FarangTalk

Yeh, I spotted that as well. With that type of spoiler you sort of expect them to be there.

I drove one a couple of weeks ago. What they have done with the Yaris, in making it an eco car and bringing down the prices, is really smart in my opinion. The Yaris always used to be a little more expensive than the Vios, and i could never really understand why people were happy to pay more for something smaller.

The new price range, from about 480 to 600, makes it really competitive on price. Choice of the bunch for me would be the 520k model. That one would have great residuals. My only worry is with the cat fish whisker design feature at the front. On the lower spec models it is in mat black finish, whereas the top model it is silver. If you are getting a lower spec one, think you need to think carefully about what colour you get it in. White might be a good choice, but really need to see it in the flesh.

It drove fine. When you use the kick down, and when you hold it kicked down, the engine does screech a bit. That would be my only real complaint, but then again, it's a 1.2 and so you are trading engine grunt for economy, at least you hope you are.

Internal plastics and fittings seemed good to me, but then i was coming from an Almera. If you are coming from something like a City, they might not look so good. At the end of the day though, i think you have to take price into consideration. This is very cheap by Toyota standards, and it's not like it is the size of a shoebox, like the Brio, so i think it represents good value.

If i was in the market to buy one, my only consideration would be, are Toyota going to make an eco version of the Vios? Because if they are, i would probably wait and get one of those instead. 5 door cars like the Yaris look good, but if you are used to the boot space of a Saloon, as i am, they are a bit less practical. I did ask the salesman about the chances of a eco Vios and he couldn't answer

I agree about the front spoiler colour. For me, the black looks a lot better than the silver accents, especially in the red colour car I saw. They got a couple of different models sitting outside Asiatique shopping precinct, when I recover from my hangover I might go over and have a sniff around.

I must admit I enjoyed my old 1.5 Yaris when I had it. It was a great little car for driving about Bangkok.

Taxi for Pheu Thai. 

 

You won't be missed when you're gone.

I'll stick my neck out and say they will be.

Much rather have this bunch of goons in charge than what appears to be coming.

Be careful what you wish for.

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If the Russians stop coming, they will simply be replaced by someone else. Nothing ever stops the tourism machine in this country.

Once the inevitable happens and the shackles are off, there could well be widespread civil conflict or even worse.

That will stop it dead in its tracks.

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And now they're selling bonds to pay for the rice.

Selling Bonds to get money is what governments do...

but they should not do so much....

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Especially when foreign investors are net sellers of bonds and a downgrade is imminent because of the rice scamming scheme that has drained all of the money from the coffers.

They will have to pay such high yields on the bonds as they risk becoming junk bonds the way things are deteriorating in the confidence of the Thai economy. Big business will have to pay higher interest rates on their borrowings if Thailand is downgraded, further adding to the woes!!

Yingluck!!, your days are numbered - you should have paid more attention to the economy (I know that you and your thicko buddies such as serial liar Kittirat don't understand such things) instead of thinking of your brother all the time as if it is just he that matters!!

You even cocked that up big time so why not disappear and let somebody with experience and who knows what he is doing ie: look no further than Abhisit to run the show!!

Great idea, get the unpopular and unelectable Abhisit to head up another unelected government and have his strings pulled by the usual suspects.

Didn't we try that already and it failed badly, with his new friends of Newin faction plundering the most lucrative government ministries to their heart's content?

It doesn't matter how badly this PTP government performs, they can rest assured the opposition is still as unpopular as ever and for the reasons for this just look to whom they are aligned with and their performances in office through the 90's and after the judicial coup.

Baton down the hatches as civil conflict is imminent!

SHARE..

You are correct , but the man giving the orders was an army general protecting his troops... Not like when Thaksin ordered the mass execution of suspect drug dealers in Bangkok.. Let's see Tarit going after the Army... Haha.. its so funny I could laugh.

