Having spent quite a bit of time in the Land of Smiles for the past 14+ years (now working on building a house in Nakhon Pathom), I would never, ever ride a bike in Thailand. Between the questionable road surfaces, crazy drivers and my desire to wear full gear (I like my face and skin as they are), it's just not for me.
There are not many ambulances in Thailand (seen them sometimes in Bangkok, but driver's don't give them the right of way). If you go down, you might get lucky and have a song taew (pickup truck with two wooden seats in the rear to carry passengers) come by and he might be willing to take you to a hospital. Plus, the gov't charges a premium on large-engine bikes.
You'll see a lot of little Yamaha, Suzuki, Honda, etc 125-250 cc bikes buzzing around (some carrying the whole family), but very rarely do I see anything bigger. I know you can rent H-D's but you pay a lot for that privilege. It's ironic that Triumph builds the bikes there, but they don't/can't sell them there. I think there was talk, at one time, to open a dealer in Bangkok & Pattaya.
With all that said, and I know others have differing opinions on gear and stuff, the pics are great. Dee mark-mark.
