15Peter20

P1000912.JPG

Here she is.

Looks great, you are a lucky lad. Is everything still going well with it?

I went for another test drive yesterday and tried to get it to shudder or make a noise in low gear but everything seemed fine. Asked the rep if they'd had many transmission/gearbox problems (this was a showroom with a service center behind it) and they said none although a while back they'd had problems with 'noises' from the engines, which I took to mean the same issues as many of the user reviews I'd read online had indicated about the Focus, but that problem was no longer occurring.

So now, I've got my certificate of residence and everything else ready to go. All that remains is to take the plunge. i still feel an element of risk involved and fear high maintenance costs. Have you any idea about how frequent oil changes need to be for that dual-clutch gearbox? I heard oil changes for this type of gearbox are very expensive.

Thanks a lot.

Still very happy with it.

As far as I know the model made here has the dry dual-clutch system, which should mean no oil changes - it's only in the US where the wet clutch is used. The service period is every nine months and I got vouchers from Ford Srinakarin for the first two services to be free of charge. So, maintenance costs should not be an issue as far as I'm concerned (well not for the first 18 months anyhow).

I also read about noises from the transmission/engine, but that was fixed with a software update and mine is quiet.

Well, after the 3rd test drive I took the plunge and put the deposit down. So help me God. If I don't get any of those transmission issues or noises at low speed, this could be the start of something nice. Thanks for your insights.

I must mention that Mr Pom the sales manager at Ford near Meechok Plaza in Chiang Mai is quite the best salesman of anything I've ever met in Thailand. Patient, attentive and thorough.

P1000912.JPG

Here she is.

Looks great, you are a lucky lad. Is everything still going well with it?

I went for another test drive yesterday and tried to get it to shudder or make a noise in low gear but everything seemed fine. Asked the rep if they'd had many transmission/gearbox problems (this was a showroom with a service center behind it) and they said none although a while back they'd had problems with 'noises' from the engines, which I took to mean the same issues as many of the user reviews I'd read online had indicated about the Focus, but that problem was no longer occurring.

So now, I've got my certificate of residence and everything else ready to go. All that remains is to take the plunge. i still feel an element of risk involved and fear high maintenance costs. Have you any idea about how frequent oil changes need to be for that dual-clutch gearbox? I heard oil changes for this type of gearbox are very expensive.

Thanks a lot.

Man, I just got back from test driving a new car and had decided to put down a deposit for it before coming home and reading this article. Guess how I felt.

An unpleasant 10 minutes or so courtesy of Thai Visa. Happy April Fools Day!

I chose the regular Titanium without the gadgetry. The Active City Stop only works below 20kph and doesn't work for pedestrians or motorcycles. Besides, damage below 20kph is likely to be minimal, and nobody is going to die.

For the Park Assist, in 15 years of driving in Bangkok I think I can count the number of times I've had to parallel park on one hand, so no need for the assistance for me personally. Cruise control unnecessary in my view as local conditions (both city and urban) aren't conducive to its use. I would've liked the anti-glare rearview mirror, the blind spot warning and the nice headlights though.

On to the transmission - generally I'm very happy with it. I did a lot of research on it and I was also a little worried, like yourself. I've just reached 1,500km and it's now acting differently. However, apparently this is to be expected as it "learns" your driving style, but I'm still not convinced about this. The only problem I have occurs when I'm crawling in traffic. The computer can't seem to decide whether to engage first or second gear. This is the only issue. Above 10-15kph the transmission is perfect and always has been. The power is brilliant and handling is superb. I love SYNC as well.

Thanks for that, I'm a bit closer to being sold. With regard to the SYNC, how many voice commands do you know which actually work? During my test drive the salesman tried a few, like 'climate' but none worked. He said it was because of his accent. Fair enough, but I still didn't see it working. Do you use this feature much? If so, with what functions? Do you need to 'train' the software to recognize your voice? Thanks again.

