There is a single lane carriageway with a reasonably good hard shoulder on the 15k distance between my

village and the nearest town. I ride on it regularly and unless overtaking, always  use it. 

 

If you are riding on a similar carriageway, stick to the hard shoulder if it is in decent condition, what I am going to

say is not anything that has happened, but lots of "what ifs", very regularly I see traffic traveling in the opposite 

direction, coming out very quickly to overtake the vehicle in front, this puts a motorcyclist in great danger, if he is 

not riding on the hard shoulder, and if he is riding fast, the situation can change in a split second. Think about the 

lack of road sense in the average Thai driver, be aware and keep safe. 

I found it safest to ride in the middle of the lane and not too close to any car/truck in front for several reasons:

 

1. Stuff coming out of the left side onto the road like dogs, other vehicles

2. The roads are usually broken on the side of the road or there's debris etc

3. Potholes here in Phuket tend to be where the trucks tires are, so on the left and right side of the lane

4. You have room on both the left and the right side to avoid obstacles

 

It's dangerous to ride without big safety zones on every side.

 

When you are out on an open road and see a truck coming the other way, you can assume there'll be some cars behind that want to overtake him so in that case try to keep more to the left.

Agree with " ID 2 "  on what is classed as a big bike,  always stay left on scoot and ready for some off road if necessary. 

Just ride near the hard shoulder and watch what's in front of you.

You live here, you know they might do it, so it should come as no surprise to you if it happens.

Remember it's just normal here, and it should be normal for you by now. It's not rocket science.

On 12/6/2016 at 4:08 PM, eisfeld said:

It's dangerous to ride without big safety zones on every side.

 

Words of Wisdom. How I have stayed alive.

3 hours ago, macknife said:

Just ride near the hard shoulder and watch what's in front of you.

You live here, you know they might do it, so it should come as no surprise to you if it happens.

Remember it's just normal here, and it should be normal for you by now. It's not rocket science.

Yes, but it is so easy, and it is normal for me, and certainly no surprise, but there are lots of inexperienced riders out there, and I have

seen how easy it could be to get wiped out by these Thai drivers I have mentioned, because so many of them have very little common sense

on the roads.