ronnie50

I posted this as a reply to another thread, but forgive the new topic. For years I've been trying to find a repair shop in Bangkok that specializes in Mazdas (and maybe other brands - but specifically Mazda). Anyone know of one? I'm sick of the dealers who only want to sell new parts rather than just fix things (e.g. take it apart, fix what's broken, no need to buy an entire assembly, buy a used part if necessary). I used to have a Volvo and found a really good Thai guy near Asoke for that. Don't have that car anymore.

I figured that too, but the lights always stay on - usually the anti-skid and one other - they stay lit until the next time I'm at the dealer for something. There's no fault, and they reset for free, in addition to whatever else they're socking me with of course.

I have a similar case. Around 11 years old and only 53,000 km (30k miles). Battery and tyres and the odd electrical needs fixing. Agree about the mileage. If you look at the popular used car Website in Thailand (4-cars something), a similar make/model/year of mine will have 200,000 Km. Anything under 120,000 is rare. I guess the Thais drive the crap out of them, then sell them to the used car dealers. I'd never buy one of them.

That's good advice. If I go away from even just a few weeks, my Mazda starts okay (good battery) but the dash always lights up like a Xmas tree (for no reason). Tires are usually just a little soft - but 6 months would be a real challenge. While I have the floor briefly - anyone know of a local Bangkok repair shop that specializes in Mazdas (aside from the rip-off dealers of course)?

Yes, this is what happens when the majority beer market is cornered by only two players - producing Chang and Singh as their 'premium' beers. Third fiddle Thai Asia Pacific brewing (TAP) makes Heineken for the local market and it tastes as good as Heineken anywhere else. They also sell Singapore's Tiger beer here. Like the bigger companies they too have downmarket brands. But the point is correct, not much competition results in inflated prices-versus-quality in what looks like price fixing - but you could say the same for whiskey and other liquors. The price here is always the same no matter where you buy it. This issue (alcohol producers cornering the market) was something the progressive Move Forward Party (now renamed People's Party) vowed to tackle. Probably another reason the establishment shut them down and stopped them from forming a government in the last election even though they won the most votes.

Yes, maybe. Thing is, typically speaking, these high-level meetings between heads of state are usually little more than a photo op because their respective teams have already pre-agreed the outcome. But who knows what will happen this time.. I wouldn't bet either way. Having said that, I think Putin has been playing Trump from the get-go and has no plans of ending or pausing his war in Ukraine.

If it's a straight six months, then long-term rental is best. I did that between buying new cars once. Avis - a Honda City (very big trunk/boot). I think it was 12-14,000 THB per month including insurance. But that was 10 years ago - probably more now.

You know they're really clutching at straws - to make it look like the declining tourist arrival situation isn't that bad - when they claim Bhutanese arrivals have doubled. Would that be 30 new tourists instead of 15 previously?

Perhaps I already have, and realized it's more propaganda designed for people like you to swallow.. Perhaps you should take a nap and let the adults continue the discussion.

Americans will soon realize it's cheaper to buy their new iPhones in London.. Oh, but then they need to declare the purchase to US Customs on arrival back in the States. How much is the duty on tourists bringing back electronics?

July Consumer Price Index is out. CPI rose 2.7% year on year. That's 0.3%, or slightly less than predicted. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/12/cpi-inflation-report-july-2025.html

Most people make their long-distance holiday plans months in advance though. So it's unlikely anything happening in the last month changed the outcome much. Some could cancel or change I guess, but I doubt many did or would.

Think I knew all that already, in'it It probably is an AI. Or Harrisfan again. A pale comparison to the Lewie originals.

A doctor must make the call whether the patient is suitable for transfer though, not a cashier.

I guess, though, if you have global insurance and the card is in your wallet (like Cigna or Allianz, etc), the hospital would simply call the emergency hotline, give them your policy number and name, and the hospital would proceed on that basis with a green light from the insurer?

