Why motorhomes are not popular in Thailand?

[Tomtomtom69]

I saw one today with a Japanese number plate driving along Sukhumvit in Chonburi.

Richard Smith is right. They don't make them here so they would need to be imported at exhorbitant cost. Protectionism strikes again.

Richard Smith and you are both wrong, Carryboy is just one example of motorhome manufacturers here. Google it, there's loads of them around.

Was it really a Japanese or actually a Chinese number plate I wonder? It's not impossible to find a Japanese registered vehicle driving in Thailand, but due to the cost and expenses involved in shipping vehicles from Japan to another country it's exceptionally rare for any Japanese to go such troubles when they go on holidays. Additionally, they don't have the time to travel for such long periods that many increasingly wealthy Chinese seem to have, not to mention for them they can just cross land borders.

I've seen 3 Chinese campervans/motorhomes in Thailand, the first one about 2-3 years ago just south of Nakorn Sawan heading north and the other two near Chiang Mai last November.

In all cases these vehicles are tourists temporarily entering Thailand, usually for up to 30 days as that's the maximum permitted under the temporary import rules - it's got nothing to do with permanent importation as that wouldn't be realistically possible - exorbitant taxes and the steering wheels on the wrong side (LHD), so inappropriate for Thailand.

[Tomtomtom69]

In the US we had thousands of beautiful camping areas. Many were on State land and very well maintained. Land was not the major issue so each site normally had lots of room so you were not on top of you neighbor. Camp fires, fishing, hiking .. Etc. great fun for the entire family.

Thailand has many camping areas but they are all for profit and tents are almost on top of each other. I mean one meter apart ! They are also not so cheap. A tent with 2 sleeping bags can set you back 500 to 1000 baht. Mobile campers or vans also just would not have many places to go that would be worth the effort. In the north around Chiang Rai the roads have so many twists and turns and mountains that traveling would be almost impossible in many areas.

Nonsense! It amazes me how many people are so limited by what the THINK they know? The intrinsic beauty of a motor home is finding your own destinations and NOT being with the crowd.. What the h(e)ll do you need a camp site for? The thing is completely self contained..

hahaha... I agree, it amazes me how many people are so limited by what they think they know !!! Try it and see the results. You really think you can just park where ever you want ? You ever been in the north around Chiang Rai ? Have you ever had a car break down on a back road and left it for a few hours ?

I have camped and owned motor homes for half my life so I know exactly what I am talking about. Thailand has also been my home for 20 years and have traveled everywhere and have camped.

Get a life ! Perhaps you need a few camping trips to unwind.

Like a previous poster posted, I wonder just how the millions of buses and trucks there manage to get around? Most of the trucks there deliver their goods over night, park somewhere and sleep and then drive back to their origination after delivering their load, and the buses do the same with tours, the drivers sleep in the bus, I wonder just where they park such large beasts when you claim there is "nowhere to park". BTW I have a very nice life thank you.. It just doesn't happen to be in Thailand anymore thankfully.

They park on the side of the road. That includes roads where parking shouldn't be allowed such as the high-speed Eastern Outer Ring Road and the Motorway to Chonburi, but with no enforcement of no parking laws the drivers find the wide shoulders on these roads perfect places to park overnight, or just for a quick nap. You're guaranteed to spot a few anytime you drive along these roads. The only locations where you probably won't see any parked trucks are closer to the Rama IX exit due to that area being full of traffic, but beyond Suvarnabhumi airport or on the eastern outer ring road just about anywhere except near exits.

Edited January 14, 2015 by Tomtomtom69

[IMHO]

I had an RV in Texas for 6 years. Loved It!

But you need a "Dump Station" to dump both grey and black water.

So the question is: "Where you gonna dump the poop?"

Please tell me you are joking. Or did you see any cows in the field walking around with plastic bags taped to their asses?

Looks like the joke's on you Mr freak:

Cow shit in bag, looks like it does happen

555

Edited January 14, 2015 by IMHO

[arthurwait]

As Richard said cost a 5 star hotel in tourist places can cost 5-6k per night , you don't have to clean , maintain or keep the motorhome on your drive, which most in Bangkok don't have.

Cheap hotel rooms from 100-200.

[jay1980]

here is a budget motorhome, OK is baised on a Piaggio but maybe it would work on a tuk tuk chassis :-)

[IMHO]

here is a budget motorhome, OK is baised on a Piaggio but maybe it would work on a tuk tuk chassis :-)

59444_147541701952562_6204431_n.jpg

Reminds me of this:

[WarpSpeed]

I saw one today with a Japanese number plate driving along Sukhumvit in Chonburi.

Richard Smith is right. They don't make them here so they would need to be imported at exhorbitant cost. Protectionism strikes again.

