moonoi

Quite a few non-dealer service garage mechanics told me it is more recommended that you use cheap oil but change frequently (say, 3,000km) than to use expensive, high grade oil or synthetic oil and change it infreuqnetly.

Use cheap oil and its fine to change at the recommended manufacturers intervals (10K km for most new cars). When manufacturers specify the service interval they take into account the fact the car could be used mostly for city driving etc. I've always followed these and never had any problems for any of my cars (from a 1976 mini 850 to Lancia Delta HF Integrale and BMW M3s')

Theres been many a test comparing cheap with expensive oils with no benefit provided by spending extra on fancy stuff. I seem to remember there was a previous thread on this but can't find it now.

A lot of the usual, perhaps not entirely unjust, comments here.

But I wonder, how many people decrying Thai drivers are themselves partial to a few beers before driving, or can put their hand on their heart and say they haven't driven in Thailand while having more drinks than they would dare to have and drive back home?

I can

If I'm driving then I won't drink, no matter what country I'm in

One thing I have noticed is the Thai's drive fast in a straight line but slow down to below walking pace to turn a corner.

Yep makes me laugh on the expressway or motorways...some nutter in his 4wd pickup right on my tail flashing lights (even though theres nowhere for me to go to get out of his way)...come to even a gentle curve and he disappears and takes another 2-3min to catch me up and start his light flashing antics again!!!! mad

BTW I once drove a car with the stuff on it, but it had the film brand (or something else, small lettering on the film itself) written visibly on it!! How daft is that!

Mine was the same when I picked it up from the showroom. They had left the window tint with Lamina printed along it on all the windows. They did this to proove to me that they did install the real Lamina stuff and hadn't swapped it for a cheaper brand cleans off easily with a bottle of white spirit they provided. Guess whoever's car it was you drove hadn't got round to wiping off the branding

P414 somebody who has lived in these times patriot or bigot? P414 I am glad you had the courage to speak out, the only sad thing is that you would not be able to say such things in England!

and that sums uo what P414 is trying to say.

Well actually they would be able to say such things. The uk prides itself on its right to free speech. You could quite easily say these things, doesn't matter if its true or not. Just have to be careful of laws such as the incitement of religious hatred / incitement of violence etc. The statement made by P414 probably would be ok, its plain wrong, but theres nothing to stop it being said.

And all that would happen in the UK is exactly what has happened on this forum. A point by point rebuttal of all false statements in this case by wolf5370 (which was very educated and interesting too I might add)

I suspect if P414 is British he/she would feel right at home with the BNP (thats British National Party for those who don't know). Sounds like the ridiculous crap the leaders of that party regularly spout

So I have to disagree with your assessment of whay P414 is trying to say, its just uninformed bigoted crap and nothing to do with free speech

I was born and brought up in the UK btw so I know what I am talking about (but I hold 2 nationalities )

Cheers guys

And now I know how to work it out for future reference...I can say I learnt something useful today

As far as i'm concerned, these "victims" are the stupid ones.

To buy air tickets on the cheap from a person is stupid or is it human nature to try to get something for almost nothing.

These cheap charlies should go to a reputable travel ageny to purchase their tickets, as i have done for the past 20 years.

These people were inane enough to give their credit card number to some one who is dodgy.

I hope they do not get a refund from the credit card companies as they are not using their cards in a responsible way.

I understood that the deals were cash only.

He then used stolen card numbers to purchase the flight tickets.

Gave the tickets to the cheapskate and went on his merry way with x thousand baht in his pocket and no comeback for the purchaser.

The people whos' cards were used to purchase the tickets deserve to get refunded as they were used fraudulently and without there permission.

So 2 differant victims, the cheapskate who loses his/her cash and gets no flight or maybe half a flight and then the person whos card number he stole (possibly through phishing/other internet scams....or maybe some other accomplice who skims cards in Pattaya/BKK etc)

So I think what you say isn't fair comment and based on misunderstanding of how he worked

Can you translate that into km per litre, like all Thai statistics. I know it's an easy coniversion, but with six numbers in your post my head refuses to take it in.

I would if I knew how too. maths and statistics is not my strong point. Besides I'm from europe not thailand so I'm not familiar with the km per litre method

My Mazda3 burns around 10litres per 100km in city driving and on the open road this improves to approx 7 litres per 100km.......not too bad for a 2 litre auto. I'm not exactly light footed either.

