grs90

They are varifocal.

CARTER USM.

Recently had the same issue. Got fed up using two pairs of glasses all the time. I went to Owndays opticians and they had a range of different varifocal lenses. Ended up paying about 7000 baht including frame and , after a couple of weeks getting used to them, am happy with the quality and performance. I would recommend you having a look at Owndays.

No, but I get your point. Not quite sure where the last 20 years went!! Don’t think I can edit the post now.

What an epic topic! I have read through nearly all the posts in this thread although still a few pages to go. Some great information and some hilarious exchanges. A fairly recent one though, about the availability of “Fast Charges” is reminiscent of my junior school years. “There aren’t many fast chargers” “Yes there are” “Oh no there aren’t” “Look at the map - there are Loads” “Liar, liar, pants on fire” Come on gentleman, surely you are better than this? If it was the kids having the argument you would tell them to grow up. As an unbiased observer it seems a “fast charger” is one that uses DC other than AC to charge the vehicle. If it is DC it is classed as a fast charger. However, a fast charger does not necessarily mean a quick charger in terms of time taken to charge. So you are both correct and it is just an issue over the terminology. Anyway, on on to my post. I nearly bought a new EV but didn’t. This is why. In late 2023 I was in the market for a new car. Budget was around 800K baht but in the end went slightly over that by buying a Toyota Yaris Cross.. Four months in I am very happy with the car. Drives well, handles well and meets our requirements perfectly. Also it is very economical returning an average of 24.4km per litre. I appreciate though that this is more than a BEV costs to run. I also have some regrets when I think about the performance difference between the car I bought and the EVs I tested. I was really close to going for a BEV. I read all the posts in this thread and on others on AN. I also did a lot of research on other sites. I test drove 3 BEVs and loved the experience. Way superior to the traditional cars in terms of acceleration and also handling which, I think, was probably due to a lower centre of gravity. Ultimately though, I decided against a pure electric model and this was due to the following main issues. 1. Convenience of charging when on a longer trip. We mainly drive locally as I think most people probably do. It would be relatively simple to install a charger in the carport and nearly all our charging would be done at home. So an EV would be fine for 90%+ of the time. We do a longer (600-1000km) trip several times a year so it is not that often that we would need to charge away from home. When I thought about this, based in particular on posts from KhunLA to whom I give thanks for the information, It was clear that there were plenty of opportunities to charge up the vehicle, in a reasonable time, when on a longer journey. So no particular “range anxiety”. I avoid travelling at busier times as I dislike crowds roads. Based on my observations I have never seen a queue for a charger at PTT stations where we normally stop. So no worries about waiting to use a charger. My main issue was over the timing of when to do a longer stop to charge up the car. On a longer trip I typically have a pee/smoke stop every hour or so and these take less than 5 minutes. I will also typically have one approx 30 minute stop to have some food. However, these are normally quite soon after leaving home when I stop for breakfast, or when I am nearly at my destination when I stop for lunch to avoid arriving at the hotel too early for check-in. I didn’t want the longer stop to be done when the car wanted to eat rather than when I wanted to. Ultimately this is a convenience issue, I could manage the charging very easily within a reasonable period of time. I just can’t be bothered to. 2. Resale value. This is a complete unknown. I would expect to keep any new car for 6 or 7 years and, having been scalped previously when trying to sell a car with manual transmission which hardly anyone wanted, I was somewhat worried about what a 2003 battery EV would be worth in 2009/2010. I wasn’t worried about the car being unusable as I don’t believe the scare stories about the batteries being useless after several years. At worse the battery may just lose a low percentage of its ability. My main concern was over why anyone would want to buy a 2003 BEV when, I am sure, a 2009/2010 BEV will be far superior in terms of its battery capacity and charging ability. Things in the BEV market still seem to be advancing at a rapid pace so will a 2003 car be effectively obsolete in 6 or 7 years time? 3. Insurance and repair costs. Another big unknown. At the moment this doesn’t seem to be an issue but I’m a bit concerned after reading stories about high repair costs for a BEV and the limited number of people trained and qualified to do any repairs needed. This may, or may not, be an issue going forward. I am at a stage of my life where I hate uncertainty. I don’t have any worries about getting a Toyota insured or repaired. I don’t want to introduce a new “worry” in to my life when there are plenty already. So, overall, there were just enough niggling little issues preventing me buying a BEV. It was a close call though and I am sure the next purchase will be a BEV. For me, now, I want to be able to buy a BEV for around 800K. I want to be able to do a 450 to 500 KM journey without having to charge en-route. I want the 1000baht per night type hotels to have charging points so I can charge overnight on arrival, rather than having to eff around finding a charging location near the hotel or paying for a more expensive hotel which provides charging points as many already do. Will these requirements be met by 2009/2010? I think, probably, yes. So, in conclusion, no EV for me this time. But keep the thread going because next time I am sure there will be!!

