tom yum goong

hi Buadhai

I was just thinking about switching to gasohol as it seems to be cheaper than 91 octane at the moment.

But if i get less fuel efficiency than 91, i might not be saving any money at all.

I thought gasohol is a replacement for 95 octane and would give better performance than 91 octane. Now i'm a bit confused.

My new car (Jazz Vtec) came with a tank full of 91 octane. I used 91 on my previous Nissan Sunny and of course everything was fine.

However, i just noticed yesterday that here in Phuket, Gasohol is about 0.70 Baht cheaper than 91 octane. This would result in a saving of around 20 Baht everytime i filled up my tank.

So i'm wondering if i should switch over to gasohol.

Gasohol vs. 95 octane has already been discussed in an older topic, but i was wondering if i anyone had any views on gasohol vs. 91 octane?

I know my car can handle gasohol, but would fuel consumption increase? what about performance? and if i want to switch, how do i go about it? should i wait until i've used up almost every last drop in my tank before filling up with gasohol?

thanks for any replies.

I second the motorbikes with sidecars. They are a real menace here in Phuket. They crawl along in the middle of the road and often have no lights at night.

I would also like to add Nissan NV drivers. I dont know why, they all seem to drive like nutters. Even though its basically a pickup, i would class them as worse than pickup truck drivers.

My feelings on Hat Yai.

Best shopping in Thailand outside of BKK.

Easy to get around.

Great food.

But not that much to draw western tourists i'm afraid. Unless u want a "massage", but plenty of that in BKK and other places.

I like the feel of the place but if i didnt live in the South (Phuket), i wouldnt bother going there.

if you check out the second hand prices of imported cars, and compare it to the original price, you can see that depreciation is quite high. Some manufacturers more than others. 2nd hand Mercs can still be quite pricey, but a 2nd hand Peugeot can be a bargain.

whereas locally assembled Japanese cars depreciate very slowly. Toyota and Honda keep their value the best.

I'm not sure why this is. I suppose locally assembled cars are much cheaper to run and repair in most cases. Parts for European cars can be quite expensive.

I was once told it could be to do with the fact that motorbikes never have insurance. Much easier for the cops to say it was the fault of the guy in the car if he's insured. Less hassle all round i suppose.

I know bikes legally must have a "Por Ror Bor" which is a type of insurance but not sure what it covers.

You should scratch that number off to prevent internet purchases and wire transfers.  Just make sure you memorize it or store it somwhere safe.

At "most" sites they recquire that, they certainly do for wire transfers.

You shouldnt need it at any merchants because its all on the magnetic strip.

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this sounds like a good idea but i don't know much about credit cards. would it actually work?

the CVV code is required for online purchases but what about someone just keying your credit card number into the machine? do they still need the CVV code? and is it printed on the receipt after u have used it? if it is then they could just look at the receipt after you've gone.

cheers.

Had a serious accident once.

Didn't see the truck in front of me.

I was driving 60km/hr the truck was doing 15km/hr with no lights on at 10pm..

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BangkokBaker - did the cops still try and pin the blame on you?

does anyone know if the implants are available in Thailand?

the owner of the reggae bar in Kalim (Phuket) has a converted 3-wheel tuk tuk. Basically the body has been removed and the front forks have been changed to long "chopper" style ones.

The result looks pretty cool. Sort of a three wheeled chopper bike.

I'm pretty sure its street legal.

i'll take a pic and post it here when i'm next down that way.

I'd really like to see the handsfree cellphone law passed here. I see people driving and talking on the phone every day. Gotta wonder how many accidents every day are attributable to cellphones?? I'd bet that the number is at least 20% and actually more like 50%.

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Never mind a ban on using a cellphone while driving a car. The number of people i see in Phuket chatting on their mobiles while riding a motorbike defies belief!

What are these people thinking???

And lets not get started on people who ride their bikes down the wrong side of the road at night without any lights on.

5 years of driving and i've had 2 accidents, but both times i wasn't in the car.

the first time i was parked on the hard shoulder of the expressway in BKK after getting a puncture. I was walking to one of those orange phones and a lorry decided that it would be a good idea to overtake on the hard shoulder. Another lorry thought he'd follow suit, and so did a merc with a monk in the front passenger seat. it was quite a big pile up but luckily no one was hurt.

i was about 20 yards away and it was like watching it in slow motion. the funny thing was the police tried to suggest it was my fault for having a puncture. good thing my insurance guy told them where to shove it.

the second time was while i was parked in a hotel car park. the idiot who had parked next to me put a huge scrape in my car as he was pulling out.

touch wood i've never hit anyone yet.