Corruption by those in power in Thailand is endemic. It is the one of the essences of Thainess.

If only this was taken to heart by the ever-so-indignant stalwarts of TV news forum, blood pressure levels would be significantly reduced all round. By all means campaign for greater transparency, but drop the faux-disbelief at the daily shenanigans we are exposed to here.

Took a 4Door Titanium + Sedan out for a test drive today. I thought there were issues with the transmission at first and half way through the salesman noticed the cruise control was on, so switching that off kind of improved things but it still left niggling question marks in my head. Then back at home read several owners' reports of transmission problems with the 2012 Focus and now I'm a bit more jittery on it.

Back to the test drive, the added electronic gadgetry can't be ignored - I especially liked the blind spot warning light in the wing mirrors. But the salesman tried 3 times to use the Parking Assist feature and it didn't register that a parking place had been found. He turned the car around and tried in the opposite direction and it worked. It was impressive when it worked, but still, another 'hmmmm'.

It felt a little more cramped than the Civic but maybe this was because of the relatively busier dashboard array. In the front passenger seat, it felt like my legs were being pushed to the left because of the size of the central control panel.

I really wanted to like this car, and at high revs it did feel like there was some power there, and the steering was nice and responsive. I want to buy it because even though I think the Civic is nicer looking both inside and out, it's performance that I'm most interested in, but I think I'll need another test drive before parting with 1.1 odd mill.

Question marks remain about the transmission - do any current owners have any thoughts about this?

Thanks a lot.

For the past few weeks I've been shaping up to get a Civic 2.0 EL Navi but now the Focus Titanium plus (sedan) is coming in as a serious contender. Figure I could get one of those Garmin navi things stuck to the dash of the Focus if necessary.

I'm not going to need the car for everyday commutes in town, just occasional long distance drives from Chiang Mai to BKK and light city driving.

May also be looking to sell it in about 5 years or so.

My missus says the big turn-off for the Focus would be the cost of any repairs, so I'm wondering how long the warranty is on parts for the focus and if it can be extended. Also, that the Civic resale price will be better.

So which of those two cars would you guys choose in this situation?

Cheers for any thoughts.

15Peter

Fine words, however the stumbling block is the old power brokers syndrome that is prevalent in all political parties here in Thailand where sadly in the vast majority of cases personal self interest comes long before the electorate and the country's interests.

This applies to all the current and past political parties, however the leadership of the Democrats need to be ruthless and prune out the self serving members from its ranks. Get in touch with and involve with the grass roots membership, we are all well aware that under the current system some areas are regarded as no go areas for the Democrats. Indeed a fine example of a non democratic society where political indoctrination has triumphed over political education and thus awareness of that which is really happening administration wise.

This situation needs to be reversed no matter what political party or hue may be involved, democracy has got to be open to all. Establish local party sections and constituency party committees much as is done in the U.K. and America to name a couple of examples and field candidates in all elections from village level all the way through the tortuous maze to parliament, let the grass rots membership be involved in the selection of candidates who are going to stand for election.

All people should be entitled to stand for election irrespective of class or education or religion, however there is one caveat and that is that police officers and serving military personnel must be barred from political office and state enterprises Those members who infringe the code of conduct must be disciplined and if necessary removed from the party membership, cancerous politicians affect the country as a whole thus their removal is of paramount importance to ensure open and good governance.

Yes of course there are personal issues at stake for some members, however it has got to be a case of , ''what can I do for my country as opposed to what can I do for myself, my family , my business my cronies and my bank balance etc.country and its peoples first, self last..

Like many other political parties here the dinosaurs have to be removed, O.K. their heads can be preserved in a metaphorical trophy room for posterity, however in the greater majority of cases those dinosaurs have failed to evolve and accept that the days of indoctrination and money politics must go.