Richard Smith and you are both wrong, Carryboy is just one example of motorhome manufacturers here. Google it, there's loads of them around.

Was it really a Japanese or actually a Chinese number plate I wonder? It's not impossible to find a Japanese registered vehicle driving in Thailand, but due to the cost and expenses involved in shipping vehicles from Japan to another country it's exceptionally rare for any Japanese to go such troubles when they go on holidays. Additionally, they don't have the time to travel for such long periods that many increasingly wealthy Chinese seem to have, not to mention for them they can just cross land borders.

I've seen 3 Chinese campervans/motorhomes in Thailand, the first one about 2-3 years ago just south of Nakorn Sawan heading north and the other two near Chiang Mai last November.

In all cases these vehicles are tourists temporarily entering Thailand, usually for up to 30 days as that's the maximum permitted under the temporary import rules - it's got nothing to do with permanent importation as that wouldn't be realistically possible - exorbitant taxes and the steering wheels on the wrong side (LHD), so inappropriate for Thailand.

Wow! So much nonsense in one single post and the generalizations are amazing! This must be some sort of new record.. The one about LHD being so inappropriate for Thailand is really special.

[jay1980]

Wow! So much nonsense in one single post and the generalizations are amazing! This must be some sort of new record.. The one about LHD being so inappropriate for Thailand is really special.

I ran a LHD e30 m3 for a while in the UK (RHD country)

It was great for picking up women at bus stops (I was young and could pull that sh!t off back then... just don't ask what the insurance cost me)

Sold it in the early 2000's just before it's value rockeded

No real problems except when paying the toll for the Dartford river crossing and exiting some carparks.

Loads of LHD Lorries on UK roads seem to OK manage also. Burma is a LHD country but many of the vehicles are bought or stolen RHD's from Thailand and they manange OK.

cheers

[Robby nz]

500 baht per night vs 1 plus million for a motor home, there are locally made ones that are built on top of pick up trucks or conversions from toyota van. Its a slowly growing market as low income can't afford to dish out cash for a truck they use less than a month, most will just pitch a tent. The mid-high income will just stay at hotels. It takes a very special somchai with disposable income and love of outdoors to buy a RV.

http://www.carryboycaravan.com/motorhome/

You forgot to mention the car or SUV that would also be part of getting to the 500b a night hotel.

[Tomtomtom69]

I saw one today with a Japanese number plate driving along Sukhumvit in Chonburi.

Richard Smith is right. They don't make them here so they would need to be imported at exhorbitant cost. Protectionism strikes again.

Richard Smith and you are both wrong, Carryboy is just one example of motorhome manufacturers here. Google it, there's loads of them around.

Was it really a Japanese or actually a Chinese number plate I wonder? It's not impossible to find a Japanese registered vehicle driving in Thailand, but due to the cost and expenses involved in shipping vehicles from Japan to another country it's exceptionally rare for any Japanese to go such troubles when they go on holidays. Additionally, they don't have the time to travel for such long periods that many increasingly wealthy Chinese seem to have, not to mention for them they can just cross land borders.

I've seen 3 Chinese campervans/motorhomes in Thailand, the first one about 2-3 years ago just south of Nakorn Sawan heading north and the other two near Chiang Mai last November.

In all cases these vehicles are tourists temporarily entering Thailand, usually for up to 30 days as that's the maximum permitted under the temporary import rules - it's got nothing to do with permanent importation as that wouldn't be realistically possible - exorbitant taxes and the steering wheels on the wrong side (LHD), so inappropriate for Thailand.

Wow! So much nonsense in one single post and the generalizations are amazing! This must be some sort of new record.. The one about LHD being so inappropriate for Thailand is really special.

You're the one saying nonsense. Have you ever seen a Japanese number plate in Thailand? No? Well I thought so.

Chinese vehicles are increasingly seen driving inside Thailand. Why don't you get out more and see for yourself, particularly up in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai.

And of course LHD is inappropriate for Thailand. Thailand after all drives on the left so RHD is what you would expect. Nearby countries like Vietnam, which drive on the right, ban all RHD vehicles from even entering the country and certainly don't allow them to be registered. What's wrong with that?

[Robby nz]

I've actually looked into this and here's my response to some of the objections raised here:

1. There are NO camping facilities for these types of vehicles: Not true; Thailand boasts 127 National Parks and the vast majority of these have very well kept and equipped Camping grounds for Tents, Caravans and/or RV's, complete with Power Hook-Ups, Camp-Stores and even Restaurants.

