Krabi & Three Nations Charity Ride

Krabi. Now there's a beautiful province. Gorgeous isolated coastal resorts with deserted white sand beaches, incredible countryside with towering karst formations dripping in tropical foliage and the most unbelieveable offshore islands with sheer rock faces, pristine clear water of every shade of blue imaginable and a myriad gold, scarlet, turquoise, emerald and hot pink fishes nibbling your skin as you float on your back contemplating never, EVER leaving! Absolute bliss!

Well, told you I'd tell you about our bike tour to Krabi for the 11th Annual 3 Nations Charity Ride, didn't I? What, you want to read all about 1,482 (at the last count) hairy arsed bikers from Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand all meeting up and partying in hotels, bars, beaches, swimming pools and an out of diesel speed boat miles from land in a lashing storm (I kid you not!) for 3 days.... nah, told you before, if you want the gory details you gotta getta bike 'n join in!

Needless to say we had a great time, some of the highlights being motoring on the deserted highway 44 from near Surat Thani on the east coast to just north of Krabi on the west coast... crank the bike up to a nice cruising speed of 130 and just sit there for an hour taking in the karst outcrops, rainforest and palm plantations on an arrow straight new 6 lane highway with no villages, som tum stalls, suicidal dogs, blind u-turners, traffic lights, muppets on mopeds, roadkill or potholes! No wonder the Thai's don't use it!

Other lingering memories include the lovely beach resort of Ao Phra Nang, where everything seemed so new and "nice"... couples strolling along the beach road at night not being accosted by nasty geezers dressed as tarts touting blow jobs, no deafening techno thump thump, no karaoke bars, no smelly bare footed farang plastic hippies, no gangs of beer bellied, shaven headed, football shirted lager lads and no WESTies (Wide Eyed Sex Tourists)!!

My Buddha, has this lawless frontier town we call home jaded me that much! As a mate of mine said on my return... "best we'd get down there sharpish and open up the first go-go bar!" NOT! I can remember sitting in a little open air bar on the promenade over the beach talking to the couple who ran the bar complementing them on how nice it was, obviously quite new etc. "oh no" was the reply "we have bar here stay long time now"..."how long?"..."3 year now!" And that was an example of the whole town, so all in all a very "nice" place for a holiday.
 
On our return there was no shortage of bike events to attend, starting with a 25 Harley-Davidson charity motorcade to the Eastern Child Welfare Protection Institution in Rayong in the company of a fairly well known Thai rock band (see photo); we had the 5th anniversary party of the Mad Dog Thailand MC held at the Harley bar with excellent grub and music very professionally belted out by Keith and his Bastards from Bangkok... well done Ross and thanks for a great "do"; then the ever enjoyable Jesters Care For Kids fair which seemed an unprecedented sucess despite being a tad damp and finally the Powerstation Motorsport fun day at Bira Circuit, with a safety riding seminar instructed by the Royal Thai Police Force (honestly, I'm serious!!), drag racing, trade stands, stalls etc. Great fun but poor attendance, so maybe a greater advertising campaign next time folks... local rags & TV maybe?

Please don't give up though coz this has the makings of a terrific annual event... throw in some silly stuff like banana bobbing, see saw riding, slowest 50 yards etc and you'll get the crowds!
 
Next up? Well, I'm organising a Nagas MC tour to the Si Sa Ket Bike Show, Oct. 23 & 24. Anyone interested in riding with us come along to our next club meeting at the Beretta Bar in Sri Racha on 6th Oct for a briefing, or e-mail me.

Please be reminded that our club does have certain "ride rules" ie touring bikes of 600cc and over only, we do ride in formation and we do appoint a tour or road captain. Boring to some but ultimately the safest wayto ride in large numbers.
So, if you are a motorcycle enthusiast who wants to meet, ride and socialize with other motorcyclists, if you have a wife or girlfriend who would like to join you for a ride rather than sit at home while you go "out with the boys" get in touch, get on yer bike and find out all about the Nagas MC of Sri Racha... we're user friendly.
 
PS. As always, the views expressed are mine and mine alone, so if you don't like what I write... don't read it!