Renting a Bike in Thailand – Scams, Mistakes and Advices

[Inspire]

Renting a Bike in Thailand – Scams, Mistakes and Advices

In this episode I will tell you, where you should rent your bike in Thailand, how to avid scams and how not to die on the dangerous roads of Thailand!

Source: http://www.inspirepattaya.com/lifestyle/renting-bike-thailand-scams-mistakes-advices/

-- Inspire Pattaya 2016-06-12

[kovaltech]

Sorry to say but,... the roads in Thailand are NOT dangerous....
Its the Farang who thinks he can drive that makes it dangerous....

[prestburypark]

Sorry to say but,... the roads in Thailand are NOT dangerous....

Its the Farang who thinks he can drive that makes it dangerous....

So the Thais never die in road accidents unless a Farang is involved? Tosser.

[kovaltech]

Sorry to say but,... the roads in Thailand are NOT dangerous....

Its the Farang who thinks he can drive that makes it dangerous....

So the Thais never die in road accidents unless a Farang is involved? Tosser.

as stated before, but now with a wink, did you honestly believe that the pen is responsible for the writing error ?

or do you blame the roads for the stupidity from those using the road ???

[prestburypark]

No and I don't blame a Forum for the <deleted>'n'eejits who inhabit it. Drive safe.

[kovaltech]

No and I don't blame a Forum for the <deleted>'n'eejits who inhabit it. Drive safe.

it takes one to recognize one ;-)

[off road pat]

There is a famous Bike rent place in Chiang Mai that used to steal it's bikes after renting it out !!! ..it happened so many times that if you go to the police to report the bike stolen they ask if it's a bike from this company ??? I can not name them but (defamation laws) it's a 3 letter name beginning with a P and ending with a P ? P...you can't miss it, it's the biggest in town , close to Tha Pae gate and they have several shops all over town.

If you rent a bike you have to fill in paperwork with the place were you stay. So at night one of the guys that work there comes to have a look around ??? when he sees the bike and it's safe he steals it, and sins they have the duplicate keys ? it couldn't be easier...!!!

The person that rented the bike has to reimburse the stolen bike ! This happened to one of my friends. They sell the stolen bike in Laos or Myanmar, and they probably get the insurance money back !!! A 3x WIN... WIN... WIN... situation for them !!! No wonder they became the biggest in Chiang Mai !!!

Best regards.

Edited June 12, 2016 by off road pat

[ljd1308]

Don't ride a bike in Thailand unless you are licensed and experienced.....how difficult is that? You wouldn't ride a bike around your home country if you didn't know how.....I truly don't understand why people would here where the roads are invariably more dangerous and the health care generally isn't as good.

Not sure why you need a video to say, don't ride unless you know how.

[NoshowJones]

Sorry to say but,... the roads in Thailand are NOT dangerous....

Its the Farang who thinks he can drive that makes it dangerous....

and is it the Farang who is to blame for the state of a lot of these roads, the potholes, ruts and ridges etc?

"Its the Farang who thinks he can drive that makes it dangerous"

Would you like to elaborate on this?

[bazza40]

There is a famous Bike rent place in Chiang Mai that used to steal it's bikes after renting it out !!! ..it happened so many times that if you go to the police to report the bike stolen they ask if it's a bike from this company ??? I can not name them but (defamation laws) it's a 3 letter name beginning with a P and ending with a P ? P...you can't miss it, it's the biggest in town , close to Tha Pae gate and they have several shops all over town.

If you rent a bike you have to fill in paperwork with the place were you stay. So at night one of the guys that work there comes to have a look around ??? when he sees the bike and it's safe he steals it, and sins they have the duplicate keys ? it couldn't be easier...!!!

The person that rented the bike has to reimburse the stolen bike ! This happened to one of my friends. They sell the stolen bike in Laos or Myanmar, and they probably get the insurance money back !!! A 3x WIN... WIN... WIN... situation for them !!! No wonder they became the biggest in Chiang Mai !!!

Best regards.

I must have been lucky, rented a scooter opposite the Duangtawan hotel off Loi Kroh Road for several years before I bought my own. Took it in for a check every fortnight, never any problems except one brain-dead mechanic who thought it was OK to nick petrol from a full tank. His body language was blindingly obvious. My Thai wasn't good enough to follow the reaming out he got from the manager before being sent off to refill the tank,although I could pick out the words Khwai and Kamoy.

