From Thailand to Indonesia

[gas3d]

Good morning to all! I'm new in the forum.
I'm thinking about buying a motorcycle in Thailand and traveling to Indonesia. I am not very aware of how complicated it can be today to enter Malaysia and Indonesia with a motorcycle registered in Thailand.
Do I need a passagge card (CDP)?
Is it difficult to enter the motorcycle?
Thank you very much in advance for any information.

Have a very good day and very good trips.

Gaston.

 

[Snakeboy]

Good morning to all! I'm new in the forum.
I'm thinking about buying a motorcycle in Thailand and traveling to Indonesia. I am not very aware of how complicated it can be today to enter Malaysia and Indonesia with a motorcycle registered in Thailand.
Do I need a passagge card (CDP)?
Is it difficult to enter the motorcycle?
Thank you very much in advance for any information.

Have a very good day and very good trips.

Gaston.

Taking a thai bike if youre the owner to Malaysia isnt a huge problem. I think you need the socalled «Green book» (the bike registration document) translated to english.
Carnet de Passage is not needed as Thailand and Malaysia has an agreement on vehicles.

Taking a thai plated bike to Indonesia on the other hand is much more complicated. Yes you need a Carnet de Passage. And in Thailand there are no vehicle organisation or similar that issues Carnets. And the option in Malaysia is said to not exist anymore.
I have read that its possible to get a Carnet for a thai plated bike at european issuers, for example from Germany and Switserland - although I have no personal experience with that.
In any circumstances it will not be cheap!

Then there is the shipping issue - there is no vehicle ferry between Malaysia and Sumatra (Indonesia) There are however passenger ferries from Port Klang (Malaysia) to Tanjung Balai (Sumatra-Indonesia) but its an expensive option. I heard just recently a guy paid 400 USD + agent fees on both sides to get his bike shipped on this option.

Another option is to go to Borneo as there are roroferries from Malaysia (Port Klang) to Kuching (Borneo) and from there you can cross into the indonesian part of Borneo which the indonesian call Kalimantan.
And from Kalimantan there are ferries to Sulawesi and Java - so basically the rest of Indonesia. However you will need to fly yourself when putting the bike on the roro.

And remember - if you are bringing a vehicle into a country on a Carnet - you will need to take it out of that country again to get your bond/money deposit back again.

If you only want to ride around in Indonesia - why not rent or buy a bike there?

 

[gas3d]

Taking a thai bike if youre the owner to Malaysia isnt a huge problem. I think you need the socalled «Green book» (the bike registration document) translated to english.
Carnet de Passage is not needed as Thailand and Malaysia has an agreement on vehicles.

Taking a thai plated bike to Indonesia on the other hand is much more complicated. Yes you need a Carnet de Passage. And in Thailand there are no vehicle organisation or similar that issues Carnets. And the option in Malaysia is said to not exist anymore.
I have read that its possible to get a Carnet for a thai plated bike at european issuers, for example from Germany and Switserland - although I have no personal experience with that.
In any circumstances it will not be cheap!

Then there is the shipping issue - there is no vehicle ferry between Malaysia and Sumatra (Indonesia) There are however passenger ferries from Port Klang (Malaysia) to Tanjung Balai (Sumatra-Indonesia) but its an expensive option. I heard just recently a guy paid 400 USD + agent fees on both sides to get his bike shipped on this option.

Another option is to go to Borneo as there are roroferries from Malaysia (Port Klang) to Kuching (Borneo) and from there you can cross into the indonesian part of Borneo which the indonesian call Kalimantan.
And from Kalimantan there are ferries to Sulawesi and Java - so basically the rest of Indonesia. However you will need to fly yourself when putting the bike on the roro.

And remember - if you are bringing a vehicle into a country on a Carnet - you will need to take it out of that country again to get your bond/money deposit back again.

If you only want to ride around in Indonesia - why not rent or buy a bike there?

Thank you very much , Snakeboy, for all the information.
The idea of buying the motorcycle in Thailand, visiting some Southeast Asian countries, and then going to Indonesia is because in Thailand there are better and cheaper motorcycles than in other nearby countries, but I see that the issue of permits can be quite an inconvenience, if I want to spend a long time in Indonesia.
As you say, it may be a better idea to rent motorcycles in the countries I want to visit and then buy a motorcycle in Indonesia to travel around the country.
I imagined that getting a passage card would be simpler, but I see that it is not.
I will continue looking for alternatives and many thanks once again for the info.
Cheers!

 

[Snakeboy]

If you for the most part are interested in riding in Indonesia - why not buy a bike there?
The prices are not higher than Thailand on small bikes. On bigger bikes maybe - but not on small bikes. And from the bottom of my heart - and I rode around in Indonesia for 3,5 months - if it is one place in the world you dont need a big bike - thats Indonesia!

I think the average speed I had through Indonesia was 35-40 km/h. A 300 km ride a day was a long day in Indo, and a 400 km pr day was easily a 12 hour in the saddle!
A 150 cc bike would be more than enough in Indonesia imho.

And remember also - any foreign bike taken into another country than it was registrated in - must be brought back again - both with a Carnet and a regular TIP. With a TIP you sign that you will bring the bike out of the country within the time limit mentioned on the TIP - or else the bike will be illegal in the country and you will be fined!