Miss by Golf VR6 though...around town it was crap......about 18 litres per 100km, but on a long run it could be very economical best I had was 5.5 litres per 100km but averaged about 6.2

Admittedly that was in europe though....the one time I did sit in traffic simlar to what we get on a daily basis here was when leaving the French F1GP in Magny Cours.......at one point it went off the scale at 99.9 litres per 100km........in the end it went down to 45...but that was scary..could actually watch the fuel gauge decreasing........and I kept the engine on because it was a very hot day and needed the aircon

My experience so far has been quite positive. The team I work with is very hardworking and knowledgable, most have also university education abroad which has helped in there understanding of western cultural values. Thats not to take anything away from those who have not been educated abroad Its just something that has made my job easier I think.

It terms of how people work differantly here from Europe (can't comment on US as I've never worked there), I have to supervise them more than those employees in Europe. This can be annoying at times. That said they are much harder working than those I worked with in France and are prepared to make personal sacrifices to benefit the company, even when its not really necessary. I can't knock there dedication to the job!

My biggest gripe, and its not even much is that I wish that my staff would tell me there problems directly rather than speaking to the senior Thai who then tries to replan our projects using differant team members without telling me the reasons behind it. Sometimes its because one of the team doesn't want to do the work, which isn't really acceptable. But its a minor thing and I'm slowly getting people to be more reponsible for there work and I hope soon I won't have to supervise them so much

I'm not scared of loosing my job to a Thai, I have security here for at least another few years as it takes at least that long before anyone here has the depth of knowledge needed, but by then I hope I will have moved up in the organisation....and hopefully I will take some of the more talented people on my team with me or if they get promoted above me I they take me with them

On another note I do know that other teams that do not have any farang management at a middle level do have problems with high turnover and not hitting targets.....I also find that the Thais' lower down in those teams constantly complain about there Thai manager.......things like giving upper management unrealistic target dates with the staffing levels they have and projects already in progress and expecting them to stay in the office until the work is complete without any overtime pay or recognition and told to only log 8 hrs per day into the time management system even if they are in the office 12. I wonder if this is because these Thai managers are scared to say "No we can't do it in that time unless you give xxxxxx" to upper management? Is it a face thing or something else?

Hi all

I have just spoken to the DVLA here in the UK, If you are the holder of a full driving licence from Thailand you can legally drive in the uk for upto 1 year from the date of entry into the UK....

Hope this helps...

I just got back from the UK, first trip in 13 years. No one would let me touch their car, even though I'm a car dealer here, and drive everything under the sun!!! I have no UK license, only a Thai, and moody international which I'll up-grade to a Thai international. Will that allow me to drive over there for a year? I'm from the UK by the way.

If you have a Thai license with an IDP your good for 12 months as previously mentioned. But insurance in the UK is differant from here, so probably the reason they wouldn't let you drive is because you wouldn't have been insured too.

Just to clarify a point made by a previous poster, if you have an EU licence you do not need to get a UK licence within 12 months, if you want to then you can just exchange it (no test to take). I lived in France for 3 years and had no problem using my UK licence, the only stipulation is that if you get caught doing something wrong then you have exchange your UK/EU licence for the host country licence so that they can apply the endorsements

Its for this reason that all EU driving licenses look the same (except for France, they were supposed to implement the same format as the rest of Europe back in 2000, but as we all know what the French are like they are still dragging there heels and still use a stupid lump of cardboard thats too big to fit in your wallet )

Subaru is the nickname for all the 600cc mini trucks they use for pax on back streets here (even though most are Dihatsu). Not an up-market brand at all but the market price is way too high to sell for more than novelty; to those with more money than sense.

The are not popular at all in Thailand IMO.

I was a happy owner of a 1985 Subaru so it is not that I don't like the brand.

Maybe its because if you read Subaru backwards it says u r a bus ahem

sorry couldn't help myself......and yes I know its an old joke....

link doesn't show seach.

Maybe you could cut and paste details of search.

If it was set up in 1966, i think thats defo not it, and from the looks of things I can see no ample rich co.

