Frequently Asked Questions

If you have any food allergies, it is very important for us to know!

A lot of Thai foods have peanuts, nuts, or peanut/nut sauces in them. Please make sure to go out of your way to let us know so we can follow up with the cooks, management, etc. and let them know the gravity of the situation.

Thai people may not take your allergy seriously enough, so please make sure to keep reminding people NO PEANUTS!

Please make sure you bring your allergy medication just in case and let us know where you keep it so someone can get to it in an emergency.

The Tour de Thailand route is 95% paved roads. There are some hard packed dirt and gravel roads that we ride on through small villages and along beachfront property, but there shouldn’t be any mud, deep gravel or sand to worry about.

No, not necessarily.

Riders should be able to change their own inner tubes and fix other common problems though other riders are often there and willing to help.

We will have many 26 inch mountain bike tire inner tubes, pumps, tools, chains, lube, and more in the support vehicle but we do not have a full time mechanic at this point.

If there is any repair that cannot be fixed quickly where it happens, one of the support vehicles can run you to the nearest town where there is a mechanic who can do the repair.

We have not had any big problems that couldn’t be handled at any one of the towns we stop in overnight. If we have a spare bike (quite possible) we will gladly loan that until we can find the right part or repair shop.

Yes.

Check with your current medical insurance company to make sure that they will cover you while in Thailand.  Hospital care in Thailand is generally good and not very expensive but you want to be covered just in case you have a major emergency. 

As a touring company we have basic insurance for our customers, but Thailand coverage is not comparable to what you would need if you had some persistent problem that needed to be treated in the U.S. or Europe. 

If your insurance does not cover you here we can recommend an insurance provider that has inexpensive but good international travel coverage.

In our opinion, fundraising is more important that training—that’s where we hope you focus your effort.

How fit do you have to be? Any moderately fit cyclist who enjoys riding and can do 75 miles in one day without feeling to fatigued should be OK. Getting out on your bike and getting some road time in is important—so your legs have some stamina and your buttocks are tough enough to stay in the saddle for the days ride--but a serious training regimen is not necessary.

Don’t worry too much though! You will adapt as you ride. It’s not a race; you can take your time! In fact we strongly encourage you to smell the flowers, see the sights, talk to the locals (or just grin and nod), take it easy and enjoy the ride!

There are plenty of cheap domestic flights from Bangkok to Chiang Mai.  We will make some "official" recommendations about two months before the tour start on which airlines have the best rates and dates.

Raincoats or ponchos are probably not necessary.  It's the dry season in Thailand and, on the off chance it does rain, it's usually brief and light.  Most of the time you can see the rain coming and you can find an tree or a porch to duck under.

I don’t want to jinx the TdeT, but in the last 4 years we have only had 3 days total where it rained while riding. 

Pack light, you will be happy you have room to take stuff home and not want to carry too much.  Since we have support vehicles and Thailand is so easy going, try to adapt the easy going attitude and don’t over prepare.  If we get lucky enough to have some rain it will be very refreshing while riding and likely stop within an hour or two.

Using sunscreen is strongly recommended.  It's the tropics and the sun is strong and direct.  There are numerous international brands avaialable in Thailand, but if there is a brand you prefer, we suggest you bring a tube or two with you.  I recommend Coppertone Sport SPF 30.  It stays on well even when you sweat.

Insect repellent is more of a personal choice.  I prefer not to use it, but others can't live without it, so it's really up to you whether you wear it or not.  Again, if there is a brand you prefer bring it from home, otherwise, there are many brands available for purchase here.

We have routed the tour to avoid the real mountianous regions.  There are a few steep hills to climb at the end of Day 2, the longest day of the TdeT.  In general, the hills we see are not too steep or long,  except for a few short, steep climbs at the end of the TdeT between Ban Ta Khun and Khao Lak.

As one of the early Tour de Thailand participants put it “Thai food was made for cyclists”.  We will be eating lots of carbohydrate rich meals that shold give you a good supply of energy for the day and there are places with snacks along the route.

If you prefer to pack Power Bars, we recommned that you bring some with you; they are quite expensive in Thailand and rather hard to find.

There will be plenty of electrolyte drinks available at our water/snack stops (both gatorade and local brands), and, just in case, we will have plenty of electrolyte powder packets in the support vehicles.  Unless you have to have a certain brand or strong preference for a certain flavor I would not bother bringing any electrolytes. 

We stop frequently and when we do we try to support the smaller “Mom & Pop” shops most of the TdeT, but occasional 7-Eleven stops are unavoidable. Yeah--you heard me right: 7-Elevens are EVERYWHERE!  All of them usually stock some form of electrolyte drink--even the little Mom & Pop shops.

Breakfasts will vary from day to day.  Some hotels will have a very nice buffet with all of your hearts desires, but most will have a generic Western & Thai breakfast of ham, fried eggs, toast, orange “drink”, water, milk, rice porridge with pork, fruits, and some other basics. 

