Paul and list,
The roads in Thailand run the gamut from perfect to rutted dirt road (in the rural areas). All in all, I'd say that they're not as good as most European roads but considerably better than the bombed out roads that Chicago has to offer. While only a fool would ride in Bangkok and I've yet to see a bicycle lane anywhere, the Thai drivers are very used to a continual stream of moped/scooter riders sharing the road, and I'd feel quite safe riding outside of Bangkok (other than the fact that they drive on the left side of the road).
I'd guess that a rise in Thai bidders can be attributed to two factors:
1) The fixter fad has very much caught on with the young Thai hipsters. You can see them posing with their OT ss/fg on the Khao San Road and, from what I've heard here and on other forums, vintage is gaining steam with them as well.
2) There's an ever increasing number of expatriates living in Thailand and there are a fair amount of cycling clubs. I'd guess that some of their members enjoy Classic and Vintage rides.
I'm half planning on retiring there and I know that I'd take some of my fleet with me. So, in about ten or fifteen years, you might start getting Ebay bids from me!
Cheers,
Bob Troy
Sultry but not Bangkok-level steamy in Chicago, IL, USA
> Date: Fri, 2 Apr 2010 12:55:24 +0000
> From: W PAUL PATZKOWSKY <oldtrikerider@q.com>
> Subject: [CR] Ebay buyers, country of origin
> To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
> Message-ID: <SNT112-W1548C759BFD300E7038EC5AA1C0@phx.gbl>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
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> I've been cleaning out my closet with Ebay; sort of doing away with my stuff (all on topic) so that my wife won't have to ;-). I've noticed that very often I get inquiries from someone in Thailand about shipping costs but they rarely win or bid (I'm not sure which) as far as I can tell. I'm beginning to think that I should just include that information in the item description to save myself some time later. That brings a question to mind. What kind of road system does Thailand have for cyclists?
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> Paul Patzkowsky
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> Longmont, Colorado