Sorry about that here is the details from Companies House UK

Name & Registered Office:

UKLS INVESTOR 1 LIMITED

4 BROADGATE

LONDON

EC2M 2DA

Company No. 00871653

Status: Active

Date of Incorporation: 17/02/1966

Country of Origin: United Kingdom

Company Type: Private Limited Company

Nature of Business (SIC(03)):

6713 - Auxiliary financial intermed

6712 - Security broking & fund management

Accounting Reference Date: 31/12

Last Accounts Made Up To: 31/12/2004 (FULL)

Next Accounts Due: 31/10/2006

Last Return Made Up To: 15/08/2005

Next Return Due: 12/09/2006

Last Members List: 15/08/2005

Previous Names:

Date of change Previous Name

18/02/2004 AMPLE INVESTMENTS LIMITED

10/11/2000 HENDERSON GROUP LIMITED

29/07/1998 HENDERSON INVESTMENT SERVICES LIMITED

27/10/1988 ESSENTIAL MINERALS SECURITIES LIMITED

Branch Details

There are no branches associated with this company.

Oversea Company Info

There are no Oversea Details associated with this company.

But agreed this probably isn't the one discussed in the article, just mention it because the dates of the name changes are similar to the alledged trasnfer of shares to and from the UK based Ample pure conjecture of course, but fun

So there's Ample Rich BVI, also the Ample Rich office/subsidiary in Singapore , which the reporter tried to trace, and now a 3rd? English company of similar/same name? Let's hope the latter isn't incorporated in the UK - laws against insider-trading tend to be a little stricter in place like the UK or USA, than the BVI.

Easy enough to check http://www.companieshouse.co.uk

Can search on whether Ample Rich was incorporated in the UK and who its directors are for free. Unfortunately its closed until 7am UK time so will check again this afternoon

Did a search, can't find anthing by name of ample rich. Or anything similar.

http://wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk/53244db9...02//compdetails

Is the closest match, but probably not what we're looking for....although the dates of name changes is interesting..... The original incorporation date was 1966 so perhaps it wasn't a uk incorprated entity....(I mean the ample rich discussed in this article )

Edited for clarity!

So there's Ample Rich BVI, also the Ample Rich office/subsidiary in Singapore , which the reporter tried to trace, and now a 3rd? English company of similar/same name? Let's hope the latter isn't incorporated in the UK - laws against insider-trading tend to be a little stricter in place like the UK or USA, than the BVI.

Easy enough to check http://www.companieshouse.co.uk

Can search on whether Ample Rich was incorporated in the UK and who its directors are for free. Unfortunately its closed until 7am UK time so will check again this afternoon

I was going to buy a Vios until I drove it, with the instrument pannel in the middle.

The best car manufactured for the Thailand market in my opinion is the Corolla Atis. A bit pricy, but what are you going to do?

Barry

Surely your joking. You want to drive around in an overpriced taxi?

Now if Toyota were to import the Hatchback version of the Corolla I would agree, but the Mazda3, Honda Civic and even the new Ford Focus are way better cars than the Altis (and the Focus is cheaper too)

I want my old Corolla T-Sport 1.8 VVTL-i 197bhp

If you have a Work Permit, you do not need the letter from Immigration

Anyone know if this is true in BKK as well? Would save me the hassle of going to the embassy for proof of address

EDIT: This is to exchange my IDP btw not renew an existing Thai license

In fact, compact cars have been popular in Europe and other countries for many years because car owners there have long been concerned about fuel prices.

Well thats complete crap Nothing to do with fuel prices and more to do with the fact that in a lot of european cities if you car is much bigger than a focus/megane/astra then it can be very difficult to drive around due to narrow streets.

Auto-makers frequently claim that their cars are made to absorb the force of a collision and to minimise injuries to the driver and passengers. But this information is not confirmed by tests conducted by state-owned centres. Hence, it is essential that the government set up such an agency to prove and test the safety standards of vehicles.

So what about Euro NCAP tests and whatever the US equivalent is called? These cars are tested pretty extensively and awarded a star rating according to how well it performs.

Sounds like The Nation couldn't be bothered to do any proper research for this article

Since Vios has this kind of console it doesn't worry Toyota, I think. Also Yaris IS based on Vios, or rather the other way around - Vios design is based on Yaris. They should be source a lot of local content anyway.

Actually Vios was based on the Generation 1 Yaris that was never available here, the new Yaris is a differant platform so Toyota can't benefit from sharing production costs between the 2 models.

Quite funny if you think about it

The centre console is supposed to be less distracting than the traditional type the idea being that its always in line of site so you don't have to glance down to look at the instruments...Honda have taken a differant approach with the new civic by putting the more important instruments up high in the dash just below the windscreen for the same reason, although I agree with Emilio in that I don't like the centre layout at all.

