I knew this would happen

It´s nothing wrong with using Photoshop. But setting brightness to 100% and then rub out half of the face is just odd.

Maybe someday we will get rid of this disease as it just gets boring when everyone looks the same. Most of Thai (Asian) advertising seems stolen directly from "The Clone Wars"

It´s even worse that they have bought their way in to some restaurants, EST only. Now I´m forced to order beer. That´s your fault EST (thanks)

Capri has got a quite decent pizza, wood fired oven and sometimes the pizzaioli perform a little show while baking.

One might think the whole project of doing an expensive rehab to parliament is corrupt given the 12 Billion plus baht spent on a whole new parliament complex opening in Oct. 2015

delusions of grandeur

Thaddeus already showed were Thailand seems to head (like the rest of the world)

Some high class Thais did it, so is it low class?

I think the divorce rate of forced mariages can´t be compared to those done with a free will.

It´s of course not the same everywhere, but in an old fashioned stone age forced marriage the women is an object chaning it´s owner. She cannot run away, she belongs to her husband, she grew up in such circumstances and doesn´t know anything else, leaving the husband will damage the families honor, she´ll hardly find a new husband, she might suffer from poor education....and so on...........

Arranged marriage is not forced marriage.

Most of the guys and girls involved are fully willing participants.

Are for those that are forced,

Why are you picking on the woman being forced, maybe the guy is the one being forced?

There are of course very different forms of forced or arranged marriage. Every culture has or had it´s own form of it.

Does it matter who is forced? Guy or girl? Do you want to be told how to live your life?

"Most of the guys and girls involved are fully willing participants" Maybe because it is expected from them?

Anyway, this doesn´t fit in here. Kinda impossible to compare western values and morales to different cultures, as everyone will claim to know the truth. Just now I made the same mistake

In America and many western countries it would seem odd, western culture dictates you marry for love.

In the rest of the world it would seem normal, they often have arranged marriages, love not required.

Funny fact

In marriages for love in the USA, divorce rate is nearly 50%

In arranged marriages worldwide, divorce rate is 6%

Western world only accounts for about 15% of the world population, our culture is in the minority.

Not to mention we are living in an Asia country.

As for racism, many Asians look down on those who marry non-Asians.

Nothing new, it has been like that throughout known history.

I think the divorce rate of forced mariages can´t be compared to those done with a free will.

It´s of course not the same everywhere, but in an old fashioned stone age forced marriage the women is an object chaning it´s owner. She cannot run away, she belongs to her husband, she grew up in such circumstances and doesn´t know anything else, leaving the husband will damage the families honor, she´ll hardly find a new husband, she might suffer from poor education....and so on...........

I don´t like the design of the new Camry, the older one looked much better, more like a limousine with some class. Honda did a better job inside and outside.

Paradorn Srichaphan (Thai: ภราดร ศรีชาพันธุ์; born 14 June 1979) is a retired professional tennis player from Thailand. He was the highest ranked men's singles player from Thailand and Asia in history, reaching a career high world no. 9. His nickname is "Ball". Paradorn is extremely popular in Asia, especially in Thailand. He was Thailand's flag bearer at the opening ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympic Games. The Nation newspaper named him "Thai of the Year." Paradorn was featured on the cover of Time and featured as one of the year's "Asian heroes". Below Paradorn and the Farang he married.

Well, even a certain member of a certain family married an Alien ​

No low class involved too, now i´m happy again.

The average income is still around 5.700$, if there would be such a large middle class that figure wouldn´t be so low. I wonder to who you were talking to? If they think like that, they are acutally Lo-So or very uneducated. As someone already mentioned, why to even waste time with such narrow minded envy racists people?

And what about our home countires? If you say that you marry an asian girl, they will consider you Lo-So too. There is this image of the drunk, bald, fat looser with some crap job that could never find any decent western girl. That´s a two way game of stupid ignorant people. I never cared!

Anyway, the more a Thai person travelled, the more OPEN they get to foreigners. That´s at least what i could observe. A friend of my wife is definately Hi-So. She studied and lived in the US for a long time. Her parents are in the jewlery business. She´s travelling the world constantly and has more pocket money than i´ll ever have. She ended up with a german guy who could almost be called poor in comparison to her. Same happend to another friend of her but she stayed in the US.

I drive an E60 525iSE and love it. Going to trade for the new 3, 4 or 5 soon though. Just cannot beat the ride or handling of the 5 series. The Accord is fwd and suffers from horrendous understeer as it is a medium to large size car. Says it all really. I drove Camrys and Accords before buying the bimmer and none of them aroused any passion in me whatsoever. It was like performing a function such as going to the bathroom.

The styling of the German marques is still light years ahead of the Japanese models too. 20 year old Audis and bimmers still look better than modern Japanese or Korean cars IMO.

Sent from my SM-N900 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

I agree on many points, but certainly not on the styling. I seems to me that BMW has hired the designer of Ssangyong, these 3GT, 5GT and 6GT are just horrible.