However, here in Phuket Town, there are so many motorbikes, most of which drive like they are invincible. I think its pretty much inevitable that i'll hit or be hit by a bike one day.

if a guy pulled up next to me, honked his horn, gave me a thumbs up and a smile, i'd probably think he was some sort of nutter and ignore him too.

its sad but thats the world we live in today.

GM has been selling the same cars under different badges around the world for years. Opel/Vauxhall/Holden etc. Nothing wrong with that.

However, i think the case with the Optra is different. It is not a GM model sold under different badges. They've taken a failed Daewoo and are trying to con people that its a Chevy.

The Chevy sales staff here in Thailand tell everyone that the Optra is a Chevy and therefore an American car. i find that totally dishonest.

I know for a fact this is also going on in Malaysia, but don't know if GM are selling the Optra in other markets and what badge they are selling it under.

Anyway, we will probably start seeing this more and more.

Here's a list of who owns who in the car industry. (note: 2004).

http://carscarscars.blogs.com/index/2004/0...o_owns_who.html

As already said the Optra is a Daewoo, so forget it if you thing you're buying an American car. Only the badge is American. The design is Italian (apparently), the suspension was tuned by Lotus (apparently) and most everything else is Korean. A Thai told me that he got an Optra rather than a Toyota or Honda because they trusted American engineering more than Japanese. I didn't tell him that it was actually Korean, because I didn't want to spoil his fun.

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I think its a bit of a con that they rebadge a Daewoo and try to pass it off as a Chevy.

A friend put a deposit on one. I asked if she knew it was actually a Korean car and not a Chevy. She didn't and even said that the sales assistant at Chevrolet told her its an American car. Next day she went and got her deposit back.

I have nothing against Korean cars but all this rebadging stuff is a bit dishonest for me. I think its different if cars share the same platform, like the Focus, Mazda 3 and Volvo S40, but GM have just taken a Daewoo and are trying to pass it off as something else.

Are there any guys out there with married "loo kroong" daughters?

Did you ask for a dowry, and if so how much?

If she/they are not married yet - will you ask for a dowry?

Does anyone know any farang that asked for a dowry?

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I'm a "loo kroong" and i have an older sister who is getting married next year. I dont think there would be any circumstance where my parents would ask for a dowry.

I guess its possible that if the grooms family offered, they would accept and give it back to the couple. However she's marrying a guy from Hartlepool and i don't think they have dowries up there...

I also know a few other luuk kreungs who have gotten married (to farang men) and as far as i know, there was never any dowry involved.

So to Neeranam, i guess u either need to find a rich Thai groom for your daughter or rethink your retirement plans.

manual trannies are available with 1.6l engine.

as terdsak_12 mentions, depreciation is high so u should have no problem finding one 2nd hand which is reasonably priced.

for brand new, lots of discounts and special offers at the Chevy showroom down here in Phuket, so i imagine BKK should be even better.

theres some good house music and remixes played at the barican on soi tanyia on thursday nights

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Do u mean the Barbican?

Nice bar that.

well, its a little more expensive so no surprises there.

did the corrolla at the motor show have many changes from the current version?

its not my fault no one wants to carry on the conversation.

didn't mean to kill it, although i think it was on its last legs anyway.

the Japanese buffet at the Emerald Hotel on Ratchadapisek is pretty good. Plenty of sushi and other stuff.

If I remember correctly, its slightly cheaper than Oishi.

Also a good one at the Japanese restaurant in Thaniya Plaza. Can't remember the name. Its on the 2nd floor I think. Its quite popular with Japanese businessmen so i guess its up to scratch. They do a very reasonably priced lunch buffet.

Might not be one for the purists but the sushi you can buy in the supermarket at Central Chidlom is pretty good and quite cheap too.

The fact that the cars roll off the same assembly line does not mean they are necessarely identical. Export cars on the line are intersected between others and marked as such and therefore it is quite possible to have them supplied with different parts and features.

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i understand that obviously features such as airbags, ABS, stability contral etc. could be left out of models that come off the same production line for different markets.

obviously, some features are standard in some markets and optional in others (as already discussed).

but what about the safety features of the chassis design?

but what about things like Honda's GCON. wouldn't the chassis be built to the same standards and perform in the same way during impact?

features that may be standard or optional in different countries aside, do u mean that cars off the same production line could still differ?

just trying to get a better understanding.

cheers.

"mia" is not that polite if you are talking to someone u aren't on friendly terms with.

however, if u wanted to say "mia" u could say:

"raw sakroo kui gab mia pom noi"

by adding the "pom" (my), it seperates it from "mia" and u won't sound like u r calling ur wife ur mistress. however, the tones are quite different anyway.

edit/ typo

i've also heard bad reports about Mistsu gear boxes.

Great engines, crap transmissions.