About Thailand

• How much cash will I need?

  Very little as the cost of living is very low here, only luxury items bump up the expense. Most spend between only 2,000-5,000b per person per week on their sundries bill with us. The difference is whether you want to be coiffing back beers or G&T's of an evening!

  You can use your Servicetill (ATM) /Credit card (if you have the facility, but remember you MUST inform your bank/card supplier you'll be holidaying in Thailand beforehand) at any ATM here for a nominal charge (usually £1.50) and draw up to 20,000 baht daily.

  By all means bring traveller’s cheques, though best off bringing them in your own currency and allowing the banks here to perform the conversion to get a far more favourable rate than your bank at home will give. Quite a few simply bring their home currencies with them, changing it as and when, saying saving a fortune on Western bank rates. Travellers Cheques are of course recommended for any 'Emergency Funds' yoiu might require. Needless to say we don't arrange credit!
  
  The tours are pretty much fully inclusive, bikes and everything to do with them, accommodation, breakfast and evening meals, drinks/little iced towels etc. from the service vehicles all included with the price. The only items you need to shell out for are drinks/snacks not from our vehicles, lunches and souvenirs! To save everybody a few bob we usually do a run to Macro before setting out on tour, load up with bottles of spirits/mixers, boxes of wine etc., just chip in if you're interested. We can also pick up any specialities (if available in Thailand) you may require.

• Do I need a visa for Thailand?
  Not if you don't intend to stay longer than 30 days. You will complete the form for your 30 day Visa on the flight over and immigration will simply stamp your 30 day Visa into your passport on arrival. If you wish to stay longer you can either obtain a Visa in your home country or just hop over the border (as we do on The Golden Triangle Tour) and automatically get another 15 days on the way back in.
• I'm not sure about Thai food. Is it REALLY spicy?
  If you will allow us it will be our absolute pleasure to look after you from start to finish, including the ordering of Thai meals, often to give them a chance to prepare for our large groups. By all means feel free to order your own, but Bpuk has an inherent knack of mixing tastes and textures to delight the palate. Spicy or not, all will arrive prepared exactly as you like. She also has a wealth of knowledge as to the ingredients of each dish and it can be specially ordered for those with dietary requirements. From Diabetes to coffee, nut, wheat, glucose,and even whisky allergies I think we've about covered them all?
  
  The greatest advantage to this 'Thai style' eating is we'll order any number of dishes, then somewhat like a Chinese banquet you can sample them all, able to appreciate the true pleasure the Thais themselves reap from a good meal. Eating is part of the culture, an experience to be savoured, a social event that often lasts all evening, I often wonder for such small people where they put it all!
• What are the rules of the road?
  We drive on the left as in the UK, with a strange mixture of English, American and French ‘Prioritere a driote’ rules. Everybody sings from the same hymn sheet though, so as soon as you understand the few differences you’ll be fine. Follow our lead for the most part. Little things like this can be confusing;
  
  This is an accident/breakdown warning for the uninitiated. If you see this then slow down because there's some kind of obstruction coming up just around the next bend.
  
  
  
  Starting with the bad news, if you’re involved in an accident and you hit the other guy, no matter how idiotic the manoeuvre such as he just pulled out right in front of you, it’s your fault, you had a view of the road in front and should have been paying better attention or driving more slowly/carefully. Full stop. Once you understand this an awful lot of the others make more sense.
  
  All speed limits are in Km/h, 30-50 for towns, 60 for suburbs and 90 for major (A) roads and dual carriageways. There are only a couple of proper motorway sections in the country, we’ll be going nowhere near those but they’re 120km/h. Most roads are very poorly patrolled indeed, if at all, certainly no speed cameras. An occasional road block is all there is so you’ll find most drivers and riders paying absolutely no heed to these limits! I’ll happily cruise along the open road at anything up to 120km/h, but we must ALWAYS slow right down through the towns/villages, 50km/h maximum, kids, dogs, chickens, errant buffaloes etc always kicking around in the streets. Also, Thais have no idea whatsoever of road positioning, easy to understand when only around 30% of the scooter riders even have a license and therefore insurance. Whereas we’ll indicate and pull into the centre of the road in advance, they’ll trickle along the l/h verge waiting for a gap before diving right across both lanes. I’ve learned to spot this, don’t just think why is he braking? You’ll soon see!
  Read more...
• What should we bring with us?
  You will be expected to bring your own helmets (open faced with a drop down visor are recommended) and summer riding gear/body armour. Bring your leathers if you like but they can be a little uncomfortable and cumbersome in this heat. You may well require a jumper/fleece under your armour for the cooler mornings in the mountains.
  
  We have a service vehicle for luggage, so there's no limit to the amount  you may bring apart from that set by the airline. We certainly notice the difference between returning guests and those here for the first time, those returning bring less than half!
  
  We recommend that you bring a minimum because you're sure to want to take a shed load home with you, most things here cost half the amount you'd expect to pay for them in the West, unless you require actual, brand name Western goods.
  
