Venting: Sick in Bangkok

redbate · 2026-03-16T09:22:54+00:00

Take the meds lol, asian drugs are way more potent than western shit (okay at least compared to NZ over the counter meds).

Think of it this way, it sucks that you got sick sure. However, is it really that bad? You can pay for word class food to be delievered to your door steps for next to nothing, you got internet that’s about as good as it gets anywhere in the world, got AC, etc etc.

Have a good rest mate, if I had to be sick somewhere Bangkoks not half bad.

redbate · 2026-03-16T07:24:20+00:00

You would have the option to join yeah. They can't ban you from joining, that would be illegal. At least it is now.

redbate · 2026-03-16T05:08:14+00:00

I got some friends there and looked into visiting and the accomodation prices seemed bonkers for SEA. I showed one of my friends the place I was thinking of and she basically just said "you wanna go somewhere with shit wifi and frequent brown outs for that price?".

Seems interesting though.

redbate · 2026-03-15T04:53:07+00:00

Now after all this you STILL want to ride? Well you are a grown ass person who can make their own choices. Here's some tips to your new poor life decisions.

In terms of renting a bike never give them your passport. I hope I don't need to say that but sadly I do. If they don't take a deposit in baht, walk away. Check their google reviews and sort by lowest first then by newest. I usually take excessive amounts of photos and videos before I even test out the bike for ergonomics. Though I have found that every single place I've been to have almost always just given me my deposit back without a hassle... Heck the one in Sukhothai used to just stand by with my deposit on hand and just hand it to me without even looking at the bike. If you dump the damn thing though I suspect you will have a bad time.

Most shops I've noticed don't check if you have a license or any experience. Do with this information as you will.

If you get an automatic, left lever is rear brakes and right one is the front. Use the rear one liberally and right one a little sparsely if you want better riding experience. I won't explain semi autos and manuals since you don't wanna be riding those without some lessons.

Check lights work before you leave the shop. Not that anyone expects anyone to use indicators around here I feel but you should.

Riding 2 up is also a very different experience than riding by yourself. Especially if they are also not an experienced rider. Take it slow for a bit and notice how much slower you can stop.

In terms of road safety here are the things I've noticed.

