I FAILED TO CYCLE ACROSS THAILAND 🇹🇭 (this is why)

For the past 12 days I have been  attempting to cycle the entire length of   Thailand so I be I started in Mae Sai in the  very north of the country and I set my aim   for Betong in the very south I had never  attempted anything like this before I was  

A complete newbie to cycling and I wasn’t  really in topnotch Fitness but I love this   country and I wanted to try to experience it in  a new way so far things had gone pretty good my   body was stronger than I expected the bike was  performing fine I was just struggling with the  

Heat and a few other issues that I’ll go into  during the video you’re about to watch me fail   you’re about to watch me give up on something that  I wanted to [Music] achieve the funny thing about   failure though is failure’s never the end and it’s  normally just the beginning of the next attempt  

As Thomas Edison once said I have not failed I  have just found 10,000 ways that won’t [Music] work good morning and welcome to another day  on the bike when I was going to document this   series my mission wasn’t to sort of tour across  Thailand and show you everywhere like like we did  

With dreamy my mission was just to go from the  very North to the very south and document what   is it like physically mentally and emotionally to  cycle across Thailand as a newbie as someone who   doesn’t have any experience doing anything like  this is it possible what’s it like today was one  

Of those days where I just woke up and I just man  it was really really hard to motivate myself I I   just I feel like I’m running on empty um and I  have uh I have diarrhea okay I’m sorry but uh  

Woke up at 3:00 in the morning and I’ve been awake  now for like 3 or 4 hours the sun’s just come up   um but I think I think whatever I had in me is  gone if you know what I mean so I’m really low  

Energy I’m really low motivation but I’m in this  hotel on the side of the highway there is nothing   here there’s no food there’s nothing to do if I  have a rest day I will be miserable even though I  

Want to take a rest day so I’m just going to push  on keep on trucking baby it’s 100 km to pit Santa look I’d learned so far that anything over  100 km in a day just equals a miserable day  

I just can’t cope at the minute with these  distances anything over 880 km I just start   to feel completely drained not just from the  physical exerion but the heat that Thailand   is delivering at this time of year it’s normally  much cooler than this this is mid-February that I  

Was doing this and well there’s not much I can  do about the weather this is the closest I’ve   come to wanting to give up this is uh not going to  lie this is pretty miserable right now I I am so

Dizzy and it’s so hot it’s so hot I’ve drank  so much water I’ve drank 4 lers of water two   Gator raids down to my last bottle of water the  next the next uh spot to get some drinks and to  

Rest properly is in 14 km it’s only quter 11 but  it is 35° and uh I think the diarrhea last night   and just being a little bit run down is catching  up on me and I’m just miserable I came I found  

This little roadside Shack and I was going to lie  down have a little break but it’s covered in bird   [ __ ] like the whole thing is just absolutely  covered in bird [ __ ] um also today’s leg and   tomorrow’s leg there are no roads parallel to  this that just go through the countryside um  

They all go east to west the only Road that’s  running South between here and the next 200   kilometers is this road the main Highway and  so there’s just very little shade there’s very   little to look at you’re just keeping yourself  in the hard shoulder and you’re trying your best  

Not to get hit by a truck and I still got 50 km  until P pit s up how many halfway because it it   took a long time to get up there was there were  heels I thought I’d done all the Hills but there  

Were there were heels there were so many heels  all I want to do is lie down here for an hour   maybe take a nap but it’s covered in [Applause]  [ __ ] tough day today and we’re only halfway

Through I didn’t have the energy or the patience  to film anything for the rest of that day just   rest assured that I cycled for 100 kilometers  that day and I was hot and very miserable by  

The end of the day it took me 9 hours to get  to pitan look Province and to the city center   I limped into a hotel which was actually really  nice so I took a complete full rest day I did a  

Lot of recovery and the only thing I filmed  was me cleaning the bike but even with that   rest day behind me I was still struggling I  was still miserable so I had one last tactic   one last throw of the dice that might help  me because at this point all I was about to

