shotover Posted January 26, 2003 Report Share Posted January 26, 2003 "maybe you are just lucky? some people are and around 2 farangs a week on average in Pattaya are'nt and end up going back home in the hold of the 747 in a casket." Are you saying that about 100 farangs die annually in Pattaya from motobike wrecks? That would sound high to me, even if we were talking about all of Thailand. Where did you find these statistics? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iono Posted January 26, 2003 Report Share Posted January 26, 2003 Tiger Moth, Man I'd say stay away from two wheeled vehicles if I were you. Your life will be a lot longer with less pain involved, go to Pattaya for the other kind of riding Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limbo Posted January 27, 2003 Report Share Posted January 27, 2003 Koh Samui stats as listed in the magazine Community: september 2002, 205 reported accidents incl 189 Thai citizens and 16 foreigners. No fatalities. Mainly between the age of 21 and 25 and prime time was between 11 and 12pm. Alcohol related 84 cases. october 2002, 170 reported accidents. 150 involving Thai citizens, plus one fatality. 19 foreigners involved in traffic accidents. 124 cases involved alcohol.This time around a lot of males aged between 16 and 20 and this time prime time was between 8 and 9pm. november 2002, 152 reported accidents, involving 132 Thai citizens with 3 fatalities and 16 foreigners were involved with one fatality. 51 cases related to alcohol, again the winning age group was between 16 and 20 and male and prime time was between 8-10pm. Most accidents involved motor bikes rather cars and loads of people were not wearing helmets when the accident occurred. If you're intersted I can keep posting this info on a monthly base. Cheers, Limbo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveh Posted January 27, 2003 Report Share Posted January 27, 2003 Maybe you guys are right. Its dangerous riding motorbikes in Pattaya. I should take up skateboarding instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatbastard Posted January 27, 2003 Report Share Posted January 27, 2003 The hire charge for bikes in Pattaya/ Phuket cannot give any sort of return on investment. If you own and ride a large bike you will understand what I mean. A set of tires for an R1 will run at 11,000 baht and they will last for 6000 kms when the bike it ridden carefully or 2000 kms when not. The bike Hirers get a return on their money by renting out bikes in poor condition, waiting for the inevitable result of the Mix of booze, bravado and inexperience. After having an accident you will find that you will be presented with an inflated repair bill or in the event of a writeoff, a bill for the bike that is far beyond its value. In the main the renters get the bike on hire purchase from dealers and they pay an inflated price for the purchase which includes the financing costs, so in a write off they can present you with a legitimate receipt for the bike at the high purchase price. Hiring is a good deal for an experienced rider but it is just Stupid to rent a high powered bike unless you have many years of experience and prepared to take the risk of hiring with no insurance and usually no legal registration on the bike. After all a scooter will provide basic transport, who needs an R1 or similar around Pattaya ? Only those who need to demonstrate how Macho and fearless they are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simie Posted January 27, 2003 Report Share Posted January 27, 2003 Shotover, I would'nt claim for a minute that my figures where in anyway scientific. They are just those related to me by friends who live there. When you consider the huge number of tourists per year who visit Pattaya and the relatively large number of them who hire bikes, I don't think that figure is that hard to believe. I also have friends on Samui and they relate to me regular farang deaths there. I remember once I was on the back of a TG's bike just out side Chaweng (going very slowly!) and noticed what looked like a large patch of rasberry jam sunbaked onto the side of the road. I found out later it was the remnants of a young English guys brains (the Thais had'nt done a very good job clearing up) who had come off the day before trying to take the bend too fast. I think many people would be surprised just how many farang die each year in Thailand in bike crashes and drownings. (the drownings particularly off Phuket in the rainy season, where there are very strong currents) Cheers Simie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pattaya127 Posted January 27, 2003 Report Share Posted January 27, 2003 . I think many people would be surprised just how many farang die each year in Thailand in bike crashes and drownings. --------------------------- while enjoying a sabbatical (away from me) in Phuket, the GF saw a guy drowning, just as she arrived in Patong and stepped on the beach. Apparently he could not be rescued soon enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregchambers Posted January 27, 2003 Report Share Posted January 27, 2003 You would be better off doing as the Right Reverend Barnyard Trunk does when in town, hire an electric wheelchair. Many bars are thinking about fitting ramps to allow rapid ingress but calls for discounts for the eldery and disabled have so far been ignored! No doubt, backed by various concerned NGO's, things will change fast! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crash999 Posted February 9, 2003 Report Share Posted February 9, 2003 Says simie: Crash, maybe you are just lucky? some people are and around 2 farangs a week on average in Pattaya are'nt and end up going back home in the hold of the 747 in a casket. I used to ride motor bikes for many years in the UK and will on the odd occasion jump on the back of a TG's bike for a short journey. But I try not to make a habit of it and would not dream of hiring a big bike myself. Yes, maybe I have been lucky. However, when I say that I drive defensively, I do exactly that. I get passed by drunk Thai guys on the shoulder who are riding noisy scooters without a helmet! I avoid riding on the back when other people are riding as it scares me shitless and I'm always going for an imaginary brake pedal as we storm up on songtaew and the like. Cheers!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crash999 Posted February 9, 2003 Report Share Posted February 9, 2003 Says Fatbastard: The hire charge for bikes in Pattaya/ Phuket cannot give any sort of return on investment. ... ...it is just Stupid to rent a high powered bike unless you have many years of experience and prepared to take the risk of hiring with no insurance and usually no legal registration on the bike. After all a scooter will provide basic transport, who needs an R1 or similar around Pattaya ? Only those who need to demonstrate how Macho and fearless they are. I don't know where you get the idea that renting bikes doesn't give any return on investment. I know one of the women who rents bikes very well and chat to her about life and business every time I'm down in Pattaya. She told me that a few years ago, when the 400cc bikes were less common, the break-even period on a bike purchased outright towards the end of the year was only around 4 months. Now that the 400cc bikes are more common, it becomes harder to rent them all even during peak times- now the breakeven period is more like a year or so. This year the big push for her is to move towards bigger bikes- as they get rented more easily than the smaller ones and (even for the more expensive bikes like a 250k Baht R1) break-even in 6-8 months or so depending on the season for a bike purchased outright, not financed. Many of the parts are locally made knock-offs even though a punter might get charged the full price for a replacement. But gambling that people will write-off the bikes isn't a good strategy. If the punter dies, who are they going to claim anything from? And even if the punter survives and is willing to pay for the bike, that bike is no longer in service and needs to be replaced. Opportunity cost - lost revenue. As for why one rents the bikes, yeah part of it might be to look cool riding around. But another part is why many people ride motorcycles to begin with- because it's FUN! :: Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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