Bikes in Thailand (ราชอาณาจักรไทย)

Mrs F and I have been in Thailand for a few days now and I took the chance today to take a few photos of the thousands of bikes that are here. Most are small scooter type bikes although there are the occasional bigger machines around. Safety is a huge cause for concern in Thailand and looking at these photos it is easy to see why. The number of bikes is staggering and as a guess I would say that bikes are close to out-numbering cars.

Here are a few photos....

I liked the shape of the fronts of these bikes....



















There are quite a few people that carry their children on bikes....



















Riding side-saddle is quite common by girls wearing skirts....



















The rider wants to protect himself, but it is a different story for his passengers....



















Two kids on one bike....



















Four schoolgirls on one bike....



















Not a good quality photo, but three-up is not uncommon....



















Cool looking skoot....



















If you look carefully, you will see the bottles of petrol being sold at the side of the road. This is a refilling point for bikes set up by somebody to make a little money and there are many of them....



















Parking is not a problem for bikes in Thailand....



















A few side-car photos....



















Home-made outfits to carry goods around in are very common. Here I am on one such bike....



















Some sidecars even come with roofs....



















A fruit seller on her bike with sidecar. Many traders move from place to place selling their wares like this....



















It may have started out life as a Kawasaki....



















I just had to take a photo of this....



















A few Harleys parked in a side alley....



















One of the streets in Patong (หาดป่าตอง) ....



















It is rainy season here and this was just after one of the many downpours....



























The rain is so warm, only a few riders stop for the rain....



















Finally, here is a family on their bike / sidecar outfit....



















As you can tell, bike riding is Thailand is very common, but the safety of the riders is a big problem. Traffic accidents are the second highest cause of death amongst Thai males. It is easy to see why.