Published 2026-08-18
Many do, and it is the single most searched question about renting a motorbike here. A Bangkok motorbike rental deposit should be refundable money, cash or a card hold, agreed before you commit and returned in full when the bike comes back undamaged. It should never be your passport. NOIRR takes a refundable cash or card deposit and does not hold passports, on any vehicle, for any length of rental.
Your passport belongs to the government that issued it, not to you and not to a rental shop. You need it to check into a hotel, to be admitted to a hospital, and any time a police officer asks a foreign national for identification. Handing it over for three days to save a cash deposit puts all of that in a drawer in a shop you have never been to.
The practical failure is worse than the theory. If a dispute starts over a scratch, the shop is holding the one document you need to leave the country, and the negotiation is over before it starts. That is why the passport is asked for. It is leverage, not security.
Refundable. Cash or card. The amount depends on the vehicle and the length, and it is confirmed at booking before you pay anything. NOIRR photographs the vehicle at delivery, you get the same photos, and the same is done at collection. If there is no new damage, the deposit is returned in full at collection. Your passport stays with you the entire time.
NOIRR also states the insurance position plainly: third party liability is included on every rental. That covers damage you cause to other people and their property. It does not cover the bike itself, and it does not cover your own medical costs, which is what your travel insurance is for, and your travel insurance requires the correct International Driving Permit class.
A shop that answers all five without hesitation is usually fine. A shop that answers none of them is holding your passport for a reason.
The Ducati Monster 937 is on the road at ฿2,900 per day and the Honda ADV350 at ฿1,400 per day, both delivered anywhere in Bangkok, refundable cash or card deposit, passport stays with you. Pick your dates from the calendar.
The Kawasaki Z900, Yamaha XMAX 300, Tesla Model 3 and Jaecoo 6 EV show no dates yet. None of them is in the NOIRR fleet, so booking is not open on them. Get notified when dates open.
For the fuller picture on cost, licence rules and which bike suits Bangkok, start at motorbike rental Bangkok. In Thai: มัดจำเช่ามอเตอร์ไซค์ในกรุงเทพ. Full rate list: Bangkok rental prices.
Some still ask for one, most often walk-in scooter shops, and it is the most common question travellers ask before renting here. None of the 14 Bangkok shops that publish a policy in our price index hold passports. It is not required. A refundable cash or card deposit is a fair substitute, and it is what NOIRR takes instead.
A passport is the property of the issuing government and you need it for hotel check in, hospital admission and any identity check by police. No rental shop needs to hold it, and refusing is normal. NOIRR takes a refundable cash or card deposit instead and never holds a passport.
In the NOIRR price index, published scooter deposits run THB 2,000 to 5,000 in cash, most big bike shops publish no figure, and every shop that states a passport policy says it does not hold passports. The NOIRR deposit is refundable, taken in cash or by card, and the amount is confirmed at booking before you commit.
With NOIRR, at collection, in full, provided there is no new damage. The vehicle is photographed at delivery and again at collection so both sides work from the same record. Any shop that says the deposit is returned weeks later is worth avoiding.
Third party liability insurance is included on every NOIRR rental, covering damage caused to other people and their property. It does not cover the bike itself or your medical costs. Personal cover comes from your travel insurance, which requires an International Driving Permit with the motorcycle class.