We bring some cereals along and other Western favorites to broaden your options.  We are getting to know the hotels pretty well by now and know what to expect at each, so we plan ahead depending where we are staying that night. 

We also accept grocery requests within reason. 

One of the great things about Thailand is that there is an abundance of food to choose from and eating seems to be a national past-time.  If you are a little adventurous with Thai food and willing to be somewhat flexible as to what you want to eat, the food will be one of the highlights of the trip.  If you are less adventurous, there are standard dishes, such as Fried Rice, that are readily availabe and sufficiently close to what Western palates are accustomed to that you should be OK anywhere.

The biggest food complaint we received on the Tour was last year when we scheduled dinner at a KFC!  (Though that will be an option, it will no longer be a scheduled dinner spot!)

Thailand is on the upper end of the "developing country" spectrum and while health, sanitation and medical facilities can vary from locale to locale, most places we will be travelling through will have good to excellent facilites. 

As for vaccinations and malaria prophylactics:

According to the US Center for Disease Control's (CDC) Traveler's Health Advisories:

Most travelers to Thailand are not at risk for malaria and do not need to take an antimalarial drug. Travelers to the border areas of Cambodia, Laos, and Burma should take an antimalarial drug.

The Tour de Thailand does not ride through the risky border areas, so malaria medications should not be necessary.

The US CDC does post recommended vaccinations for Southeast Asia--but most are only valid under special circumstances that you should not be subject to during the Tour de Thailand.  Outside of the standard vaccinations for adults (polio, measels, tetanus) you likely do not need any special vaccinations.  Check out the

CDC's Southeast Asia Travel Health page

for more information.

Most of our riders ride mountain bikes.  Narrow tires with a thin, smooth center ridge and light treads or slicks seems to work best as we spend the majority of the time on paved roads.

If you want a specific tire recommendation, we recommend Michelin 26 X 1.5 "Transworld City (Puncture Protection)" or Kenda 26 X 1.5 "Kwest" tires. 

For you who live in the metric world, 1.5 inches is about 39mm.

Personally, I ride a full-suspension mountain bike with the shocks locked out and I use semi-slick tires the entire time. 

The rental bikes all have semi-slicks or slicks for the Tour de Thailand because
The spare tubes we carry on the Tour de Thailand are primarily 26 X 1.75-2.35, so any tire that can fit them and roll on paved cement is ideal in my opinion. 

We had a rider that brought his road racing bike with razor-thin tires; they would blow-out frequently, but he still preferred to ride it instead of a mountain bike.

Here is the gear we recommend you bring on a Tour de Asia bike tour.

• Three pairs of bike shorts (laundry service not avaialble at all stops)
• One dress shirt and one casual shirt for evening activities
• One long sleeve shirt (for cool mornings)
• Four (or more) pairs of socks (preferrably coolmax or something that wicks away water!)
• One pair of semi-respectable dress shoes
• One pair of sandals or other casual footwear
• Bathing suit (for relaxing by the pool or dipping in the ocean)
• Bicycle Helmet
• Bike shoes
• Bike gloves
• Sunglasses
• Sunscreen (we reccoment Coppertone Sport Suncream, not available in Thailand, so bring a bottle with you!)

While our rides are all during daylight hours, we do have one night tour (in Ayutthaya, in the Northern portion of the trip) and you might want to use your bike at night to get around some of the places we stop at, so we do suggest you bring a headlight and taillight just to be safe.

You will be supplied with 2 water bottles as a part of your welcome package and we encourage you to use them to rehydrate yourself between our frequent water stops. We kindly ask you to consider not wearing backpack hydration systems as it covers up the logos of our sponsors--the people who are so generously paying for your hotel and meals.

Bring as little as possible! Most of what you need you can buy in Thailand, it's the same name brands you know from home and you can buy it a lot cheaper than at home!

U.S. Citizens, Candian Citizens, most European citizens, and citizens from a total of 40 countries will get an automatic 30-day visa on arrival. 

According to the Interior Ministerial Announcements dated 1 October B.E. 2545 (2002), 20 December B.E. 2545 (2002), 18 October B.E. 2547 (2004) and 6 May B.E. 2548 (2005), passport holders from 40 countries and 1 special administrative region – Hong Kong SAR – are not required to obtain a visa when entering Thailand for tourism purposes and will be permitted to stay in the Kingdom for a period of not exceeding 30 days on each visit.

Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has a complete list of countries who are eligible for a 30 day visa-on-arrival on their website .

If people are joining the entire 4 weeks of the TdeT it is likely they will want a 60-day visa that they can obtain from a Thai Visa or consulate before coming. 

Riders will also have the option to extend their 30-day visa in Chiang Mai, Bangkok, and Phuket.  If participants are coming for extended periods before and after the Tour they can apply for longer a tourist visa or plan a few trips to neighboring countries (Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and others) and they will be granted a new 30-day visa each time they re-enter Thailand (up to 90 days total in the Kingdom out of 180 days consecutive calendar days).