Paypal was good because anyone can be sent an invoice and the customer can pay it with their credit card and they do not need to sign up for any account or anything.

What alternatives are there that offer similar functionality?

21 hours ago, Pilot3Boz said:

I recently picked up a plug-in Hybrid which is good for 50KM on a charge with the gas motor backing it up.... I do love that I can do all my "local" errands on electric power... My actual concern is the short range of today's EV's... I do many trips in excess of 600-900KM... This wouldn't work for me there... But I am hoping the near future will bring better batteries, which I know are in development so I can get the range I want... By that time the charging station should be in place to allow the travel and charges as needed... So yes, eventually I will go EV...

The latest Teslas (and upcoming Hyundais/Kias) can charge at about 25km per minute. So a 10-15 min break every few hours makes it perfectly realistic and not intrusive. And unless you have some cybernetic upgrades, I suspect you’ll need to stop every few hours to take a break and pee or eat something.

So remember this tech exists right now, it’s just that the import tax laws in Thailand are so unreasonable, the cars end up being priced way too high after they arrive. Also the high speed charging infrastructure is so slow to roll out here. 

2 minutes ago, Surelynot said:

That is huge......not many in a city......where the greatest benefits lie........... can charge because they live in a condo.

It could be done. If there space for a car park, there is provision for a charge point. But yeah the word here is ‘could’. 

I’ll definitely be getting one. I see so many advantages in my situation it’s a no-brainer.

First is maintenance costs, the lack of moving parts and fluids etc is great. I spend part of the year overseas and the fossil cars, especially engine parts, they deteriorate like crazy when I’m away. So many issues when I come back. What is required on most EV’s? Rotate the tyres? 
 

Having the ability to charge from home using solar power is great. Is basically free fuel. 99% of the time I don’t travel far from home so it’s no issue at all. 
 

Instant torque and good power is very useful for overtaking, and where I live this is of vital importance.

Being able to turn on the aircon before you get into your car via an app. No more ‘burning your ass on the seats’ or sweating like crazy until the car cools down.
 

About the environmental contributions (or lack of), it’s very difficult to get non-bias objective data. We are talking about oil companies here, and the science and data they release is much in the same league as ‘tobacco science’.
 

From my understanding the energy and rare earth minerals required to refine, transport, store etc petrol is huge. It’s not talked about but it’s an issue. Of course someone will comment and say the opposite and likely produce a study to back it up. I can’t be bothered debating it. 
 

Thailand could easily transition to renewable energy, the tech exists right now to do it. Wind, solar, hydro, tidal, etc etc. There are many examples around the world to prove this, but for whatever reason they choose not to, and we are where we are now because of that. 
 

At the end of the day many city based transport and logistics companies are shifting to EV not because of environmental concerns, they look at the numbers, see how much money they’ll save, and the decision is made right then and there. So even if this is the primary driving force I see no issue.

22 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

 

And when your iphone is battery is down to 80% you have to start carrying a charger with you...

If you look into it, something like 99% of people who own cars will almost never drive more than 50km a day. Their car sits parked in their driveway for most of its life, easily charging at home when they sleep. The whole range anxiety is for the most part  psychological. 

22 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

 

I wonder if the battery warranty is transferable? No many people spending that kind of dough for are going to drive it for ten years. They have certainly have the warranty replacement cost factored in. With the warranty replacement they'll probably be selling "upgrades" to cover much of the cost.

 

I can never get past the burning oil to produce a rotational force to generate electricity to charge a battery to produce rotational force to propel the vehicle. 

Thailand is not really into renewable energy. However things will eventually  change. It can be done.
 

Scotland for example as a country is powered pretty much entirely by wind. Thailand could easily do it with a combined approach of solar, wind, hydro, tidal etc. I suspect the old gas industry would have a few things to say about it.

Remember the amount of energy (and rare earth minerals) required to drill, refine and transport fossil fuels in its finished product is massive. 
 

No system is perfect but something has to change as the current system is not sustainable. BEV are far from perfect but in my opinion they are a step in the right direction. The tech will definitely improve.

On 3/22/2021 at 8:57 AM, RocketDog said:

Good news I guess. 

Many battery vendors have warranties but they are pro-rated. 

If the battery fails before the million miles does Lexus pay for the whole cost or only part of it? 

Important point. 

 

As an electronic design engineer I've watched the evolution of batteries and as we are all aware progress in that area has been very slow and incremental compared to the rest of technology. We've seen batteries go from carbon zinc to nickel cadmium to nickel metal hydride to lithium. The fact is that each was heralded as a major advance. None of them actually have been  comparatively. Does the lithium battery in your phone go a million miles? How about the one in your laptop? Your electric drill, vacuum, etc. Why not? Lexus does not have any proprietary magic battery technology. 