And you think drug dealers that steal the live's of people and their family's and have a massive negative impact on the country have the right to any anything more than what was dished out to them? you do know that the BA in YABA means crazy, and how about the killings that these dregs of society commit? where's the justice of fair hearing for them??? they got what they deserved...

I would agree with you that drug dealers need to be stopped. I am against capital punishment, but I am in favor of punishing drug dealers. I believe everybody agrees with that.

BUT THAT'S NOT THE PROBLEM.

The problem is that in a civilized country respecting the rule of law, only a court after a due process can find someone guilty of drug dealing and a punishment.

Thaksin didn't bother with that, he just had them killed, guilty or innocent. In fact a large number of totally innocent people got killed. Nobody was ever held responsible, least Thaksin, who ordered it.

Thaksin couldn't have gone ahead with it without approval.

2.2 Trillion Baht transferred out of the country.

Baht crashes, repeat of 1997. Baht worth 40 to the US$. Money is then transferred in again. 2.2 trillion suddenly becomes 3 trillion with 0.8 trillion skimmable profit.

Easy to see what is happening.

Thaksin is getting his money back.

This gent who thinks its fine to export endangered wildlife for profit.

An ex deputy MP and now minister of labor whose sons murdered a cop.

A PM who is the clone (his word not mine) of a convicted crim on the run.

A finance minister who thinks its OK to lie about the economy.

Those in MP and cabinet positions who led riots that led to deaths, injuries and destruction and who deny any responsibility.

Could fill the whole page.

But the crowning glory is that the whole sad bunch of them are saying that they refuse to obey the law of the country by rejecting a courts decision.

Are these really the best on offer as roll models for the youth of this country ?

If so what hope is there for the future ?

None, given the quality of the opposition, who have their own skeletons.

A leader who's father aligned himself with a dictator after a coup. A leader who himself botched a crackdown on political protests, at the very least allowing and condoning the army to use live ammunition against protesters resulting in numerous deaths. Who also during his premiership saw a marked rise in prosecutions for thought crimes, unprecedented censorship of media including the internet, who aligned himself with arguably the most corrupt faction in government in order to control parliament and get himself installed as PM, giving said faction the most lucrative ministries to plunder at will as a reward and enacting a vote-buying scheme with said faction in traditional PTP strongholds in order to beat Thaksin at his own game. Who's regime allowed and condoned billions in pointless military spending, including hot air balloons, rusted submarines and fake bomb scanners, who oversaw numerous human rights abuses and refused proper investigation, who's own administration was accused of financial irregularities over election spending, etc, etc, etc.

And I don't even need to start on Suthep or the rest of the old guard cronies up to their knees in it.

Sat in two versions but didn't bother test driving; the base model and the top 1.2L version. The base model, despite the auto gearbox was way under-spec. Wind up windows in 2014... <deleted> is that all about?

Space in the driving seat seems adequate and the seats are firm and supportive however I am concerned they could be uncomfortable for longer periods. They have tried for a more premium and modern interior however there are still far too many harsh, scratchy plastics and material feel is still ultimately cheap and nasty. Steering wheel on the other hand feels nice to the touch and sporty with function controls on the upper range models only.

Neither of the versions I saw had any Nav system or screens which is a big minus point. Dials and gauges return to their correct position of functionality rather than floating lost in the middle of the dash as in the previous model trying to make some fashion statement.

The exterior is much improved with modern styling front and rear. Even the base model looks good from the outside with an aggressive sporty front bumper. Rear tail lights won't be to everyone's taste and will polarise opinion on the looks of this car.

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Lets hope he doesn't get killed by "running into bullets"

 

http://asiancorrespondent.com/49822/thai-deputy-pm-protesters-died-because-they-ran-into-bullets/

Sums him up. A more horrible, self-important, arrogant, poorly educated bully you couln't hope to meet.

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He said he knew pretty well of what sort of person the labor minister is

Takes one to know one as they say.

Again - this is merely a fee to cover the costs of those that skip without paying their hospital bill.