2. Lack-of-Safety: This would be no different than when driving / stopping in a regular car or van.

3. Temperature: It would be very dangerous to keep the engine running all night (Carbon-monoxide), but a small (built-in) separate generator would solve that problem; alternatively; a solar panel set-up would be a possibility to power small a/c and/or fans through the night. [how do people sleep in tents ? No a/c there either]

So; the "infrastructure is definitely there, but largely unknown, since the "motorhome" or "camper" is (as yet) not present in any numbers. I am sure that IF these vehicles we present in sufficient numbers, that many hotels & resorts would be motivated to reserve some areas on their properties for these campers to be able to park, complete with an outdoor picnic table; hook-ups for power, water & discharge - enabling another income-stream for these places - and where the campers would be able to use the facilities already present, such as Pool, Beach, Bar, Restaurant etc. It's just a matter of Time & Evolution.

The single most attractive reason why this development can not fail (over time) is that it gives tourists a chance to "Fly & Camper", aided by a decent GPS-system and a map clearly showing the many places where they can spend the night safely & comfortably.

I am not a proponent of the large RVs, but rather the smaller, completely self-contained units like the VW-Dehlers VW-Van Conversions by a Yacht-Builder: no longer produced); these smart vehicles sleep 2 adults + 2 kids very comfortably, and have everything on board on would need: Water (hot & cold); Fridge; Cooker; Shower, Toilet and a surprising amount of storage space.

Good to see someone posting on this topic who knows what they are talking about.

I had a mid size campervan in NZ and hired another in OZ, the roads in NZ are at least as narrow and far more up and down than TL so no problems.

We never used to stop at camping grounds just wherever we ended up when we wanted to stop, we didn't need facilities we had everything on board including a generator

As well as national parks with their great camping facilities there is no reason why you couldn't park outside the toilets at any overnight service station and fill up with water, empty waste and stay the night if you wanted.

At present we camp in the tent at national parks about once every month and it would be great to have a camper rather than the tent.

Everything on board, toilet shower the lot, no need to put up or take down a camp, cook if you want to or stop at a roadside restaurant.

As for those who think they are going to be robbed wherever they go, you really should find out more about the people of this country by travelling around a bit.

[Tomtomtom69]

Wow! So much nonsense in one single post and the generalizations are amazing! This must be some sort of new record.. The one about LHD being so inappropriate for Thailand is really special.

I ran a LHD e30 m3 for a while in the UK (RHD country)

It was great for picking up women at bus stops (I was young and could pull that sh!t off back then... just don't ask what the insurance cost me)

Sold it in the early 2000's just before it's value rockeded

No real problems except when paying the toll for the Dartford river crossing and exiting some carparks.

Loads of LHD Lorries on UK roads seem to OK manage also. Burma is a LHD country but many of the vehicles are bought or stolen RHD's from Thailand and they manange OK.

cheers

Driving a car with the steering wheel on the wrong side temporarily is OK. But in this region most countries actually have laws prohibiting the registration of vehicles with steering wheels on the "wrong" side of the car, unless said car is brought in temporarily for tourism purposes and re-exported at the end of the stay.

I'll give you some examples:

Bangladesh - drives on the left, just like Thailand. LHD vehicles can NOT be registered locally except for embassy vehicles. Interesting, because I grew up in Bangladesh and we had a LHD vehicle brought over from South America, but that was back in the 80s so either this law has since been introduced or our car had embassy plates or stayed on foreign plates the entire time we were there (3 years).

India - drives on the left, LHD vehicles can't be registered for normal usage in the country.

Australia - drives on the left, LHD only permitted for vintage vehicles (over 30 years in most states, except in WA where it's 15 years and over).

Singapore - drives on the left, LHD vehicles can't be registered, however tourists can drive their LHD vehicles in temporarily provided they are re-exported prior to the end of their authorized period of stay.

Laos - drives on the right, RHD vehicles can no longer be imported permanently or registered since about 1990 to prevent smuggling of vehicles from Thailand. Foreign embassy vehicles are exempt from this ruling. However, in practice a very small number of RHD Lao registered vehicles do exist - presumably the owners paid a little money to the issuing land transport department who nevertheless allowed the registration. RHD vehicles registered in other countries can enter the country for temporary, tourism related purposes, provided they are re-exported at the end of their authorized period of stay.

Cambodia - drives on the right, used to have 80%+ RHD, now it's probably about 1 in 3 in the western provinces and about 1 in 20 or 1 in 25 in Phnom Penh. Officially, RHD vehicles can't be imported permanently or registered, in practice a blind eye is turned to the presence of RHD and registrations are still continuing as I've seen numerous relatively new RHD vehicles with proper Cambodian registration, including State and Police vehicles.

Vietnam - drives on the right, is one of the few countries in the world, which doesn't even allow RHD vehicles to enter the country for short-term tourism related purposes. Exceptions in the past have been caravan tours with police escorts, but individual RHD vehicles from Thailand and other countries can't enter at all, except with special permission arranged weeks/months in advance and with escort through the entire journey in Vietnam.

