KTMphil
Senior member
Motorcycle touring costs in Asia
Always interesting discussing this with people who live outside Asia & are shocked how cheap motorcycle touring can be here.
If you're not a Princess & are happy with basic, clean hotel/ guest houses, then there is somewhere to sleep in ANY small town. If you really go exploring you may find yourself sleeping in a grass roofed, bamboo'd walled hut, but for what that area has to offer it's a small trade off. ANY small village off the beaten track WILL offer you somewhere to sleep. There is also always "somewhere" to sleep at a police checkpoint, Wat (temple) or school if you're stuck.
Breakdown of motorcycle touring costs if you were touring in Thailand:
1. If you're renting a bike say a Kawasaki KLX 250 price will be around 800 baht a day (kawasaki ER6 will be around 1,200 bht a day)
2. Fuel costs, depend on how many KM you ride a day will be around 500-800 bht a day
3. Hotel/ Guest house obviously lots of choices in big towns, we usually stay in places that cost between 350-500 bht a night
4. Food, again depends on your budget, I would say we spend about 500 bht a day on food for 2-3 meals.
5. Drink, a large Leo beer will cost 80-90 bht each, say 300 bht a day on beer/ whisky
6. Telephone calls and data for internet are pretty cheap say 100 bht a day
So motorcycle touring costs in Thailand cost around 2,700 bht a day including renting a motorcycle, for what is to offer amazing value for money.
Motorcycle touring in Laos seems to be slightly more expensive than Thailand, guest houses don't seem to be as good value, fuel seems slightly more expensive as you're getting it in rural areas but alcohol is 15% cheaper. Food is about the same price, finding "farrang" palatable food in rural Laos can be tricky.
Colin recently did a big motorcycle tour through Malaysia & it was noticeable that hotel/ guest houses were much more expensive for the same quality than in Thailand. Fuel is cheaper in Malaysia than Thailand, food decent quality for farrangs there (Penang has some of the best food in the world), can't remember the relative value of alcohol.
When I was motorcycle touring through Cambodia, prices seemed a little cheaper than in Thailand. Cambodian ATM machines spat out USD$ which was quite useful.
Always interesting discussing this with people who live outside Asia & are shocked how cheap motorcycle touring can be here.
If you're not a Princess & are happy with basic, clean hotel/ guest houses, then there is somewhere to sleep in ANY small town. If you really go exploring you may find yourself sleeping in a grass roofed, bamboo'd walled hut, but for what that area has to offer it's a small trade off. ANY small village off the beaten track WILL offer you somewhere to sleep. There is also always "somewhere" to sleep at a police checkpoint, Wat (temple) or school if you're stuck.
Breakdown of motorcycle touring costs if you were touring in Thailand:
1. If you're renting a bike say a Kawasaki KLX 250 price will be around 800 baht a day (kawasaki ER6 will be around 1,200 bht a day)
2. Fuel costs, depend on how many KM you ride a day will be around 500-800 bht a day
3. Hotel/ Guest house obviously lots of choices in big towns, we usually stay in places that cost between 350-500 bht a night
4. Food, again depends on your budget, I would say we spend about 500 bht a day on food for 2-3 meals.
5. Drink, a large Leo beer will cost 80-90 bht each, say 300 bht a day on beer/ whisky
6. Telephone calls and data for internet are pretty cheap say 100 bht a day
So motorcycle touring costs in Thailand cost around 2,700 bht a day including renting a motorcycle, for what is to offer amazing value for money.
Motorcycle touring in Laos seems to be slightly more expensive than Thailand, guest houses don't seem to be as good value, fuel seems slightly more expensive as you're getting it in rural areas but alcohol is 15% cheaper. Food is about the same price, finding "farrang" palatable food in rural Laos can be tricky.
Colin recently did a big motorcycle tour through Malaysia & it was noticeable that hotel/ guest houses were much more expensive for the same quality than in Thailand. Fuel is cheaper in Malaysia than Thailand, food decent quality for farrangs there (Penang has some of the best food in the world), can't remember the relative value of alcohol.
When I was motorcycle touring through Cambodia, prices seemed a little cheaper than in Thailand. Cambodian ATM machines spat out USD$ which was quite useful.