John and Jane in Thailand

To motocy or not to motocy?

That is the question we have been wrestling with ever since we got to Thailand.  “Motocy”, by the way, is the universal Thai word for any form of motored two wheel vehicles be they scooters or motorcycles, big or small. In Cambodia they are collectively known at “motos”.  Initially, even before we got to Thailand, it seemed the right thing to do.  After all, we knew we would need a form of transportation to get to the market and to go anywhere beyond the confines of our little beach community.  We were all set to buy one when we arrived at the beach but it rained and rained and rained for more than 5 days straight.  It rained so badly that whole communities on the islands off our coast had to be evacuated.  It rained so badly that roads and homes were washed away south of us.  Being on the northern edge of the storm saved our immediate area from the devastation of the South.  Then we headed back to Bangkok and off to Singapore to solve our visa problems.  When we finally got back to the beach, we were hosting 13 people in our 3 bedroom house and the opportunity to go motocy shopping with one of our Thai relatives just didn’t happen.  By then we had begun asking ourselves the question, “to motocy or not to motocy”.  Do we really need a motocy at our beck and call every day?  We decided to test the need-theory by renting motocys for a day while Jennifer and Nathan were here.  At $6.00 per day we decided to each get our own.  To tell the truth, I was never too keen on the idea of riding on the back with John so this suited me just fine.  I loved commuting to work on my electric scooter in Seattle and I loved riding here on the more powerful gas powered scooter.  We explored north of Thung Wualaen Beach, finding a great view point and several more beaches.  But, was the scenery so great that I wanted to ride every day?  No.  Did I need to ride to the market every day?  No.  To the ATM?  No.  Would I ride into the relatively big town of Chumphon?  Absolutely not!  To another beach perhaps?  Definitely not, ours is the best around.    The answer to all those questions is actually “occasionally at best”.  Well then, the answer is simple – rent when needed.  Okay, that’s all good but what about spur-of-the-moment needs or too-tired-to-walk-that-far needs or too-hot-to-walk-that-far?  Answer:  bicycles.  No need to use them to go to the beach as that is only 118 seconds walk away but to go to Apple’s expat coffee house or, more practically, the market and ATM, bicycles are perfect.  Not only that, a motocy will get you somewhere fast but can it improve your health?  Bicycles can.  Yesterday we bought the shiny new bikes that I am looking at as I write and this morning I started my new daily routine.  Up at 6:15, onto the bike, turn left out of the driveway onto Soi 7, right onto the beach road, turn onto the Wat road, turn again onto the far end of Soi 7 and back up the driveway.  John has been walking this every day.  We will call it “the circuit” and we will be diligent and we will be healthy, or so goes the theory.

Heading out on our shinny new bikes.