The 5er has (IMHO) a very conservative (i.e. unimaginative) styling, nothing to get excited about. OK, neither the Accord, but the new model is finally a bit less quirky than the previous models. The Jazz on the other hand has an excellent styling, light years ahead of BMW.

But whether or not the BMW is worth twice the price of an Accord, depends in my view on what is important to you. Styling, comfort, reliability, good service, handling, cost (purchase and maintenance), fun to drive....

I am kind of ill placed to advise on cars, because for my the most important thing is the engine and the power (remember: only more than enough is enough!), followed by handling. But the again, sometimes I am so fed up with these 20 inch rims and the vulnerability of the tires on Thailand's street, I wish I had a simple and reliable Accord. (But I don't).

(I don't have a BMW either.)

At my home parking lot there is an Audi A1, BMW 1er M sport (F20) and many many many Jazz.

1. Audi A1, looks great, modern, i love it.

2. 1 Series, looks good, front is not it´s best bit, the sport package improves the look a lot. Nice interior too.

3. Jazz, looks ok, but dull and dated, inside and outside. Facelift didn´t change that much.

The A1 is my favourite compact right now.

Well the new GT models aren´t the greatest milestones in BMW desgin history. It´s the stupid idea of the car manufactures to "invent" new car classes which noone needs.

BMW had it´s best times with the older E stylings, E30, E34, E39 (best 5series ever) E36/7, E38 - they set the foundation for my love to BMW.

The current 5 Series is not very exciting that´s true, but it won´t lose it´s elegance as the desgin is quite timeless and ages well. It´s precursor (E60) was either love or hate desgin.

I think the whole package of the 5 Series does it make a great car and a keeper for a long time, so it´s not "stupid" to invest some bucks more. IMHO

My wife is 1 year older than i´am

Success since 12 years.

Please respect the laws of Thailand or go home.

Great solution!!

After all evil is gone, Thailand will become the paradise it used to be. Only law abiding citizens will be left

What´s your solution for the locals who think they don´t have to follow their own laws, where will you send them?

I know you want us to make such a comment, but still i cannot resist..........

These types of threads are always funny ones here..

You're always going to get the posters who can't afford even an eco-car and complain about how expensive all cars are in Thailand.

Then you'll get the posters who managed to but a B-segment car or pickup, and think it's the best car available today, at any price.

Then you get the posters who scraped together enough finance to buy a Camry or Accord, and think it's just as good as anything twice it's price (or more).

Then you'll get the posters who owned an old BMW of Benz back home 20 years ago, have driven a recent model Camry or Accord and were impressed that after 20 years of gains in the industry, the Japs are finally a match for something from the 90's.

Then you'll get the posters who've got the means and have actually driven most new cars, laughing at the notion presented in the topic title.

You left out the people who want to discuss the topic in the Header "

Is a 5 series BMW worth double the price of a top range Honda Accord?"

It was worth it to me, but sometimes I question my own choices. It was a choice of want rather than logic.

No doubt the Accord is better value. But the worth of an inanimate object is highly subjective and individual.

All has been said already, without the fantasy taxes a BMW makes perfect sense, but a BMW is NOT 2-3 times better than a Japanese car. How could it, it is designed to be a 50K € car and that´s it. By adding 50K € of tax it won´t get better. But it´s a BMW, a little overhyped, a statement for a certain lifestyle, a great car to drive and it makes you want to have it. The Accord doesnt. It really depends on your own attitude for cars.

richard_smith2737 summed it up perfectly: Need? No! Want? Yes! Stupid? Maybe - but who cares. Either you are a petrol head or an accountant. I also questioned my spendings on "stupid" cars very often, but in the end they make me happy.

"I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest i just squandered"

I may be wrong, but if the OP was stuck in the middle of the junction with the red light, it's his fault.

You are right, but you forgot that we are in Thailand.

I see it on countless occasions, when a junction gets blocked because everyone ignored the red light for the first 5 sec. or didn´t pay attention to the stuck traffic infront trying to pass the junction by all means.

Did you ever try to not cross a green light in heavy traffic because you can expect not to make it because of the heavy traffic? Well Somchai in his Fortuner behind you will teach you better!!

I don´t encourage you to break the rules, but if you want to stay in the actual "traffic flow" you will be pushed to break them anyway......

Mr serve and protect just saw an opportunity to make fast cash, could have been anyone - today it´s YOU

E85 had a massive impact on mileage in BKK traffic, only about 60% of what we usually had. I´d use more E85 if i could find it at my doorstep.

I don´t wanna claim that 95 gives me a lot more performance, but it "felt" better than Gasohol 91. Could be true, doens´t have to. My BMW only gets Shell Vpower, just for the peace of mind (No noticable effects)

If you´re looking for mods you might try bmoption.com, they seem to have almost everything, the right adress for body parts.