A mclaren manta mirage

Is that a kit car?? I think you'd have to be very special to own something like that..

Yeah its a replica of a Mclaren Can-Am racer......so its not even a real Mclaren

I didn't have any problems purchasing a car on the old never never.

50% down, no guarantor and work permit it was I needed...company was GE Capital Auto Leasing

EDIT: Forgot to add everything is in my own name

I have 2 passports, Thai and British.

I use my Thai to enter and leave Thailand, and my British to enter/leave the UK or just about anywhere else.

Airline check-in staff always ask to see my British when i am leaving Thailand just to check i can legally enter the country. I have on the odd occasion been asked by Thai immigration whether i have another passport on entering Thailand as they can't find a visa or stamp in my passport indicating where i've been. They never seem bothered when i tell them i also have a British passport and just let me through.

The thing about having to choose when you are 18 is because as far as i am aware, Thailand does not recognise dual nationality. Therefore you are "supposed" to decide which nationality you will keep when u turn 18.

However, for anyone with British nationality this is impossible because u cannot renounce your British citizenship. I could stand in front of the British embassy in Bangkok and burn my passport whilst verbally abusing the Queen, but if i applied for a new one they would still give me one.

So i wouldn't worry too much. As long as you don't advertise the fact that you have two passports (maybe i should take my own advice ), no one is going to give u any hassle.

Actually your not correct there. You can renounce British citizenship (its something I've investigated as its something I was thinking about doing......I have Dual Nationality but with another EU nation) You can read about it here Renouncing British Nationality

As for Thailand I've read elsewhere on this forum that they do now recognise Dual Nationality for Thai citizens (I seem to remember it was 3 or 4 years ago)......of course that doesn't mean that everyone at immigration and other government department know that

Slightly off topic I know, but I think its best to keep information as accurate as possible

Ah, the culturally sensitive tourist.

Try pitching that idea to a Thai mother weeping over her two dead daughters that just got creamed by a pick up driving recklessly. You think the Thai's like their countrymen behave on the roads? They just don't acknowledge the problem till they lose someone dear to them then they cry bloody murder. I've seen my fair share of dead bodies here in Thailand to understand the problem.

So join the debate if you have something to offer other than the typical weak excuse.

This thread started because 3 farangs were killed on a road that is oft travelled by many of us....all of a sudden people start blaming the driver and cry bloody murder about Thai driving practices...I dont see the same people jumping up and down about it when a Thai person gets killed. I too have seen dead bodies in Thailand and I have lost a few friends there due to road accidents.

But what do we have here, a load of farangs either resident or tourist comparing the Thai driving practices to their own countries driving practices....sure you see some amazing things and you see some absolutely idiotic things.....You dont see the same things in your country do you???

I guess in perfect farangland there are no drunk/drugged drivers, drivers who overload their vehicles, drivers near the point of exhaustion, drivers who drive worn out old heaps of junk etc etc.... Thailand may not be as perfect as Farangland...no point complaining about it....you just have to assimilate....as someone already said....a farang driving as they would in farangland is just as dangerous as a Thai Lunatic driver.

A typical weak excuse eh???.....some would call it a simple fact

But your attitude is pretty bad. Ok I am a foreigner here, I don't expect the rules of the road to be the same here as at home and I don't think most expats living here do either. However dangerous / bad driving is dangerous / bad driving whether its here or back in your home land, whats wrong with commenting about this? The roads here are dangerous and much of it is down to poor enforcement of already existing road rules and inadequate driver training.

I agree that some things in rules and regulations have gone too far in western nations. The one thing that would go along way here to improving the safety on roads is situational awareness. Just looking around you, check before pulling across the road. And also a little more politeness, when I want to merge with traffic from one road to another.....shouldn't have to fit and slowly creep until the passing cars can no longer squeeze by. By letting out people that are trying to merge, you'll find the traffic flow actually improves and gridlocks are less likely to occur (although this also needs to go hand in hand with the MIB managing the traffic lights properly) studies have been done to prove this in several countries.

Also you'll find that a lot of Thai are not impressed with the quality of driving here. But its too difficult with the way things are setup here to do anything about it. It needs a powerful person with a strong political will to do it.........and the reason it doesn't happen? Well theres no financial gain to that person is there.......so why should they bother? This is not just my view, but the view of many of my Thai friends.