The use of all forms of social media is of paramount importance, indeed there has been much use made of said media over the last few years and it has in many ways had a positive result for all parties and political beliefs. The politicians need to grow some spherical objects and actually debate , none of this kreng jai business, sentiment is an extravagant luxury that cannot be afforded if the truth is to come out however unpalatable that truth may be.

The crossing to other political parties or groups should be allowed,however there should, nay must be a five year period prior to any of those who cross to other parties or groups are allowed to become involved in parliamentary matters either as M.P.s or ministers or advisers.Of course we are well aware that covert advice and involvement will occur, however when it comes out into the open those concerned will pay the political price.

The party list should be abolished, it is a non democratic issue.Why should the electorate have someone foisted on them because they have paid an entrance feE and want to be involved in legislation thus ensuring a dividend payment on their investment either financially or to escape the long arm of the law ? The party list system in my view is a total abuse of democracy.

In short political parties are like tree's they grow from small seed and roots as they grow and mature they get stronger and bear fruit, that fruit is the food the country's electorate and social and business structures need if it is to grow and succeed in this modern global village we now inhabit.

The Democrats are indeed embarking on a gargantuan task on a par with ''The Labours of Hercules,'' which has got to start with a critical self examination of themselves, their policies and their membership, the electorate have to be informed that they have the power to shape their and their childrens and the country's political future but they have got to become involved in that machinery that promotes the growth of what passes for democracy in our world.

It seems as as if there has been a critical self appraisal process within the Democrat party, that is indeed a positive start, hopefully other political parties and groups will follow the trail being blazed by the Democrats albeit a small blaze at the moment. The future is ours to grasp, however we have to actually do something to ensure that future. Time alone will tell what will happen, hopefully this might just be the start of a political epiphany in the theatre of Thai politics.

I'm beginning to miss the times when you just posted pictures...

Just another pearl of wisdom from the current Minister of Fiasco Finance, he is contemplating lowering the corporate tax rates to around 20%.

Now we see increased governmental spending all round yet a decrease in taxation income.

One wonders who is going to benefit from this proposed action and where is the money going to be coming from to cover the shortfall in taxation income and who is going to provide those shortfall payments? .

Increased spending, decreased income ?

Hmm,

Seems a very peculiar form of financial prudence to my mind and I am sure I am not alone with that train of thought either.

No, you are not alone. All those other posters who are predisposed to never saying anything good about this government regardless of what it does are right behind you.

What is happening here appears to be fairly textbook expansionary fiscal policy. Its aim is to increase aggregate domestic demand ie put more money in people's pockets. Yes, we are all well aware of corruption and that big bosses get the bigger slice of any benefits, but nevertheless, if you give more cash to companies they generally seek to expand/improve their market positions to avoid being beaten by competitors and an often observed effect of this is to take on more staff - reducing unemployment - and at the very least maintaining levels of pay in line with inflation, as well as investing in plant/machinery etc.

In answer to your 'where is the money going to come from' question, it's already here. The recent capital inflows and bond buy-ups from abroad will have given further impetus to this policy. Further, the increased aggregate demand would be expected to eventually increase overall tax income to maintain the expansion. Its Keynesian economics, but if you'd rather call it an evil government ploy, then fill your boots.

As with any economic tinkering, there are risks involved, chiefly that inflation may occur and that the currency will further strengthen, but monitoring and control can take place over time to keep this in check, if desired.

The government may get it wrong - which remains to be seen - but what they are talking about doing here is completely understandable in economic terms and I don't think you bring much to this particular discussion with your entrenched and somewhat obsessive political beliefs.

I got 445,000 odd from a 10grand transfer just received.

Does anyone know a good branch to bank with for the rate negotiation in Chiang Mai? My current branch aren't accepting any negotiation at all. Bangkok bank or another if you have good experience.

Cheers

I've done a few 25K transfers with bangkok bank and got from 0.02 to 0.05 above the TT rate. The thing is, it doesn't seem to be about 'haggling' or 'negotiating', it's more like what they feel like giving you based on the exact rate at the moment when the bank person has got the FX person (or whoever it is they call) on the phone.

