foreigner buying motorbike

[kevinhancock750]

hi guys.. wonder if you can help me here.. i'm arriving in Thailand on 22nd December for a 10wk tour around and need to buy a small motorbike 125cc for my transport, I here its a difficult process for a foreigner? any ideas/experience on this matter? also I would need insurance also? I would like to buy rather than rent as I would like to pass into Vietnam/laos also on my runaroud... any tips or help will be greatfully received. thanks

 

[Nightrider70]

If you only want a 125cc I would rent one. It is not hard to buy a bike in your name but it takes about a month to transfer the title. You can not ride across the border into Vietnam in general. Laos can also be tricky. Consider to rent one in Thailand, another in Laos and another in Vietnam. If you rent you are not supposed to drive more than about 50km away from where you rented it by default so make sure any such limitations are removed from the rental agreement. Do not leave your passport with the renter, give him a copy, if he do not accept a copy go to the next guy.

 

[Lone Rider]

I agree that it probably is better to rent than to buy as it will be very difficult to bring in a bike into Vietnam. In addition, as I assume that you want to buy the bike in Thailand and sell the bike in another country, you will get a low price for it as the buyer will have big problems to get it registered in another country.

 

[kevinhancock750]

thanks for your reply guys.. what if I were to buy in vietnem would this be easier? my flight connection is in vietnem (which I didn't notice till after I paid!).. so I can leave the airport in Vietnam if I like. also through a friend who has a friend in Saigon maybe I can use an address there and take a Vietnamese bike on my travels? i'm only looking at buying something cheap to last ten wks maybe sr125 or similar so even if I have to give it away I don't mind as it will have earned its way.i'd just rather buy and then can plod around at my leisure

 

[Nightrider70]

The only thing I know of buying a small bike in Vietnam is that you will pay much more in Vietnam than Thailand.

 

[jimbobs]

Listen to these guys ,,you will not be able to get your bike across the border,,I've been here 6 years and it still takes my wife a couple of hours to sort my crossings into loas, I can't work it out
Rent a bike in each country,,if you look around its really cheap
happy riding

 

[Nightrider70]

If you would decide to buy a bike Thailand I would suggest to try:

1. Enter Cambodia at Koh Kong (1). You could possible be denied to go outside of Koh Kong province.
2. Enter Vietnam border at Ha Tien (2). At Ha Tien you can enter Vietnam but you can only go so far and have to exit at the same place. See http://www.rideasia.net/motorcycle-forum/vietnam-ride-reports/1562-pattaya-phu-quoc.html
3. Re-enter Cambodia at (2). No Problem.
4. Enter Laos at (3), it was easy to enter Laos here when I was there. Less issues than coming from Thailand.
5. Re-enter Thailand from Northern Laos (4) or anywhere you like. Never a problem.

View border crossings.

But I think you will save a lot of worries if you rent a bike in each country.

 

[kevinhancock750]

yes, thanks guys for your thoughts and replies, looks like renting is my way forward any recommended rental shops close to BKK? I think i'll be doing a month in Thailand then 3 weeks Laos and 3 weeks Vietnam. probably flying Bkk into Vietnam and see what happens after that..

 

[Lone Rider]

Not sure why you want to start in Bangkok (assume you will be arriving there) but I guess it will be much easier to rent bikes to your liking in Chiangmai (road and/or off-road bikes) then it will be in Bangkok. Chiangmai has plenty of options of riding in the northern area and you can easily spend a few weeks here and not yet run out of options of exploring new areas

 

[Nightrider70]

Or when you land in BKK you could get in a taxi or take the bus to Pattaya and rent a 125 scooter there. There are very few, if any, off road bikes for rent in Pattaya and off-roading sucks around Pattaya in general, but there are hundreds of scooter renters. You get an average scooter for 3000 baht/month or maybe 5000 baht/month for a newer Honda PCX. Don't leave your passport with the renter, give them a copy, if they don't accept it go to the next renter. Not even the police can legally hold your passport, why would you let a bike renter have it?