Motorbike transport by Thai rail network

[jkinbkk]

Recently took my Forza into Laos for a Visa run and as everything went smoothly (especially the border crossing issues) I'm now considering a more adventurous expedition?

The basic roundtrip is Khon Kaen - BKK - Hat Yai - Malaysia - Singapore...and back

Point is i want to take the Khon Kaen-BKK- Hat Yai legs by train with the bike on broad.

Although the Forza has proven itself to undertake with ease various round trips of between 400-900km I think this journey would prove to be a little tiresome overall by bike only.

Lots of good info on the Seat61 site, but I wanted to see if anyone would share their 1st Hand experience of transporting their bike on the Thai Rail network?

[Gweiloman]

I have no personal experience of transporting my bike on Thai train network but know a few people who have done so and are relatively satisfied with it. If I remember correctly, the main issues are that they will lift the bike onto the carriage by hand (shouldn't be too much of an issue for the Forza but then, I have no idea what it weighs). The other issue is that the bike is not tied down so there is I guess, a certain amount of risk that it might fall over.......)

If you check a couple of the other forums like GT Rider and RideAsiadotnet, I think there is a bit more info there

[ll2]

Easy.

You need your greenbook and keep only a liter of petrol in the bike - actually they did not ask you to drain the petrol but just do it for the sakenof safety of others - Also not all trains transport bikes. Rapid and express trains are fine but diesel rail cars dont all i know.

They have ropes etc to tie down your bike and give them some tip before they load your bike and extra tip for the attendant taking care of cargo wagon.

You can bring your bike cover and let them cover your bike after loading it as well.

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[harrry]

I am not sure if they do the same as they do in India but check just in case. There the guys on the train will usually let the tyres down quite a bit so that the bike moves less.

[jkinbkk]

Ok Gents, that's good info for starters, thanks.

Any idea how they structure the charges to transport a bike? Remembering that I will also be aboard the train.

[Boca]

We took two bikes (1300cc and 500cc) from Bkk to Hat Yai in September. At Bkk station near the parcel office is a gate where you can ride your bike down the platform a bit to a little booth where you pay for this. The 1300cc was about 1700 THB from Bkk-Hat Yai and the 500cc was about 1500 THB. On the return journey both bikes were the same price for some reason. You will also need to pay about 150 - 200 THB tip per bike to the guys loading and the same again unloading.

As others mentioned you need the greenbook and your passport. We had made support braces for the bikes but they were well tied up by the guys loading so weren't needed. All in all a good service.