Back in Oz now and ready to riiiide

Hi all,

The wifey and I flew in last night from 3 glorious weeks away - mostly spent
in Thailand and some in Cambodia.

A few things of note:

- the Thai government has limited capacity of new bikes sold to 160 (AFAIK).
You can import a bike of any capacity but you will pay big bucks. We spoke
to a guy whose mate had just brought in a 998R at horrendous cost -
something well over AUD$100k we were told. Bangkok is not the place for a
998R - mainly for other reasons though....

- 17,000 people die each year in Bangkok in motorcycle accidents, despite
the average capacity being something like 125cc.

- however... despite the amazing numbers of tiny bikes weaving everywhere in
bloody horrendous traffic - we didn't see a single incident (other than a
car on its roof on our way to the hairyport in a monsoonal downpour on the
freeway in BKK). This probably means that incidents are either not spotted
by passers by because there are too many cars/trucks/buses/other bikes etc.
or that they are 'cleaned up' very quickly.

- I took some video footage from the back of a motorcycle taxi between
Panthip Plaza and MBK in Bangkok on a 150cc Honda something (probaby a
"Fasty", or a "X-Weapon" or some other catchy name), lanesplitting like you
can't imagine, taking the footpath, riding against the traffic in the gutter
on the RHS on a *very* busy road (!!!), being taken up a laneway...
stopping... driver asking if I want a massage (!!) etc. and etc.! Maybe
I'll try to make some of these downloadable for anyone whose interested.
(No gear of course...).

- Koh Samui has the highest accident rate of anywhere in Thailand per capita
(and is a shithole - not at all like the brochures suggest). If we weren't
staying at the Santiburi Dusith resort, my wife would probably have left
me... um... hmmmmmm.....

- if you are from Siam Reap (Cambodia), you can easily fit you, the wife,
the 2 teenage kids and the toddler on your 125cc bike coming home from the
markets with all your fruit, dead chickens, coconuts etc.. Also in Siam
Reap, a 125cc can also transport: a full sized pig on the back, or a pile of
boxes (full of lord knows what) with similar total size to a mini, or
hundreds of dead chickens, or you plus 3 side-saddled women (not a bad thing
IMHO... though Lisa would kill me), or you and your 2 closest mates and 4 x
50 litre drums of whatever (rice wine anyone??), not to mention trees,
another motorbike, 2 friends and their pushbikes, a boat.... etc.

- pretty much the only thing I missed while away was my bike and the freedom
of just being able to take a spin somewhere. Knowing it was in Crazy Cam's
loving hands gave me great peace however.... cheers CC. The all-knowing
one banned me from riding

When all is said and done, I would love to spend a few years of my life
working in Bangkok. It is much cleaner than it was last trip ('94) and is
surprisingly so; it has shopping facilities with amazing staff that make our
shops look like childs' play; has the cleanest/most efficient/cheapest rail
system that I've ever seen in all my travels; the friendliest people (and
I'm not referring to Pat "Ping" Pong...) you can imagine (despite the
obvious rip-off merchants) and is a constant bombardment of the senses in
every way. Bloody great!

Now we're back however, I'll be looking to get out on the road again and
blast around the traps with the usual suspects. Can't wait - and thanks for
the spin today Cam.

Cheers,
Dave ZZR600 => ST2 (stolen) => '03 XX

 

What, Pat went with you???

I don't remember him saying hed be there...

big

 

Lived in Bangkok for 3 years, loved it. Will go back one day.