 

The bottom line is that I simply don't believe a car battery pack will last a million miles. What else in a car lasts that long? Even electric windows fail before that.  Why do we all have lead acid batteries in our gas and diesel cars? This is all just marketing. 

 

So color me very skeptical and I stand by my original statement. 

Everybody can make their own assessment and investment. 

It’s 1 million km not miles, and also it must be within a 10 year period, and a failure to them is anything under 70% charge, so these are the limitations.
 

Most BEV leave a buffer of 10% or so, meaning you don’t get full use of the battery. So after 3000 cycles, even if it lost 40% it is still within warranty.

In my experience most new iPhones hold more than 80% after 1000 cycles. If the tech is better in car batteries, 2-3k cycles? Who knows. 

On 3/18/2021 at 3:25 PM, RocketDog said:

All other things being equal (and they aren't actually) I'm simply not interested in buying a new battery pack every three years for $5,000-8,000 and basing my trips on where I can find charging stations. 

If I can make it the next 15 years without buying one I'll be happy. After that I'll have wings. (or not). 

Tech is improving a lot. So much has changed from the 1st gen Nissan leaf.

Latest Lexus has a ONE MILLION km warranty on the battery.

Latest 350Kw/Hr charge speeds means an average 60kw battery could be charged 10-80% in 15 min. 

Not difficult to find 400km range on most new upcoming models. 99% of us won't drive more than 50km a day. If by chance you do need to drive more than 400km, you would need to have some kind of cybernetic upgrades to go more than 400km without a 15 min stop for food and a toilet break.

I just read the whole thread. To be honest I would not feel comfortable keeping large amounts of crypto in any Thai exchange.
 

Far better to store it on a exchange like celsius and actually make money from holding it. If you’re one of those people who like to have full control, then keep it in your own ledger wallet. 

When you want to spend anything can use Crypto.com or Wirex cards so can transfer small amounts there and make a few % back in rewards and get various perks. Can avoid Thai exchanges almost completely.

Check this out. Three portfolio options. 

I have used celsius for a few months, highly recommend them. Their rates a bit better than most. From what I researched they are totally safe. Their are plenty of YouTube videos comparing all the different options out there. As a bonus I am up almost 500% on my cel tokens, which is awesome. 
 

I hope they include some golf resort style courses. I had a good look through some of them and and they look fantastic. If we are allowed outside for a couple rounds a day it would arguably make it bearable. 
 

https://www.tripadvisor.com/HotelsList-Thailand-Golf-Resorts-zfp7700173.html

I am needing to return to Thailand in Feb, not looking forward to quarantine at all. Saw this announcement and it sounded like a far better alternative. To be honest I don’t cafe for golf at all, but also prefer the option for some fresh air. 
 

Anyhow I spent hours looking for some clues and came up with the following. If it is actually these places (which I sincerely hope it is not) all I will say is that they look very ‘Thai’. And I don’t believe for a second that it was only these 6 courses which showed interest. 

There are only 6 courses which showed interest to get approval for golf quarantine.  Golfers will have to stay at the golf resort and cannot leave and only go out to play golf.

The golf courses will be closed to the public and only open for quarantine only.  These are not 100% confirmed as they have to go through extensive certification by the health department.

• Mida Golf Club ( Kanchanaburi)
• Sawang Golf Club (Cha Am)
• Blue Star Golf Course (Kanchanaburi)
• Evergreen Hills Golf Club & Resort (Kanchanaburi)
• Dragon Hills Golf & Country Club (Ratchaburi)
• Artitaya Golf & Resort (Nakorn Nayok)

More details on the package pricing and quarantine process will not be available until the end of December.  There are no further details available on other activities that golfers in quarantine will be able to do during quarantine.

SOURCE: https://www.golfasian.com/golf-news/southeast-asia-corona-virus-update-for-golfers/

I have had my Jade green card MCO card and also Wirex card for a a few weeks. Ordered one for my wife also. Cancelled all my other credit cards and will use these.
 

I can basically cut out the banks completely now, almost no need for them. Generate income from trading crypto and then use the card to pay. Only missing link is to pay direct to people’s accounts. 
 

On 12/11/2020 at 4:03 PM, madhav said:

Who knows for sure, but even cars made here in Thailand that are exported to Australia (and other parts of the world) are still cheaper there. I saw a thread about it some time back.

 

This chart may help in regards to BEV end Taxes. Because of the Free trade agreement between China and Thailand, MG comes in essentially tax free. Still excise tax though, but not much.