I always ask for 0.04 so sometimes they give me less, sometimes more than what I ask for.

To be honest, when they ask me to 'confirm' the price they are offering, I always just say 'OK' but wonder what would happen if I said their offer wasn't good enough. I suspect the transaction would come to an abortive end.

No, the funds would remain in limbo until such time as you specified a rate you wanted and if that rate was not realised, then the money would sit in limbo - Thai/Asian banks are quite happy to hold your inbound currency without the conversion being made.

Thanks for the info. I suspect it will be of more use during 'normal times' because if I'd held out for a better rate at any point this year, I'd not have seen single baht so far!

I got 445,000 odd from a 10grand transfer just received.

Does anyone know a good branch to bank with for the rate negotiation in Chiang Mai? My current branch aren't accepting any negotiation at all. Bangkok bank or another if you have good experience.

Cheers

I've done a few 25K transfers with bangkok bank and got from 0.02 to 0.05 above the TT rate. The thing is, it doesn't seem to be about 'haggling' or 'negotiating', it's more like what they feel like giving you based on the exact rate at the moment when the bank person has got the FX person (or whoever it is they call) on the phone.

I always ask for 0.04 so sometimes they give me less, sometimes more than what I ask for.

To be honest, when they ask me to 'confirm' the price they are offering, I always just say 'OK' but wonder what would happen if I said their offer wasn't good enough. I suspect the transaction would come to an abortive end.

My apologies for asking the wrong question and heartfelt thanks for supplying me with a more appropriate one. With that in mind, I have a question:

I will be buying a 10 million baht apartment with completion in about 3-6 months. Should I commit capital to currency futures in order to facilitate this?

Thanks for your much anticipated answer.

Apologies but my example is flawed because if you were buying a property with foreign ownership then you would be required to transfer the funds in foreign currency, so a future would not be appropriate. A hedge might be ie to protect yourself against a wild drop in sterling. eg 5% on 200,000 = 10,000. You might be better advised to shorten the period between offer and transfer of funds and hope that even here the sale is not affected by a period of heightened volatility. In addition transfer 10% more in funds than is actually required to protect against such.

I think you're getting a little too fancy for your own limited knowledge in your own examples, and in trying to put down other posters.

The result being you're just showing your own lack of knowledge, by not being able to adequately answer and follow thru your own initial example.

I doubt you actually trade futures either, as someone who does would understand how they could indeed use futures as a reasonable hedge regardless of the whether the money has to be transferred in from abroad or not.

Someone who actually trades futures knows they can be bought as well as sold + someone actually trading futures also knows in the majority of cases buyers and sellers close-out/offset their positions by taking out an opposite position rather than letting them mature. So someone trading futures would know the net effect can then debited or credited to the trader's account at settlement date.

Hence if correctly structured the net gain or loss on the futures contracts largely offsets the movement and gain or loss in exchange rates on the underlying exposure of the condo purchase. i.e you don't need to take delivery of the opposite currency on a futures contract, and it's the profit and loss movements that count. So you don't have to worry that the foreign currency needs to be transferred in from overseas or not

Simply put: if you have foreign currency offshore waiting to transfer in, you could indeed take out a futures contract, then take out an opposite contract near maturity instead of letting it mature to close out. You then have the net gain or loss on your futures contracts, you then adjust the amount of foreign currency you transfer by adding or subtracting the profit or loss on the futures.

BTW In your example someone might also use currency options as well.

Moral of the story: play nice with other posters who know less than you do, as there's always someone who knows a little more than you do.

I think we've just witnessed an FX-based verbal bitch-slap.

Whilst I find fletch's knowledge sexy on the surface, I would of course require a more general consensus on his prescription here before trying to figure out exactly what he's on about.

Thanks anyway fletch . You appear to be 'da man'.

