Sensational Southern Thailand Tour

This is the operator's long southern run, ten days covering 1,800 kilometres from Pattaya to within sixty kilometres of the Malaysian border, graded intermediate with two full rest days built into the middle. What sets it apart from a normal out and back tour is the finish, which loads the motorcycles onto an overnight ferry across the Gulf rather than riding the same roads home. The first three days are the long ones. Day one crosses Chonburi province and uses the Saming Phray pier ferry over the Chao Phraya river in Bangkok before reaching Hua Hin, the royal seaside town with the King's summer palace. Day two runs south past Rajabhakti Park with its bronze statues of the Thai kings, Wat Khao Chong Khachok, the sea stacks and rock structures of Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park, and Prachuap Khiri Khan, which sits at the narrowest point of the country only ten kilometres from Myanmar. Day three crosses the isthmus to Khao Sok National Park, 739 square kilometres of rainforest containing the 165 square kilometre Cheow Lan Lake. The middle of the tour slows down. Phuket comes on day four with a free day after it, and Ao Nang near Krabi follows with a two night stop among the limestone cliffs and islands, the operator listing boat tours, snorkelling, mangrove walkways, rock climbing and kayaking as options. The last three days head south and then home. A twisting route through Khao Pu-Khao Ya National Park reaches Hat Yai, then a short 80 kilometre morning takes in Hat Yai Park and the bronze mermaid at Samila Beach in Songkhla before boarding the Seahorse ferry at four in the afternoon. Twenty hours later the ship docks at Sattahip, leaving a hundred kilometre run back to base camp and a farewell dinner. The ferry with a private sleep pad, private hotel rooms, breakfasts and lunches, fuel, park entrance fees, medical and comprehensive motorcycle insurance and airport transfers the following day are included. Evening meals, alcohol and personal spending are not.

Ten days and 1,800 kilometres carry this Motorbike Madness route from Pattaya to the Malaysian border and back by sea. The opening leg crosses Bangkok using the Saming Phray pier ferry over the Chao Phraya and runs down to Hua Hin, then continues past Rajabhakti Park and the rock formations of Khao Sam Roi Yot to Chumphon. Day three crosses to the Andaman side and Khao Sok National Park, whose rainforest the operator describes as older than the Amazon, before Phuket and a rest day. Ao Nang in Krabi follows with a second rest day among the limestone cliffs, then a long leg through Khao Pu-Khao Ya National Park to Hat Yai. The return is the unusual part: a short ride to Songkhla and an overnight Seahorse ferry across the Gulf of Thailand to Sattahip.