Break before we get to some of the bad news  I’ve got some great news thanks to the sponsor   of today’s video aolo if any of you travel either  to Thailand or anywhere this year you’re going to  

Need to get into the technology of eims it’s a  travel hack that I’ve only just really recently   discovered and it’s transformed the way I travel  do you remember my recent trip to to Sri Lanka   well that was the last trip I took before I  was even aware of eim technology and how easy  

That is to use so when I landed in Columbo I  remember being tired going through immigration   going through baggage reclaim and immediately  going to one of the desks queuing up to get a   local SIM card installing a new SIM card abroad  is normally quite an annoying process right you  

Have to queue up they take out your current SIM  card and normally just cellotape it to the back   of your phone case which is not ideal then you  have to present your ID it takes a while you have  

To pay in cash normally and then you get quite  a limited local plan and when I was in Sri Lanka   that data plan didn’t last very long and it ran  out at 2:00 in the morning when I was watching  

My beloved Newcastle play against Chelsea we  were winning I think and I really wanted to   continue watching so I had to switch over to my  old SIM card and go data roaming I didn’t think   it was going to cost me that much money but  I ended up getting charged a fortune and all  

Of this headache could have been avoided if ID  known about AO and their amazing eim packages   eim technology is here right now I just didn’t  really know about it and that’s why aolo reached   out to help promote and spread the word about  eim technology and how easy it is so if you’re  

Going traveling to say Thailand or anywhere  this year aolo covers over 200 countries and   territories and you can pre- the e Sim using  their app or their website takes a couple of   minutes it’s really easy to install and then the  second you touch down and it’s safe to do so you  

Can toggle the data or the coverage you can  call or text home to let your loved ones know   you’ve landed safely and eim guys is just a SIM  card except it’s not tangible it’s not actually   something you physically put into your phone you  download it over the Internet install it through  

Your phone software and yes most phones these  days support eim technology if you have anything   relatively new you’ll be fine and to sweeten  the deal AO are providing you $3 off your first   eim or you have to do is use the code patty3 at  checkout use the link in the description or you  

Can take a picture of this QR code right now that  will take you to the landing page and then select   the country that you’re going to soon peruse the  deals that they have choose one that suits you  

And then put in that code you’ll get $3 off and  boom when you land in your future destination   you’ll be able to search the web web easy peasy  lemon squeezy right now it’s time for the bad News I just broke a bottle of [Music] water hello welcome back it’s uh 3:32 a.m. and  it’s another day cycling across Thailand um good   and bad news as you can probably hear in my voice  so sounds like mostly bad news doesn’t it it kind  

Of is I’m trying my best to find a positive let’s  start with the bad news we are in this part of the   country which I knew would suck because we’re  out of the northern mountains which is you know  

Interesting and varied and challenging but fun  to cycle across and soon we’ll be in the South   which means we’ll be cycling along the coast and  there’ll be palm trees and beaches and mountains   and delicious food but right now I’m in the  middle of Thailand I’m 140 km north of a place  

Called naon saan and all that’s been behind me and  all that’s in front of me is flat dry Barren land   this is the main area of Thailand where they grow  crops such as rice and corn and um there aren’t  

Very many towns and cities everything is 100 kilm  plus apart from each other soon we’ll be near of   Bangkok and there’s small towns and cities all  over the place and I’ll be able to do easier days  

60 70 km Max but today we have 140 km by far the  longest journey I have to go to there’s nothing in   between here and nakon saan except for fields and  a main road so it’s going to suck but that’s not  

The worst part of the bad news the worst part  of the bad news is there’s a bloody Heat Wave   so the land of smiles will soon be turning into  the land of sweat yes that is right Thailand is   preparing for an intense heat wave with forecasts  indicating significantly higher temperatures  

Potentially reaching up to 44 12° C in some areas  weather predictions for the week of February 19th   to February 25th show a worrying Trend towards  extreme heat prompting warnings for the public   to limit outdoor activities during the hottest  parts of the day and to ensure adequate hydration  

