. I'm sure it is some sort of scam, but the details are hard to come by. I do know of 3 people who were refused at Chiang Mai, but were accepted at Phuket...

Getting a grey imported bike bike registered in thailand now has become extremely difficult, firstly it has to be sent to Bangkok to pass a EPA test which costs 30,000 baht pass or fail, if your bike is not fuel injected it will fail, then the cost of the plate etc is about 30,000 or even more, any shop that offers a plate for your bike is useing a recycled book from another bike and restamping the frame and engine number, this is not a problem when doing roadside police checks or even border crossings but may become a problem when selling the bike and transferring the name to the new owner as the original books are listed on a data base and if the make and type of bike dont match you have a problem. Any way its about time they cracked down on this, you would have to be a fool riding around on a non plated bike, like every thing else in this country, nothing is a problem until their is a problem, if you are involved in an accident and your 100% in the right and your bike is not plated you are 100% in the wrong and where do you stand when the other party gets killed or your partner on the back gets killed, the saving you made on that unplated bike surely would'nt make up for pay out you would be making to the grieving family or the ammount of time you could get.

All of this info was sourced to me by the local som tum lady and confirmed by the one arm guy who sells the flowers near the night bazaar.

[Lobin]

bikes

just a bit of fun

Edited March 6, 2009 by Lobin

[IanForbes]

That was hilarious, Lobin... but maybe not if you were gay... or a cop. Funny just the same. I love parody.

Here is me finally catching up to the rickshaw bike that passed me earlier. I think the guy had time for a coffee break before I finally caught up to him. Yah gotta love the power of a JRD Tornado with its whopping 150 cc engine.

At least it's licensed with a plate... and paid for.

Edited March 6, 2009 by IanForbes

[gpdjohn]

I thought Paul Gadd was stuck in the UK... humm

[Ajarn]

if you are involved in an accident and your 100% in the right and your bike is not plated you are 100% in the wrong

Maybe that's what the law says, but in reality it is not an issue of accident fault if without a plate, the cops still think of the accident facts when offering blame for an accident Edited March 6, 2009 by Ajarn

[Rasseru]

For a moment, Ian, I thought you were trying to prove that Lobin's tasteless link was true.

[Drew Aitch]

if you are involved in an accident and your 100% in the right and your bike is not plated you are 100% in the wrong

Maybe that's what the law says, but in reality it is not an issue of accident fault if without a plate, the cops still think of the accident facts when offering blame for an accident

But surely if you have no registration, you can't get any insurance of any kind. If you don't have any insurance, then you have no claim even if your riding was in the right. All expenses would be off your own back too, providing you lived through the accident of course! And if the cops think of the accident facts, one fact would be that the unregistered bike should not have been on the road to begin with, and if the rider had abided by the law, then this particular accident would never have happened.

Aitch

Edited March 6, 2009 by Drew Aitch

[Ajarn]

if you are involved in an accident and your 100% in the right and your bike is not plated you are 100% in the wrong

Maybe that's what the law says, but in reality it is not an issue of accident fault if without a plate, the cops still think of the accident facts when offering blame for an accident

But surely if you have no registration, you can't get any insurance of any kind. If you don't have any insurance, then you have no claim even if your riding was in the right. All expenses would be off your own back too, providing you lived through the accident of course! And if the cops think of the accident facts, one fact would be that the unregistered bike should not have been on the road to begin with, and if the rider had abided by the law, then this particular accident would never have happened.

Aitch

Well, in my experience, most bikers don't have insurance, and if they have an accident, their 'rights' are respected as anyones. It would be nice (for some) to live in your perfect world, but this is Thailand, sir

Edited March 6, 2009 by Ajarn

[Rasseru]

Well, in my experience, most bikers don't have insurance, and if they have an accident, their 'rights' are respected as anyones.

How would you characterize the breadth of your experience?

