Question about touring the G-T from a newbie...

rb30e

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Dec 19, 2007
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Hi all,

Just joined the site, it has been quiet helpful in planning for my trip.
I have a question, probably a silly one. I'm thinking of renting a bike in thailand and traveling through cambodia to vietnam then returing back through laos. Is it possible to cross boarders with a rented bike thats not registered in my name. If so how would this be possible if the people renting me the bike have my passport?
Does this sound feasible or should i consider a different plan?
 
Dec 9, 2007
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Hmm, I know a friend who tours through Cambodia from Thailand, but he uses his own bike and says they was no hassle at the border.
I think for a car there is a bit more bs though.
 

DavidFL

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Jan 16, 2003
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www.thegtrider.com
rb30e wrote: Hi all,

Just joined the site, it has been quiet helpful in planning for my trip.
I have a question, probably a silly one. I'm thinking of renting a bike in thailand and traveling through cambodia to vietnam then returing back through laos. Is it possible to cross boarders with a rented bike thats not registered in my name. If so how would this be possible if the people renting me the bike have my passport?
Does this sound feasible or should i consider a different plan?
Take a look here
https://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorc ... -t555.html
 

rb30e

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Dec 19, 2007
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Thanks for trying to help but I have done a search through the site and the forums, but still having trouble trying to find an answer to my question.
I dont think is is possible to take a rented bike out of the country with out to much of a shit fight.
Probably gonna look at purchasing a bike from thailand as I intend on riding around around SE asia for around 6 weeks.
 

Auke

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Nov 10, 2003
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Have a look at https://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-laos-c ... ssings.htm and in particular under the Paragraph "Crossing with a bike".

Crossing into Vietnam with a bike from Laos or Cambodia is very difficult if not impossible unless its is a Vietnamese registered bike so you may want to consider starting in Vietnam - buy a "Minsk" and have fun. See the Vietnam section of the GT Rider board for more details
 

HIKO

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Nov 7, 2005
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HI,

Normally you can not take a rental bike out of Thailand, the bike must be in your name or the owner must be present at the border. It may be possible to take a rental bike out of the country provided that the rental shop allow you and that they give a written permission in Thai together with some tax stamps. Anyhow in this case it is very unusual that a rental firm will give you the permission, especially to go to Cambodia and it will be up to the Thai immigration&custom official if they will let you out. You can never be sure in advance. Also remember that very often rental bikes are unregistered without any plate or waiting for registration with a red plate. In both cases the bikes can under no circumstances be taken out of Thailand.
Then you have the hassles with the passport. Some rental companies demand the passport as collateral, for some it is enough with a copy and the rental company know you well then you need nothing.

So forget about a rental bike.

Then if you decide that you will buy a bike pls take notice that 1) the bike must be registered with proper plate and registration book (green book) and the frame&engine numbers must match those that the bike had last time when tax was paid 2) the owner has put his name in advance on the right papers for transfer of ownership together with copy of his passport or ID paper 3) you have obtained an at least a 2 month non immigrant visa in advance in your home country 4) you have an address and documentation about it,in the same province, as where the bike is registered.

In this case a ownership transfer can with good luck be done in 1-2 days. If the bike is registered in another province you will need at least two weeks.

In any case you must first visit the immigration office where your address in Thailand will be and get an home address certificate and after you can go with the proper documentation to the Vehicle registration office and change the name of the owner in the registration book.

The procedure explained above can change slightly from place to place. The cost will be about 500 Baht if you do it yourself and about 2.500 Baht if you use an agent. Then you will still have to pay one year insurance (if it not paid already) which is 200-700 baht depending on the bike. If the bike is registered in another province than your address you will probably have to use an agent and the cost can go up to 5000 Baht depending on where the bike's home province is and how quickly you will need the book.

So it is not as easy as you may think and pls allow some time for the process. Don't believe that you fly in in the evening and leave with a new bike in the morning....

After this the border crossing is quite easy but time consuming when leaving Thailand and mostly very smooth in Cambodia and Laos. Vietnam you can forget, pls read my threads on "Vietnam with an under 175cc" from this year.

Remember that some "Tea money" given in a proper way ( for ex 100 Baht between the pages in the registration book) can smooth up the procedure. Improper proposals like "How much you want money from me" in a loud voice with anger will only cause problems. I know that many people on this site dislike the use of "Tea Money" because that is against western morality rules to pay "bribes". On the other side it is "Business as usual in Thailand, Cambodia and Laos", we have to remember that no government clerk, be they polices or custom clerks can live a decent life on their normal salary so they are dependent on these kind of "extra income". I will not be running in the front line for changing this, for us westerners very rude and easily corrupting system.

If You have any more questions I will be happy to answer them, but just to protect Your image on this site do some surfing on this web site in advance. I think that all the information I give above has been given before by me and other members. I fully understand that some members get angry to answer the same question again and again and drop their morning coffee on their trousers when doing some morning surfing as happened to Mikerust....

With Best Rgds

HIKO
 

rb30e

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Dec 19, 2007
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yeah your right, i've just been checking out vietnam, you cant really get a bike into their country legally. do you think theres any chance that they will change their laws before sept 08?

Thanks HIKO for your time and patience in answering my questions.
I have been looking at purchasing the bike in thailand and think that thats the way to go. I understand the required procedure in getting the bike registered into my name and think that it will be eaiser doing it that way rather than trying to rent bike and cross the boarder.

Sorry to anyone that was annoyed by my silly questions