Now Thailand is not exactly a cold destination  at the best of times it’s hot all year round but   I wanted to start this cycle trip um before it got  even hotter it’s going to get even hotter in April  

But we’re having the heat wave early this year so  yay um where I’m going to be cycling to today it’s   going to be 37° by lunchtime and I don’t want  to die I don’t want to die and I don’t want to  

Have a heat stroke one of my Inspirations to not  only just cycle across Thailand but you know to   do Adventure travel in general is a guy called  Ed Pratt he’s this British guy who about six   years ago cycled across the world on a unicycle  incredible feat of physical and mental endurance  

And if he can cycle across the world in a unicorn  then I’ll be able to cycle across Thailand on a   bicycle right and so yesterday and in the previous  video you’ve seen me struggling with this heat and   these distances and I remembered that he unic  cycled across Thailand during sran which is in  

The hottest month you know in this country and I  thought to myself let me go back and rewatch his   episode let me see how he dealt with the heat  because I remember him cycling or unicycling  

In the heat all day every day and I was thinking  how did he do it is he superhuman so yesterday I   was watching the episode and I forgot this is the  episode where he got mad heat stroke and nearly

Died my body’s G and failed on me [ __ ] so I  thought to myself I can’t repeat his mistakes   I can’t just cycle in the Heat and put it down  to sweaty and hot and we’ll get through it it’s  

Very dangerous to do any exercise during this  kind of heat wave so I’ve come up with a plan   my plan is to leave early 3:30 or it’s probably  going to be about 4:00 by the time I’ve stopped  

Getting ready and I’m just going to try and get  as many of these kilometers out of the way before   it gets to 11:00 in the morning 11:00 in the  morning it’s going to be 35° and that’s just  

Too hot for anyone so I was thinking like  there’s just no way that this section of   the is going to is going to get any worse it’s  Barren there’s a heat wave I’ve got diarrhea   I’ve been up since 1:00 this morning I’ve got  a headache I’ve got back pain I’m knackered  

I’m miserable and it’s a heat wave so I thought  let’s wake up since I’m up anyway having this   shits let’s wake up the hotel was nice enough  to give me a breakfast bless them so I’ll eat  

That somewhere and I’m going to just crack on  I’m just going to start this day’s ride early   as possible and get to where we’re going  hopefully before the heat wave evaporates [Music] [Applause] me I’ll be honest with you  I don’t think this is a good idea going into  

The longest stretch 40 km to nakon saan that’s  the longest by almost 40% that I’ve ever done   and I’m starting it miserable with diarrhea and a  headache and exhaustion the Heat and my sickness   they’re bringing on anxiety they’re bringing on  uncertainty and I always tell myself to just to  

Do this kind of stuff if if it was fun no point  torturing yourself and I just feel like I’ve   been torturing myself for a while I’m going to  keep cycling at least for an hour and see how  

I feel miserable Patty on a bicycle wishing he  was in Bangkok with my girlfriend watching the Telly just keeping it real this is this is G  [Music] I have to admit that the first hour   or so of me cycling through panal look heading  south towards nakon saan I thought I’d cracked  

The code it was only 26 celus the sun was  nowhere to be seen and there was hardly   any traffic but an hour or so later when  I reached the long straight highway the   only road heading South I came to learn that  the main roads here in Thailand don’t have  

Many [Music] lights and so for much of  this cycle I was actually cycling on the   main road in complete darkness and my bicycle  lights are not strong enough really to show me   the way nor and more importantly to show the  massive trucks that whiz by where I am on the road

[Music] this idea of cycling  early in the morning had sadly   annoyingly devastatingly not panned out at All all right I am on the verge of packing  this all in let me just go through what’s   going on in my head so travel Adventures  they’re supposed to be fun yeah they can   be challenging from time to time and you  have good days and you have bad days and  

I’m used to it I’ve been traveling for a long  time so I know yesterday day before was a bit   rough today is going to be rough and it’ll  start to get better but I just can’t see I  

