Jim's_a_Thai_Fox

Hi folks,

FYI the Culture Course offered by Rajaphat Suan Dusit (Bangkok) has been temporarily put on hold pending a review of the course by the new board of directors at the Teacher Council (this was confirmed to me in an email sent by the chap who co-ordinates the course).

For future reference, here is the link

http://education.dus...re/culture.html

where you can fill in the application form and apply for the course (Saturday - Monday)

Regards

Hi KKerry,

thanks for the information - always nice to know that I haven't just bought a lemon!

The first service is scheduled at 15k... only just hit 8k, but after reading your post, I might well ask for an earlier check up.

thanks again

Jim

Hi guys and gals,

well I am 8000km into my Fiesta 1.6S and thought I could spend a little bit of my time giving a pros/cons list as it might help out those who are still considering one:

I live just outside of town and do mainly city driving.

Pros

It has a great sound system - good quality speakers

The bluetooth is a real bonus. I play my iPhone constantly via the bluetooth and use it for hands free calls all the time.

On the highways, it is stable and comfortable at around 120 km/h. I drove very cautiously to Chiang Mai (about 90kms) at about 90 km/h and averaged 5.5 litres per 100 kilometres, almost 60 mpg.

The leather seats are comfy

The boot is pretty big

It is nimble around town with a good turning circle

Looks nice

Cons

The dual clutch drives me to the brink of committing some heinous crime!

the engine sounds a bit too loud and not in a good way when revving hard in lower gears

first gear is woefully too short

The boot needs a decent slam to shut it, rattling the number plate (future problem there!)

The' seat belt is not fastened' warning bleeps - I've hated them on every car. Here, they sound far too early, go on for too long, and repeat too often!!!

I have driven the car 1700km on a road trip to lampang - cha am - lampang. It was absolutely fine. The economy did drop off as speeds went above110 km/h, but averaged out at 7 litres per 100km over the trip... note that there was city driving in there too, not just highway. Around town, I average less than 30 km/h and if I drive economically, I can average under 8 litres per 100km. Generally, it's about 9 litres / 100 km for city driving.

Overall, the Fiesta has been OK. Unfortunately, the issue with the gear box overrides almost any positive. I had a wee rant on another post earlier, but guess I should recap my gripe here:

As mentioned in the cons, first gear is short. Now, when leaving home, I can 'afford' to pull off slowly as i am the only house on my little lane. If the car changes into 2nd at the 2000RPM marker, I know that the car will then continue to change gears at or just below 2000RPM. This is good for city driving (economy, as well as smoothness).

The problem is this: sometimes I have to accelerate harder in 1st (exacerbated by the short gearing), now the computer does not change gears until 2000+ rpms.

The issue I have is that at about 35-40 kn/h the car is doing 2200RPM in 3rd and doesn't shift into 4th for (what seems like an eternity. If I hold it at those revs, it will eventually drop down, but nothing like as quickly as in the 'first scenario' and nowhere near as quickly as i want it to.

.Coupled with this, the gear change from 2nd to 3rd doesn't isn't quick like all gear changes in the 'first scenario', but it actually rides the clutch a little, revving higher with no acceleration, then going into 3rd but I can feel it is still somewhere in between gears...then it will then go into 3rd properly.

Town driving whilst revving high (now I say high, and it might not sound much, but in a 1.6, revving 2200-2300rpm is lot and as i said, the engine isn't exactly smooth) leads to excessive engine breaking meaning an overly jerky ride. The computer also shows me that fuel consumption is a lot higher whilst it stays in 3rd (kind of obvious I know).

Now, these dual gear changing scenarios that seemed to be based on how fast I accelerate in 1st is a relatively new thing, about the last 1000kms, so maybe it is the new dual clutch finally bedding in and the horrible 2nd scenario will fade and the normal, snappy gear changes without revving over 2000rpm will become a thing of internet forum rant history.

I took it into Ford a few weeks after getting it. They booted up the computer and told me the gearbox was normal... however, as you can read and hopefully understand, things do not seem normal. My Thai is limited and so I will go back in and take the nice mechanic out for a test drive to demonstrate what I mean.

In the meantime, if any other Fiesta Powershift owners could let me know their thoughts, i'd be delighted. Anyone interested in purchasing a 2nd hand Fiesta should PM me!!!

Cheers and I hope that my review proves to be helpful and can spark off some other owners' opinions.

regards

Jim

I had a chance to see the new Focus at the motorshow last week, and answer my own question. No, the top line Focus does not have GPS, unfortunately. Actually, the entertainment system appears to be sort of downgraded from what I saw on the American Ford Focus site, which is a disappointment. It seems sort of odd that For dumped GPS while they retained the expensive active assist automatic parking feature, which I doubt many of us would use frequently in Bangkok since there is very little street parking anyway. I use GPS with traffic updates nearly constantly when I am driving and would gladly trade our the automatic parking feature for GPS. Also, for some reason, the American version has two USB ports located inside the armrest compartment, while the Thai version has a single USB port that is located at the bottom of the dashboard panel, and requires some sort of strange twin plug adapter to connect your iPhone. And of course the adapter is not included.

