Niltava

Evening all, We have a four floor townhouse in Bangkok that needs a roof replacement. Our chang (who we regularly use and we are generally happy with) has told us the best option is to use a reinforced steel frame with steel sheeting and PU foam sheet underneath as insulation. The area to be covered would be 2 slopes, each 6m x 4.3m (see attached) so the total area would be 52 sq m. He's quoting a total price of THB 160,000 (65k for materials and 95k for labour), indicating it would take 7 days and the main challenge will be getting the materials onto the top of the building. The price seems higher than we were anticipating, but we never had to replace a roof before so I'd be grafetul for comments from those with more experience. Pictures of the current roof also included for info. Thanks, N

We live in Bangkok and last had our house exterior painted 12 years ago, so it's due to a re-paint. I have a trusted chang who has done lots of work for us before at good local prices and he'll do the work for me, but I told him I'd source the paint. As this is a big purchase of paint (covering about 750 sq m) I'd like some guidance from forum members about which brand of paint to use? My default would be either Dulux Weathershield or TOA Supershield, but I've not had to decorate for a while so I'm a bit out of touch with what's best (and best value). Whilst I've bought paint from a local paint shop in the past, and from Homepro I've not paid that much attention to their respective differences in price, but given the quantity I'll need for this job I'm a bit more focused on cost - I'm guessing I may be able to get a reasonable discount from the paint shop (and I'm keen to support smaller businesses), but will Homepro etc always undercut these places given their mass market volume? Thoughts appreciated! N

I asked the Volvo guy to reconfirm the price of the replacement battery. Turns out they are now quoting 500,000 THB.

This is the conclusion we came to as well. Whilst it's a great car we have decided that it's not the best value, so have binned it as an option.

This morning I did a test drive of the Volvo EX30 (Ultra, single motor, extended range). This is the first time I have driven an EV and it was certainly a very impressive, refined car. The acceleration is quite something. Talking to the sale rep, one thing that I was surprised to learn was that they claim that a replacement for the whole of the battery would cost about THB 80,000 (eighty thousand baht). I double checked with him about this, infact I triple checked and he said this was the right figure. He told me that the battery comes in 4 sections that can be replaced individually, each one costing about THB 20k. Can this be correct? I was under the impression that a EV battery makes up a substantial portion of the car's cost, so clearly this seems a bit odd. N

Thanks for the various replies. Just some feedback from me. This morning I test drove the RS to see if the panoramic roof was a problem or not. Personally I found that even with the fabric/mesh curtain pulled over to block out some of the sunlight I still felt that there was a distracting amount of glare which I felt that (particularly on a long journey on the open road) would add to any fatigue that I got from being at the wheel for multiple hours, and as such it's a deal-breaker. This means that if we do decide to get the HRV we will buy the EL model (with full metal roof). I find it hard to understand why Honda (and other brands) have decided that panoramic roofs are a good idea in Thailand. Best wishes, N

Many thanks, this is very encouraging feedback.

Hi Poobear, Thanks for your reply. I will definately be mindfil of the seats when I test drive tomorrow. Regarding the panoramic roof, did you find it a particular problem in terms of a) distracting light whilst driving, or b) making the car super hot, c) both. Our concern is that the rather flimsy mesh fabric "curtain" for the panoramic roof won't be sufficient to stop either of these issues. Thanks, N

Hello all, As part of our plans to replace our ancient car, we went to the Motor show over the weekend and determined that one of our favourite contenders for new car is the Honda HRV HEV. I'm doing a test drive tomorrow and have asked to look at both the top of the line RS and mid spec EL models, but not sure if they will have both available. We are thinking about getting the RS but one of our concerns is that this model comes with a panoramic roof as standard and whilst there is a mesh/fabric cover that can be pulled over to block out some of the sunlight, we are wondering if this is really such a good idea to have in a hot climate like Thailand's. We live in a house with a uncovered drive way, so the car will be in the sun all day. I'd be really interested to hear from HRV owners who either have the panoramic roof and how it's working out for them, or from HRV owners of other other specs (EL or E) to understand if they felt the panoramic roof was a deal-breaker for them. Thanks and best best wishes, N

Thanks, yes we plan to test drive before we buy. One more dumb question - are all the EV charging points in Thailand compatible with all cars? Do I need to subscribe to one provider or can I simply "pay as I go" with any provider? Best wishes, N

Hello everybody, My 22 year old Honda CR-V has finally given the ghost and so I'm looking to buy a new car, probably a small SUV. Trying to decide between a hybrid (either Honda HR-V or Toyota Yaris Cross) or an EV, the front runner being the Volvo EX30 CORE that is about to arrive on Thai roads. My main concerns about an EV are probably pretty typical: 1) range anxiety - I like to get out of Bangkok into some pretty remote areas - how widespread are charging points across Thailand and how rapidly is the number increasing? 2) We own a house in Bangkok so presume we can install a wall charger - do I need to get our electricity supply evaluated first and who can do this for me? Would a Volvo technician do it for me before installing the wall charger? Sorry, I'm sure there are loads of questions like this on this forum so if this post betrays just how new I am to this please feel free to tell me to read all 168 pages, or point me to some useful english language resources that might answer my questions. Thanks! N