first day in thailand.

on 6th Jan... we took the griek highway from kuala kangsar to betong. long and clean road. it would be nice if im riding a kawa ZX600. beautiful greenery, not much overtakings. new road.

we set off from cameron at 11am. Joyce and Joe were giving us place to stay and food to eat. getting their company sticker on my bike is all i can think off... bring their company around the world.

along 600km from my first refill, the carburator stalled. time to switch to 1st reserve. confidently, i stopped, switch on my first 'on' on my right tank. i proceed with another 20km, it stalled again. What the hell... i switched my right tank to reserved. that's my last burst of fire.

i travelled at 90km/hr along NS highway to preserve fuel usage.

just a few km, petronas is ahead.

this afrcian twin has 43liters (600km) compared to my previous stolen afrcian twin 36 liters (600km).
ISN'T IT LOUSY CONSUMSION>!?!?!?

this is the first time i travel on this bike, which the furthest i took is only clementi to changi. 1st jan 2008 i am taking this bike for 18 months?! am i kidding?! i do not have confident on this bike. the load is too heavy. the handlebar wobble whenever i try to brake at slow speed. the chassis may brake anytime due to the weight. previous owner use it many times to travel off road. its a 9years old bike. my wife ass is breaking like mine. we loved the previous bike's seat, but it was stolen as a set meal with the bike. we do not have enough time to prepare for the bike.

my wife was incharged of all document. one of the most important document was missing, my bike registration detail!!!!!!

i have all the document with me at Betong border except for that log card. when i got my first bike 12years ago, i remembered there is a red log book. then when i get my Honda ST11 in 1998 and my 1st African twin in 2005, there is a long strip of bike registration card with proper letterhead. such document are able to convince any custom officer. now the LTA (Land transport autority) issue a paperless card?!?! everything retrive from internet. when this old buffalo was transfered to me at LTA, they did not pass me any log card! just a letter saying that this buffalo with .... number is transfer to my name. I cant believe that is my log card or so call vehicle ownership detail document. for some, they say when u produce the piece of print out from the internet that indicate about the vehicle ownership and show it to the officer, if the officer do not convince about that print out they can check with LTA(singapore) from internet and retrieve the document online using our Singpass. It was at Betong, i remote place where internet service from the office is not as good as shenton way. if i was at india custom, they can just simply ask me to F off and dont try to bluff them with a computer self type print out. the LTA system does not encourage travellers like me but only for the convinance of singaporean at home. try email or call the 1800 line, takes u 3 days to reply... opps. i mean 3 working days.

both of us have cleared the immigration at betong 430pm singapore time but not the vehicle custom. the border close at 5pm. the officer can simply ask me to leave my bike at the custom and come back tomorrow to do the document and they knock off. He was very very kind and polite. they treat me like a retail customer and help me solve problem. of course i do not take advantage of their kindness. i was allowed to enter thailand without the documents and come back next day with all the stuff.

NOW CARNET.... IS NOT RECONISED IN THAILAND!

day 2 in betong... smooth with Sam Leong's help in singapore.

i went to the look for the officer in the morning without any proper document.

i had my carnet with me and some relavent documents. he checked with bankok airport custom for my export of bike from Bangkok to Nepal, what neccessery document to be produce for me to proceed. he gave me the usual vehicle declaration document, escorted me to another headquaters where the Generel's office is. i looked at the Generel, reminds me of my RSM. Garang! he was in smart shirt and pants. i looked at the picture he took with the big shots makes me go nervous. we greeted each other and he offer me to sit in his office. i declined as i prefer to sit at the normal seat outside. a cold drink was served to me and they were smiling to me, treating me like a guest in a restruant. something not right in my mind. they are custom officer.... army generel. i looked outside, they have just captured an illigel import of cigrettes. they displayed it on the main hall and all the big shot came out to take picture by the TV3.
they kept smiling at me and bow at me. my documents are still with them.........

N 05degree 46.273'
E 101degree 04.385'
elevation 280m