Can’t see how this trip is going to turn better  how is it going to get better I I’m not meeting   anyone because I’m spending all day on the bike  and it’s you know I’m cycling on the highway I  

I thought I’d be out in the fields the whole  time out in the rural area the whole time um   and I feel like that will happen eventually in  the South but this section ever since I left

Pray I don’t know maybe I’m just being dramatic  I just feel like I’m not I’m not meeting people   I’m not having Adventures I’m not seeing unique  things I’m not experiencing Thailand I’m just on  

A bicycle on the side of a highway trying not to  get one over and suffering in the heat so here’s   here’s my plan because I’ve talked myself out  of 100% giving up three times in the last half  

An hour I don’t want to get run over I’m just  waiting for the sun to come up it looks like   it’s starting to come up a little bit already  which is good and once the Sun is up a bit more  

I’m going to get back on the bike and I’m going  to bail I’m not going to cycle on this highway   anymore for 111 km to naon San I’m just not doing  it I’m going to turn left and I’m going to head  

Into the the rural Farm area and I’m going to aim  for another town that’s not actually South it’s   more like East from here it’s called pitchit and  I’m going to cycle through the rural area in the   morning light during Sunrise I’m hoping I’m going  to connect with nature and the countryside and see  

Some beautiful things and not see all of these  trucks whiz past and narrowly take me out and   stuff so it’s just I mean cycling on a highway  like it’s the stupidest idea ever and doing it   in Thailand is just like two times more stupid  obviously because you just don’t know if these  

Drivers can see you the motorway is not lit and I  don’t want to die on this trip so few kilometers   then I’m going to turn left and I’m going to head  into the countryside I’m going to cycle about 40  

Km to pitch it when I get to pitch it if I’m still  miserable I think I’m going to call it because I’m just not enjoying myself this is so cool I’ve come off the main  Highway we’re out in the rice fields within 5  

Minutes I see something interesting this  guy is about to take off an agricultural drone you know it’s funny this morning’s ride once  the sun had come up it was beautiful like truly   [Music] gorgeous I was seeing and experiencing  the countryside of Thailand the way that I had  

Envisioned would have been much more the case  during this tour this beautiful countryside   was what I had expected to see for much of this  trip and even though I did have a few Blissful   sections just like this it just wasn’t common  place and the fact is heading north to south in  

Thailand you’re just on the main roads for 90% of  the time and all of this beautiful country side I   was experiencing I was actually like I said not  even heading South I was heading east and that   just really Zapped away any remaining optimism  that I [Music] had [Music] there’s literally  

A train coming into the train station right now  going to Bangkok I’ve just been sat here stressing   out do I give up do I call it do I postpone  this till the winter do I just call it what  

You like but do I just quit right now I’m being  at the train station for half an hour trying to   convince myself to do both and I there’s so many  good options for both be brave persist it will get

Better and the other half of my brain  this is too big for you you can’t do   this you’re not enjoying yourself go home  and take it as an L just just call it a   loss call it you learn [Music] something  I really don’t know what I’m going to do  

But whatever I do I’ve probably got  about four minutes to make a [Music] decision yeah I gave Up [Music]

⭐️ Get $3 OFF your first e-SIM with Airalo, use code: PADDY3
Click here to get your e-SIM today! – https://go.airalo.com/PaddyDoyle
Check out @airalocom to learn more!

This is the final episode from my cycle across Thailand series, unfortunately I didn’t make it….

🧳 Need an itinerary for your trip to Thailand?
the THAI TRAILBLAZER Itinerary – https://tinyurl.com/j4p5m9z7
the SOUTHERN SUNTAN Itinerary – https://tinyurl.com/2dzdtr7n
the NORTHERN MONKEY Itinerary – https://tinyurl.com/38jmb4xk
🧳 These itineraries are perfect for a 2 – 4 week trip!