My apologies for asking the wrong question and heartfelt thanks for supplying me with a more appropriate one. With that in mind, I have a question:

I will be buying a 10 million baht apartment with completion in about 3-6 months. Should I commit capital to currency futures in order to facilitate this?

Thanks for your much anticipated answer.

I have a question for those with the technical knowledge. On a minute-to-minute basis, how is the THB-GBP exchange rate arrived at? What calculations take place, where and by who/what in order to change the rate from say 44.67 to 44.54 in the space of an hour?

I know the answer may be very complex, so even a general overview would be useful.

Thanks

15Peter

I don't actually know the answer in detail, but it is linked into how stock from the country is being traded (i.e. which direction, currencies, etc). What I do know is that programmers that are FAR more advanced than me (and of the type I have had the pleasure to work with) are working on predictive trading algorithms as a lot of trade is now automated, within certain parameters, to allow financial organisations to make the most from their trades. The problem comes down to speed of communication. At present they are having issues with, for example, a trader in Sydney seeing a price on a Japanese stock, making a purchase decision (single button press) and the actual price by the time that command is communicated to the relevant stock market. Being that the speed of the trading machines are some of the highest in the world often trade from within the trading region (in our example, Beijing would be within the trading region) will have moved that price significantly by the time the SYD-TOKYO-SYD communication has taken place. This can destroy any gains on a deal within the time it takes to complete! Quite shocking really!

----EDIT----

Found it. Bayes' theorem. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayes%27_theorem

Haven't had a chance to read it through again, but this theorem was, basically, ignored in his lifetime. Now it is used for all sorts of predictions including financial, weather patterns, drug testing, population growth/distribution and MANY more. More alarming is that this was his one and only mathematical theorem!!!

Timestamp the button click?

This would require the markets to work backwards.

I don't get it. When a person clicks the button they want the rate that they see at the time when they click the button, right? Timestamp the button click and the rate is tied to the timestamp for all eternity, allowing the buyer to get the rate he wanted however long it takes the trade to be resolved. What am I missing?

Buchholz bickering session alert!!!

I have a question for those with the technical knowledge. On a minute-to-minute basis, how is the THB-GBP exchange rate arrived at? What calculations take place, where and by who/what in order to change the rate from say 44.67 to 44.54 in the space of an hour?

I know the answer may be very complex, so even a general overview would be useful.

Thanks

15Peter

I don't actually know the answer in detail, but it is linked into how stock from the country is being traded (i.e. which direction, currencies, etc). What I do know is that programmers that are FAR more advanced than me (and of the type I have had the pleasure to work with) are working on predictive trading algorithms as a lot of trade is now automated, within certain parameters, to allow financial organisations to make the most from their trades. The problem comes down to speed of communication. At present they are having issues with, for example, a trader in Sydney seeing a price on a Japanese stock, making a purchase decision (single button press) and the actual price by the time that command is communicated to the relevant stock market. Being that the speed of the trading machines are some of the highest in the world often trade from within the trading region (in our example, Beijing would be within the trading region) will have moved that price significantly by the time the SYD-TOKYO-SYD communication has taken place. This can destroy any gains on a deal within the time it takes to complete! Quite shocking really!

----EDIT----

Found it. Bayes' theorem. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayes%27_theorem

Haven't had a chance to read it through again, but this theorem was, basically, ignored in his lifetime. Now it is used for all sorts of predictions including financial, weather patterns, drug testing, population growth/distribution and MANY more. More alarming is that this was his one and only mathematical theorem!!!

Timestamp the button click?

I have a question for those with the technical knowledge. On a minute-to-minute basis, how is the THB-GBP exchange rate arrived at? What calculations take place, where and by who/what in order to change the rate from say 44.67 to 44.54 in the space of an hour?

I know the answer may be very complex, so even a general overview would be useful.

Thanks

15Peter

Sorry for getting this thread back on track but I have several payment deadlines approaching for house construction. The original budget was calculated at 48B/GBP, I can live with 47 ish but 46 and under is likely to require some urgent action.

