For first of all - beware of foreigners on the jeeps. They are drunked driving often, and more often they are chasing the speed. The Thais themselves are very loyal to tourists on motorbikes. When they are overtaking you by the car, often they will warn you by a signal, giving you a way, even if they are not obliged. Driving through traffic jams is also a challenge for a beginner. The stream is usually very dense, and motorbikes immediately leak into any gap between the cars. At the same time, Thais, as a rule, are excellent drivers, they will squeeze through the gaps and remain intact. A novice tourist can get confused in this situation. Roads. Almost every roadway has a lot of drain grids. Such is a "special" thing of the local climate: it helps when the tropical storms occur. For cars, these obstacles are usually imperceptible, but the motorbike (and its driver) can suffer greatly, if at the speed they hit a drain hole grille, which has been sunk into the asphalt. Be careful! Sometimes you can "find" a sand and palm leaves on the roads, especially on the islands. That stuff is a slippy as hell, be doubly careful. Another thing - stray dogs... These animals are not afraid of motorbikes in principle. In the evening, they make raid on the garbage heaps and garbage dumps. They are, as a rule, do not attack drivers, but can suddenly turn up under the wheel. Well, and of course, the drunken pedestrians among the usual tourists. They tend to fall out of the bars on the road. In the Europe, people are accustomed to the fact that the whole movement stops when a pedestrian enters the roadway. They think the same way about the movement in Thailand. Watch out for it.
First of all - check the braking system and lighting. Anybody can handle it without a single problem. See how the motorbike starts, how it keeps idle. Check if the wheels and steering wheel dangle. During the “test drive”, pay attention to whether it leads him to the side, whether there are any noticeable extraneous sounds, rattling, knocking. A typical damage of a rental Thai motorbike is a “eight” on the wheel from hitting the edge of a drain grate or “speed bump”. In case of claims to the motorbike, the owner, as a rule, will exchange your motorbike without any problems, so you shouldn't turn the rental process into a technical maintenance procedure.
The most common violation for which you can stop the police, is riding without a helmet. A fine for driving without a helmet is - 400 Baht. Please wear a helmet and you will have less problems with the police. The second violation is driving without driving license or with driving license without category “A”(motorcucle), but if you go in helmets and do not break the rules, the chance that you will be stopped to check your license is reduced to a minimum. A fine for driving without driving license - 400 Baht, as well as for any other violation - 400 Baht, except for the passage to the red signal of the traffic light - 1000 baht. Drinking and driving - a fine will be on the spot - 10,000 baht, if you do not agree with it, you will face an arrest before the trial, after the trial your fine will be 30,000 baht. Drink or not to - is up to you... If you are stopped to be fined, then the main request - to behave with the policemen as girls, the more rude you are - the more problems you will have. When writing out the protocol, the motorbike is taken as a guarantee of your payment of the fine, after the payment, it can be returned. If you do not have time to pay, you will have to go and pay for an additional parking fee. Near the police are always taxi drivers on motorbikes. They are waiting for you to take you to the police station and back. Do not pay in advance for a motorbike taxi (there is no guarantee that he will take him back to the place where were you arrested on the motorbike). You can give the policeman a bribe (they do not take less than 500 Baht). Keep this amount(500) in a separate pocket, if they see a larger amount, you will have to pay more. Do not agree on the amount of a bribe, just put it in the documents or, while opening the trunk, put them there, then show the policeman on the trunk. The longer you communicate with the policeman, the greater will be the size of the fine. When you are detained for lack of rights, it is worth making a protocol and paying it at the police station, since in the future it will be possible to travel with it later. If you have a protocol for any violation of “driving without a helmet”, “driving without a license” you can use the protocol and violate what you were stopped for 7 days.
Movement in Pattaya, as well as all over the Thailand, is LEFT-SIDED. Please be careful. To get less confused, wear a watch, bracelet or tie a string on your left hand, so it will be easier for you to remember. You can turn to the left on the red signal of the traffic lights, with the exception of crossroads, in front of which are signs "turn is prohibited". On this basis, do not occupy the left side when driving straight or to the right. In Thailand, there is such a rule on the road: “if they you are giving you a way, then you go, if they do not, then you wait".
Refuel your bike with either 91 or 95 petrol, but keep in mind that refueling 95 petrol reduces fuel consumption by 20% and increases power by 10%. There are no gas stations, as a rule, in the city. The nearest is on the Teprazit Road, 3.5 km from Pattaya Park. Gas stations are open from 7 am to 22 pm. The cost of fuel for refueling 23-28 baht per liter. You can buy a gasoline in the bottle of 0.5 liters from Thai taxi drivers or motorbike-taxi drivers for 30 baht. That is, a liter of gasoline will cost you much more, and even of dubious quality.
It is forbidden to park where there are signs of prohibited parking or stops. The signs "parking is prohibited" and "parking is prohibited" are the same as in Russia. Parking is also prohibited where curbs are painted with stripes in red or yellow. You can park motorbikes everywhere where there is no such marking, and where bikes are already parked. If parking is not correct, you will face a chain on the wheel and a protocol in the pocket of the motorbike. Do not park your motorbike on the taxi parking places, to not to get into a “punctured wheel” type of trouble. When visiting Walking Street (Google Maps - 12.927405, 100.874615), we recommend you to put your bike on a paid parking lot (30 Baht) behind the MIXX Club (12.924719, 100.868209). Do not put your motorbike on the free parking lot of Balihai Pier (during our work there were several attempts to steal a motorbike). Any shopping mall do have a free parking lot for motorbikes or at least for a symbolic price. When you are parking, please remember the place where did you put the bike. If you do not remember, then later it may be difficult to find it. We also recommend blocking the steering wheel while your bike going to be on the parking lot. For each motorbike we give a lock, so please do not forget to put it on and take it off during a long stay (30 minutes or more). If you lose the key or the lock - you will pay a fine of 500 baht.
Yes. All of our bikes have compulsory insurance with a coverage of 30,000 baht when contacting the hospital. Bikes are not insured against accidents and theft. In the event of an accident or theft, damage compensation will be made by your expense.