Of course you will always get drunk drivers (australia has a big problem with this), drugged up drivers and just plain reckless drivers in any country. But the reason at least in western nations that the death figures are low is because the vast majority of the motoring public have a healthy respect for the law and an inability to tip some "tea" money to the police to get off any road traffic violation.

A classic example today was a guy trying to pull straight into the lane I was in with out looking or indicating (if I knew he intended to change lane I would have made room). I had nowhere to go (if I hit the brakes the car behinds slams into me, and theres a car on my right preventing me moving over) so I just stayed put. Then when he eventually gets into my lane he then pulls across in the lane next to me and then swerves across pulls into the gap between me and the car in front and procedes to brake test me. Why? It proves nothing and ultimately could cause a big accident for no reason, clearly I hadn't delayed him because he was able to overtake me. Its just stupid, pointless, irresponsible and reckless driving. And it happens all the time here.

So please tell me gburns.......why does anyone including Thai and foreigner have to accept that the current state of things here is ok, just because its always been that way? Whats exactly is wrong with pointing out errors in the way people do things here (I don't profess that I'm a perfect driver btw) and trying to improve things? Surely if you've lost friends in accidents you would want to try to improve things so that other people don't meet the same end? Or maybe you think it gives you some kudos points with some Thai people? I don't know how you can defend the current state of driving standards here when a lot of Thai can't.

And as for this incident, if the driver was driving too fast and was tired then yes he does deserve blame for killing these people. As happens all to often. But ultimately, we'll probably never know the real cause.

I live up by Ram Inthra km8 and use TOT Broadband.

I haven't had any major problems. Occasionally the service stops but if I disconnect and reconnect my ADSL router it always solves the problem.

To be honest I don't think theres any differance between any of the ADSL providers in Thailand. For everyone thats says one company is bad you'll find an equal number who have never experienced a problem!

Good Luck!

So why are many people killed on the roads in European countries?

LOS deaths in 2002: 14,000

UK deaths in 2002: 3,450

Population and number of drivers: roughly comparable.

I think you may have the question the wrong way around.

If the UK had the same ammount of motorcycle riders as Thailand does, then you may well see similar figures, 70% of road deaths in Thailand are Motorcycle riders or Passengers.

Well, that's just your assumption rather than a fact.

Agreed in the UK the motorcycle test is quite difficult, here most don't even bother with licenses and for those that do its only a case of turn up to the local license authority and pay you fee....whoopie you have you m/c license

Also car drivers in the UK a taugh to look out for motorcycles. Motorcycles do not cut underneath cars in the uk (a major cause of accidents here) nor do they pull out of sides roads without looking to see if its clear first. Before you even can get on a m/c in UK you have to pass a certificate of basic training to be able to ride on the road. All of these things implemented to reduce the number of motorcycle deaths on uk roads. There are also constant tv campaigns to make sure people do not loose awareness of m/c riders.

Even doing half of these things would improve the situation here. How about implementing some sensible laws of the road for motorcycles (mainly don't go underneath a car when its turning left)

EDIT: I forgot to add.....wearing and securing a proper motorcycle helmet would probably more than halve Thailands m/c death rate.

THESE DRIVERS ARE ######ING INSANE! Sure there are bad drivers in the West, but you don't see this kind of madness daily.

So why are many people killed on the roads in European countries?

Did you bother to read my posting giving you UK figures....or is the UK not part of europe in your mind?

Thailand 14000

UK 3500

France 6000

Much lower death rates in europe than Thailand as you can see

Maybe its more if you add all european countries together but applying this logic we should include the entire road deaths figure for the ASEAN region. Quite a pointless comparison.

Maigo I've noticed in previous threads you like to bash foreigners whilst not accepting that the standards of driving here could be improved.....a trait I've noticed with many thai (we're thai so we know best). The reason Europe and the US are where they are today is because they accept that they don't necessarily know everything and that they could learn from other countries.......attitudes here need to change and I'm happy to see that the younger generations of Thai realise this and are loosing there xenophobic views.......it is to the benefit of Thailand that this happens......you don't have to loose your national identity by accepting that maybe you could learn from the way other nations do things.

Loosen up and stop the needless Thais' are best Foreigners go home if you don't like it here attitude. We're here because we want to be, but we also want to assist in trying to make this country we all love a safer place. So instead why don't you use reasoned arguments to renforce your view. Let us debate the issues and open your mind to whole new possibilities as we are open to the view of Thais'