Myanmar - drives on the right, used to drive on the left. Allows both RHD and LHD on it's roads for local registration, however, the government is pushing for new cars to be LHD, while used cars may eventually be required to be LHD too, although there's no exact plan yet. Currently around 80-90% of all vehicles locally are RHD, up to 99% in the border regions.

Thailand - drives on the left, allows both LHD and RHD registrations with no special conditions, no sticker stating "LHD" or anything like that.

So as you can see, Vietnam is the only country that doesn't even allow RHD vehicles entry for tourism purposes, while Thailand strangely still allows LHD to be registered, despite the heavy industry protectionism with imports taxed up to 300%. However, personally if Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia (officially at least) ban RHD, while Singapore, India and Bangladesh ban LHD, I don't see why Thailand doesn't follow suit and ban local LHD registrations.

Of course I fully support overland tourism by car and I've driven LHD cars from Laos in Thailand on numerous occasions. But driving a LHD car in temporarily for a few days/weeks for tourism and registrating a LHD car for permanent use in a LHT country like Thailand are two different things.

Edited January 15, 2015 by Tomtomtom69

[Robby nz]

Saw one with French plates once, parked overnight in the grounds of a temple (another possibility for a stop)

Here it is :

[Tomtomtom69]

Saw one with French plates once, parked overnight in the grounds of a temple (another possibility for a stop)

Here it is :

camper.JPG

Interesting. The one French camper I saw was last April parked at a PTT in Hangchat, Lampang, heading in the direction of Chiang Mai. I just checked my pictures to see if it might have been the same one, but nope, different plates and it says "Leszaventareux.com" on mine.

[FrankOff]

no shortage of National Parks in this country......but the camping areas I have been to are not designed with this size of animal in mind...just no RV culture here.

[WarpSpeed]

Wow! So much nonsense in one single post and the generalizations are amazing! This must be some sort of new record.. The one about LHD being so inappropriate for Thailand is really special.

I ran a LHD e30 m3 for a while in the UK (RHD country)

It was great for picking up women at bus stops (I was young and could pull that sh!t off back then... just don't ask what the insurance cost me)

Sold it in the early 2000's just before it's value rockeded

No real problems except when paying the toll for the Dartford river crossing and exiting some carparks.

Loads of LHD Lorries on UK roads seem to OK manage also. Burma is a LHD country but many of the vehicles are bought or stolen RHD's from Thailand and they manange OK.

cheers

Driving a car with the steering wheel on the wrong side temporarily is OK. But in this region most countries actually have laws prohibiting the registration of vehicles with steering wheels on the "wrong" side of the car, unless said car is brought in temporarily for tourism purposes and re-exported at the end of the stay.

I'll give you some examples:

Bangladesh - drives on the left, just like Thailand. LHD vehicles can NOT be registered locally except for embassy vehicles. Interesting, because I grew up in Bangladesh and we had a LHD vehicle brought over from South America, but that was back in the 80s so either this law has since been introduced or our car had embassy plates or stayed on foreign plates the entire time we were there (3 years).

India - drives on the left, LHD vehicles can't be registered for normal usage in the country.

Australia - drives on the left, LHD only permitted for vintage vehicles (over 30 years in most states, except in WA where it's 15 years and over).

Singapore - drives on the left, LHD vehicles can't be registered, however tourists can drive their LHD vehicles in temporarily provided they are re-exported prior to the end of their authorized period of stay.

Laos - drives on the right, RHD vehicles can no longer be imported permanently or registered since about 1990 to prevent smuggling of vehicles from Thailand. Foreign embassy vehicles are exempt from this ruling. However, in practice a very small number of RHD Lao registered vehicles do exist - presumably the owners paid a little money to the issuing land transport department who nevertheless allowed the registration. RHD vehicles registered in other countries can enter the country for temporary, tourism related purposes, provided they are re-exported at the end of their authorized period of stay.

Cambodia - drives on the right, used to have 80%+ RHD, now it's probably about 1 in 3 in the western provinces and about 1 in 20 or 1 in 25 in Phnom Penh. Officially, RHD vehicles can't be imported permanently or registered, in practice a blind eye is turned to the presence of RHD and registrations are still continuing as I've seen numerous relatively new RHD vehicles with proper Cambodian registration, including State and Police vehicles.

Vietnam - drives on the right, is one of the few countries in the world, which doesn't even allow RHD vehicles to enter the country for short-term tourism related purposes. Exceptions in the past have been caravan tours with police escorts, but individual RHD vehicles from Thailand and other countries can't enter at all, except with special permission arranged weeks/months in advance and with escort through the entire journey in Vietnam.