That's what they should do, IMO. If you are seriously injured or unconscious or both they should take you to a major trauma ER. Not some fancy digs private joint - regardless of whether they have an ER. True story: a relative was here visiting 10 years back and he developed a very bad earache the evening before he was to fly to Mexico from BKK. So, around 9 or 10 pm, we went to the ER of the most famous/expensive international hospital (in Sukhumvit). The ER was dark with only half the lights turned on - and no one else there. No patients, no staff. So I looked around and eventually some guy (staff) came out. We explained the ear pain issue, and he said we'd have to come back the next day when there was an ENT doctor available. No one check him at all. So he flew with the earache and had it tended to at a clinic in Mexico. Personally, I've been admitted voluntarily through ER in a midsized private hospital in Bangkok (food poisoning) on a weekend evening. There was one doctor on duty (or maybe an internist). But there was only one other patient there aside from me.

I remember being a tourist there 30 years ago. I was there on 4th of July in fact. So it was interesting watching the parades and walking around the alphabet-lettered streets around central DC. It was a carnival like atmosphere for a few hours on a very hot, humid, hazy day. Then suddenly the parades had stopped/finished - I guess it must have been 5ish or 6ish - still light out of course - but within 30 minutes everyone was gone - it seemed like I was the only one there. Then I started to notice poor looking people shuffling around, some druggy types - but no one else. It was a bit unsettling. Headed for the undergound train and back to my hotel. And that was decades ago. So, yeah, not just a Dem thing - an AMERICAN thing. But I also remember as a kid going with my familiy to LA and SoCal for a holiday in the mid 1970s. We were walking down Wiltshire Boulevard near the former Ambassador Hotel and there was this young kid on a bicycle - maybe 11 years old - stopping at all the newspapaer boxes, casually tuning them upside down and bashing them repeatedly on the sidewalk until coins fell out. I'd never seen anything like that before - nor since.

In the 1990s, an ABC TV "Correspondent" in Israel was a former IDF member. And for years, decades, to get foreign journalist accreditation, the US networks sent only Jewish American journalists. Because, you know, they weren't biased or anything like that... and they could blend in better - go to, and participate in, bar mitzvahs and such. Befriend and hang out with Knesset politicians and their families - kind of like 'stars'. The odd one is still around.

The woman was a former TV newsreader apparently. She filed a report and is named on the Web. Also a photo of her standing in front of a police station and perhaps another video of her speaking to reporters. Didn't watch it. There are photos of the alleged sexual assault on there too. Remember who put these guys in the Senate. Do you still want another military coup? Also, his Senate duties specifically mention fishing... I mean you couldn't make this stuff up.

Right. Especially since we saw Charleton Heston lead Jews through parted waters in the Red Sea and away from the Egyptian Pharoa. So that was 1956. So at least since then..🤫

So if automated robot/AI manufacturing builds in America instead of Asia, for example, then that's Mission Accomplished - even if it doesn't re-employ the majority American working class, is that right? Who cares about them, right? Hmm. Aren't they all the ones that voted for Trump? Isn't Make America Great Again meant to be rewarding to all Americans? Or only to the billionnaire/capitalists?

As another poster wrote some months ago, it should be based on 'first in, first out' scenario. By that I think it meant if you're savings account overseas had - let's say $100,000 balance that you can show from (whenever before 2024) let'say 2021, then that should be considered the money you drew down and remitted to Thailand - and not considered as deposits that were made or from a balance appearing as '2024'. But who knows, it's just more speculation but sounds pretty fair to me.

Agree. Been to both many times for work. I really like VN. Da Nang, in the middle, is a great place to start as a tourist though. Easy and fast to get to from Bangkok (they all are of course), but Da Nang has a great long beach stretching down towards Hoi An. Da Nang could use some more infrastructure and services/restaurants but it's a really nice place to base (beach side). I only wish VN would expand its visa waiver. Minor thing though - not hard to get.

The DOJ is supposed to act independantly of the White House. That's the whole idea of separation to ensure checks and balances. If the Administration, the Congress, the Supreme Court and the DOJ are all having a circle j#rk, then there is no separation and no checks or balances. Meantime, the President is going to deploy soldiers onto the streets of the nation's capitol - just because he wants to. If you still can't, by now, see how your Republic and its democracy are coming apart at the seems, then I guess you never will - or maybe until someone comes to arrest your loved ones.

It's worse than that. It's a pogrom - pure and simple - a deliberate slaughter.