Hi Guys
Just wanted to know if anyones has had anything stolen such as their bike or bits from it when they've left it locked up in Bangkok or other places in Thailand? I've seen Harley walking around in his videos and I can only assume he's locked it up to something. Is it really safe to do that? If we did that here (in the UK) something would get stolen. Really sad I know.
Also, can anyone recommend a shop in Bangkok that is helpful enough to give out cardboard bike boxes so that we can pack them up on our way back through?
Thanks!
Replies
I had an LED torch ripped off my handlebars in Chiang Mai. Was chained up outside a cheap guesthouse on Ratchapakinai Rd.
My guess is because they go for about 300 baht at the markets.
Didn't really bother me, it was only a cheap $3 torch I use as a backup to my main headlight.
But it shows that people will take advantage to make an easy buck.
Everyone seemed pretty honest and, whilst in Chiang Mai, I saw kids leaving schoolbags lying around the footpath and all sorts of things that would go bye, bye in 5 minutes here in Australia.
The only other dishonesty I saw was a woman at one of the hardware stores gave me 5 baht change instead of 50 baht.
And, of course, there's the large majority of items at markets with no price tags, so they can tell the tourists stuff is worth 3x the real price.
For the most part, I think there's so many tourists to take advantage of that most people don't feel the need to steal stuff. My torch, I think, was an exception because it was such an easy hock & indistinguishable from the ones at the markets.
Overall, I felt safer in Thailand than I do in my own backyard, but still advise not taking any unnecessary risks.
That said, I've never been to Bangkok. Being a bigger city, I wouldn't trust the place.
In Chiang Mai, people say Jacky Bike is the place to go, but I'm afraid I can't help you with a bike shop in Bangkok. There is quite a lot of them there, so I'm sure you won't have any trouble.
Personally, I dragged my box around with me, so I didn't use my bike to travel between places and left the box where I was staying. My bike is a 29er, and I had such a hard time finding a suitable sized box here (actually had to tape 2 boxes together), I didn't trust that 29ers would be popular enough in Thailand for me to be able to find another box over there.