BKKBike09

I suspect they've reduced the battery price because of media coverage (and possibly pressure from the insurance companies they use).

I agree that EV charging from outlets in common areas of condos is an issue. But I don't think the "theft" angle will hold much sway with the condo management. Safety is the argument to make with them: IF one of those cheap EV scooters catches fire at 3 am, how much risk will that pose to condo residents asleep in their beds? Somchai the night guard can be trusted to a) be awake and b) tackle an electric fire properly? However, this is Thailand, so chances are nothing will change until there is a condo fire caused by EV charging and lots of people die. The real issue is that when most condos were built, EV cars and scooters were almost unknown here. So no-one planned for them when designing condos (and probably still don't). The risk of an EV scooter catching fire while charging may be small but even if, say, 1 in 1,000,000, when you've got a million of them around the city charging every day ...

Sheryl gives good advice: it's part of the disease; miserable, but it will pass.. I've had it twice. First time in the 90s (in Laos) was much worse than second time about 10 years ago (in Bangkok). Felt pretty down the first time round for about a month. But it did get better.

Actually, BYD has now made clear that the price of the extended range battery (60KWh) is now basically THB 700,000 inc VAT, while the standard one (50KWh) is THB 565,000. I expect these prices will fall even further in coming years, especially once BYD start making the Atto here (slated for 2024).

He should have heeded Skepta's warning: Transvestites, more than meets the eye Transvestites, mandem in disguise Transvestites, more than meets the eye Transvestites, mandem in disguise

No apologies required. I'm not really concerned about the risk of electrocution although 30 years of living in Thailand has provided many salutary examples of hapless folk being killed or severely injured by faulty electrical equipment. I am indeed highlighting the fact that, without shelter, people charging are "gonna get wet". I also rather doubt that "a simple umbrella" (or even a complicated one) "would keep you dry for the short time it takes to hook up the charger". Which rather brings us full circle: wouldn't it just be better all round if outdoor charging stations offered shelter from the elements?

While I approve of using the word 'codswallop', here it's a little misplaced. Since you used 'codswallop' I imagine you are also familiar with the concept of 'tongue in cheek'? My post was really a swipe at the fact that none of the outdoor chargers I've seen offered any shelter from the elements. So while you may be perfectly safe charging in a downpour, you'll likely become quite moist doing it. While the people filling their cars up with petrol will remain dry as a bone (even if they were doing it themselves, rather than having some minimum wage person do it for them). Perhaps you'd like to suggest some outdoor charging stations that do offer shelter from the elements?

Another thing to bear in mind is that - of the admittedly small number of outdoor chargers I've seen - none of them have cover for your car. Charging in the rainy season will be fun. I mean, standing in a puddle, in the rain, holding a high-voltage electric cable, in Thailand .... what could go wrong?

BYD Atto doesn't have this. However it has some sort of power battery temperature control function because a little message sometimes appears during charging to say 'power battery temperature regulation in progress' or something like that. BYD has a Lithium Iron Phosphate battery which I think I've read heats up less when charging / discharging.

For PEA you start by selecting on the in-app interactive map the charging location where you are. When you tap on it, it brings up that charging station and shows what chargers it has. Click on the one you want to use (eg CCS2 50 KWh). It then says plug into car and then to click 'start charging' on the app. If all works, the app then shows you your current battery % and the charging speed (in KWh) and time remaining. Once you get above about 85% the charging rate slows right down. For an SOE it's a surprisingly good app (assuming all your data is kept safe etc ...). No experience on others.

I wouldn't say my experience was disaster - more that it showed the potential issues you can face if you really need to charge. I'd try to avoid needing to charge at any charger close to the pier, or planning to charge on say a weekend. The PEA Volta app shows a 50KW charger in Chanthaburi at Bangchak Khao Sa Ming. Maybe stop and top up a bit there if no-one using it. Taking the granny charger is a very good idea. That was my Plan B. I also bought a decent 10 m extension cable. Top Tip #2 would be to buy a plug adapter for 3-pin to 2-pin. Granny charger will likely be a round 3-pin plug, but a lot of upcountry electrics may still be flat 2-pin sockets ...