[recom273]

The best of Thailand video ??

"Get a helmet - any helmet is fine" really ?

[kovaltech]

Sorry to say but,... the roads in Thailand are NOT dangerous....

Its the Farang who thinks he can drive that makes it dangerous....

and is it the Farang who is to blame for the state of a lot of these roads, the potholes, ruts and ridges etc?

"Its the Farang who thinks he can drive that makes it dangerous"

Would you like to elaborate on this?

Just to make things clear... its never the roads to blame...

So, if any person, including farang, thinks he can drive , without having the skills to interact with the traffic in any circumstance... it should not be blamed on the roads.... :-P

There are no dangerous roads in Thailand, only dangerous people....

Dangerous people includes those, who see things, but don't act as should be done.... if you see a problem on the road, then notify the competent authority. Period.

This is Thailand... with Thailand rules and habits... If you don't like their standards... don't let the door hit you on the way out....

Or you can try to educate them.... keeps your mind of making silly postings on TV

[ljd1308]

Sorry to say but,... the roads in Thailand are NOT dangerous....

Its the Farang who thinks he can drive that makes it dangerous....

and is it the Farang who is to blame for the state of a lot of these roads, the potholes, ruts and ridges etc?

"Its the Farang who thinks he can drive that makes it dangerous"

Would you like to elaborate on this?

Just to make things clear... its never the roads to blame...

So, if any person, including farang, thinks he can drive , without having the skills to interact with the traffic in any circumstance... it should not be blamed on the roads.... :-P

There are no dangerous roads in Thailand, only dangerous people....

Dangerous people includes those, who see things, but don't act as should be done.... if you see a problem on the road, then notify the competent authority. Period.

This is Thailand... with Thailand rules and habits... If you don't like their standards... don't let the door hit you on the way out....

Or you can try to educate them.... keeps your mind of making silly postings on TV

2 questions about the highlighted sentence.....

1 - This is Thailand(something you acknowledge in the next line), who exactly are the competent authorities? I have never come across any here.

2 - Why did you write the word "period" and use a "." both before an after it? My understanding is "period" is what you call a "." so basically you have just had 3 "." in a row. How does that make any sense?

The only way it could possibly make sense is if you thought it was the last word to say on the matter, but then you yourself say something afterwards.

When you write a question to you write it like this? Question Mark? That would be the equivalent.

Or maybe...

WOW! Exclamation Point!

[kovaltech]

Sorry to say but,... the roads in Thailand are NOT dangerous....

Its the Farang who thinks he can drive that makes it dangerous....

and is it the Farang who is to blame for the state of a lot of these roads, the potholes, ruts and ridges etc?

"Its the Farang who thinks he can drive that makes it dangerous"

Would you like to elaborate on this?

Just to make things clear... its never the roads to blame...

So, if any person, including farang, thinks he can drive , without having the skills to interact with the traffic in any circumstance... it should not be blamed on the roads.... :-P

There are no dangerous roads in Thailand, only dangerous people....

Dangerous people includes those, who see things, but don't act as should be done.... if you see a problem on the road, then notify the competent authority. Period.

This is Thailand... with Thailand rules and habits... If you don't like their standards... don't let the door hit you on the way out....

Or you can try to educate them.... keeps your mind of making silly postings on TV

2 questions about the highlighted sentence.....

1 - This is Thailand(something you acknowledge in the next line), who exactly are the competent authorities? I have never come across any here.

2 - Why did you write the word "period" and use a "." both before an after it? My understanding is "period" is what you call a "." so basically you have just had 3 "." in a row. How does that make any sense?

The only way it could possibly make sense is if you thought it was the last word to say on the matter, but then you yourself say something afterwards.

When you write a question to you write it like this? Question Mark? That would be the equivalent.

Or maybe...

WOW! Exclamation Point!

Wow, i am learning... but you get the point...

[ozyjon]

If you rent a bike in Thailand why not invest in a big

chain and padlock and do like them, keep it inside

at night, lets see them steal it now.

[NoshowJones]

Sorry to say but,... the roads in Thailand are NOT dangerous....

Its the Farang who thinks he can drive that makes it dangerous....

and is it the Farang who is to blame for the state of a lot of these roads, the potholes, ruts and ridges etc?

"Its the Farang who thinks he can drive that makes it dangerous"

Would you like to elaborate on this?

