Touring Overview

General Overview:

North Thailand is the S E Asia exotic motorcycle touring holiday destination. Just ask the riders from Singapore and Malaysia where they like to ride the most. Up north in the Golden Triangle: the home of colourful hill tribes, magic endless deserted winding mountain roads, warm weather and great Thai food.

North Thailand is a motorcycle paradise. It’s got scores of attractions: lovely forest, spectacular mountain scenery, pretty waterfalls, steaming hot springs and many different ethnic hill tribe people, all concentrated in a relatively small area. North Thailand has a comprehensive network of roads – asphalt & dirt.

Distances: the distances in North Thailand are not that great. From Chiang Mai to the northern most  point of Thailand and the Burma border is only 250 kms, and to the Laos border (entry port of Huay Sai) it is 320 kms.
With only 150 kms maximum between the main towns, you are never far from civilization, so there’s no need to load up with mountains of equipment & luggage (you can leave the kitchen sink at home). Indeed, wherever you are in North Thailand you are only ever a few hours, (maximum 6 hrs) ride from Chiang Mai.

INFRASTRUCTURE
Fuel: North Thailand has fuel every 50 kms.
Food & water: you can get every 30 kms.
Accommodation: you can find a comfortable clean guesthouse / hotel / resort every 70 kms.
The main up-country towns all have clean, hot water accommodation and good restaurants. The restaurants are often open-air, in lush garden settings, serving delicious Thai food. Thai cuisine is one of the most popular in the world nowadays, and where best to get real home cooking than up-country in the Golden Triangle.
Hospitals: every district centre has a small hospital with X-Ray facilities. So there is medical help at least every 60-90 kms maximum.

Hospitality: North Thailand’s people are justifiably famous for their warmth, hospitality and beauty.
With so many positive attributes, you can’t but help enjoy yourself touring North Thailand. Do yourself a favour then, and come on over for some easy bike riding in a nice warm tropical environment. The “cold” season is dry, the wet season warm, and the hot season hot. It’s never cold & wet! The perfect two wheel holiday is waiting for you in North Thailand. It is easy, fun and safe.

WHERE TO GO:
The best place to go is the one where you enjoy yourself the most – you can only decide this after you’ve come back. Wherever you go the first time you will enjoy yourself, and there’s something wrong with you if you don’t. So don’t hesitate – get out there and go.
For bikers North Thailand can be conveniently be divided into two areas (1) the Mae Hong Son Loop and (2) the Golden Triangle / Laos border area. But before you head off up-country try some of the excellent day rides & overnight loops from Chiang Mai.
Look at the GT Rider Thailand photo gallery for photos of Thailand’s great motorcycle roads and attractions, or the GT Rider Laos photo gallery for hundreds of photos.

THE MAE HONG SON LOOP
The MHS Loop to the west-north-west of Chiang Mai has the best forest cover, narrower more winding roads, less traffic and is less developed than the immediate Golden Triangle area. For off-road fans it has also North Thailand’s best trail riding. Check out the GT Rider message board for the latest road and trip reports, or take a peek at Checking Dirt Trails on The Mae Hong Son Loop

THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE / LAOS BORDER
This area to the north and east of Chiang Mai has more hill tribe villages, more loops and choices of places to go, and is more developed than the Mae Hong Son loop. The Laos border region has the best riding on a road bike and is the least touristed area in the North.
Sport riders don’t hesitate to go to Nan, the roads are awesome, & you can’t claim to have ridden North Thailand until you have done either of The Doi Phukha loops in Nan.
Check out the GT Rider message board for the latest road & trip reports.

LAOS: the new exciting motorcycle touring destination in S E Asia. Indeed Highway 13 North, the Vientiane – Vang Vieng – Luang Prabang – Boten road is arguably S E Asia’s greatest motorcycle ride. Getting into Laos is relatively straight forward if you have your own legal registered bike, or you can rent in either Vientiane or Luang Prabang. See Border Crossings & the GT Rider message board for more info. Look at the GT Rider Laos photo gallery for hundreds of photos.

GUIDE MAPS
There aren’t many accurate guide maps available for this part of the world, and to find your way around North Thailand / the Golden Triangle / Laos, the best maps are from the GT Rider.

All GT Rider maps have been surveyed using a GPS, so are accurate, reliable and detailed. Don’t ride without one, or you will be missing out on all the good stuff.

• Golden Triangle Loop Guide map – Two 2 years in the making, this map covers the heart of & best of the Golden Triangle. It has enough detail, tracks & back roads to keep any rider busy for 7 – 10 days exploring the Golden Triangle’s best bike riding & secrets.
• Mae Hong Son Loop Guide map – New 4th edition. December 2009 has enough accurate dirt trails for at least a week’s dirt riding to satisfy any dirt fan. Covers the legendary road of a thousand bends.
• Mae Sa Valley Samoeng Loop – is Chiang Mai’s best day trip & has hours of loops & side roads to explore for both novice & experienced riders.
• Laos Guide Map – is the first & only accurate guide map to the country. Surveyed by the GT Rider himself this map took hundreds of hours & thousands of kms to survey to make sure it is detailed & accurate. Now in it’s 4th edition.

GUIDE BOOK – There is a good informative guide book specifically for motorcyclists touring North Thailand. This is ”A Motorcycle Guide To The Golden Triangle.”
Published in 1998, this book has accurate road descriptions, distances, travel times, and warnings on sensitive areas. Plus recommended loops, hill tribe villages, waterfalls, hot springs, caves, hotels, guesthouses, restaurants, and the bars used by the riders of the Golden Triangle. This book has been written by the Golden Triangle’s leading biker David Unkovich

Available only from AmazonBooks, plus in Chiang Mai from Gecko Books, Bookzone & Surawongs Book Centre. For information of how to acquire this book and maps from outside Thailand click here.

MINIMUM TIME
You need a minimum of 2 nights 3 days to see either the Mae Hong Son loop or the Golden Triangle. If you have less, don’t go to Mae Hong Son, but go to the Golden Triangle area, as you will be able to do this area more justice with your time than by riding non-stop to Mae Hong Son and back again the next day.
You can easily spend 3 weeks touring North Thailand (and still not see it all.) Your best bet is to base yourself in Chiang Mai and make easy 4-5 loops from there.
Start with one or two day trips / loops from Chiang Mai to acclimatise, then head off on the Mae Hong Son Loop for a few days, return to Chiang Mai for a break, then head North to the Golden Triangle and a run along the Laos border. Do it like this and you’ll get to know and remember North Thailand well. Come for a ride soon………….you won’t be disappointed.

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