 

However Nissan discounted the leaf by 500k baht recently (and presumably still covered their costs) so I do believe they mark up their prices a lot more here. 
 

The price was originally 2 million baht, they dropped it to 1.5. For reference the same car in Australia is 1.1 million. So even if you add 30% to account for taxes etc the original Thai price of 2 million makes no sense. I think the 1.5 million baht price they are still making profit, just far less. (Like most countries)

 

 

This further illustrates my point regarding pricing. Huge markup and then a huge 40% discount. 

5 hours ago, canthai55 said:

Those words of caution are words of fact.

Those that believe that in 10 years all the fossil fuel vehicles will disappear are the one in cloud cuckoo land

Obviously they will still exist. They will die a slow death (especially in Thailand) However governments outlawing the ability to buy them is something that must be taken seriously. In Norway for example more than 70% of new car sales are EV’s. 

7 hours ago, Susco said:

Toyota Calls EVs ‘Overhyped.’ It Sees a Huge Mismatch in Cost vs. Goals for the Industry.

Japanese auto maker Toyota Motor —the second-most valuable and the second-most prolific car maker in the world—has some words of caution for the fledgling electric-vehicle industry: EVs are over-hyped.

https://www.barrons.com/articles/toyota-plays-tesla-spoiler-sees-mismatch-in-cost-vs-goals-for-ev-industry-51608216505?siteid=yhoof2

They better adapt and adjust or they will crash burn like Kodak. Notice the article says ‘2nd most valuable’? 10 years ago people thought Tesla was a pipe dream. Now they are more valuable than Toyota themselves.
 

The demand for BEVs is clearly there, various governments are literally banning the sale of fossil based vehicles. And as all most other automakers desperately rush to adapt and adjust to manufacturing BEVs, Toyota still refuses to acknowledge it. The ship has sailed and the CEO of Toyota still ignorant about BEVs and nobody has the balls to tell him. 

Most modern EV cars leave a % of the battery unusable. So you may have a 50kwh hour but the manufacturer allows only 45kwh access to it. This helps with degradation. It may lose 10% but it wouldn’t therefore be noticeable. 
 

I think as time goes on the battery tech will only improve. Lexus released their latest EV and it has a million km warranty on the battery. Tesla is mentioning million mile battery. 

16 minutes ago, macahoom said:

Is that not because of taxes?

 

I think I read it is still subject to some tax because it is not assembled in Thailand.

Who knows for sure, but even cars made here in Thailand that are exported to Australia (and other parts of the world) are still cheaper there. I saw a thread about it some time back.

This chart may help in regards to BEV end Taxes. Because of the Free trade agreement between China and Thailand, MG comes in essentially tax free. Still excise tax though, but not much.

However Nissan discounted the leaf by 500k baht recently (and presumably still covered their costs) so I do believe they mark up their prices a lot more here. 
 

The price was originally 2 million baht, they dropped it to 1.5. For reference the same car in Australia is 1.1 million. So even if you add 30% to account for taxes etc the original Thai price of 2 million makes no sense. I think the 1.5 million baht price they are still making profit, just far less. (Like most countries)

1 hour ago, macahoom said:

 

I would guess the estimated warranty cost, to MG, is built into the price of the car. The shorter warranty in Thailand allows MG to sell the car as cheaply as possible in what is a difficult ev market - a market in its infancy.

 

In other words, they could sell it with a 7 year warranty in Thailand, but they'd have to jack the price of the car up a bit.

 

Presumably, MG have done their market research and know what they’re doing. Or maybe not!

 

Note: the battery warranty in the UK is seven years. In Thailand, it's eight years.

The price for the ZS EV in Australia is about 200k baht cheaper, it also has the 7 year warranty. I think they are putting a lot more markup here in Thailand. 

1 hour ago, Andycoops said:

Never seen any EV charging points in Isaan. Certainly not around Yasothon or Roi Et.

Yeah the same for down south. I have been checking the maps that show recharge points over the years and hoping someone will see the obvious issue if you want to drive from Bangkok to Surat Thani in a day. 

11 hours ago, treetops said:

Covid testing costs and the medical support, whether used or not, still costs the same regardless of age.

Ok that makes some sense. However in the case of Anantara the fee for the infant is not an additional flat rate. It appears to be dependent on the room category. I saw it rise to an extra 70k baht (within the suite category) if you add an infant. 
 

That sounds nonsensical.

2 hours ago, AlfHuy said:

Had no idea that this is a Volvo.

It used to be their dedicated sports division from the Volvo company, now a company that specialises in high end BEV but practically speaking it is a Volvo and by default the parent company Geely.