Just to make things clear... its never the roads to blame...

So, if any person, including farang, thinks he can drive , without having the skills to interact with the traffic in any circumstance... it should not be blamed on the roads.... :-P

There are no dangerous roads in Thailand, only dangerous people....

Dangerous people includes those, who see things, but don't act as should be done.... if you see a problem on the road, then notify the competent authority. Period.

This is Thailand... with Thailand rules and habits... If you don't like their standards... don't let the door hit you on the way out....

Or you can try to educate them.... keeps your mind of making silly postings on TV

"There are no dangerous roads in Thailand"

Who is the one who is making silly postings now?

Notify the authorities about dangerous roads? and what do you think they will do?

Educate the Thais about bad driving?

Like I said "who is making the silly posts now?

[kovaltech]

Sorry to say but,... the roads in Thailand are NOT dangerous....

Its the Farang who thinks he can drive that makes it dangerous....

and is it the Farang who is to blame for the state of a lot of these roads, the potholes, ruts and ridges etc?

"Its the Farang who thinks he can drive that makes it dangerous"

Would you like to elaborate on this?

Just to make things clear... its never the roads to blame...

So, if any person, including farang, thinks he can drive , without having the skills to interact with the traffic in any circumstance... it should not be blamed on the roads.... :-P

There are no dangerous roads in Thailand, only dangerous people....

Dangerous people includes those, who see things, but don't act as should be done.... if you see a problem on the road, then notify the competent authority. Period.

This is Thailand... with Thailand rules and habits... If you don't like their standards... don't let the door hit you on the way out....

Or you can try to educate them.... keeps your mind of making silly postings on TV

"There are no dangerous roads in Thailand"

Who is the one who is making silly postings now?

Notify the authorities about dangerous roads? and what do you think they will do?

Educate the Thais about bad driving?

Like I said "who is making the silly posts now?

yup... i am not educating them...

[Johpa]

There is a famous Bike rent place in Chiang Mai that used to steal it's bikes after renting it out !!! ..it happened so many times that if you go to the police to report the bike stolen they ask if it's a bike from this company ??? I can not name them but (defamation laws) it's a 3 letter name beginning with a P and ending with a P ? P...you can't miss it, it's the biggest in town , close to Tha Pae gate and they have several shops all over town.

I have used that company for decades without any problems. I have met the owner and I am friends with one of the branch managers, both good folks. But being the largest rental company by far, many times the size of the next largest company, I am not surprised that they have the largest numbers of complaints and reports about stolen bikes. It doesn't help that most of their bikes have large adverting signs declaring to the world that they are rental bikes. Because of the size of their fleet they have more challenges in maintaining their bikes, but that is common to all bike rental companies. And maintenance, or lack thereof, is an endemic issue in Thailand. Of the bikes I rent for friends (I own my own bike) I usually return 50% after a test ride for replacement or repair regardless of where I rent. And if I am renting a bike for over a week I just take it to a shop for a tune-up on my own money.

[Pinot]

The Honda Click is by far the most popular bike, not the PCX. The Honda Wave is actually the most popular bike with the Thais (it's cheap), but for rental purposes, it's the Honda Click.

Yes, take pics of any little scratch.

One scam (Samui) they love to pull is to rent you a bike with no gas in it. They've sucked all the gas out of a bike in order to sell it to you at twice the price. Demand that they put some gas in it so you can get to the gas station.

I would take the bike for a spin and see if everything is working. It usually isn't. Tires are almost always under inflated. Should be 29/32 PSI front/rear.

Always wear a helmet. If you're a new driver, just learning, you will crash so make sure to set sometime aside from your busy holiday schedule for the emergency room. You will be leaving skin on the roads of Thailand and you will be paying twice the price to repair the bike you put down on the road.

Don't rent a bike in Thailand if you don't know what your doing. You will ruin your vacation and maybe die. Good luck.

[mrfaroukh]

Do not rent an expensive bike so if anything happen to it you don't have to pay a lot. Take a video and picture of the entire bike at the time of renting with the owner in the film to show it was at the time of renting the bike. Have your own extra lock to lock the wheel when you park it. Many times they steel the bike themselves to get money out of you. Never leave your passport with them, max copy. If there is any damage make sure you mention it on the contract form in English and ask him to sign next to your note. You can show him the damages and also your note for him to understand why you wrote it.