🇹🇭 My Southern Thailand Guide – https://tinyurl.com/82r9hnv7
🇹🇭 My Northern Thailand Guide – https://tinyurl.com/4wrzmsar
🇹🇭 The COMBO North+South Thailand Guide – https://tinyurl.com/3k24dtmm

Get the COMPLETE 🇻🇳 Vietnam Motorbike Tour Guide here 👉 – https://paddy-doyle-merch.creator-spring.com/listing/vietnam-travel-guide-2022?product=1227

🎥 LEARN YouTube with me – – – https://tinyurl.com/ypeh2nmn
✅ — HOW TO FILM video for YouTube
✅ — HOW TO EDIT video for YouTube
✅ — HOW TO UPLOAD & YouTube Masterclass
✅ — 💲 💲 Get a $100 discount code here – https://tinyurl.com/yb349upz

✈️ Cool TRAVEL products I recommend (with discounts) – –
☞ Stay healthy with AG1 – https://athleticgreens.com/paddydoyle
☞ Learn a langauge with Rosetta Stone 50% OFF – https://partners.rosettastone.com/paddy-doyle/paddyd1
☞ Stay safe online with Nord VPN – https://nordvpn.com/paddydoyle
☞ Build a Website with Squarespace – http://www.squarespace.com/paddydoyle
☞ Get $3 OFF your next e-SIM today! – https://go.airalo.com/PaddyDoyle

👉 Ways To Support Paddy Doyle –

🤙🏻JOIN my Patron Production Team
🔗 https://www.patreon.com/paddydoyle

✅ Get 1 on 1 Help on Your Own YouTube Channel (Production CEO Tier)
https://www.patreon.com/paddydoyle?fan_landing=true&view_as=public

☝🏻 UNLOCK the next episode RIGHT NOW by becoming a channel member
🔗 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU1wi0E8d98o0KTaOGJbieg/join

💕 Contribute Directly
🔗 https://tinyurl.com/uuyvnfql

💪🏼 Support the Channel Here –
🔗 https://www.buymeacoffee.com/paddydoyle

🙋🏻 Get Next Level Adventures MERCH
🔗 https://paddy-doyle-merch.creator-spring.com

🔔 Subscribe here – https://tinyurl.com/5fpytmaf
make sure to hit the 🔔 notifications bell 🔔 and never miss an adventure!

🎧 Where I get my music (FREE TRIAL) – https://www.epidemicsound.com/referral/o1nwys

✈️ Where I get my TRAVEL INSURANCE 👉 – https://safetywing.com/?referenceID=24896498&utm_source=24896498&utm_medium=Ambassador

#Airalo #eSIM #AiraloPartner #paddydoyle #thailand #travel #adventure

35 Comments

  1. I love your videos and thanks for sharing. Don’t be too hard on yourself, I hope you try it again. I love to travel by bike and can’t wait to see Thailand by bike. Thanks

  2. paddy. Welshman living in phang nga. been coming to Thailand for 10 years. been watching your videos since you began. cycled all of Europe on a Halford bike. felt like days of giving up. reaching out to see if you fancied a coffee sometime in Bangkok or the south. I know why you gave up the cycle trip. I know its itching you why you gave up and now your kicking yourself. considering about cycling China in near future. been looking for a direct contact for you but cant find one. reach out buddy lets have a chat.

  3. Hi Paddy, you made the right choice. If you don't enjoy it, it's better to stop. The highways in Thailand are also far too dangerous and cycling at night is suicidal. You don't have to prove anything to yourself. I did a bike tour some years ago in the north of Thailand and then flew to Surat Thani and from there drove along country roads to Khao Sok and Khao Lak. I found that Phuket is already too busy in order to cycle securely. I´ve met some people who did Krabi and Kho Lanta and it seems to be alright. If you are really looking into it try the southern islands in November. Good luck.

  4. It's very dangerous to cycle in Thailand. Many drunk drivers, careless drivers, drivers who do not know how to drive, prosecution of bad or illegal drivers rarely happens.

