Motorcycle & Car Hire Thailand
Car and Motorcycle hire is widely available in Thailand’s cities and tourist destinations from chauffeured to self drive to self ride but how practical is self-drive in Thailand and in the big scheme of things is it advisable for the short-term visitor to Thailand?
It is not difficult or overly expensive to hire cars and motorcycles of all shapes and sizes and doing so is undoubtedly a great way to see the country, to explore, to meet real locals and to experience authentic Thai culture. Most of the big brand multinational car hire companies are here (Avis, Hertz, Budget etc) as well as local car hire and motorcycle rental operations as well.
But with this ease there are also associated risks to self-drive in Thailand from simple navigation, as many of the road signs are still in Thai, to the accident and the worst case scenario. For the non Thai speaking fraternity and the visitor to Thailand, self drive is not necessarily the best option and has the potential to turn a dream holiday into a nightmare.
Thai Driving Culture
Driving in Thailand is generally not for the feint hearted and for the most part it is rather like playing the lead role in an action video game in which you have to dodge and avoid obstacles coming at you from all directions. Size matters entirely, few people use road signals and changing the colours of the cars various lights is a national pastime, if the lights still work. Tail-gating is considered an amusing sport and overtaking (or undertaking) is par for the course at any point in time.
When someone flashes their lights at you it means that they are coming, they have no intention of stopping and that you must get out of the way now. But in many instances headlights are simply non existent, even at night. Thai motorcyclists apparently have 20:20 vision and their nocturnal invisibility is coupled with a perceived sense of invincibility while lorries assess their need for illumination according to scale; the larger the lorry the less the need.
Hazard lights, the orange lights that flash simultaneously to warn of a hazard are not used for that purpose in Thailand (broken trees in the road are) but simply as code to alert people that you are going straight on rather than left or right. Since approaching cars from left or right see only one side, fun is likely to ensue.
The sea of scooters, like wicked sentinels, are ridden as if exonerated from all applicable laws, especially red traffic lights. Expect scooters to come up behind you, filter past you at speed through traffic jams, come at you on the wrong side of the road and perpendicular to you for whatever their reason. The wheel scars on the backs of numerous cars are testament enough to what frequently occurs.
Then you have dogs, cats and other fauna, domestic or otherwise, to contend with. Around major conurbations the “free range” dogs are pretty streetwise but with that often comes complacency as they attempt to run the gauntlet from one side of the road to the other through fast moving traffic. Unfortunately a lot don’t make it while others do; their shattered bones left to set of their own free will.
Then there are the road conditions themselves and although greatly improved over recent years can still host a multitude of surprises from deep potholes that can have dire consequences for scooters with smaller wheel circumferences to unmarked road works and other hazards lying in wait.
Locals seem to experience some sort of adverse psychological metamorphosis when they get behind the wheel of a car. That gentle Thai smile dissipates into a manic, eye-bulging frenzy where being first is tantamount. You are heading for a u-turn and are indicating to get into the right lane but you cant because no-one will let you. Instead they see you indicating and speed past only to move into the lane that you are currently in ahead of you. That is the game; there is little to no common courtesy.
It is as though the whole Thai persona changes and is replaced by pent-up raw aggression which glares at you from behind blackened windscreens and windows. Yet violent road rage is practically non existent at least in its Western form. It is simply a very aggressive and competitive style of driving based on pecking-order and the antithesis of this is in Bangkok where concern for other road users is practically non existent.
On the flip-side if you do run into trouble on the road in Thailand, Thai hospitality once again blossoms as people pull-over to see if they can help which is a truly admirable quality.
On average 36 people die in Thailand each day on the roads and the bulk of these involve motorcycles and drunk drivers. Thailand has one of the highest road accident rates in the world and particularly up-country, driving at night is still unadvisable due to the higher accident rate. If you are involved in an accident in which someone is injured or worse still killed the penalties (monetary as well) are heavy.
Driving in Thailand and the Law
To drive legally on Thai roads you either need a valid Thai driving and/or motorcycle license or international driving / motorcycle licence (scooters / mopeds included) and while, under normal conditions, the authorities are fairly lackadaisical their attitude will change in the event of an accident, particularly if someone is hurt.
The legal age for driving a car is 18 years old while you can get on a motorcycle up to 110cc at the age of 15 although you will frequently see kids far younger than that hurtling around on scooters more often than not with scant disregard for self preservation. We’ve all been there, I know, it is a classic “it wont happen to me” scenario and woe betide we sound like old farts!
