Kai Sayson wrote:
Ricohoc...how hard is it to ship 2 bikes there?
It's easy to ship, but customs duties could be expensive. Lots of companies ship household goods and vehicles here. The ones I hear of most are located on the West Coast of the US, but I don't have any names.

If you're interested in doing something like this, I would suggest two things.

First, there is an excellent expat resource online called ThaiVisa.com. Many expats there who have had things shipped here. You may even find a company ad on their site that provides that shipping service.

Second, get to be friends with someone in Thai Customs, or at least find out what it could cost you (ballpark) to bring them in. To register a bike here, with proper paperwork (Green Book) can add quite a bit to the cost of bringing the bike in.

All of the bikes that I've purchased here were either new and did not require any customs duties, or were used and already had proper registration papers (referred to as a Green Book in Thailand). Don't ever buy any bike over here without a Green Book. The police can sieze it -- no questions asked. Gone. It doesn't happen often, but it is within their power to do so. I've never been stopped by police on my big bikes -- only on the scooter.

Hope that helps, Kai.

Ricohoc wrote:
[quote
I've had nothing but good experiences, and I've been thinking of it as home since 2008.

Is your daughter still teaching here, or has she moved on?[/quote]
**************************************************************

My daughter left Thailand just before the civil disturbances started... literally a week or so before the protestors occupied the airport in Bangkok. That was a relief for Mom and Dad! As a teacher in Thailand my daughter enjoyed a tremendous amount of respect, and had a great time traveling all around the country.

One of my 'bucket list' things is to return to Thailand and do a motorcycle tour of SE Asia. Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.

Maybe someday I'll look you up!
John Scribner

P.S.- Kai, if I were going to go to Thailand for the riding experience, I'd just buy a bike over there. Shipping one there might present huge obstacles to a Westerner not used to the system. I saw a few big bikes while I was there, but the overwhelming majority of them were the small motorbikes Ricohoc described (my daughter bought a used one for a few hundred dollars), followed by dual-purpose bikes. And if you get off the beaten path in the countryside, the roads lend themselves to moderate displacement dual-purpose types of bikes. The petrol stations we saw in the countryside were often an open-air stand with a 55 gallon drum and a hand-pump, dispensing into liter pop bottles. About every small town had a shade-tree mechanic with a 'garage' full of old wheels, tires, sprockets, chains, etc. It's amazing what they could fix with the tools they had. Somewhat jokingly, whenever I asked about large cruisers, the locals would say they belonged to 'the cowboys'.
John Scribner
a link to my Thailand trip pics:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.11750420743.30269.644615743&l=c25aa62d42&type=1
and another:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.11785365743.30310.644615743&l=227e6453ab&type=1

OBMF wrote:
Ricohoc wrote:
[quote
I've had nothing but good experiences, and I've been thinking of it as home since 2008.

Is your daughter still teaching here, or has she moved on?[/quote]
**************************************************************

My daughter left Thailand just before the civil disturbances started... literally a week or so before the protestors occupied the airport in Bangkok. That was a relief for Mom and Dad! As a teacher in Thailand my daughter enjoyed a tremendous amount of respect, and had a great time traveling all around the country.

One of my 'bucket list' things is to return to Thailand and do a motorcycle tour of SE Asia. Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.

Maybe someday I'll look you up!
John Scribner

John, you're always welcome!

Thanks for the advice guys. I appreciate it. I am somewhat familiar with the logisticts of shipping a bike to third world countries ( it may get there but you may never see it ) having being born in the Philippines. I was also in Thailand in the early 70's...there for R&R...

Kai Sayson wrote:
Thanks for the advice guys. I appreciate it. I am somewhat familiar with the logisticts of shipping a bike to third world countries ( it may get there but you may never see it ) having being born in the Philippines. I was also in Thailand in the early 70's...there for R&R...
Yes, shipping is the easy part, Kai. You're right about that.

Thailand is still a good place for R&R ... even now in 2011.

Ricohoc wrote:
http://youtu.be/gagHDWg66fM
Another video from Saturday's event ... including bike pics, girls from the Harem Club and live music.


That's a sweet looking bike night! A damn long ride from Ohio, but I'm thinking worth it!!

jfvb1225 wrote:
Ricohoc wrote:
http://youtu.be/gagHDWg66fM
Another video from Saturday's event ... including bike pics, girls from the Harem Club and live music.


That's a sweet looking bike night! A damn long ride from Ohio, but I'm thinking worth it!!
I warn my friends often. If you come to visit, you may never want to go home.

Someday hopefully I'll be able to travel again.

Ricohoc wrote:
jfvb1225 wrote:
Ricohoc wrote:
http://youtu.be/gagHDWg66fM
Another video from Saturday's event ... including bike pics, girls from the Harem Club and live music.


That's a sweet looking bike night! A damn long ride from Ohio, but I'm thinking worth it!!
I warn my friends often. If you come to visit, you may never want to go home.


Repeated three times while clicking my heels together..."Puppies, picnics, nipples and beer; puppies, picnics, nipples and beer"...there's no place like home, there's no place like home....

I think even the big MC clubs party together in Thailand, don't they...?
John Scribner

Big bikes are becoming more plentiful -- with more expats moving here and with more Thais opting for bigger bikes. However, compared to other parts of the world, the numbers are still small, so it's common to see MC groups from all over come together at these events, OBMF.

We don't call it The Land of Smiles for nothing.