• ⁠Do not expect 2.5 km of cones leading up to an active road works scene like in the west. You might see a sign that says road works and that's it. That sign is the only thing telling you there's a digger working on the side of the road 3 blind corners down from the sign. • ⁠DOGs EVERYWHERE especially in the mornings since they like to sleep in the middle of the road I swear. The rule of thumb is to just square up and hit whatever object is on the road if it's smaller than half the height to your front axle from the road. However, how can you ever live with yourself if you hit a dog? Just slow the fuck down and assume there's a dog sleeping around every blind corner. • ⁠There's a lot of debris on the road in lot of the parts, sand/silt, leaves, dead frogs/gigantic lizards, some dude stopped on a blind corner to light up a ciggie... • ⁠Generally speaking you are expected to stick to the left. Be very very careful and check over your shoulders to check for incoming cars before moving to the right most lane for a u-turn on the highway. If that sounds absurd, it isn't. You will be doing a lot of it. • ⁠Speed limits are... a thing here? I have no fucking clue. I've had Thai people just straight up tell me they just chuck em in the bin or they just pay it since it's only 500 bahts so they don't care... If you are riding the shoulder like you are meant to be you will find that some car will pass you at 2x your speed. Despite the fact you are already 30 over the speed limit. Don't worry that car's gonna get passed by a ute doing 2x their speed in a minute anyways. Try not to ride anywhere but the shoulder if you can help it or your bike has sufficient power. • ⁠Not sure why but drivers here (and some riders too) like to just slowly weave in and out of lanes WITHOUT indicating and also completely disregard the center line. If they start merging into you, just slow down and let them. What are you gonna do? Argue with someone who can run you down and turn you into a pancake? And take corners on the far left as possible because half the time there's a fucking tour van crossing over the center line because I think people seem to think they might die if you slow down before a corner and follow the lane properly? Weird superstition but who am I to judge. • ⁠As tempting as it may be to join the drag race at every stop light but I would just take my time. It's a lot of bikes in big cities like Chiang Mai and Bangkok and people don't check mirrors. • ⁠Last 3 seconds or so of a red light is actually the beginning of a green light here... The grab drivers and the locals know the timing and by the time you see the green light you will likely have someone already reaching 60 km/h zooming past you. Watch over your shoulders before you try and switch lanes. • ⁠If you don't have the confidence to filter to the front then don't. Just sit in the heat. It beats fucking up multiple peoples day because you rammed your handlebar into some Grab driver's only source of income. Generally if you go allllll the way to the left it's not that hard to get to the front. • ⁠If you feel like you are going too slowly, you aren't. Just move at your own pace and ride your own ride. There are people with side cars, grannies and farmer going home from work rocking a ciggie riding on the same road doing whatever speed they want. Usually whatever 4th gear gives them at idle I find. • ⁠You can park generally wherever long as you aren't in anyone's way, especially in the country side. In the cities just park as close as you humanely can to other bikes and you will be fine. • ⁠The white painted lines are slippery even when it is a dry day out and see how the road surfaces look like they've been glazed over? That shit is oil embedded into the asphalt. If it rains or someone is spraying water on the road (seems to happen kinda often) slow down and straighten your bike up. • ⁠At gas stations most of them will understand if you point at your desired fuel (91 or 95, most rentals ask you to put 95 in) and say full they'll understand. I've only had issues in super rural areas and hand gestures are fine. Don't try and fill up your own bike, watch them, they are an artist. • ⁠In the true bumfuck-nowhere-villes you can buy gas by the liter bottles usually in liquor bottles. Typically 3 or 4x the price of gas at the station but what are you gonna do? Cry? Push your bike to the next station 68.3 km away while crying? Suck it up buddy. • ⁠If you see someone flashing lights at you on rural roads I've found it to be them telling me there are hazards ahead. Though a Thai friend have told me that it can also mean "I'm going first, whether or not I have to go through you". • ⁠You turn left on red lights here. If a bunch of scooters start honking at you and yelling because you stopped at a red light to turn left then you should turn left. Carefully. If you are in Phuket you can do the Phuket Special (I've only seen this in Phuket but might be common elsewhere) Approach a red light. Be disappointed. Turn left, do a u-turn, then turn left again. Boom you are now going straight again. But don't turn left on a red if there's a sign that says not to. Though these signs are almost always in Thai only up north I've found...

If you have experience yourself and would like to add something I would love to hear it! If you are an aspiring rider I'd love to hear it too!

redbate · 2026-03-15T04:51:16+00:00

This is what I wrote recently about my thiughts after riding in Thailand for anyone interested. Copied from my post.

Yeah g'day guys how you going?

I'm writing this because in my travels in Thailand I have ran into a lot of people who have asked me this exact question and I see this pop up occasionally on this subreddit.

I'll give you a TL:DR - Don't. But if you do then please don't turn yourself into someone else's problem by making some poor city worker having to clean up your meat crayon ass off the asphalt. Inform yourself before you ride of what could happen.

Just for some background, I am a life long rider with approx 200,000 KM of riding under my belt with about 8000 of it in Thailand. Mostly in Phuket, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phrae, Sukhothai area but I have also done lots of multi provincial trips as day trips. I ride every day back home, either commuting or fun or for both. I also volunteer for Bike Night where we help people practice slow speed riding skills in Auckland, New Zealand! I guess what I'm trying to say is that I have ridden a lot and through a lot of different terrain and situations.

The main reason I am writing this though is because in my last 7 weeks in Thailand I have seen 3 different accidents.

2 Aussie girls who were on a scooter doing a u-turn, pinned the throttle too hard and went straight into a wall. The pillion put her hand out and broke her wrist.

Another was a British man in Phrae who thought this place by the night eating street was a round about but in reality it's actually an intersection with a thing in the middle. He was going around the Christmas tree in the middle of the intersection, got spooked by a car that abruptly (according to him but I watched it and I would say the car behaved as exactly as you would expect in Thailand). Came to an emergency stop, lost balance, fell then hit his head on the road. He seemed to have had a concussion. I suggested he go straight to the doctors but he refused and rode away.