Myanmar - drives on the right, used to drive on the left. Allows both RHD and LHD on it's roads for local registration, however, the government is pushing for new cars to be LHD, while used cars may eventually be required to be LHD too, although there's no exact plan yet. Currently around 80-90% of all vehicles locally are RHD, up to 99% in the border regions.

Thailand - drives on the left, allows both LHD and RHD registrations with no special conditions, no sticker stating "LHD" or anything like that.

So as you can see, Vietnam is the only country that doesn't even allow RHD vehicles entry for tourism purposes, while Thailand strangely still allows LHD to be registered, despite the heavy industry protectionism with imports taxed up to 300%. However, personally if Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia (officially at least) ban RHD, while Singapore, India and Bangladesh ban LHD, I don't see why Thailand doesn't follow suit and ban local LHD registrations.

Of course I fully support overland tourism by car and I've driven LHD cars from Laos in Thailand on numerous occasions. But driving a LHD car in temporarily for a few days/weeks for tourism and registrating a LHD car for permanent use in a LHT country like Thailand are two different things.

So after all that bluster and being that were discussing "Thailand" and it's the only one on your own list, that allows them regardless, I guess the posts you responded to were accurate then? Which BTW makes it ideal for a starting point to explore some of those other countries who will allow it temporarily, hmmmm... Well done, making the case for owning one in Thailand ...

Edited January 15, 2015 by WarpSpeed

[WarpSpeed]

no shortage of National Parks in this country......but the camping areas I have been to are not designed with this size of animal in mind...just no RV culture here.

Do you HAVE to camp IN the park? Or would just up the road be OK? So you could go visit the park during the daytime I wonder.

[Tomtomtom69]

Wow! So much nonsense in one single post and the generalizations are amazing! This must be some sort of new record.. The one about LHD being so inappropriate for Thailand is really special.

I ran a LHD e30 m3 for a while in the UK (RHD country)

It was great for picking up women at bus stops (I was young and could pull that sh!t off back then... just don't ask what the insurance cost me)

Sold it in the early 2000's just before it's value rockeded

No real problems except when paying the toll for the Dartford river crossing and exiting some carparks.

Loads of LHD Lorries on UK roads seem to OK manage also. Burma is a LHD country but many of the vehicles are bought or stolen RHD's from Thailand and they manange OK.

cheers

Driving a car with the steering wheel on the wrong side temporarily is OK. But in this region most countries actually have laws prohibiting the registration of vehicles with steering wheels on the "wrong" side of the car, unless said car is brought in temporarily for tourism purposes and re-exported at the end of the stay.

I'll give you some examples:

Bangladesh - drives on the left, just like Thailand. LHD vehicles can NOT be registered locally except for embassy vehicles. Interesting, because I grew up in Bangladesh and we had a LHD vehicle brought over from South America, but that was back in the 80s so either this law has since been introduced or our car had embassy plates or stayed on foreign plates the entire time we were there (3 years).

India - drives on the left, LHD vehicles can't be registered for normal usage in the country.

Australia - drives on the left, LHD only permitted for vintage vehicles (over 30 years in most states, except in WA where it's 15 years and over).

Singapore - drives on the left, LHD vehicles can't be registered, however tourists can drive their LHD vehicles in temporarily provided they are re-exported prior to the end of their authorized period of stay.

Laos - drives on the right, RHD vehicles can no longer be imported permanently or registered since about 1990 to prevent smuggling of vehicles from Thailand. Foreign embassy vehicles are exempt from this ruling. However, in practice a very small number of RHD Lao registered vehicles do exist - presumably the owners paid a little money to the issuing land transport department who nevertheless allowed the registration. RHD vehicles registered in other countries can enter the country for temporary, tourism related purposes, provided they are re-exported at the end of their authorized period of stay.

Cambodia - drives on the right, used to have 80%+ RHD, now it's probably about 1 in 3 in the western provinces and about 1 in 20 or 1 in 25 in Phnom Penh. Officially, RHD vehicles can't be imported permanently or registered, in practice a blind eye is turned to the presence of RHD and registrations are still continuing as I've seen numerous relatively new RHD vehicles with proper Cambodian registration, including State and Police vehicles.

Vietnam - drives on the right, is one of the few countries in the world, which doesn't even allow RHD vehicles to enter the country for short-term tourism related purposes. Exceptions in the past have been caravan tours with police escorts, but individual RHD vehicles from Thailand and other countries can't enter at all, except with special permission arranged weeks/months in advance and with escort through the entire journey in Vietnam.

