Should you ride motorbikes with children? Is it safe?

This question comes down to personal preference, is it dangerous to ride a motorbike? Well yes, but you also have to think, is it dangerous to walk on the roads or ride a bicycle? For me and many other families living here, cars are just too expensive to buy and Koh Tao doesn't really offer much parking. I ride a motorbike with both my kids, my mum and 3 bags of shopping, admittedly it's not ideal but it's what's practical for us.

Here are some of my tips when making the decision if it's right for you and your family...

1. Ride if you have experience

If you've never ridden a motorbike before, learning with your kids on board probably isn't really the sensible choice.


2. Wear a helmet and definitely make sure your children do

You can buy helmets on Koh Tao but may not find children's sizes. So why not bring one with you? I've included this on our 'What to bring when you're travelling with kids and babies to Koh Tao' post. If you weren't able to bring one along, why not use one of the Koh Tao Facebook groups, such as Koh Tao for sale, and find out if anyone has a spare one for sale or that you can borrow. I'm sure you could even ask your accommodation to try to help with this. Otherwise, if you're planning to be here for a couple of weeks, why not invest in helmets and order from Lazada one week before arriving on the island, you can pick up your parcel from the post office and pay on delivery. I will link you to the post 'Ordering from Lazada to Koh Tao'.

3. Drive slowly

This is probably the absolute best advice I can give, speed kills, it's that simple, whilst you can't control other bad drivers on the road crashing into you, or a dog running out in front of you, you can control your speed. I literally drive like a snail with or without my children. Not only will the extent of your injuries be lessened, you will also have more time to react to any unexpected circumstances you may face. I imagine your passengers will also be grateful for this, my other half has learned how to keep me a happy backseat driver by following this rule LOL...

4. Don't drive the hills

I learnt this the hard way whilst I was 3 months pregnant with my second son Crew, we weren't going fast at all but were on a steep hill and my brakes locked on gravel. My best friend and Phoenix both landed on top of me, which fortunately cushioned their fall, and I very, unfortunately, ended up with a shoulder hanging on by a tendon and a broken wrist... Thankfully I was going slow enough, my baby was unharmed. If you want to explore this beautiful island and it's stunning beaches, do it by taxi or long tail. Make friends with a local taxi driver and if you use him/her frequently they will charge you very reasonable prices. That journey would have cost 1000 baht return by taxi, ended up costing my 6 months of pain, surgery and a difficult pregnancy.

5. Know the rules

It might sound silly, but we drive on the left-hand side of the road, the same as the UK and Australia. There's nothing worse than turning a corner with a motorbike coming towards you.

6. Hire well maintained, regularly serviced and insured bikes

Ning with his little boy Jett

Only drive bikes that are well looked after, brakes checked and oil changed etc.. There have been fatal incidents on Koh Tao where accidents have happened from the wheel just falling off whilst driving, I can't stress the importance of using quality equipment, you may have to pay an extra 50 baht per day but what's that when it comes to your families safety? Here are the places I highly recommend KP Travel and motorbike rentals, on the Sairee beach road by Bluewater, Ning and his team really take care of their bikes and care about the safety of their riders, although this means they won't rent to new riders. Pong, the mechanic and father of the lovely Uma, is Koh Tao's famous mechanic known for his excellent work on bikes. He also rents bikes and I would trust the work and maintenance he and his team do on their rentals. You can find them on the Songserm pier road in Mae Haad.

7. Beware of exhausts

Always mind when children go near bikes, especially getting off them. Exhausts often have a plastic guard but if you have a little one obsessed with bikes and wheels like I do, make sure they don't touch any bikes, even when parked as they get very hot and can leave quite a severe burn.

8. Be mindful of other road users

Koh Tao welcomes thousands of tourists throughout the year and many will choose to rent bikes often without any experience and have yet to have their own children so will not understand how precious your cargo is. Keep to the left and drive slowly and let this kind of driver pass you. Also, don't expect everyone to follow the road rules that you have been taught, just expect the unexpected and approach everything with caution.

9. Avoid the main road at 9 am, 10 am, 2 pm and 5 pm

These are the peak hours on the road for traffic, taxi drivers are usually trying to get tourists to the pier to make their boats and dive boats return this time in the evening which means more trucks are taxiing divers back from the pier to their dive shop or resort. Taxi's can drive quite fast on the main road so make sure you do keep to the left.

10. Lastly, don't drive when you're over the limit

Whilst I know this rule should say 'don't drink and drive' I think most parents will make responsible decisions when putting their kids on a motorbike. And I will just leave that there...

Here are some other useful tips

• If you end up having to return a bike which you may have scratched or damaged and the bike rental company is trying to charge you extortionate amounts of money for its repair, contact our local or tourist police. As locals, we hate to hear these horror stories and see holidaymakers walk away from our beautiful island with bad feelings. It doesn't happen often but if you are that unlucky person, know that Koh Tao wants to help you and believes in fairness. 
• Check your insurance, if you are going to ride a motorbike most insurance companies will expect you to have an up to date license, you will not be able to claim should you have the misfortune of crashing without a license.
• Add the Koh Tao Rescue's number to your phone in case of an emergency, this group of western and Thai male and female volunteers are there to help in all emergency and run a 24/7 public service. They rely solely on donations so if you want to give to a good cause stop by their office and drop a donation into their box. Here are the phone numbers +6677456508 or +66879790191