Motorcycle Options:  No ride is ever as good as the one on your own bike, is it? So unless you're already on a RTW ride, here's a rough guide to doing it on your own machine. You can either fly or ship your bike in, but unless you've got loads of loot and / or are desperately short of time, your best bet is to ship it to S E Asia.
Rule Number One is never ship your bike into Klong Toey, the port for Bangkok, Thailand; and expect to get it cleared without long delays or even getting ripped off!
If you still want to take a chance & ship to Bangkok then only do so if you read this successful report first. The trick being to use a customs agent: Transpo International Ltd. 134 / 28-32 Soi Athakravi 3. Rama 4 Road. Klong Toey. Bangkok 10110. Contact name: Mrs. Thitipa Chevapark. Tel: (02)259-0117-20. Mobile: 0156-76404 ; 0156-16404. Fax: (02) 258-5994. www.transpologistics.com thitipa@transpologistics.com
Singapore used to be the preferred place to ship your bike to and get it cleared quickly, but red tape & "modern" strict vehicle laws & high fees have made Sing a problem for quite a few riders with older bikes. So, nowadays the preferred place to ship a bike to is Port Klang, the port for Kuala Lumpur, capital of Malaysia. From KL then it is only a day's ride to the Thailand border. 
Flying Your Bike in, is an option, and for this Don Muang (Bangkok) airport is not bad. You can clear your bike through customs in 1 day if you are fast and efficient, otherwise allow 2 days before you can ride away. Click here for a report on how easy it is. Note that if you are coming from Europe, Lufthansa have a special system for motorcyclists, which allows you to ride your bike fully loaded with luggage and some fuel (less than a litre) onto a pallet and into a container for delivery. At the other end you simply ride your bike out, easy. It is not expensive for what you get; both you and your bike depart and arrive on the same flight! CARNET DE PASSAGE
This is an international vehicle travel permit, which is normally issued by your country / state's Automobile Association. Note, in North America it is done by the Canadian Automobile Association, as there is no issuing office in the USA! A carnet is recognized in both Singapore and Malaysia, but not in Thailand, although the Thai customs will sometimes stamp the carnet anyway. Singapore subject to local insurance and vehicle standards you are normally granted temporary import based on your period of stay (visa length) up to a maximum of 3 months. For more info contact Automobile Association of Singapore. Malaysia subject to local insurance and vehicle standards you are normally granted temporary import based on your period of stay (visa length) up to a maximum of 3 months. For more info contact Automobile Association of Malaysia.  Thailand has its own vehicle temporary papers that are issued on arrival at the border. Subject to local insurance you are normally granted import for the length of your visa (one, two or three month), up to a maximum of 6 months. The overstay fine is 200 baht a day, with a maximum fine of 2,000 baht plus a stern warning not to do it again, or you will lose your bike. I've seen a few warnings given out to other riders over the years, & it's embarrassing to be around at the time!
Note also that the temporary import form, signed by you, stipulates a huge fine (more than the bike is worth) should you not take the bike out as agreed. Should you upset the apple cart by trying to be smart, they may threaten you with a massive fine & it is very scary. e.g. 420,000 baht for my Africa Twin valued at 140,000 baht!
Laos generally allows a 7-10 day temporary import at the border, with a maximum of 1 month possible. Overstay fines are set at US$5 a day, but experience has taught me that the total fee is sometimes negotiable & negligible. Cambodia does not use the Carnet, although it may sometimes be stamped and /or the officials find the form helpful for completing their documentation.  See also Crossing Borders / Border Crossings Directory / Borders Map
See also the Documents gallery for copies of papers used at the border.
INSURANCE Is the only catch, but cheap temporary local insurance (<US$50) is available "at the border" in Singapore / Malaysia / Thailand / Laos. Depending on the insurance you get, it can be acceptable in the neighbouring country; so it is not a problem to deter your from bringing your own bike. The 800 baht Thai "border" insurance works, as can be testified by a certain BMW GS1100 rider from Singapore (in April 98) - his hospital bills were paid for, after he T-boned a pickup. Thailand: Costs Thailand: As a rough guide, maximum 3rd party insurance costs 1,600 baht a year.