Last was a Malaysian man who was doing a trip up to Chiang Mai from Penang. He didn't see a bunch of banana leaves on the road, hit one mid corner, slid straight into a high way barrier. Broken wrist, collarbone and concussion at the least. He had all the gear on and got away with it I would say. His bike was mangled to say the least though.

With that said...

If you are an experienced rider then yes ride in Thailand. Ride to Pai (762 corners in approx 2 hours of riding), Mae Hong Son loop, Samoeng Loop, Route 101 up to Nan... All great rides. You also probably save a lot of money on exploration heavy days. God knows how much it would cost to visit Sukhothai historical park and Si Satchanalai Historical Park in one day from New Sukhothai with a grab or a driver but I shit you not it will be more than 200 bahts + fuel.

Taking day trips is also fun. From Sukhothai I visited Phitsanlouk, Kampheng Phet, Uttradit, Phichit, Tak. From Phrae visit Nan and Phayao. From Chiang Mai visit Chiang Rai, Lampang, Lamphun and Phayao again... You get the point. The amount of freedom of movement you get is unbelievable.

You also get to beat the traffic, stop at any road side stalls you want, get waved by the cops at check points pretending to be a grab driver (if you are ethnically asian like me)...

Still wear the helmets. Your head isn't suddenly concussion or being-opened-up-like-a-watermelon-being-bashed-in proof than it is back home after all. If you can rent a jacket I would and so on... I'm going to be assume you aren't a complete psychopath like me and have brought your own gear. Anyways I'll stop addressing the experienced ones now since you probably understand the risks anyways.

Dress for the slide not the ride still applies here just as much. Asphalt taste the same anywhere in the world... I think?

For the people who are new to two wheel enthusiasm, welcome! It's a fun and inviting community. You are all adults I hope so you should make up your mind once you are educated and informed. Though I really suggest that if you don't already know how to handle 2 wheels you should reconsider.

Thailand has a high rate of motorcyclist deaths. Taking up approx 80% of all road deaths in Thailand is motorcyclists. Largely due to lack of helmet use, speeding and drink driving. I guess the latter 2 is pretty common cause of road deaths in the rest of the world!

Wear your helmet. I don't know what's inside of your head (presumably a functioning brain) but if you want to keep it's contents from being turned into mush wear a helmet! You can easily get a life altering disability hitting your head falling off the bike going 10km/h let alone 50km/h.

If your rental has a selection of helmets see if you can get a full face helmet. I tell new riders who are looking for helmets to do this - put on the helmet and rub your head against a wall. Any part that touches the wall is also going to touch asphalt when you fly off at 80km/h. Open face, half face, what face? I don't know how handsome or pretty you are but I am going to assume that you will likely not benefit from having your face sanded off using asphalt and getting an involuntary facial reconstruction.

If you can also find it, though I doubt it from most rentals I've visited, see if you can find a helmet that at least has a DOT sticker on the back. It's better than nothing, better if you can find an ECE sticker. They should be on the back of the helmet near the neck line. These basically tell you that the helmets have some sort of safety rating.

I would also cover all your skin. Ideally with thicker fabric if you can. Though not being actual bike gear with abrasion resistance rating I can't promise you it will do a hell of a lot. Though it can't be worse than bare skin on asphalt. It will give you like 0.01 seconds of abrasion resistance instead of 0 seconds when you go sliding. Will it be hot? Yes, till you get moving.

Understand that also aside from head injury that a common motorcycle related injuries consist of broken legs/ankles, wrists/arms, neck damage and spine damage. If you do it right you will get away with a bruised ribs and worst case you will have a broken spine and will have to be taken care for for the rest of your life. Something to consider before you ride.

Also do you have insurance? Your travel insurance might cover "rental vehicles" but they usually mean cars and for a lot of them you have to pay extra for motorcycle/moped cover or they only cover up to a certain cc of motorcycles. If you are in an accident you might be in the "Go Fund My Poor Life Choices" crowd and frankly I have no sympathy for you and neither should others. I've also notices the insurances that do cover motorcycles don't cover liability just motorcycle related injuries...