All vehicles must display a valid tax sticker and whilst driving you must have your driving licence with you and a copy of the vehicle’s registration book. A minimum of 3rd party motor insurance is required but this along with several other laws pertaining to driving in Thailand is often totally ignored (see “Are they Covered?”).
Motorcyclists are legally required to wear a helmet and although you will see countless riders not adhering to this, you really would be insane not to. Although the penalty for not doing so is largely enforced on a whim and results in a fine, is the rush of wind through your hair or the perceived pose factor really worth risking your wellbeing for?
Thais usually drive on the left but frequently find themselves on the right when the need arises and a blind bend simply adds to the challenge of the over-take. At some traffic lights you can drive through a red traffic light if you are turning left but not all of them. If in doubt stop and if you start getting abuse from behind then off you go to the left.
Seatbelts in the front seats of the car are compulsory and in the back seat they are not. Indeed taxis don’t even have rear seatbelts. Nor is it a legal requirement for babies and children to be restrained in a car seat. It is illegal to use a mobile phone whilst driving unless you have a hands free set but apparently motorcyclists are exonerated from this law as well and to be on the phone whilst riding your motorcycle and steering with your left hand is the latest craze in cool.
The legal blood-alcohol limit in Thailand is 0.5 grams of alcohol per litre of blood unless you have had your driving license for less than 5 years in which case it is 0.2 grams per litre of blood. The Thai Police are rightfully getting hotter on drink drivers and if you are caught over the legal limit behind the wheel be prepared for a heavy fine and imprisonment. Thailand has a phenomenally high road fatality rate and the two most significant participants are motorcyclists and drink drivers.
Are you covered? Are they covered?
If you insist on motorcycle or self drive car hire in Thailand double check your travel insurance in all instances to make sure that you are fully covered to drive and hire cars or motorcycles. Many policies exclude motorcycles regardless whilst others impose stringent conditions.
Only consider self drive with appropriate insurance cover that includes comprehensive medical insurance and repatriation should the worst case scenario happen. The standard of medicine in Thailand is generally good but is best in Bangkok which is where, in the event of an accident, you will need to be post haste. Though cheaper than western hospitals, medical bills in Thailand do quickly escalate into scary numbers.
Don’t even think about hiring a motorcycle in Thailand if you are not insured to do so. You are quite literally playing a game of Russian roulette.
A very high proportion of motorcycles, cars and vans in Thailand are on the road without any form of insurance at all despite it being a legal requirement. This has serious connotations if you are involved in an accident with a vehicle that has no insurance cover (see “anecdote” at the bottom of this article) and in an accident situation, the hope is that you and your insurance company will foot the bills.
Self Drive in Thailand – Our Advise
Generally speaking we advise our clients not to hire self-drive cars in Thailand and to avoid motorcycle hire unless you are a very experienced rider and are joining a well organised motorcycle tour (which, incidentally, we can also help to arrange). Never, ever hand over your passport as a guarantee against your rental no matter what anyone says. Without your passport you are in big trouble.
Instead we advocate hiring a car with a driver; after-all, for most of us it is not every day that we have our own chauffeur! It is safer, far more relaxing, provides you with an exclusive personal guide, a font of local knowledge and your doorway into the culture of the local people. You just sit back, relax and enjoy a drink and the scenery.
And finally a little anecdote about driving in Thailand which we first heard a decade ago but which still rings true today: “If you are driving a car in Thailand and are involved in an accident with a motorcycle it’s your fault because you have a car and they have a motorcycle and therefore you are deemed to have more money than them. If you are driving a car in Thailand and have an accident with (E.g.) a Mercedes Benz it’s your fault because they have more money and status than you”.
More Information
Contact Us at ZiZ Asia for more information about motorcycle and car hire, off-road and motorcycle tours in Thailand, your source of local, current and accurate information on Southeast Asia travel. We offer a personalised one-stop Indochina and Southeast Asia trip plan service and provide a very high standard of affordable cars and luxury vans with English speaking drivers throughout Thailand.
If driving is your thing, Thailand has other alternatives as well, such as organised track days where you can drive formula racing cars and touring cars or high-powered, track-ready sports bikes. Other options to consider would be 4×4 off road driving or dirt biking in the wilds which we do highly recommend and where the latter is concerned it is also possible to venture into Laos and Cambodia as well.