Myanmar - drives on the right, used to drive on the left. Allows both RHD and LHD on it's roads for local registration, however, the government is pushing for new cars to be LHD, while used cars may eventually be required to be LHD too, although there's no exact plan yet. Currently around 80-90% of all vehicles locally are RHD, up to 99% in the border regions.

Thailand - drives on the left, allows both LHD and RHD registrations with no special conditions, no sticker stating "LHD" or anything like that.

So as you can see, Vietnam is the only country that doesn't even allow RHD vehicles entry for tourism purposes, while Thailand strangely still allows LHD to be registered, despite the heavy industry protectionism with imports taxed up to 300%. However, personally if Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia (officially at least) ban RHD, while Singapore, India and Bangladesh ban LHD, I don't see why Thailand doesn't follow suit and ban local LHD registrations.

Of course I fully support overland tourism by car and I've driven LHD cars from Laos in Thailand on numerous occasions. But driving a LHD car in temporarily for a few days/weeks for tourism and registrating a LHD car for permanent use in a LHT country like Thailand are two different things.

So after all that bluster and being that were discussing "Thailand" and it's the only one on your own list, that allows them regardless, I guess the posts you responded to were accurate then? Which BTW makes it ideal for a starting point to explore some of those other countries who will allow it temporarily, hmmmm... Well done, making the case for owning one in Thailand ...

I don't get your point. Owning a motorhome in Thailand is fine if it's RHD but if you're expecting to own a LHD car in Thailand for "exploring" other parts of the region don't do it. Why? Maybe because apart from the dangers and obvious inconvenience of driving a car with the steering wheel on the wrong side on a day-to-day basis (not to mention you won't be able to sell your car in Thailand if you ever wanted to as who would buy a LHD car here), it won't make it any easier to get your car into a neighboring country. Laos and Malaysia allow Thai cars in, Cambodia only at some crossings and Myanmar won't let a Thai car in beyond the border areas unless you go on a tour; Vietnam won't let a Thai car in even with LHD as there is no agreement between the two countries on cross-border traffic. So in that sense the steering wheel side plays almost no role in whether a Thai vehicle can cross borders in this region; it's governed by individual agreements between countries.

So if you want to own a LHD car, I suggest you go to live in Laos or Cambodia. In fact, Lao registration is probably the best in the whole region as it will get you into Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and even southern China without needing to go on a tour or any other special requirements apart from not being allowed to cross directly between third countries in Indochina (i.e. no crossings from Vietnam to Cambodia or vice versa).

[WarpSpeed]

I ran a LHD e30 m3 for a while in the UK (RHD country)

It was great for picking up women at bus stops (I was young and could pull that sh!t off back then... just don't ask what the insurance cost me)

Sold it in the early 2000's just before it's value rockeded

No real problems except when paying the toll for the Dartford river crossing and exiting some carparks.

Loads of LHD Lorries on UK roads seem to OK manage also. Burma is a LHD country but many of the vehicles are bought or stolen RHD's from Thailand and they manange OK.

cheers

Driving a car with the steering wheel on the wrong side temporarily is OK. But in this region most countries actually have laws prohibiting the registration of vehicles with steering wheels on the "wrong" side of the car, unless said car is brought in temporarily for tourism purposes and re-exported at the end of the stay.

I'll give you some examples:

Bangladesh - drives on the left, just like Thailand. LHD vehicles can NOT be registered locally except for embassy vehicles. Interesting, because I grew up in Bangladesh and we had a LHD vehicle brought over from South America, but that was back in the 80s so either this law has since been introduced or our car had embassy plates or stayed on foreign plates the entire time we were there (3 years).

India - drives on the left, LHD vehicles can't be registered for normal usage in the country.

Australia - drives on the left, LHD only permitted for vintage vehicles (over 30 years in most states, except in WA where it's 15 years and over).

Singapore - drives on the left, LHD vehicles can't be registered, however tourists can drive their LHD vehicles in temporarily provided they are re-exported prior to the end of their authorized period of stay.

Laos - drives on the right, RHD vehicles can no longer be imported permanently or registered since about 1990 to prevent smuggling of vehicles from Thailand. Foreign embassy vehicles are exempt from this ruling. However, in practice a very small number of RHD Lao registered vehicles do exist - presumably the owners paid a little money to the issuing land transport department who nevertheless allowed the registration. RHD vehicles registered in other countries can enter the country for temporary, tourism related purposes, provided they are re-exported at the end of their authorized period of stay.

Cambodia - drives on the right, used to have 80%+ RHD, now it's probably about 1 in 3 in the western provinces and about 1 in 20 or 1 in 25 in Phnom Penh. Officially, RHD vehicles can't be imported permanently or registered, in practice a blind eye is turned to the presence of RHD and registrations are still continuing as I've seen numerous relatively new RHD vehicles with proper Cambodian registration, including State and Police vehicles.