As stated above, it is the uncertainty about what the impact will be that is the big problem rather than anything else. As a UK retiree whose sole source of income being brought in to Thailand is from a company pension, it seems what I bring in could be taxed in Thailand. This is despite it already being taxed in the UK. So, unless things are clarified before the end of the year, I am currently thinking how to avoid bringing potentially taxable income in to Thailand during 2024. Currently the annual amount the Thai wife and I spend in Thailand on day to day living is around 1,000,000 baht. There are no planned large purchases next year so I'll aim to stick to that amount for 2024. I can probably bring 600,000 baht of this in to Thailand before the end of 2023 which I think means it will not be impacted by the new directive. I will bring in the other 400,000 in 2 chunks of 200,000. One sent to my bank account and one sent to the wife's account. I believe this will keep us both below the level at which any tax is payable. Then, if it is needed, we can both file Thai tax declarations in early 2025 with no tax to pay. Hopefully things will become clearer, if not by the end of this year then by early 2025!

Not fully working in Korat. Thai websites seem to be working but a bit slow. But can’t connect to anything international

Can you get a rental overseas using a Thai 2 year license? I was previously told (in the UK though not the US) that only the 5 year license could be used as the 2 year one is considered "probationary".

I don't normally get involved with arguments on the internet..............BUT! As I said when I responded to your earlier post I am not complaining. I merely pointed out to another poster who claimed that "locals discount" happened in other countries that, in most other countries, "locals" means people who live locally irrespective of their nationality. In Thailand the dual pricing seems to be based almost entirely on nationality and, from a personal perspective, I think that is wrong. You obviously think it is OK which is fine. You might even be happy if countries in Europe introduced an extra "darkies" fee for visitors but I would oppose that too. I'm absolutely certain that "they" don't read here and I'm also certain that the dual pricing won't change in my lifetime. As I stated previously I do sometimes pay the extra foreigner fee if I want to see the site/attraction on offer.

You seem to be of the opinion that non-Thais should just put-up and shut-up if they disagree with what happens here. I don't agree with that. Anyone should feel free to express an opinion as to what is right or wrong, especially on a forum such as this.

But do they charge someone living locally extra just because they are foreign, even if they have lived locally for years?

I renewed my extension last week and experience was similar to the OP. They wanted a 3 month statement this year though instead of the previously required 2 months. The list of requirements they gave when I got the blank forms from them still states 2 months as the requirement but it was accompanied by a little slip of paper, written entirely in Thai, which stated 3 months was required. so I just got a 3 month one from the bank and all was fine. Just to add, the only problem this year was when I went to the bank, the green one in Terminal 21, it was no longer there! It had been closed and they hadn’t seen fit to tell me. Had to ring their call centre to find out where my account was now held.

Well thanks for all the comments and I agree that I should have tested for a live connection rather than assuming it was dead just because the circuit breaker was off. Lesson learned and the tester is now on the list for my next visit to Mr DIY!

Hi. No I am very much an amateur and don't have anything to test a circuit, I just assumed that "off" at the circuit breaker meant off at the shower. Disconnecting the 3 wires in the shower unit and then reconnecting them later is about as complicated as I want to get! I just want to make sure, if I have to do something similar in the future, that I can do that as safely as realistically possible.

I recently noticed a water leak from inside one of our shower water heaters. So, I turned off the power at the breaker for that circuit, checked the heater was no longer working when the water flowed which, rightly or wrongly, indicated to me that the power was off, and then removed the shower unit which was taken to a local shop to get the leak fixed. Picked up the repaired box today and have just reinstalled it. Everything now seems OK. However, when reconnecting the wires to the shower I accidentally touched the neutral and earth together. This tripped the main incoming circuit breaker for the house which surprised me as I’d assumed I was working on a “dead” bit of wiring due to the breaker for the circuit being off. Is what happened when the neutral and earth touched normal or does it mean there is a fault somewhere? I had always thought that turning off the breakers for a circuit meant it was safe to work on but maybe I should be turning off the main breaker instead of just the one for an individual circuit?