Agusts

I had similar problem on a 65k km Suzuki Hayatte, they checked everything at Suzuki dealer in Phuket town and finally said engine has to be opened. They opened, change piston rings and pin, and some other small washers and cleaned valves, I guess adjusted valves too, it was as good as new after, all included was 1600 baht (some 7 or 8 years ago). But I would not trust Honda dealers, never had good experience with them, many I came across were not reliable or fair on price...! No experience with Yamaha dealers...

I probably go with you on that too, but there are some people don't care about ABS at all, they say they have enough skill to stop properly without ABS...! And some people just want to stop the light showing on the dash, so I guess it's really not important to them... It's not hard to test ABS either, I do this almost every month, just get speed up to 40/50kph in a quiet dry road and pull the brake hard, can see if it works or not, should definitely try that after any repair too...

I met a guy who had Xmax and the same issue, he said he did extensive research and went to quite a few mechanics. It turns out the Nmax and Xmax have the exact same ABS unit and it's 20k baht to replace for both. He said that's like half the price of Nmax and he would never dream of paying it..! But for his Xmax he was seriously considering it, until a guy told him the unit can be repaired for 2000 baht...😳 He was in Phuket and this repair can only be done by a guy in Bangkok. So the mechanic opened his ABS unit and shipped it to Bangkok, he couldn't use his bike for about two weeks. Then the unit came back all repaired and working, cost was 2k + some shipping...!? I don't know if it meant just the light was okay, or the ABS would actually do it's job properly...? 🤔 I'm sorry I have no contact, but ask on Thai Facebook Xmax or Nmax groups, I'm sure somebody reply,... in Thai, need Google Translate...

This is interesting and makes sense that they don't make a colour copy, but I have done this the last 5 years at Phuket DLT office, once I get my new tax sticker I come out and on the left, opposite parking lot, there's a copy guy and he always does it for me...!

This can easily be enforced by just taking the key, and even like before, ask to pay the fine and come back in an hour... But I don't see the obsession with helmets, there still can be horrendous injuries with a helmet, doesn't that count...!? They should really target preventing accidents altogether, and that means nobody rides without licence, getting a licence means going for compulsory training, and a really hard test to pass to get the licence, far better result than just forcing all the dangerous riders loose on the roads putting on a helmet.

Let us know how does it go, handling, power, underseat, and other comparison to Forza 350, I will be interested too..., although service and parts will be hard outside of big cities... Maybe do a detailed Zontes vs Forza article... 👌🏻

I understand everywhere they are trying to stop tax dodgers and get some money in the government coffers, but they should be more realistic about farangs living in Thailand on pension. For starters they want pensioners to show monthly income brought in Thailand at rate of around 60k baht a month for visa, then they say the tax free threshold is 60k a "year" ...!!!!? Doesn't make sense, that threshold is probably for locals, they should say for farang is at least 60k a month or even higher, this way they don't bother low income farangs, but catch the possible millionaire tax dodgers...!

As your last sentence says, nobody really knows. We have to see how they audit farangs, and see the result, and not just one, but many, to get a feel for their exact logic...! This is many years away, I think most farangs, who do not earn in Thailand, won't fill up tax forms, and doubt many or any will be audited anytime soon, Thai taxmen are too busy collecting and auditing millions of locals, let alone farangs. This very law was brought in for billionaires who make a killing abroad in dodgy businesses and countries without paying tax abroad, then bring the money in and use it tax fee..., not a few pensioners living on 1000 pounds a month...! This will be the same tail as the other laws being enforced here, like buying land and houses using fake company, how many of those have they prosecuted yet...! Not many, despite all the propaganda... Of course the tax lawyers and consultants looking for clients make this like it's the end of the world...! 😜

I have seen many posts saying anyone stay over 180 days and becomes tax resident must fill up form even with no tax to pay, see the very first post on this thread as a starter..., lots more on other threads and websites...

I thought it was the amount transfered in each calender year from 1 Jan to 31 Dec that is taxed and analysed, and if not tax resident that year, then no form to fill up that year...! Unless once someone becomes tax resident, then he/she needs to carry on filing up tax form even if not there 180 days...!?

This sounds good, so on their Thai tax form I can enter somewhere I transfered £10k and also somewhere that I say it was earned before 1/1/2024, so have zero tax to pay, and that would be the end of it...? And I would have statement to prove if they enquired further.... (well, no statement these days, but can get online printout....).

Would this work if one is not staying for 180 days now, transfer enough to Thailand to live on for say 3 years, then after that leave for 180 days and during that time transfer again, and repeat...!? So no income transfered during tax resident period... Would the clever Sumachi taxman pick on that..., well, even if did, can be tax resident one year and not the next year, right...?

I heard the same, but let's hear from others with first hand experience... For future reference I always make a color copy of the original and stick that copy on the bike, the original stays in my pocket, a bit safer that way...

My point is how do they separate £1 from another. I could say this £1 I'm transferring was interest I received in 2014, the £1 I received for interest of 2024 is the other one I left it in my bank account...!!!! It's quite impractical to try to identify and isolate this "earned" date on long held accounts..., even 5 or 10 year from now, I could still say it was my salary I added to my saving account in 2014...!?

How do they establish money was earned before 1/1/2024...? I have a saving bank account of say £10k, this has accumulated interest added over 20 years, now say in 2025 I transfer 1k from this account to Thailand. How would we establish what part of this money was earned after 1/1/2024 and what part was before.... (I know it's a small part due to low interest rate etc. but as an example). I don't understand this because many people earn and save over the years, then transfer from their accumulated saving....!?