Thailand - Cambodia - Vietnam - Laos: where to start borders crossing

[thaitur]

Hello,

We are going to visit Thailand (North), Cambodia (South), Vietnam (South-North) and Laos (North) in January. We are going to rent bikes in one of these countries and travel through all of them. I'm trying to find the best route for this trip. I found some new and old posts concerning these areas but I'm not sure about the current situation concerning paperwork, border crossing etc. in the whole region.

What do you recommend, what do you think?:
- is it possible to cross all countries with one bike rented only in one country?
- is it possible to rent bikes in Thailand and leave them in Vietnam ?
- where to rent bikes and start the trip? [Thailand, BKK??? ]
- which bikes should we rent (we think about dirt roads and maybe some soft off-road) [Honda XR 250 Baja??? ]
- how many days do we need for this tour (minimum)? [minimum full 3 weeks??? ]

Cheeeersss!!!

 

[TonyBKK]

Welcome to GTR.

No, it will not be possible for you to cross multiple borders on rented bikes.

You should probably consider buying a bike for your trip or renting bikes in each country you plan to visit.

 

[thaitur]

I've found here info that we can rent bikes in Thailand and go to Laos (https://www.gt-rider.com/motorcycles-in-thailand/renting-big-bikes-in-thailand). Is it possible to go further to Vietnam or Cambodia from Laos?

 

[thaitur]

ps. Is it possible to buy bikes in BKK and then go via Cambodia, Laos and sell bikes in Vietnam? Huh.. )

 

[TonyBKK]

thaitur;283766 wrote: ps. Is it possible to buy bikes in BKK and then go via Cambodia, Laos and sell bikes in Vietnam? Huh.. )

No, it is not possible to do legally. When you take a Thai registered bike out of Thailand you fill out a customs form for temporary export of your vehicle. If you fail to return the vehicle to Thailand you are subject to a large fine. That said, if you're a tourist and don't plan on returning to Thailand you could take your chances and probably get away with it. Just keep in mind that if you choose to return to Thailand some day that there might be a fine waiting for you upon arrival.

You won't be able to "legally" sell a Thai registered vehicle in Vietnam, but you might be able to sell it "as is" and the buyer could perhaps part it out or ride it unregistered.

Taking a Thai-registered bike into Laos and Cambodia is pretty easy and straightforward. Vietnam, less so.

Do a search on this forum to learn about what you need to do in order to bring a foreign registered vehicle into Vietnam. It's not easy but it's doable. Good luck!

 

[thaitur]

TonyBKK, thanks a lot for your replies and help.

So it seems that the best option for us would be to rent motorbikes in BKK and travel through Thailand, Cambodia and Laos then go back to BKK and rent another motorbikes in Vietnam (only for Vietnam).

Is it possible to rent motorbikes in Vietnam and go to other countries and comeback?

I searched this forum and some others including horizonsunlimited, but I do not have a clear image of the current situation with renting bikes and border crossing.



Cheers!

 

[thaitur]

So it seems to be like that:

bikes rented in Laos = only Laos
bikes rented in Thailand = Thailand, Laos, Cambodia
bikes rented in Vietnam = Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand

???

I contacted several rentals in SE but got mixed info concerning border crossing.