Vietnam - drives on the right, is one of the few countries in the world, which doesn't even allow RHD vehicles to enter the country for short-term tourism related purposes. Exceptions in the past have been caravan tours with police escorts, but individual RHD vehicles from Thailand and other countries can't enter at all, except with special permission arranged weeks/months in advance and with escort through the entire journey in Vietnam.

Myanmar - drives on the right, used to drive on the left. Allows both RHD and LHD on it's roads for local registration, however, the government is pushing for new cars to be LHD, while used cars may eventually be required to be LHD too, although there's no exact plan yet. Currently around 80-90% of all vehicles locally are RHD, up to 99% in the border regions.

Thailand - drives on the left, allows both LHD and RHD registrations with no special conditions, no sticker stating "LHD" or anything like that.

So as you can see, Vietnam is the only country that doesn't even allow RHD vehicles entry for tourism purposes, while Thailand strangely still allows LHD to be registered, despite the heavy industry protectionism with imports taxed up to 300%. However, personally if Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia (officially at least) ban RHD, while Singapore, India and Bangladesh ban LHD, I don't see why Thailand doesn't follow suit and ban local LHD registrations.

Of course I fully support overland tourism by car and I've driven LHD cars from Laos in Thailand on numerous occasions. But driving a LHD car in temporarily for a few days/weeks for tourism and registrating a LHD car for permanent use in a LHT country like Thailand are two different things.

So after all that bluster and being that were discussing "Thailand" and it's the only one on your own list, that allows them regardless, I guess the posts you responded to were accurate then? Which BTW makes it ideal for a starting point to explore some of those other countries who will allow it temporarily, hmmmm... Well done, making the case for owning one in Thailand ...

I don't get your point. Owning a motorhome in Thailand is fine if it's RHD but if you're expecting to own a LHD car in Thailand for "exploring" other parts of the region don't do it. Why? Maybe because apart from the dangers and obvious inconvenience of driving a car with the steering wheel on the wrong side on a day-to-day basis (not to mention you won't be able to sell your car in Thailand if you ever wanted to as who would buy a LHD car here), it won't make it any easier to get your car into a neighboring country. Laos and Malaysia allow Thai cars in, Cambodia only at some crossings and Myanmar won't let a Thai car in beyond the border areas unless you go on a tour; Vietnam won't let a Thai car in even with LHD as there is no agreement between the two countries on cross-border traffic. So in that sense the steering wheel side plays almost no role in whether a Thai vehicle can cross borders in this region; it's governed by individual agreements between countries.

So if you want to own a LHD car, I suggest you go to live in Laos or Cambodia. In fact, Lao registration is probably the best in the whole region as it will get you into Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and even southern China without needing to go on a tour or any other special requirements apart from not being allowed to cross directly between third countries in Indochina (i.e. no crossings from Vietnam to Cambodia or vice versa).

Ok, I was clear enough, never mind...

[MYKTHEMIN]

Motor homes are crap, not a patch on a hotel and are so slow.

[seedy]

Motor homes are crap, not a patch on a hotel and are so slow.

Careful - your expertise is showing. Especially with blanket statements like above ...

[MYKTHEMIN]

I hate the bloody things, mobile chicanes in the uk, would hate to see them here.

[mike324]

500 baht per night vs 1 plus million for a motor home, there are locally made ones that are built on top of pick up trucks or conversions from toyota van. Its a slowly growing market as low income can't afford to dish out cash for a truck they use less than a month, most will just pitch a tent. The mid-high income will just stay at hotels. It takes a very special somchai with disposable income and love of outdoors to buy a RV.

http://www.carryboycaravan.com/motorhome/

You forgot to mention the car or SUV that would also be part of getting to the 500b a night hotel.

no I didn't, people who buy motorhomes will most likely be their second vehicle, hence comparison is to buy motorhome to sleep or sleep at 500b a night hotels.

[Boatfreak]

Here is a new rental company in Thailand : http://www.campervan-thailand.com/home.html

[Tomtomtom69]

As pointed out, problem with theft/robberies (locals wouldn't feel safe doing it) and the many cheap hotels around anyway, while most Thais tend to go on short sojourns as opposed to touring. There is also not the infrastructure of decent campgrounds with the right facilities here, but the biggie that people are forgetting is FACE... i.e. no self-respecting Thai would suffer the ignominy of bunking down in an oversized 'van' on or near the road or in a field.