The funds will be needed in stages between now and October - what would you do?

How much is your peace of mind worth? I'd bite the bullet and get THB now in exchange for not having to constantly worry for the next 8 months.

The very fact that you concentrate on Thaksin and some face book comments and rather appear to have missed the point that many military have been assassinated in the south, and many of the insurgent attacks are aimed specifically at the military, would suggest you require a more comprehensive reading list to increase your awareness and understanding......................

Perhaps if you stopped misusing the term "assassination" for the murder of RTA personnel, the discussion would be more co-ordinated. Unless of course you are referring to the murder of some prominent public figure of which only you are informed.

Oh dear Mick next time you double check the meaning of a word on wiki try to get past the first sentence, in this case as far down as the paragraph "as a tool of insurgents"...in my book any premeditated attack which is designed to shoot and kill a specific military person in a situation where that person is not given the option of being captured, imprisioned, and has no route of escape,.... is assassination........you are entitled to call it as you see it 'officers only' if you think that makes some difference

Sorry, i don't use wiki as a dictionary. I prefer something recognised as a source, rather than where any idiot can change the definition.

But I'll play your silly game. Please prove to me that the insurgents are targeting specific members of the RTA with their roadside bombs rather than anybody in a uniform who gets close. Have any senior officers been targeted, sucessfully or not?

Having just read the wiki definition, the section on insurgency does NOTHING to change the original definition which includes "Assassination is the murder of a prominent person or political figure........"

I always refer to Chris Rock's erudite illustration of how to use the word 'assassinated' whenever I come across people arguing over its proper use:

What a bizarre story. After Tak Bai, I would have thought there would be a contract out on Thaksin, rather than a position at some sort of south Thailand peace brokering...... This has to be some sort of feel good bullshit cooked up as part of the whitewashing of Thaksin.

If fatwa can be issued against Salman Rushdie I'm very surprised that there isn't one out on Thaksin.

Maybe Muslim religious leaders are less radical than many TV posters.

A rant about how safety standards have fallen during the tenure of this government, anyone?

.

Perhaps it's a legality issue of some sort.

While Supasek "Nong Pipe" Amornchat is Yingluck "Poo" Shinawatra's legal son, Anusorn Amornchat and Poo have never legally married.

.

Those old fashioned "values" of yours just have a habit of popping out don't they.

Do you really think the fact that they aren't married is

i) of relevance to her meetings or

ii) anything to do with this thread?

In other words yet another off topic post from buchholz.

I don't think its a big deal either way. He was answering a post about Yingluck's 'husband'.

I think you're being a bit touchy here.

.

Agreed it is not that big an issue in this situation.

Couldn't agree more with this.

http://www.xe.com/

Down to 1.5077 vs the USD (44.88 v THB) at the time of posting ... if only i'd waited another 2 days it'd be 200 pound more in my pocket.

Irony is i read many experts views on what would happen to the pound last week and not one was mentioning this! (though in hindsight it was obvious)

Of course as a Thai Visa reader that's where you had a competitive advantage...

>Posted 2013-01-19 20:10:54. Post #29

My view is USD/THB will push towards 29. GBP will weaken vs USD and I wouldn't be surprised to see it push towards 1.50. With that in mind don't be surprised to see GBP/THB pushing towards 45. There'll of course be ups and downs along the way, but I see more chance of GBP/THB at 45 than GBP/THB 50.

...UK and US both have indulged in QE and increasing their money supplies. Both low interest rates look set to continue = unattractive currency. Both have(or had) their sovereign credit ratings under pressure... US seems a bit better placed than UK, and further along the curve - already downgraded....

Fletch

Nice predication. Sadly for myself and others, the only error in your forecast was the bit that said there'd be ups and downs along the way. Still looking for an up that looks like it won't be coming, and I am openly and quite deliberately tempting fate to prove me wrong when I say that.