Andrew Dwyer

Pétanque or Boules is popular near me ( Ayutthaya ) , there’s a place near the old city where they have several “ courts “ and regularly have competitions, also a lot of old sets for sale at the Grand (flea)Market. We used to go on holiday to France when I was a kid and my parents were Boule mad !!, you could buy a set of plastic balls and fill them with water or sand from the beach, ideal for travelling. The idea is to get closest to the small white ball and putting backspin on means you can stop it dead in its tracks, sometimes landing on the Jack or cochonnet ( piglet ) as frenchies like to call it . ” By the 1920s, the growing popularity of boules in France created a demand that could not be satisfied using the available supplies of natural boxwood root, which were beginning to disappear. Paul Courtieu and Vincent Miles had the idea of manufacturing a ball made entirely of metal. Avoiding steel-based alloys (which were too hard and rust-prone) they developed an alloy based on aluminum and bronze, and (in 1923) patented a metal ball made of two welded-together hemispheres. “. Wiki.

42 , that is sad ! Been to a handful of Thai funerals, some just the burning day but recently followed a death in the family closely from discovery of the body to the fifth day burning, next week will be the 100 day ceremony of scattering the ashes/bones in the river. My girlfriend’s sister dropped down dead suddenly ( suspected aneurysm ) at age 53. She didn’t appear for work or answer her phone so her boss called my gf and another brother, we could hear her phone ringing in the apartment but no other sounds, the brother immediately forced the door open but it would only open a few inches , it was hitting the soles of her feet !!. We were able to peak round the door and the sight I saw i will never forget, laid flat on her back, fully clothed, with a faint smile on her face, hands up level with her head and her pet canary sat on her chest . The canary, and deceased, got their 15 minutes of fame as a video of the bird attacking the paramedics quite viciously was shown on a few news channels. Needless to say we attended nearly all the 5 days ceremony and i was quite surprised by the amount of manhandling took place, especially the rubbing of gold leaf onto the arms, legs and neck of her body . I got to meet the last member of the extended family, brother number 1 ( of 10 ) , a long time monk in Roi Et but the star of the show was NASA the ,strangely named ,canary ! The partner taking NASA for one last goodbye:

You can run a 16” emergency spare on a 17” car ( as long as you use it only for emergencies to get you to a repair shop and at below 80 kph ). I did try it out but I have used these smaller tires in the past. I have a ZS with 17” wheels ( the X model ) and ordered an emergency/donut , means I can still use the lower level of boot floor but did cost me 7500 baht.

This is an IO we are talking about not an agent !!, it’s her job . 2,000 baht is the fee for an O visa not a satang more.

I have this on my short list for a change of car next year ( along with Honda HR-V, Corolla Cross and GWM Jolion ) and agree it’s too early to get any feedback about reliability. I’ve had a ZS for two years and would have to say the aftermarket service is erratic at best, still trying to solve an intermittent problem with reversing camera after 18 months !, but that could change with location. Your best bet is to join a Thai Facebook VS owners group to get the rundown, google translate struggles with some of the slang but you will get the general idea. I did see my 1st VS red plater out in the wild today and it looks really good in the two tone ( white body black roof ) model , plus I really like the interior, those 2 x 12.3” screens together works very well. Edit: there is a MG VS HEV Club group on FB but no worthwhile reports on there only adverts, still early days.

I’ll be watching this !! I lived , from 1995 to 2016 , 75 km from there and visited regularly as had a sil and bil who lived there. Don’t know about the authenticity of the ufo and alien encounters but they certainly took advantage of the fame !!

Back in old Blighty belts are being tightened and ASDA has come up with a way celebrate Christmas without pushing the boat out during these economic times. Some might even be able to use hot water !! Me, will probably treat the gf to a meal at Yayoi .

+1 for GiffGaff An SMS every 6 months will keep it active, a minimum top up of £10 to activate I believe, had mine for years.

Use this site onwardticket.com. and book a flight from BKK to a neighbouring country a couple of days before your exempt entry expires ( now 45 days ), book it the day before you leave the U.K. It is a genuine booking and can be checked by check in staff, print it out if possible but not necessary. It will expire after 2 days so no need to cancel. Cost ? US$14

Yes, if it lives up to its claimed 201 km range then it will be the best of both worlds, actually 150 km would do it !! In my research of the Jolion I’ve only come across good things said about the H6, albeit the hybrid. I wish you good luck with the car and hope to see some good reports about the H6 PHEV soon ,I may well become a convert !!.