I disagree, theft/robbery is not a big problem here. Very few cars get stolen in Thailand and the few that do are mostly insider jobs i.e. either a set-up or the result of some kind of dispute. Besides, attempting to hot wire modern cars without a key is almost impossible. Even a damaged key is already a problem - last year I accidentally placed my friend's key in my pocket and went for a swim, what a disaster that was - while we were able to start the car initially albeit with some difficulty, on the next attempt afterwards that was it. We had to get the replacement key flown in from his home before being able to drive back home.

Many Thais do go on long journeys - it's very common for Thais to drive around their country on holidays; also very common for Thais to drive from say Bangkok to Chiang Rai, only to return back home to Bangkok 1-2 days later. However, I agree with you that there is little infrastructure available for motorhomes here.

However, there is a small but emerging trend. Most of the motorhomes you do see here tend to be converted pickup trucks, rather than the Winnebago type monsters you see on US, Canadian and Australian roads.

The most recent motorhome I saw in Thailand was a Chinese registered converted Great Wall pickup parked inside Ao Manao in Prachuab Khiri Khan province. The Yunnan based family with one young child were touring around Thailand.

Edited July 24, 2015 by Tomtomtom69

[Tomtomtom69]

Have you ever driven over half the roads here? best of luck in a large motorhome

Gee, I wonder how the millions of buses and trucks manage

Thai roads are generally quite wide, with generous shoulders so I don't know where i claudius was coming from. Exceptions are small sois but unless you reside in one of them, you generally don't need to enter one.

Thai roads are also the best in the region by far, with the exception of Malaysia. One further trend I've noticed is that most Thai roads have generous hard shoulders, even in developed countries like Australia (and the USA) many rural roads don't have hard shoulders.

The main problem here to touring in a campervan or motorhome is the lack of infrastructure, but there are a small number of parks, quite a few camping grounds (mainly in the mountainous areas of the north and in the greater Khao Yai area) and otherwise you've always got petrol/gas stations, many of which have lots of generous parking. Not to mention water, power and toilets (though usually no showers). And of course 24 hour 7-11s and other stores, restaurants and food courts. In fact, Thai petrol stations are amongst the largest in the world, in terms of physical size. Even in the USA I don't recall very many large petrol stations the size of the ones you see in Thailand, particularly PTT Park ones - they're absolutely huge. Not to mention Australia, despite it's large size it's petrol stations are tiny, with few exceptions.

[WarpSpeed]

The beauty of campers is that they come with their own infrastructure, no need for anything more.. They also come in a wide range of sizes though it seems most posting here don't have the first clue about that optional feature. I wish the dealer who posted the rental website a lot of luck I admire their vision and think they have a real winner, I'd most certainly rent one in the future if they're still available and we return to Thailand, one problem I see though is being in a fixed location to pick one up. Where is it? I had trouble finding the info on their website it should be very easy to locate? is it the north or south?

Edited July 24, 2015 by WarpSpeed

[impulse]

The beauty of campers is that they come with their own infrastructure, no need for anything more.. They also come in a wide range of sizes though it seems most posting here don't have the first clue about that optional feature. I wish the dealer who posted the rental website a lot of luck I admire their vision and think they have a real winner, I'd most certainly rent one in the future if they're still available and we return to Thailand, one problem I see though is being in a fixed location to pick one up. Where is it? I had trouble finding the info on their website it should be very easy to locate? is it the north or south?

I think the concept is great, but at 6,000-12,000 baht per day plus fuel- I'd take the pickup (or rent a car if I didn't live here) and stay at hotels. If I planned to stay in Thailand beyond a few years, buying one would be an appealing option. The Carryboys Class C's are pretty nice, and not outrageously more than a pickup they're based on.

One problem with a rental RV is that it isn't yours. It doesn't have that decades old collection of all the stuff you found handy on dozens of trips- crammed into every available cubic inch. No fishing rods, no skateboards, no bicycles, no kites, no.... And as long as that's true, I'd pack up all the stuff that fits into my pickup and stay at hotels. It would be even more so if I had to count on what I could afford to bring on the airplane.

[stevenl]

The beauty of campers is that they come with their own infrastructure, no need for anything more.. They also come in a wide range of sizes though it seems most posting here don't have the first clue about that optional feature. I wish the dealer who posted the rental website a lot of luck I admire their vision and think they have a real winner, I'd most certainly rent one in the future if they're still available and we return to Thailand, one problem I see though is being in a fixed location to pick one up. Where is it? I had trouble finding the info on their website it should be very easy to locate? is it the north or south?

Bangkok.

[WarpSpeed]

Thanks, didn't have time to sift through the site, I think it should be more easily noted, but Bangkok is perfectly centered an in my neighborhood to rent one for say a weekend at the track, it's perfect, no hassling with hotels or schedules, check out times, loading and unloading everything when you leave etc. bring your hotel room to the track and have a convenient place to get your lunch, get out of the heat, de-stress, whatever..