  5. Although you gave up, your learning lesson will teach everyone else to avoid highways when cycling. An incredible achievement can be cycling from the northern point to the southern point through villages. That means lots of East-West travel, and much more time. Thank you Paddy for your courage & wise decision at the end !

  6. These four videos are so inspiring Paddy. …. A Very wise decision to pause the adventure when you did and shows how mentally strong you are. Onwards and upwards.

  7. I was worried when you were on the motorcycle. But I was terrified when you decided to bike. So glad you listened to your inner voice and called it. How about exploring Thailand by train videos ? We just did 3 train lines, very interesting.

  8. Hello old Pad. I have watched your show for several years, and the fact is you're in pretty decent shape but you're no Ironman. If you were an Ironman, you'd probably be Rotten at shooting and Presenting the video, and no one would watch it . . .
    MY Prescription for a successful producer of Travelogs would be to be in decent shape, robust all-around health, and able to handle different climates ( humidity does Kill people);
    able to hike, climb, and endure long Transportation legs; and of course with the gear and skills of Camera and Reportage. You have this : Its no Problem ! 😺😺😺

  9. Paddy A for effort, at least you gave it a shot. A lot of people wouldn't even make it as far as you did, me for one of them especially in the Thai heat.
    Especially as you said no formal training and the physical endurance needed to tackle this type of journey.
    Look at it as a learning experience and be proud at what you have achieved.
    Looking forward to your next adventure always a pleasure what's your stories.
    All the best.

  10. Yep!!! Made the right call!!!

    Cycling on highways with TRUCKS is silly!!!!!

    Just a mater of time!!!

    Take the back roads and you will have more fun and prob see more interesting stuff!

    Life's not a distance race!

  11. Good to take a breakout that point, Paddy. No point if your not enjoying it, and you can always pick it up from Pichit another time if you want. I actually wouldn't even want to do those roads on a motorcycle, let alone a bicycle..!

  12. Just saw the accident statistics so far this year Paddy. You cannot / should not ride on the highway. Big no no. You didn't fail, you chose life. Now plan some interesting cycle adventures & do them in bite sized pieces. Good call mate. Regards Tony

  13. Cycled from Bangkok to Pattaya then up to Laos, took like 9 days, but yeah at 6pm every night just stopped, its dangerous enough during the day. Just fixing up a tandem bike and will now cycle to cambodia, as soon as I can find someone stupid enough to sit behind me 🙂
    Not bad video, better than your normal stuff. Keep it up. Correct decision made.

  14. Sorry to say this but this is crazy, Paddy this is insane. You are on the way to a serious illness, your body can only take so much. Even my mates on motorbikes are saying and describing very difficult conditions.

  15. Should have watched the whole video through first, very relieved to say you came to your senses. Absolutely no shame in realising there is another day and time, at least you have lived to tell the tale. Good on yah.

  16. To ride this, you’d need to start early morning, do as much km as you can. Chill for the day and then ride again in the afternoon.
    But this is no joke for someone not used to riding in this heat.
    You also need UV protection clothes, not this shirt you have on you.
    You need to fuel properly on the ride including electrolytes in big quantities.
    Not to mention riding on the highways is just plain boring af…

  17. You did the right move in ending this suffering. Don't turture yourself for a few clicks. Re-start in Samut Sakhon or Samut Songkhram and enjoy the coastline heading south.

  18. 🙏Hello I'm traveling here. Nakhon Ratchasima Province Organizing a celebration of Thao Suranaree's Victory Day 2024 on 23 March – 3 April. Let's go travel🐇🇹🇭

  19. Great video paddy , you probably wouldn’t be here to tell the tail if you cycled down that highway so in my opinion you made the right choice. Just going to check out you’re other videos now 👍

  20. Talked yourself out of it. The mental strength is 90% of the challenge mate. Dig in, refuse to quit. Go hard or go home right 👍
    Maybe you made the right choice. It was a very brave attempt. You’ll get it next time 😉

Leave A Reply