You are deluded if you think this will cover your healthcare costs while in Thailand or provide any sort of insurance whatsoever.

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This 500 Bht is NOT a travel insurance and will not cover cost for medical treatment which will still need to be paid for. Just a money making exercise which will more likely piss tourists off rather than scare them off.

 

More of a concern is the logistics of it. Where will it be collected, at immigration? Most tourists do not already have Thai baht when entering the country. Surely this will cause huge delays getting through immigration?

I suspect there will be an arbitary amount in USD, GBP, EURO etc which will be more than the equivalent 500bts, as no change will be given ( its not a bank!). They will know what to charge and there is no point in arguing as they wont speak your language at the time.

Entry to Cambodia 20$ or 1000bts I seem to recall was a common conversion without the help of the local corruption squad.

 

 

$20 is the price for a tourist visa at the airport and still is IIRC. They are still at it demanding 1000thb if you have no US$ and shortchanging people who have paid in US$ as far as I am aware. People have cottoned on though and there's fewer suckers getting visas on arrival. eVisa is the way to go although it is $5 more.

 

Upon arrival by air in Siem Reap several months ago both myself and Thai gf, (myself with a business visa and she visa free) were asked at the immigration desk for money. I saw several Korean tourists paying money at the immigration desk after they had already paid for visas on arrival. In Phnom Penh there are clear signs stating 'nothing to be paid here' while in Siem Reap the scamming continues. Just be aware people. 

 

I expect this 500thb fee will provide plenty of scope for corruption at certain entry points throughout Thailand.

 

 

So they cotton on and pay $5 more. I am missing some thing there. I would think it was the other way around they would pay the visa fee apon arrival.

 

As far as Siem Reap I had to pay $25 U S while my girl friend was free, ?Same in Bali although I believe it was only $20 there and she was free.

 

You are quite correct there is defiantly plenty of room for corruption but as I have said in an earlier post where else are you going to get medical insurance for 500 baht a month. 6.000 baht a year.If the new medical plan for ex pats works out it will only be 2,200 baht a year. $200 American. The last time I tried to apply for medical insurance for a year it was $1,650 for a year.

 

The ones who are doing the visa runs are the ones who will have to pay the most but still it is cheaper than any other alternative.

 

A well thought out plan on the Governments side to make money and a not so well thought out reaction from the ex pats. Tourists will be jumping all over this plan cheapest deal in town.

 

You have misunderstood my post. The money asked was a bribe at actual immigration desk not the charge for the visa fee. My post made that perfectly clear. Both my girlfriend and I were asked. I already have a one year multi entry business visa and my gf is Thai so visa free entry to Cambodia.

I am still shaking my head at the amount of posters thinking you will get anything for this 500thb fee.

This fee will provide no healthcare benefits for foreigners, it is merely to cover those that skip without paying.

The rest of the money will be trousered by the usual beaurocrats and officials.

I repeat - you will not be entitled to anthing under this new scam, sorry, fee.

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 What!! You mean they should accept Thailand becoming a dictatorship, because thats what will happen if they achieve control of both the lower and upper houses!!

 Why do you say that this is dubious and wrong case? It is not the PTP MP's using other peoples ID cards to vote for others in their absence that is in question, it is their determination to have the majority of the senator house representatives as Pheu Thai sympathisers/family members/friends of Thaksin etc: with no time limit on how long they can serve as senators. This is clearly a breach of the constitution as they are trying to eliminate having checks and balances on legislature and can pass anything they want without any opposition.

 They have already made one gigantic cock-up with the amnesty bill and the underhand way in which they attempted to pass it into law and not recognising the authority of the constitutional court will be their undoing!!

 Bring in the army!!

 

The irony is if you told someone who knew nothing about this situation that a government was accused of being dictatorial because they wanted to change the senate from half appointed to fully elected they'd surely think it absurd. Putting aside your opinions on PT for a moment; it is absurd isn't it? I don't think democracy should be limited in this way, I think it should be left to iron itself out. The one thing I'd agree with you on is that the clause which bars the family of MPs from running for the senate should be kept in place. That is a restriction of democracy, but an acceptable one at this juncture imo.