  The same goes for medicines etc, there's a Boots chemist in most towns and they stock nearly everything you can find at home, plus a few more interesting Thai remedies that are actually far superior to their Western counterparts - given the local conditions.
• What's the weather like?
  Between June and September it rains, and rains, and then rains some more which is the primary reason for us not to run Tours during this period.
  
  The cool season is between November and February where it averages between 18 and 25°C during the day. Night times can get somewhat cooler down to about 10°C. A spot of rain occasionally, but this is very rare. February through to May it warms up gradually until in May it can sometimes reach 30°C during the day, although cooler at night, which is why our hotel/resort accommodation is air-conditioned.
  
  October is usually clear but we can't guarantee you won't have a few showers, warm enough on a bike though, you get wet and then blow-dry!
  
  
  

About Touring

• Do I need a Thai driving license?
  No, but you will need a full license from your home country covering the relevant group of vehicles. Group A in the UK for example. An international driving permit is also required but is not sufficient by itself.
• For your safety and convenience
  We have a few simple rules for your safety and convenience;
  
  Follow our lead, not only on the road but also in the way we greet and treat people, this is an entirely different culture, and just because they don't show offence and continue to smile doesn't mean that you haven't hurt them and spoiled our (and all other foreigner’s) reputation, and as your mother used to say "manners cost nothing"! Please see the 'Culture and beliefs' section in the Rough Guide To Touring pages.
  
  We've read this one in a TAT (Tourism Authority of Thailand) office in Bangkok and were quite taken with it; If you want everything just like home, stay home!". If you don't enjoy new experiences in a quite different environment then you're much better off staying in the West where you know and understand all the rules and laws. This is the simple fact, we're not being cynical. This is South-East Asia, and things are different!
  
  That being said, learning all about this new culture is absolutely fascinating We’ve been here for many years working and living amongst these wonderful, gentle people, their hospitality never ceases to amaze us and we certainly wouldn’t choose to live anywhere else in the world. We welcome the opportunity to show you around “Amazing Thailand”, there’s so much more to this country when you’ve a guide or two to take you off the beaten track and show you what it’s really about!
• Can you arrange flights/insurance, etc?

  Many have asked if we can organise flights, I'm afraid flights MUST be organised from country of origin. Tom Bishop tom@dtctravel.com of DTC Travel can help with a great deal. 

  
  We provide all insurance available under Thai traffic law but expect you to provide your own  holiday insurance. Your holiday insurance will cover any injuries you could sustain, check the restrictions though as many will only cover you up to 125cc. You must check your policy beforehand. Biking holiday insurance will usually cover damage to any third-paty's property too.

   

  We used to have a 'you bend it, you mend it' policy but were never happy with it so we've introduced a 1,000b per tour, entirely voluntary, non-refundable Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) policy to cover our own rides in the event of any mishaps. The CDW carries a 10,000b excess in the event of an accident. Please ensure you have means to access this amount.

  We have a number of insurers on our 'Links' page.

• How far do we ride per day?
  We usually cover 150 to 200 kilometres of very good, smooth tarmac daily. There is a lot to see on the way and if you want to stop and take photographs you can do so at any time. Doesn't sound like a great deal but as I mentioned previously there are a lot of very tight, twisty sections where you simply can't maintain a high average speed.
  
  We're not racing, this is a tour and if you fall behind our back man will stay with you until you catch up with us, probably taking photos around the next bend! Very easy riding here, we ride on the left the same as in the UK. Hour on/hour off roughly to make up the day, stopping at plenty of attractions along the way.
• Do you have set departure dates?

  Yes, but if there is a large enough group of you we're sure we can arrange something to suit your needs. Four and over, we'll be more than happy to put on a specialist tour providing it doesn't conflict with our advertised dates - please see calendar pages.

  Our usual Arrival/Departure day is the Saturday at either end of the tour, though we can work around whatever flights suit you best by adding extra nights'accommodation on request.

  We also ask if you could possibly schedule your flight times between 09.00 & 17.00 on that day to aid with our schedule please? As you can imagine we have many other concerns to consider, not to mention our other guests. This is not set in stone of course, we fully understand flight times are very often out of your hands! I only mebtion it here on the off-chance you may be offered alternatives.

• Is a CB400 big enough? Don't you have anything BIGGER?
  We do have bigger bikes available at a nominal fee, but most people find them very tiring, especially on the Mae Hong Son Loop, where there are over four thousand bends. Lugging a 1000+ CC monster around there is hard work (on average a bend every 200metres), we advise you leave the work at home, you're on holiday, less is more! Had a group of semi-professional racers along in the early days, they had a saying "Big bikes is only for blokes who can't ride little bikes fast!" And how true, when you've to flick that ride from left to right over the first day's 150km with less than 200m between hairpin bends, not exceeding much over 50km/h, down to walking speeds around the apexes, you'll thank us.
  
  The only reason for a 600/750cc upgrade really is size. If you're 6'2" or over, above say 16 stone then the 400's can be rather cramped. Apart from that, absolutely cracking little workhorse, superb engine that howls its little life out up to around 14,000rpm when the rev limiter kicks in, starts breathing around 6k, real power around 10k, and certainly more than a match for any 1,500cc cruiser.
  
  And of course we provide a 750cc machine for anyone with a pillion as part of the deal.