Mae Chaem is a small, ethnically diverse town nestled in a valley below Thailand’s highest mountain. Its history dates back to the 14th century. It’s inhabitants include Lua, Hmong, Karen, and Tai Yuan peoples. The Tai Yuan are renowned for a particular type of weaving, specific to Mae Chaem. Called Teen Chok, the weave features … Read more
The Thai cabinet has approved three additional public holidays for 2025. The holidays include a four-day holiday to celebrate HM the Queen’s birthday from May 31 to June 3. Also, the birthday holiday of HM Queen Sirikit the Queen Mother will be extended by a day from August 9-12.Overall, there will be 21 public holidays … Read more
Ethnic New Year Festivals 2025 Throughout North Thailand, there are scores of ethnic hill tribe villages in the mountains.Scattered randomly high on many mountains, it often takes an effort to get them. One of the best areas with a concentrated mix of diverse hill tribes is the Thoed Thai—Mae Fah Luang area.The area is home … Read more
Luang Prabang Plans to Attract 4 Million Tourists by 2025 The province’s five-year tourism plan hopes to attract 4 million tourists by 2025. Currently, at its midway point, Luang Prabang has seen 1.1 million tourists spending over USD 500 million. In the last two years and five months, the UNESCO heritage site has seen only … Read more
Phu Kho Noi ready for tourists as rains restore greenery damaged by fires. Phu Kho Noi mountaintop, a popular viewpoint for enjoying the famous sea of mist, has once again turned green following rains last month after the area was damaged by forest fires. Villagers of Ban Boong village in Tambon Na Haew of Loei … Read more
Wiang Kaen district by the Mekong will host the 2022 ASEAN Flower shower @ Kaeng Pha Dai from 30 December 2022 – 3 January 2023. In addition to a magnificent flower display, there will be multiple ethnic music & dancing shows. Kaeng Pha Dai is a renowned natural beauty spot on the Mekong, with stunning … Read more
India-Myanmar Cross-Border Bus Service to Operate Soon By Zarni Mann & Myat Pyae Phyo 20 February 2020 Mandalay – The long-awaited bus service to cross the India-Myanmar border through India’s northeastern state of Manipur is set to operate from April. The 579-km service between Mandalay and Imphal, the capital of Manipur, will be the first … Read more
In the silly season rush Ducati was rumoured to be chasing new riders for their team, after failing yet again to capture the MotoGP Championship title. Their star rider Dovi has finished runner up for the last 3 years and the Ducati bike has been as good as ever. Maybe they need a new rider? … Read more
The 3rd edition GTR Golden Triangle map has been released & will be on sale from 15th February 2020. From overseas you can mail order a copy here For mail order in Thailand please email [email protected] The price inside Thailand is 350 baht including EMS postage. The 2020 edition of this map has more detail … Read more
Route 118 the main artery linking Chiang Mai & Chiang Rai cities has been undergoing some painful, slow road improvements for a few years now. The original section dug up has now been completed, but there is much more under construction now as they turn the old two-lane road into a faster 4-lane highway. Much … Read more
Maps seemed to be everywhere in 2013, a trend I like to think we encouraged along with August’s 40 maps that explain the world. Maps can be a remarkably powerful tool for understanding the world and how it works, but they show only what you ask them to. You might consider this, then, a collection … Read more
Thailand Century Bicycle Tour 30 July-2 Agust 15 Kanchanaburi Thailand Cycling Tour Challenge 2017 – Ratchaburi. Thailand Cycling Tour Challenge is hosted by Tourism Authority of Thailand. It gives a new cycling experience on a challenging course through attractive locations in Thailand. The first stage will take place in Chomg Bueng-Suang Phueng, Ratchaburi. The adventure … Read more
2017 Nat Festivals Myanmar 26-31 July 2017 Shwe Kyun Pin Nat Pwe Mingun, Mandalay 31 July – 7 August 2017 Taung Byone Nat Frestival, Taoung Byone, Mandalay 15-21 August Amapura, Mandaly 29 August – 10 September Bo Bo Gyi Nat Festival, Taungthaman, Mandalay 5-7 September or 26 November – 3 December, Mount Popa, Bagan. Nats … Read more
Laos Prepares for Visit Laos Year 2018 (KPL) Laos is preparing to launch the “Visit Laos Year 2018” to promote the tourism industry and attract a greater inflow of foreign visitors. “The Visit Laos Year 2018 launch has been scheduled for November this year, coinciding with the That Luang festival. High ranking officials and journalists … Read more
WORLD NEWS | Sun Jun 18, 2017 | 11:18pm EDT China issues security alert in Laos after national shot dead China’s embassy in Laos has issued a safety warning to its citizens there after a Chinese national was shot dead in the country’s Xaysomboun province. Chinese workers have increasingly come under attack as companies expand … Read more
The GT Rider forum now has a new VDO section for riders to upload their favourite riding & touring VDOs. Goran from Phuket has already started a series of the best biking roads & you can check them out here Thailand Motorcycling Videos The “Top Ten” roads are well worth watching.
Our apologies for the inconveniences, sluggish performance and connection errors of late. As well as trying to redesign the site so it is fully “mobile friendly” to comply with Google’ new rules, we have also been working on extracting the Forums from the old vBulletin system. In the midst of all that, the site has … Read more
The 5th Edition GT Rider Laos map is out now 20th April 2012. The new map has much more detailed city maps, tens of kms of new tracks & roads; plus 2 new elevation profiles for Route 1C: 1. Pak Mong – Vieng Thong & 2. Vieng Thong – Xam Neua. The price remains the … Read more
Listed on the GT Rider motorcycle touring forum www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/threads/27211-Chinese-New-Years plus here https://www.gt-rider.com/touring-information-overview/traffic-roads
There is now an excellent list of Vietnam festivals on the GT Rider forum at: https://www.gt-rider.com/se-asia-motorcycling/threads/vietnam-festivals.8644/
The Bua Thong Festival is 1st November to 13th December, and the festival part is a slight exaggeration… Known in Thailand as Bua Thong, the Mexican sunflowers bloom with a reckless abundance in mid-November each year. The location is a a series of mountain meadows high above the village of Ban Mae U Khor, 30 … Read more
This year’s celebration of the end of the Buddhist Lent (Rain’s Retreat) festival was not marred by the rain. The town’s population is approximately 5000 and it looked like everyone was there!
Early on the morning of Saturday 2nd October, a large group of approximately 1000 Buddhist monks gathered in central Chiang Rai city. This organsed event was to collect alms (gifts of food etc) for distribution in the troubled southern provinces of Thailand. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZLDV-Ty8-0 In the early morning light, many thousands of Chiang Rai locals lined … Read more
The list of Legal International Border Crossings between Thailand – Laos – Vietnam has been updated on GT Rider at https://www.gt-rider.com/touring-information-overview/s-e-asian-border-crossings/s-e-asia-borders
GT Rider now has two accurate GPS maps for sale 1. North Thailand / The Golden Triangle 2. Laos. More info is available here https://www.gt-rider.com/maps-of-thailand-laos-maps