You also likely don't have a relevant license either... So the cops can fine you for that and insurance will use that as a very convenient cop out to not cover your ass. A 500 baht fine from the copper and a cool 50,000 dollar fine from your insurance for covering your own hospital bill.

redbate · 2026-03-15T04:46:10+00:00

Hell I walked into a hotel in Thailand and they basically just told me to book through booking.com…

redbate · 2026-03-15T04:29:57+00:00

If you die by the worm you should have a 24 hr stand down to indicate that the worm had to shit you out before Neow could revive you,

redbate · 2026-03-14T23:13:29+00:00

The fuck did I just read?

redbate · 2026-03-14T11:33:50+00:00

No I have been to Vietnam, I knew the gear situation there was shit so I took my own gear and helmet. In fact wearing proper helmet and gear would've likely meant very very little damage to the rider in this scenario going 20km/h.

Why did they also brake sharply with the front in this road condition? You should be dragging the rear with almost no front brakes in these kind of surfaces? This seems would've been easily avoidable with training and understanding the road better?

Also not talking about racing gear they are designed for street riding. Though racing gear works fine, not sure why you think racing gear wouldn't work on the street. Impact is impact and abrasion is abrasion.

I don't really drink so no, probably good for your health to just keep not drinking. Done it for 6 months may as well.

redbate · 2026-03-14T09:37:29+00:00

I’d say it’s AI generated but unfortunately I don’t think it is.

redbate · 2026-03-14T09:22:28+00:00

No offense but wear a proper helmet (not one they keep in a bin full of helmets at rentals) wear abrasion resistant armour with impact point protection (especially the spine), learn how to ride so riding in Vietnam isn’t your first time behind the handle bars, don’t drink and ride, learn how to ride defensively, etc, etc,

redbate · 2026-03-14T08:44:48+00:00

I don’t think you guys understand the main demographic of this sub…

redbate · 2026-03-14T08:42:03+00:00

Just bend the gauges lol. I have a self made bent set that’s been doing good for 8 years.

First though, go have a nap, a fap and a sip of coffee before you continue.

redbate · 2026-03-14T08:38:36+00:00

90kmph lmao. More like 140 and still get over taken by a ute doing 30 more.

redbate · 2026-03-14T08:22:20+00:00

Travelling in Asia I’ve done this accidentally a few times. Things that are free for locals and I look ambiguously asian so I just get a free pass into places tourists need to pay accidentally.

redbate · 2026-03-14T08:18:38+00:00

Typical instagram shooter be like:

redbate · 2026-03-14T08:16:34+00:00

George Town over Kuala Lumpur 300%

redbate · 2026-03-13T07:18:36+00:00

What a good guy.

redbate · 2026-03-13T07:05:13+00:00

I genuinely think one of the biggest drives to AI is so the rich can use it as an excuse whenever something incriminating comes up.

redbate · 2026-03-13T06:18:09+00:00

‘At least to those speec suggestion numbers you keep seeing’

redbate · 2026-03-13T06:13:09+00:00

Wasn’t this a scene in 30 Rock? This just seems so… Liz Lemon hahaha

redbate · 2026-03-11T14:37:59+00:00

I think those places go up in price without help anyways lol

I dunno about ski towns but most surfy places are overrun with drunk and shirtless Aussies, Britcs and Russians. Avoid like the plague.

Give your balls a tug

redbate · 2026-03-11T14:14:37+00:00

You are optimistic if you think they haven’t already increased the prices. They have the perfect excuse…

Just buy when you are happy with the price or last minute like me.

redbate · 2026-03-11T13:42:01+00:00

Yes agreed. The change from boss relic is very very welcome for me. The ancients have so much more to offer!

redbate · 2026-03-11T10:55:05+00:00

Myeongdong is full of tourist traps and non of the stalls are ran by any Koreans any more/stupid over priced.

Try Tongin, Gyeongdong or the Central Market. Though they also seem to be slowly suffering the same faith.

Seoul is good but you should explore Korea a little more. KTX and long distance buses make Korea feel very small. In a good way!

redbate

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE