Hi, were heading towards Malaysia, now south of Bangkok and planning to be near Phuket in 2-3 days.

Been to Thailand, but always near Bangkok or north / northeast, so really know nothing about this southern part. Also decided we´ve carried enough guidebooks already, and this country we will try to do without (and they usually know nothing about best roads for motorbiking anyway!)

So, any experts about southern Thailand region in here willing to share their experiences? We are traveling with 1 bike, and its fully loaded as you can imagine, so we will be looking to ride mainly on good surface. Curvy roads with beautiful scenery is what we´re after.

We plan to stick mainly to the main highway (#4, I think) which makes a turn west to the Andaman coast, and then goes back inland before going to Malaysian border. But if there are any recommendable detours, surely wouldnt mind taking a few of them as well. We are not in such a hurry, so if we find some nice places, we can stay for a while.

Anyone know, what is the current situation in the extreme south? In that region we plan to only follow the main highway to Hat Yai, then on to the border, and do this on the daytime only. I hear the region is not 100% safe, but doing what we plan to do should be alright.

Edit: I´d like to buy a good map of southern part of Thailand, but so far the ones I´ve come across, have seemed to be quite mediocre. It would have to be one map, covering the area south from where Thailand meets its Andaman sea coast. Berndtson & Berndtson have a good map of the north, but dont know, if they have from the south. Any recommendations, and advice where to look for such a map would be much appreciated!