Thailand tour - May-June 2024
 

Bike tour #8.
Location: Thailand except North which I did 3 weeks in 2022.

This round I am using my own bike, a Tiger XR 800 which I will ship on a RORO from my home city Kota Kinabalu, Sabah to Port Klang, Kuala Lumpur.
Tentative distance: approximately 6,000 kms
Duration: approximately 6 to 7 weeks.

Will update more later.

:scooter::mchappy:bier

RORO was originally supposed to depart 30/4 but was delayed. It finally departed from my home city Kota Kinabalu on 12/5 evening.
I handed over the Tiger to the agent on 4/5.

I flew into Kuala Lumpur on 12/5 and had an appointment at the Thai embassy on 13/5.
I wanted to apply for the 60 day visa. However I was told that I would also need to show booking for all the hotels for my 60 days stay at Thailand besides the other documents submitted.
Knowing that there is no way I can pre-book all my hotel accommodations I decided to forgo the idea of a 60 day entry visa.

Prior to the appointment at the Thai embassy I has emailed Thai Immigration which were surprisingly efficient.
They replied that as a ASEAN member passport holder, I would be allowed entry into Thailand for 30 days without any visa and I could go to any Thai Immigration office for a extension of stay for 30 days. The fee would be 1900Baht.
If I had got the 60 day Visa from Thai embassy at KL there is no cost.

That means that somewhere on the 3rd week of tour I would have to go to a Thai immigration office for an extension of stay.
And also go to a Thai Customs office for TIP extension to my Tiger.

RORO berthed at Port Klang on 16/5 and was chasing the agent to pick up my bike ASAP so that I could get moving.
I was staying at a budget hotel and didn't want to spend more time than necessary at KL.

Finally I could collect Tiger in 18/5 evening! My daughter sent me to Port Klang and I rode Tiger back to the hotel and prepped her for departure early next morning.

19/5/2024

Petaling Jaya to Changlun, Kedah

465km, 5.5 hours ride time

I departed the hotel on Sunday 19/5 around 0700 hrs.
Arrived Changlun around 1230 hrs.
Picked up my Thai compulsory & voluntary insurance from GoThai office.
The Tiger was able to cruise on the North South highways easily.

In my previous tour of Peninsular Malaysia, I rented a Honda Vario 160 scooter and it struggled at highway speeds of 110kph. I had to ride on the emergency lane as I was too slow on the highway.
With the Tiger I had no issues moving with the traffic on the highways.

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While at Changlun I found a detailing shop to get Tiger cleaned.

When I got back to the hotel I noticed my rear left turn signal was drooping. Prior to shipping Tiger back at home I had the same problems with both the front turn signals. I replaced them with LED indicators and that made the turn signals flash fast as my original turn signal were incandescent bulbs. And the LED weren't bright too.

I had ordered online look alike turn signals for all 4 sides as I did not like the front LED I had replaced recently and had them delivered to my daughter at KL.

I decided to go to Triumph Hatyai when I crossed the border into Thailand to get all the turn signals replaced since I had the replacements ready.

It’s good to start seeing your report and some photos
Enjoy it
See you in a few days

Wayne

Roger that mate.

It's a chore trying to keep a ride report.

:scooter::mchappy::rofl:

Monday 20/5/24
Changlun - Bukit Kayu Hitam ICQS - Hatyai - Phattahalung
170km.
Slightly more than an hour's ride from Thai border to Hatyai & then about 2 hours from Hatyai to Phattahalung.

From Changlun 0700, headed to Bukit Kayu Hitam ICQS border on the Malaysian side and then to Sadao, Thailand border crossing.

Stopped at the Thai immigration and they have a special counter for Malaysian with bikes. Then to Customs for the TIP for the Tiger.

No crowd at all and it was smooth. It was a Monday and I crossed the Malaysian border at 0700ish. When I entered Thailand it is 1 hour behind so it was 0600ish.

Stopped at Sadao 7-11 for some coffee and offered a donation to the Buddhist monk on his daily morning ritual.

Then off to Triumph Hatyai to fix my broken turn signals.
The mechanic was very competent. Replaced all 4 turn signals and no more hyper flashing and drooping turn signals.
Took him around 1.5 hours to sort it out.

Headed to Phattahalung where I had already booked my accommodation for the night. It's about 2 hours away from Hatyai.
A lot of bikers like to stay at Route 41 Cowboy Town Phattahalung but I stayed elsewhere as it was cheaper.

Tuesday 21/5/24

Left Phattahalung 0900.
Rode to Moon Coffee, Ao Khanom for coffee & snack.
Supposed to stay a night but decided to press on to Surat Thani instead.
Distance Phatthalung to Ao Khanom 187kms, about 3hours.

Left Moon Coffee around 1400hrs and the clouds looked very dark! Stopped to put on my rain gear.
About 40 minutes from Surat Thani the rain poured down heavily. Continued to ride and my TCX boots got all wet inside.
That's one thing I like about riding scooters is that your boots won't get wet as there is a floor board you can step on and protect it from water.
Distance: Ao Khanom to Surat Thani, 76km, 1.5 hours

Decided to stay 2 nights at Surat Thani to allow the boots to dry up. Hate riding in wet boots.

My timing to start my tour is impeccable! The raining season has started!

Took a Grab car for dinner at the night market as it was still raining.

First 2 pictures at Moon Coffee, Ao Khanom followed by pictures of Surat Thani

Wednesday 22/5/24 Surat Thani

Noticed that the front turn signal was loose. Probably not tightened enough at Triumph Hatyai.
Went to a supposedly big bike shop which had a few R1200GS in the garage to get it tightened. The guy broke the indicator cover tab when he tightened it. Had to use cable tie to hold the cover.
The new turn signals lasted 1 day only! :nono:

Surat Thani

5 week tour of Thailand completed.

I am flying home to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah tonight.

Will update my report in due course.

:scooter:

Thursday 23/5/2024
Surat Thani to Chumphon
182km, about 3 hours

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