Thai Motorbike Test for Ex-Pats
It appears that if you say you have driven a car for several years, it is assumed that you can ride a motorbike safely too and following the successful completion of a multiple choice test, you will be handed a licence to ride a motorbike. The emphasis is more on understanding the rules of the road than your ability to drive safely on two wheels. So having completed the test I can now ride any motorbike I can afford to buy. To me, that is more than a little scary!
Thai Motorbike Test for Thai's
As with the car test, there is not normally any other traffic on the test circuit at the same time, or if there is they will not be anywhere near each other.
Helmets and Driving Standards
Thankfully most Thai's in the Issan region do not have the money to buy anything over 125CC so most bikes are no more than mopeds that do not go much over 50kmh, but that is still fast enough when you are hit by another vehicle. Another ridiculous aspect of riding a bike in Thailand is the rule about crash helmets. There is a rule, and that is everyone should wear a helmet, rider and passengers, at all times but many just ignore this. If the police stop you and fine you for not wearing a helmet, the fine is just 200 Baht, not much of a deterrent, even for the poorest of Thai people.
The really crazy thing about this is that you can buy a cheap helmet for 400 baht, often less, yet the locals (and visitors) don't want to wear one. I am not suggesting that these cheap helmets are actually any good as I am sure they are next to useless should you have an accident with a car, truck or bus but it would be more cost effective if the police regularly catch and fine you. It appears that the police do not record such road offences either as you could be pulled over every week and never have your driving licence taken from you.