Lack of real MTB trails

With Bangkok and surrounding areas being as flat as a table top I yearn to ride hills of decent proportions.. I have been trying to find hills close by and tried some of the well known mountain bike trails...But it appears as if there is a lack / scarcity of true mountain bike trails in Thailand.. I rode the one at the military base close to Don Muang and tried some in the Kaoh Yai area.  

I looked at the trails in Kaoh Ito.. 13 km is too short.

IMHO they are way too short with too many twists and turns squeezed in.... These are way too short .. may as well ride in my back yard in SA.  Do you think there is a need / demand that will allow design and development of trails that allow you to ride up 80 km and beyond while climbing 500m+ in a hilly area closest to Bangkok?  

Why has nobody developed a proper mountain bike trail... ??? 

Any ideas?

Because you can ride in the mountains/hills anywhere you like, plenty of single track around.

Join the Bangkok Bike Hash for a monthly does for offroad riding.

You can also download all their old GPX routes and ride them on your own.

Most of the tracks around with a couple of hours of Bangkok.

Thank you

Constant progress being made on MTB trails - There are a ton of guys, and gals, out there in the backwoods of T-land building, funding, and riding Mountain Bike trails. 

IF you live in Bangkok and never leave Bangkok you'll probably never learn or enjoy any of the MTB riding opportunities available in Thailand.

My suggestion - start going to Thai mountain bike events (outside of Bangkok). You will see and experience what the country has to offer. This website maintains an excellent Events Calendar here - http://www.bicyclethailand.com/events

Here's a great opportunity down in Pranburi (about 3 hours south of Bangkok) - https://www.indiegog...e-park-pranburi

I guess I am simply spoiled here in Johannesburg...so many trails up to 100km+ in a radius of less then 50 km from the city... 

Any suggestions of where the best area would be to build some real mtb trails closest to BKK area? Please let me know ... I was thinking of Kanchanaburi... but difficult to communicate with landowners... 

Jackievs,

IF you want to develop land into proper MTB trails you'll need to get as far away from Bangkok as possible.

The main MTB trail areas of Thailand (as of right now) are located in TAK, CHIANG MAI, CHIANG RAI, RAYONG, and CHONBURI provinces. 

Would probably be a good idea to familiarize yourself with what is out there right now and why it is popular (hint: access has a LOT to do with it). We personally know SEVERAL trail developers (Thai and Foreign) who have spent countless amounts of Money, Time, and Effort to build trails only to have them closed, stolen, or fall into disrepair (for lack of interest). 

Jackievs,

 

IF you want to develop land into proper MTB trails you'll need to get as far away from Bangkok as possible.

 

The main MTB trail areas of Thailand (as of right now) are located in TAK, CHIANG MAI, CHIANG RAI, RAYONG, and CHONBURI provinces. 

 

Would probably be a good idea to familiarize yourself with what is out there right now and why it is popular (hint: access has a LOT to do with it). We personally know SEVERAL trail developers (Thai and Foreign) who have spent countless amounts of Money, Time, and Effort to build trails only to have them closed, stolen, or fall into disrepair (for lack of interest). 

Hi Mike, 

You posted this in the latest newsletter:

"I recently went on a short, five day, cycling trip with a friend who wanted to show me some great routes in Kanchanaburi and Suphanburi provinces. Kanchanaburi is a great province, full of cycling opportunities, both on and off-road." 

I enjoyed your report and how about posting some of these routes here in Bicycle Thailand? 

JACKIEVS,

Thanks for the comment.

Yes, we're always working on posting more rides/routes here on BicycleThailand.com 

Our current collection can be found at the following link - http://bicyclethaila...gory/ride-maps/

One of our BIGGEST problems is providing our readers with the most useful format/file type of route files.

We have spent exhaustive hours/days producing .gpx and .gdb files only to have people request handwritten directions (in .pdf and .docx format) for routes in Thailand.

Also, different GPS devices not only utilize unique file types (.fit, .tcx, etc.,) but are also limited in their allowance of waypoints and number of GPS route markers (some GPS models are limited to 500 or less 'points' while others allow for several thousand). 

Rest assured, we will continue to add routes (and Gramin compatible files) to the RIDE MAPS page as we develop them.

IF you have Routes (in any format/file type), you can share them with the greater cycling community in Thailand by sending them (along with any related information and photos) to info@BicycleThailand.com