Anyway whatever you or I think about this amendment is irrelevant to whether it's a breach of the constitution. The court aren't ruling on the 'checks and balance' argument. They're ruling on Sec 68, which states: "no person shall....overthrow the democratic regime of government with the King as Head of State under this Constitution or to acquire the power to rule the country by any means which is not in accordance with the modes provided in this Constitution". The constitution clearly states the constitution can be amended, so that isn't an issue. So, leaving aside the vexed question of whether parliament is a person, the only relevant question is whether an amendment which alters composition of the senate to fully elected constitutes an attempt to overthrow the democratic regime or threatens the monarchy. As I say, it just seems absurd to me that having a fully elected senate could be interpreted as overthrowing the democratic regime...

As for your call for the army to step in to save the country from dictatorship. Well, again, another absurdity. Burning the village to save the village. If it does happen, it won't be like 2006 again. Recall what happened in Egypt earlier this year when the army stepped in to save the country from the elected 'dictator' Morsi? This is a guy who did far worse than anything this government has done. Yet the army stepping in solved nothing, it just threw the country further back into its dictatorial past and resulted in the killing of thousands of people. Be careful what you wish for.

 

 

 

Well you were doing good until you tried to compare the situation to Egypt. We don't have religious fanatics involved on either side here.

 

Really?

Abhisit was very vocal about his amulet collection and it is well known Thai politicians consult fortune tellers on a regular basis and often form policy based on their predictions.

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Financing of what? The vote on the amendment? They already tried that in 2007 election. The Asian Network for Free Elections said one of the few problems with that election was the amount of soldiers present at voting centers around the country. ANFREL described them as potentially intimidating IIRC.

PPP still won that election, as you know, despite that. Look, even Korn doesn't believe vote buying affects the result... "If a candidate today in Loei runs under the Democrat banner for him to try to win he would need to spend two or three times more than his PPP opponent in order to win and even then he still might lose.This is exactly what happened in the last election. “A number of former TRT MPs defected to Puea Paendin and they outpsent PPP three to one and they still lost”. This goes along way to confirming what Chris said, but money is no longer determinative of your success. What Thaksin did was to make that connection and make it directly relevant to his target group. We are less afraid to compete against vote-buying than the buying of MPs. I still believe at the end of the day that if you sold your vote it is still your decision in the ballot box. However, it would be very ineffective for the Democrats to buy a Northeastern MP. Simply at the end of the day we cannot go against the will of the people and no amount of money will help."

 

 

 

PT won the last election for 2 main reasons, leaving aside from money in the hand.

 

As an aside I don't really believe that money in the hand will be needed in future for all they have to do is approach the Po yai Baan with the threat of withholding the 100 million village fund if the area vote goes in the wrong direction

 

The first was their promises which we now see are not turning out to well, for a want of a better term.

 

These were promises that the Dems were not willing to try to trump.

 

The second was the great lie that Abhisit and Suthep were guilty of murdering the red rioters, a lie which we see repeated over and over again every day on these pages.

 

That lie is the main thing that turned the people of the northeast and north against the Dems and repeating it constantly keeps the hate alive.

 

And that hate is the main reason the Dems will not make significant inroads into red strongholds.

 

Even though a significant proportion of the people in red heartland can now see through PT and don't want to vote for them again they will not vote for a Dem candidate because of the hate.

 

And the Dems are the only real opposition that can stop PT from doing whatever they want as the parasite parties will always go where they get the best offer.

 

I have quote on my data base from Noppodon  which unfortunately I cant quote or link to as it came from another publication.

 

The gist however is that Thaksin had a survey done in red heartland which showed that 68 PT MP"S in the area had only 15% or less support and were likely to lose their seats and that he ordered them to get out and increase their support pronto.