I just spent a week or so in Pattaya. Decided to take the Atto to see how practical it would be. From Bangkok to where I was staying is about 130 km. From just shy of 100% charged, I got there with battery at about 65% courtesy of some spirited (for an Atto) driving. After a few days driving around and down to about 40% I figured I'd try charging it a bit - my first time trying this away from the comfort of the free home charger. First stop, big PTT station in South Pattaya while on way to find some dinner with the family. It has two chargers. One was occupied by some fancy Audi saloon, the owner of which was nowhere to be seen, so no idea how long he/she was going to be. The other charger had a handwritten sign saying 'broken'. Went back next day at 1045. One car already plugged in (a Neta). Another waiting (an MG). The MG driver said "I'm booked for 11 - would you like to charge for a bit before then". Kind offer, but then I realised I had to set up the app etc. She helpfully also told me the next available charging spot that day was 3 pm. I then went to PEA Volta in South Pattaya Road. A Grab taxi MG was charging there. There's only one charger and only one high-speed DC charger cable (CCS2). The driver helpfully told me that I could try to charge using one of the slower cables but that there might not be enough power for it to charge two cars at the same time. He was right. However, he was finished in 5 mins and then he showed me how to work the app. All good; I couldn't be ar$$ed to spend more than 20 minutes charging but that put in about another 20%, so battery up to 60% something. While I was there a Neta turned up. Young couple who also were first timers so I showed them how to work the app etc. I went back to the PEA Volta a few days later when battery back down to 40%. An MG was plugged into one of the slower AC charging cables. I asked if he'd be long and the guy was a bit of a tw@t ["I'll be done when I'm done"] so I plugged in the DC 'fast charge' cable. It worked ... but the total 50KWh capacity of the charging station meant the tw@t got 22KWh and I got 28 KWh ... so I did 20 mins and off I went. Went back a third time equipped with coffee and laptop (HOT TIP: there are no coffee shops that I could see anywhere near the PEA place, not even at the Shell station across the road). No-one charging, so I plugged in and then spent 5 minutes trying to get the charger to talk to the car. Finally it was happy and I started charging. Literally one minute later a guy drives up in a Neta and pleads with me to let him charge because he's in a rush to get back to BKK to pick up a customer etc etc. I debated making him wait but I played nice and said he could charge for up to 20 mins, if that would work for him. Which it did. I then plugged back in and spent 45 minutes sitting in my car drinking coffee and working, so the time wasn't wasted. Pulled the plug when the battery was at 95%. Charging at PEA is not priced clearly: one charge cost THB 4.5 or so per KWh (on a Sunday), others cost THB 6.7 or so (on weekdays). Go figure. Maybe TOU pricing? But the PEA app is simple to use and you simply top up credit using a credit card [of course, if you don't have a Thai credit card that may be a problem, and I also have Thai nationality so that may make it seem easy]. So ... my take on it all is that charging at public chargers is pretty hit and miss, especially if you 'walk in' rather than pre-book. On principle, booking a time to charge my car goes against the grain, but maybe it's part and parcel of the EV ownership 'experience'.

'tax paying' is the critical point. Monks obviously don't pay tax, because they don't (shouldn't) have any income. It also scuppers any chance of retirees applying for Thai nationality. Back to Ajarn Jayasaro - he well deserves Thai nationality, the tax nonsense notwithstanding. He's a good guy and very engaging to talk to (met him on various occasions through Thawsi School, which BTW is also an excellent Thai school).

The flight crew should have known exactly what was going on. Depending on how close the aircraft is to max speed for rejected take off (which is not a single constant speed) reaction window is pretty small, so crew priority is to assess situation, react as appropriate and then advise ATC. Only way to know exact sequence of comms would be to listen to CVR.

Looks like a brake fire in RH main gear after the rejected take off. Full pax / fuel close to V1 would mean heavy braking and a lot of kinetic energy to turn into heat.

'Fun' factoid: you can link M-Flow to an EasyPass account ... if you're a Thai national. Foreigners, however, have to set up credit card or direct debit payment for M-Flow (unless things have changed in the past 6 months or so, which is always possible).

Yawn. Work Permit 'Crackdown' #37 or whatever ... A week from now (if even that long) there'll be a different crackdown. I saw a naked white guy walking down lower Sukhumvit at lunchtime one day last week. He was clutching some clothes but I couldn't see a work permit.

He was in the Macau gaming industry for a long time: latterly was chairman of HKEX listed South Shore Holdings, which took over Stephen Hung's 'The 13' casino/hotel project. South Shore is in debt to the tune of hundreds of millions. Thailand is a good place to hang out because unless a foreign agency requests action, the local authorities have very little interest in pursuing foreign white collar criminals who haven't harmed Thais/Thailand.

Classic! Love it. I have plenty of letters left over, so improved (?) your suggestion as follows. Now to find the double-sided tape.

It bothers me greatly when I see parents inflicting masks on toddlers here: drumming into them "be scared all the time"; "people who don't wear masks are selfish and bad", "thinking for yourself is bad". If the parents want to wear them, so be it, but leave the toddlers out of it. "Oh but we look so cute at Paragon in our matching floral print masks".

Task for the day completed - debadging, except for the 'EV'. Say goodbye to 'Build Your Dreams' and 'Atto 3'. Only took 5 hours with a mallet, chisel and a rotary sander ... (just kidding! 30 mins with a hairdryer, dental floss, eraser wheel and alcohol)

Thanks. I'll have a look. I agree rotating screen is a bit superfluous, given the screen is pretty big so Nav in Landscape mode seems fine to me. The dashcam records automatically on a loop AFAIK but being able to take a snapshot might be useful. Things I do like about the Atto are the flat-bottom steering wheel (the whole steering wheel has quite a premium feel to it) and the glass roof. Makes the interior very light and airy. I quite like the interior colour scheme but there's a lot of white, which I can see becoming dirty quite quickly. Amusing fact: in Europe, the fake leather is actively marketed by BYD as 'Vegan leather' ...

You've more patience than me if 90 kmh is 'highway speeds'! 110-120 kmh for me (and that feels slow compared to my other car). At least with the BYD EV maybe I won't get so many speeding tickets.

Outstanding! Many thanks. Gone in 30 seconds. Doesn't bring up any visible error messages and 'Vehicle Status Check' comes back as all good.

That would be very interesting and - if priced at that level - would really shake up the 'cheaper end' of the local EV market, given Honda's status and brand loyalty here. I think those ranges sound optimistic though: I reckon as a basic rule of thumb work on 15kWh / 100 km. We're lucky its never very cold in Thailand - quite interesting range info here for loads of EVs: https://ev-database.org/cheatsheet/range-electric-car