Jun
18
One of the best ways to get around while on holidays in
Fortunately the traffic moves quite slow in Pattaya due to the sheer volume of cars and motorbikes on the road during the day and into the night. Motorbike rental in Pattaya is legal without a motorbike licence but it is best to at least carry your drivers licence from your home country with you at all times. It is not uncommon for Pattaya police to pull over random motorcycle riders and check for licences. If you have your motor vehicle drivers licence from your home country you will be ok.
One thing most motorbike renting agents in Pattaya won’t tell you is just how important it is to wear a helmet while riding in Pattaya. Not only for obvious safety reasons is a helmet a good idea but if the Pattaya police see you riding without a helmet on you will be fined 200 baht at least. Whatever you do, under no circumstances, never ever argue with a Thai police officer since the repercussions of this could do more than just ruin your holiday. Thai police officers have no sense of humor and brushing them the wrong way is something you just don’t want to do.
When renting a motorbike in Pattaya, have a look around for the type of bike you want to hire and ask around at a few places for the best price. Some operators who hire motorbikes in Pattaya will ask to hold your passport till you return the bike. I would allow them to take a copy of my passport and do fill out a bike rental agreement but I would not let them hold my passport under any circumstance. You will have to pay a security deposit but you will get it back when you return the motorbike undamaged. If they ask to hold your passport say no and keep looking for a motorbike rental agent who is happy with just a copy of your passport, that is all they really need despite what they may tell you.
The prices for the big high powered sports bikes vary from a few hundred baht per day up to much more but be very sure you can handle a high powered bike before you take it. If you crash it and manage to survive the fall you will have to pay for it and they are not cheap. Many foreign tourists get killed on sports bikes in Pattaya each year but this is rarely reported in the news since it is bad for the local tourist market so be careful.
If you plan to rent a smaller size automatic motorbike while in Pattaya like a Honda Air Blade, Honda Click, Yamaho Nouvo or Yamaha Mio you will find these bikes much easier to handle, cheaper at about 200 baht per day, very economical , a lot of fun and a hell of a lot safer than trying to handle a bullet on wheels like a Yamaha R1. If you are not very experienced riding motorbikes do yourself a favor and get a smaller bike. The last thing you want to do is crash a bike, have to pay for it, get injured and worst of all ruin your holiday.
In any case, if you are coming to Pattaya, taking advantage of the many motorbike rental agents and hiring yourself a bike is probably the most convenient and most fun way to get around the busy streets of Pattaya and it is so much easier to find a parking space for a bike than it is for a car.