One most renowned country that uses motorbikes next to Vietnam and Indonesia is Thailand. And yet, another interesting fact about Thailand is its production of spare parts for motorbikes and cars. Next, to Japan, Thailand’s production of parts are of good quality, so modifying one’s vehicle with parts to enhance the looks and speed is very common among the Thais.
The street bike set up, or the dek vanz style (roughly translated as a street thug rider) of bike modifications is the pioneer of bike races and shows. A few of the most used bikes for drag races are the Honda Wave 125, Yamaha Mio, Sonic 125, and Kawasaki KR 150, which are all popular street bikes in Thailand. Due to the popularity and hype of the racers living in Thailand, many other Southeast Asian countries like Vietnam, Indonesia, and Malaysia have come up with their own kind of setup and modifications. Yet the Thai street bike style is still considered the cleanest and crisp with looks and performance.
Far across the sea in the Philippine islands, a group called THDM (Thailand Domestic Market) Elites has adopted the Thai way of doing things. That means all of their bikes consist of parts produced from Thailand and the same way of building it. From fairings, rims, spokes, and exhaust pipe; all are made up of Thai spare part brands. There is even a strict rule of not being able to join the THDM Elites without a complete inspection of neophyte’s vehicle, plus being active and maintaining a good friendship is encouraged. They are called “the elites” for a very good reason.
THDM Elites takes pride in having the neatest and cleanest bikes in the Philippines. The term “Thai-look” was coined by the bike community due to its rising hype. With that new term, the Elites grew and so did their fan base. Now spread out to more than 7 cities in the Philippines, the elites have come a long way.
The Elites started off with a few Thai bike-concept enthusiasts who were willing to hand carry parts bought from a trip to Bangkok making any DIY adjustments and replicas from time to time just to reach the concept. Only 83 loyal attendees first showed up to the very first group meet.