[Ajarn]

Well, in my experience, most bikers don't have insurance, and if they have an accident, their 'rights' are respected as anyones.

How would you characterize the breadth of your experience?

20 solid years of biking in Thailand, and accidents (not mine)

[MacWalen]

what is the definition of a big bike in CM? It that 600cc and over, those 250 cc should be no hassle I guess. I don't think I would need anything bigger around Chaing Mai.

I can understand fully the police not being happy with unregistered bikes.

[ray23]

I saw dozens of bikes pulled over

Who's your source mate?

How do you know?

Rumour only it sounds like to me.

Don't you just love these sensational topics... sources please!

We are waiting for some kind on confirmation from the Som Tam Lady

Link to photos of bikes siezed

http://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycl...down-t5411.html

[davidgtr]

But surely if you have no registration, you can't get any insurance of any kind.

Aitch

If you don't have rego it is still possible to get the compulsory 3rd party insurance.

Most of the bike rental companies in Cnx have had this for years & the insurance companies have & do pay out for accidents.

Insurance for unregistered vehicles was available through the Road Accident Victims Protection Co Ltd. Read how to do it on GT Rider here.

For accidents I think all the police are interested in is "who hit who." The logic being if the way ahead was not clear you should not have proceeded & run into the other vehicle, even if they ran a red light or suddenly came out of side soi & got in your way. You hit them!

Sorry all you guys saying there are lots of new police checkpoints, the guys are out there all the time, rotating their locations; & the regular Cnx traffic police (Mae Ping traffic police station) are not the ones running the big bike crackdown.

Next month is Songkran & New Year. The BIB will need lots of money to celebrate, make tamboon, drink & be merry. Expect lots of traffic police checks all of March, then easing off after Songkran.

I don't think the big bike crackdown is related to Songkran.

Sorry, but some of you guys don't ride enough, talk too much & speculate about what you think is going on.

The bikes seized so far are at the Highway Police HQs on the super near the Poy Luang. More will be added to their collection.

Have a nice day. I’m off on a 3-day GT ride next.

[Drew Aitch]

if you are involved in an accident and your 100% in the right and your bike is not plated you are 100% in the wrong

Maybe that's what the law says, but in reality it is not an issue of accident fault if without a plate, the cops still think of the accident facts when offering blame for an accident

But surely if you have no registration, you can't get any insurance of any kind. If you don't have any insurance, then you have no claim even if your riding was in the right. All expenses would be off your own back too, providing you lived through the accident of course! And if the cops think of the accident facts, one fact would be that the unregistered bike should not have been on the road to begin with, and if the rider had abided by the law, then this particular accident would never have happened.

Aitch

Well, in my experience, most bikers don't have insurance, and if they have an accident, their 'rights' are respected as anyones. It would be nice (for some) to live in your perfect world, but this is Thailand, sir

You really are a strange character Ajarn! Why are you always at loggerheads with what people post? It's almost as if you're looking for a virtual fight sometimes: angry: Try to be nice, and maybe even agree with some posters, sometimes?

It's not possible to get fully comprehensive insurance for superbikes older than 3 years. Or at least that was the case when I was in the business. The cost was around 25,000 THB/year at the time irrespective of make or model. But 3rd party insurance is very cheap and readily available for all bikes of all makes and of all ages. The only biker's that would chose not to have insurance, are those with no registration.

Anyone without a basic insurance that is unlucky enough cause a bad road accident where other's get maimed or killed, could actually cost the guilty party an unaffordable sum of money! There are obvious reasons for being legal on the roads be that Thailand or anywhere in the world.

Aitch

[Rasseru]

You really are a strange character Ajarn! Why are you always at loggerheads with what people post? It's almost as if you're looking for a virtual fight sometimes: angry: Try to be nice, and maybe even agree with some posters, sometimes?

My impression is that Ajarn does not suffer fools lightly, but I have seen him agree with other posters any number of times. He might even agree with this one.