So, what have i learnt from this thread over the last week, well not so much from owners on here but have surfed the , many, Jolion Hybrid FB groups and learned a fair bit. My attraction is for the Jolion Hybrid, I mentioned H6 in the OP hoping to attract more interest in the 2 hybrids available. According to the Thai owners on FB there are many happy owners, the complaints i have read so far have been: Lack of reach adjustment on steering. No short cut switches for air con and drivers modes. Short drivers seat with no lumbar adjustment. Adaptive cruise control taking corrective action ( reducing speed ) at bends in the road. Difficult navigation on infocentre screen. Lane changing and collision awareness alarms difficult to live with as too frequent bell sounds. In short not too many complaints but by far the biggest issue is mileage, updates have been issued but to achieve achieve any reasonable mileage, expected from a hybrid, conservative driving methods have to be adopted. ( one recent poster proudly posted his 23.1km/L mileage admitted that he achieved this by driving less than 85km/hr ! ). So, while the Jolion Ultra Hybrid , in white, imho, is a stunner and very good value for money i am disappointed with the mileage issue. Of course it remains to be seen whether driving at 100/105 km/hr gives a satisfactory mileage return and i will continue to search for more info. The resale value is not clear at this point but it’s not of great importance to me. Also, the Chinese factor is also irrelevant to me, I have driven a Chinese SUV for the last two years and have no qualms about buying another. Early next year is probably when I will change cars so have time to continue my search, others I am considering are the Honda HR-V, Toyota Corolla Cross and the new , and yet unknown, MG VS hybrid.

Seems to be spot on there @digbeth, I spent a few days going through the various Jolion Hybrid Thai groups on FB and the main chatter is about poor mileage figures. Some are claiming better figures, > 20km/l after a supposed update but a lot talking about 13km/l or less ! GWM claim 23.8km/l (or 4.2l/100km) Of course without the full details of type of fuel used, length of driving and speed plus whether city or highway driving it doesn’t give the full picture but there’s a lot of talk on this subject and even suggestions of changing driving modes ( Eco, Sport, Normal etc )whilst driving to improve mileage depending on conditions ( city, highway, mountain etc ) all seems a little desperate. Whether an update exists regarding this issue seems a little in doubt imho and was hoping to get some info from someone on here who owns one or has knowledge of someone who does. A little disappointed in these findings as my current non hybrid car gives me 14.5/15km/l with my driving style and i would hope to improve on that with a Jolion Hybrid without having to alter my driving style and car mode frequently during trips . The H6 does seem to be exempt from this issue.

Yes, they do need wiring at each rung to keep the rails together. Use the thick steel wire you can find that is still flexible and run a length under each rung and round the rails at each end. I also found the rungs to be quite far apart and make for a nervous descent !

I bought one a few years ago now ( maybe 4 ? ), 5 metres ( 11 steps ) for 400 baht. Prices might have increased but that 100 baht per step seems a lot .

Yes, that’s definitely something to think about, I have heard that MG’s don’t get good resale prices, GWM probably not such a given as only on the market here for less than a year.

That model was added later if I’m not mistaken, wasn’t there when I looked at them a couple of years ago , the Sport model was the cheapest option and non-hybrid back then. Looking at the GR Sport now and it is very appealing, I do like the all black interior. The trend of the Chinese cars now seems to be to cram in as many colours as possible : Here’s a car I am currently interested in but the interior is gonna take some time to adapt to.

I read some stories about GWM Jolion owners throwing a cardboard box in front of the car to test the anti collision mode !! Seemed to work though .

The cameras all round will be a front ( in the grill area ), a rear ( usual place under license plate ) and one under each wing mirror. Can be activated individually or all 4 together which creates a virtual overhead view. The rear camera also for reversing.

If you asked for info on a new Ford Ranger and i sent you a video about the Ford Fiesta gearbox issues would you think it helpful ? Yes, you are wasting your time …… and everyone else’s .

Thanks, i was hoping for a more conservative price on the H6 PHEV but it is a little out of my range tbh. Am aiming more towards the Jolion as it suits me better size wise but would have liked to have gone for a PHEV, maybe a Jolion PHEV in a few years ? Some of the reviews give a different picture regarding fuel usage, a couple of recent reviews from NZ ( Autocar and Driven ) give a 1000 km range from a full tank so hoping to get some first hand experience on here.

Does he ? I don’t see him mentioning either of the models the topic is related to .

I did join a FB group about Jolion in Australia but they have only recently got the Hybrid there so not too much info. Although I did see one thread quoting poor mileage figures ( 700km on a full tank of 91 fuel, a 55L fuel tank I think ) and being on a par with the mileage of the petrol versions which wasn’t very encouraging.

As the title suggests I am looking for any feedback from anyone who owns a GWM Haval H6 or Jolion . Anything either good or bad related to the car’s reliability , comfort , mileage etc or aftermarket service etc . TIA Andy

My mother’s favourite movie , she had the soundtrack album and i would often wake up late on a weekend to the sounds of music ???? Happy days .

I watched it all and liked it, it is a bit of a slow burner though and one finds themselves wondering “ who is the man in the high castle and what significance have his movies “ . But I enjoyed the whole series and although reviews have it trailing off after season 2 i would watch the whole thing again.