Does your E60 still have the Idrive without Sat Nav? If not you might find that interesting: http://www.dynavin.de/products/product_dnv_e60.php or google Autobaan Thailand for BMW retrofits, specially oem Sat Nav. On their Facebook page they show custom paddles too, maybe they can help?

The value of the Fortuners seems to be rock solid over many years. Look at one2car.com, some 2005 Fortuners still have an asking price of about 7-800K WTH?

Wish my beloved BMW would keep it´s value the same way

Some E90 3 series already drop to 850-900k from 2.000.000+

Sorry, I just found an online version for the Almera on line:

Gasoline engine (model with three–way

catalyst)

GUID-C2CEEF81-4F44-4719-A071-99D42B048FAD

CAUTION:

Do not use leaded gasoline. Using leaded gasoline will damage the three-way catalyst.

Use UNLEADED REGULAR gasoline or gasohol (up to

E20*) of at least 91 octane (RON).

*: Gasohol is alcohol blended gasoline. For example,

“E20” is a mixture of approximately 20% fuel ethanol

and 80% unleaded gasoline.

So I am still wondering why she said not to use Gasohol 95.

Because she just might have no clue what she´s talking about I often noticed that the sales staff here isn´t as dedicated to the product as you might expect them to be.

But that really makes me wonder, every major car brand in Thailand has E20 capable engines and also advertises that fact a lot. How could a sales person miss that?

As others recommended already, check if you can use E20 and how your car "likes" it. Wife´s Lancer EX seems to run best with E20. Gasohol 91 felt "not so good" (mileage, power)

Gasohol 95 was like E20, hardly any difference, E85 felt good but had a very low mileage result. I never bothered to calculate if E85 is worth it, the cause it´s not available everywhere.

Only you can decide that.....

You will get many replies telling you that the prices of cars here are ridiculous and only a fool would get a car.

You will get other replies telling you that with all the taxis and public transport why bother with a car (if in BKK).

You will get other replies telling you that a pickup is a better option than a car.

You will get other replies telling you that a Japanese car is equal in quality to a European car.

And you will get other replies telling you that if you can afford greater luxury, just get what you want and enjoy.

This is purely an individual choice - If you have already made the decision to buy a sedan car then you are thinking of more than just going from A to B. You want something comfortable and perhaps other factors matter to you such as Brand.

You don't have to explain your decisions to someone else. If you can afford the 5 Series don't worry about the opinions of those who can't.

That 5 series is 4 times the price here than in Europe.

Ask yourself what will make you happy? Numbers and facts will even make the Accord look unreasonable..........

Concerning the depreciation, look for a demo car or one that´s about a year old, then it´s a better deal and still like new. I highly doubt that after 5 years its only 1mil left, though it will hurt.

Can't go wrong with the BM I reckon, but try and get the I6 engine if you can afford it and if you can find one. BMWs in Thailand last forever and retain their value. Most models available here will have been assembled in Rayong and so parts will be fairly easy to find. It is quite common for the older models (E30, E36, E34) to have Japanese turbo powerplants so you could end up with a real monster if you go older.

I find it hard to get passionate about those Japanese cars. You'll get more satisfaction driving something you actually want and enjoy IMO.

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Well somehow you are right, a car enthusiast would go for the 3 Series and enjoy his ride every day. I´d say the fun starts with a E46 323i, 2.5l R6, 170HP, 250NM, smooth, responsive, great sound. But hard to find a decent one at around 400K, they seem to be stuck in the 500K region. If the 318 is the only affordable option, watch out for the 143HP version, not the 118HP. They have changed around 2002. Not sure if Thailand got it in the same time. E36 with a 1JZ swap should be a hell of a ride and starts at 300k, but then you also don´t know what you are going to get, no peace of mind.

But I still think the financial risks with an older BM are higher. Gaurang wrote he´s got to calculate with a tight budget, so i asume any expensive surprises should be avoided.

Ford Focus? Much more refined than a Nissan Almera, some more fun with the 2.0 S

http://showroom.one2car.com/carDetail.aspx?car_id=j14130025

http://showroom.one2car.com/carDetail.aspx?car_id=h20130414

Mitsubishi Lancer EX, like the look, drives well

http://www.one2car.com/MITSUBISHI_LANCER/D03130485

Hard to decide, there are pretty much options to choose from.

I love BMWs, but i really recommend you not get such an old one here in Thailand. Especially not the 4 cylinder engines, they are less reliable than the inline 6 (last forever basically, at least the old ones) In the EU an old bimmer is no problem, spare parts are cheap, can be found everywhere and every garage has experience with BMWs. You should only go for an old BMW here, if you have a friend with garage or a BMW mech. The risk is high that you will have to put some serious money into the car in the long term......auto gearbox, undercarriage, engine - expensive.

If you set yourself a tight budget, the only reasonable way is to stay with the japanese cars. Cheap to run, cheap to maintain, everyone has experience with them. Unlike the 2002 BMW, it will have another 10years+ of lifespan. Honda City? The current model should be available around 400k, Fiesta is nice too.