Costs Laos: As a rough guide, maximum 3rd party coverage in Laos costs me 1,500 Thai baht a year. This is with AGL & is available at most international border crossings.
THAILAND MOTORCYCLE IMPORT: Not easy. A lot of trouble & for 99% of people not worth the time, trouble or cost. So buy local & save yourself heaps of time, worry & probably money. However if you insist, and think you can out smart the system, then consider these facts. - IMPORT PERMIT. You need an Import Permit, from the Ministry of Commerce to import an assembled vehicle (car or motorbike). I think that motorcycles over 200cc are classified in with cars and so are subject to whatever laws apply to cars. But the important bit is that you first need the import permit, before you can even consider importing an assembled bike.
- CUSTOMS DUTY: The full rate of Customs duty is 213% of the value of the vehicle. Customs have a list of big bike values & if your invoice does not “match up” then they apply their own market value. There is no easy cheats way out – you have to pay, & you will pay heavily. Take a look at the official Thai Customs website for more detailed info & to scare yourself.
- REGO HOMOLOGATION TEST: Once you get your bike in you have to get it licensed. A homologation compliance test is needed first. The cost for this is 27,000 baht & may take several weeks / months to set up if you don’t use a broker (& a broker costs more). After that it’s only a few hundred baht a year for rego, plus insurance.
- UNASSEMBLED BIKES – the cheat’s way in by the "back door." These come in by the container load as 2nd hand parts & are only subject to 30-40% customs duties. It is a bit of a huge racket. These are the bikes that you usually see on the roads of Thailand without a number plate. Without the plate they are technically illegal & if you’re in Bkk / Pattaya / Phuket, the police tend to give you a hard time. Elsewhere up-country it does not seem to be such a problem, but you normally can’t leave the country on an unregistered motorcycle.
 - LICENSED BIG BIKES: Any licensed big bikes you see could be either legally imported (BMW or Triumph) with full duties paid, or registered grey imports – previously unassembled ones brought in as parts. Cost for a grey import rego is anything from 50,000 baht up, depending on whom you are dealing with. Most of the books are recycled books with the bike having engine & frame numbers re-stamped to match up with an old book / bike that was previously registered. If you buy a bike that is not registered record the engine & frame number to keep an exact record of your bike model for ordering parts later on when it does not have the same engine & frame number. Now there are dealers who claim their books are not recycled, how they manage this I don’t know but the crunch always comes when you either need to renew your bike rego or transfer the place of registration &/or ownership. Most of the time it works, but there are cases where the renewal / transfer is not approved. Sometimes this is because the bike might be registered as 20 or 30 years old but it is only a few years old, the number of cylinders or capacity are wrong. These are all little traps you need to watch out for when buying a
 registered bike. If you never sell the bike or change the place of registration you might never have a problem, but if you’re buying, then check it all closely, especially if you are going to change the place of registration from one province to another. Your local officials might like to be official & pay attention to what you’ve supposedly got in the book.
Now the big bike import system is so well organized that you can almost get any bike you want within a couple of months. You just need to have the balls to plonk down your deposit money with a reliable / reputable big bike shop, & wait your turn for the bike & rego to turn up. So the advice is to buy local, be patient and not waste your time importing privately. Documents Required Entering Thailand International Documents: 1. Evidence of ID & ownership 2. Bike Registration Thai Documents: 1. Customs Temporary Import / Export 2. Immigration TM2 Information of Conveyance 3. Immigration TM3 Crew List 4. Immigration TM4 Passenger List Purchase / Download a full set of Thai Immigration – Customs Border documents here. Completed copies of all of these documents are required for each border crossing by motorbike. Fill out these before you arrive at the border & your crossings will be a lot easier. Complete all documents in duplicate. If you’re arriving on a non-Thai registered bike, you must hand the duplicate copy back in as you leave. If you’re leaving on a Thai registered bike, you must hand the duplicate copy back in on your re-entry to Thailand.
Read some of these GT Rider Bike Import experiences and comments Renting | Purchasing Advice | Importing Advice | 