 

As he still thought PT would lose some seats he has arranged for another 2 parties to field candidates in those areas, after the election they would then join with PT.

 

You will note that it is not me that said this but Thaksins legal advisor.

 

If you or anyone else is real keen you could hunt around and find it for yourself.

The reason the Dems are not popular in the North and North East is because of their bitter medicine policies against the rural poor in the late 90s. Long before Thaksin, red shirts or anything else. The yellow shirt actions, 2006 coup and subsequent machinations have only hardened their opinions, and justly so IMO.

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I would demand full payment from the hotel for the damage caused.

If it is not forthcoming unequivocally, seek legal advice after informing the Police.

Don't expect the Police to be of any assistance however, they are just criminals in uniform and will be looking to find a way to make money. Insist a report is filed and you receive a copy.

Bowls of fruit and wais won't cut it I'm afraid.

This 500 Bht is NOT a travel insurance and will not cover cost for medical treatment which will still need to be paid for. Just a money making exercise which will more likely piss tourists off rather than scare them off.

More of a concern is the logistics of it. Where will it be collected, at immigration? Most tourists do not already have Thai baht when entering the country. Surely this will cause huge delays getting through immigration?

I suspect there will be an arbitary amount in USD, GBP, EURO etc which will be more than the equivalent 500bts, as no change will be given ( its not a bank!). They will know what to charge and there is no point in arguing as they wont speak your language at the time.

Entry to Cambodia 20$ or 1000bts I seem to recall was a common conversion without the help of the local corruption squad.

$20 is the price for a tourist visa at the airport and still is IIRC. They are still at it demanding 1000thb if you have no US$ and shortchanging people who have paid in US$ as far as I am aware. People have cottoned on though and there's fewer suckers getting visas on arrival. eVisa is the way to go although it is $5 more.

Upon arrival by air in Siem Reap several months ago both myself and Thai gf, (myself with a business visa and she visa free) were asked at the immigration desk for money. I saw several Korean tourists paying money at the immigration desk after they had already paid for visas on arrival. In Phnom Penh there are clear signs stating 'nothing to be paid here' while in Siem Reap the scamming continues. Just be aware people.

I expect this 500thb fee will provide plenty of scope for corruption at certain entry points throughout Thailand.

For the Bmw 116i, there are plug n play aftermarket piggyback to boost the power by another 20%. The Kellener Power module is one such product.

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AC Schnitzer offer a tuning piggyback that extracts 200bhp from the twinpower turbo engine.

Easy to install and no other mods required. 2 year warranty from Schnitzer and shouldn't invalidate your BMW warranty (need to confirm this).

Rear wheel drive, 200bhp, 8-speed gearbox (one of the best available on the market) and adaptive dampers have all but sold this car to me. I am now debating whether to go for this or the Volvo because there's still a lot to play for yet. I might still end up with a more expensive 3-series (which again all have the Schnitzer piggyback available). I don't like the front of the 1er and there's not much space in the rear but I could live with those negatives.

116i would be made better with the addition of a leather interior, paddle shifters and bigger rims which weren't on the M Sport version we drove. The sales lady told me they would get their English speaking staff to contact me so I can get answers to all these questions.

Front wheel drive and rumoured nasty gearbox on the Mercedes CLA-250 are putting me off, coupled with the unacceptable year long wait. I still have to test drive it though. It's a looker and will hold value. Guaranteed to turn more heads than the 1er.

So what else? Spoke to Toyota today and they said they didn't have an 86 to test drive so that's a non-starter.

Anyone?

To get the Police to enforce any laws you first have to ensure they are not criminals themselves, which 80% of them are.

Why not give police officers a commission for traffic law breakers with a percentage of the fine given to them as tea money?

Because they would just continue to enrich themselves illegally with the extra financial incentives.

The Thai tourist Police officer was in collusion with the two foreigners.

Illegal activity does not go on for long anywhere in Thailand without the Thai Police being involved directly or indirectly.