The first point to make is that when you rent or ride a motorbike in Thailand or Vietnam, nobody will ask to see or verify your license. On the trips we run, as the tour leader, I organise all the bikes and our guests choose which one they want to ride. However the moment you have an "incident" such as an accident involving a local or their property, an official will want to see your license. Ironically they will not understand what is written as it is in English, as opposed to Thai or Vietnamese, whose written language is a bunch of squiggles that we don't understand. The same works in reverse! In this part of the world, your motorcycle licence is merely an additional coded number as an endorsement to your primary driver's licence.

We always recommend that you obtain (from the Automobile Association) an International Driver's licence which gives some official standing, and perhaps helps you in any insurance claim situation. Local officials won't be able to understand that any better than the NZ licence. Another suggestion is that you take the simple local riding test for a learner licence which gives you legal eligibility to ride any bike up to 250cc. As our bikes in Vietnam are all under the 250cc rating, and a 250cc Honda Shadow in Thailand is a good fun bike to ride on our trips, this should solve the dilemma of potentially riding illegally in these exotic places.