Our intrepid explorer, Paul Owen, member of the Special Interest Motorcycle Group (SIG), is back in Thailand on his bike.
Paul writes
It was a long journey from England, with all the flights being very full and crowded and the extra security measures re-Covid took a long time especially at Birmingham Airport. I had to do seven days quarantine in Phucket, but only on the island. If you test negative you can go anywhere after the 1st day and it’s a very large island.
The water is crystal clear and I saw many fish. It’s quite famous for its turtles. I also rode around the island which is very mountainous and went scuba diving to the Similian Islands.
Then I flew to Chiang Mai and have been doing a lot of motorcycling since I’ve arrived. I’ve got a different 650 Suzuki V Strom with a lot of extras and really nice tyres and it makes a lot of difference, much better to ride.
I’ve done two big rides, the last was the famous Mae Hon Son loop (1900 bends) which took 2 days.
At Mae Hon Son I visited the monument (Chedi), dedicated to the ex pat bikers who have finished their life here.
I also visited a Chinese town on the Burmese border and then went to the sunflower fields which are very famous in Thailand. They are only there for one month a year.
I decided to do a shortcut to sunflower fields, which meant I went off on the steepest roads I’ve probably ever been up. An extremely narrow track straight over a really high mountain. It was very very dodgy. I couldn’t stop to take any photos it was that steep.
Obviously age doesn’t bring wisdom for some people
The Loy Krathong festival where the Thais light big lanterns and float little boats to ask for forgiveness was quieter this year but still interesting.
While I have been here one of the guys I have ridden with had a nasty motorbike accident, when a scooter U turned on front of him no signal or warning. He is still in hospital 2 weeks later, lost a kidney and broke 8 ribs along with other injuries. The kind of injuries that an air vest may have helped.
I wish him a quick recovery.
Paul Owen, Section UK SIG, Motorcycle Group