All in all, I was impressed with the specs, and it's a nice looking car for the price, but sort of disappointed that they cut corners on the entertainment centre panel technology, especially with the lack of a GPS option. Nissan even put GPS into their top model pickups now.

By the way, by the time I got round the the motorshow last Thursday, they were quoting September delivery.

Hi there,

I have the Fiesta 1.6 S and if it has a similar sound system, don't worry about the iPhone adapter cables.... you play anything on the iPhone via the bluetooth (and if you call, it stops the audio and restarts where you left off)

I initially had the AU cable for the iPhone, but only found out I could play podcasts/audio over the bluetooth after about two weeks!

As an aside, the dual clutch on my Fiesta is horrid. It hols gears 2 and 3 for far too long and feels like it 'rides the clutch' when it doesn;t have to. I don't know if it is feature of the car, but if I accelerate slowly in first, the rest of the gear changes will happen around 2000RPM and change quickly. It's only when I rev past 2000 RPM in first that a second sequence of gear changes comes in, those at higher revs.... this is super annoying at low, city speeds as numerous times I am driving in third doing 2200-2300 RPM and it doesnt change for several seconds (it feels a lot longer)... along with the obvious loss of fuel economy, it makes for a much jerkier ride at low speeds as any engine braking is higher. I took it in to Ford as it was driving me bonkers - they said ;it's normal'.

I am seriously considering selling it and getting a manual. any manual.

Cheers

James

I have considered getting a gun as the thought having to get close enough to an intruder to use a Machete doesn't fill me with glee. I'd much prefer to blast a shotgun shell out of the window. And then be able to stand off if things got worse.

I enquired at my local shooting range and was told that for 20k baht I could get an unlicensed shotgun.

I think it would be better to get the wife to legally own one and simply tell the police that it was her, not me, who did any shooting...not sure.

For the time being we simply lock the bedroom door and have a knife in the room... but getting in through the false ceiling would be simple enough.

Cheers

James

Mor Bor university is the shortened name for a uni in Chonburi.... Maaa Baaa university sounds like where my neighbour's crazy pooch might have gone to :-)

There seems to be an update on the website. Early indications point to the possibility that even if you paid your fee for testing, you might not be on the testing list!!!

Please check the list to see if you are eligible. If you aren't, you had to send your receipt back to the TCT before the 21st December for a refund!!!

The madness continues unabated in 2012 :-)

Hi,

just driven back home with the wife and on the journey she told me about the prophecy from Thai 'Nostradamus Apparently, this 8 year old kid made several predictions/warnings about 30 years ago. His dad said that his boy was a reincarnation of a Buddha-like figure who had come back to warn humanity. He died at the age of 8.

He supposedly foresaw several catastrophic events, including 9-11.

The reason for this post: he also said that on New Years day there will be a big earthquake in Tak province and that a dam will fail, causing countless fatalities. Now, it is not known if he meant 1st January or the day after Songkran, the Thai New Year, but he was adamant it was the year 2012.

This has caused such a stir that the boss of the massive Bhumipol dam in Tak has appeared on national TV assuring people that the dam is 'earthquake resistant' up to a 8.0 tremor, and that anything stronger than this can't occur in the north of the country so as not to worry...hhhhmmm.

... is this story a classic case of my wife talking out of her arse? or maybe 'lost in translation' somewhere? I have googled this, but nothing came up, so TV is my next port of call!

Want to hear your thoughts/ feedback on this subject... and of course, happy new year.

Cheers

James

The flood has severely damaged all the cars, valued at more than 100,000 baht.

I hope that TAN are exhibiting their usual shoddy lack of proofreading and have missed "each" after the 100,000 baht.

Although 100,000 baht isn't exactly going to buy you a ride to impress the laddeez anyhow.

I have yet to see a car/pickup for sale in Thailand for less than 100k bhat...

Some absolute beauties!!! Just gotta remember them now so I can tell them tonight...

Well, it's a been 10 days in and the 'jumpiness' at town speeds is still pretty irritating. Thanks for the info about the servicing of it, I will pop in and have a word with them.

80% tint requires concentration and focus at night and hoping that nothing is coming your way without lights...hum.

Hi Mr B,

I went out and tried the iPod with the AUX jack and it's perfect! I get control of the iPod via the dashboard + sound. As you said, there are quite a few wires, so we shall see if this remains viable.... also, the little holder next to the connectors isn't wide enough to house an iPod with the cables attached, it has to 'sit upright'. I have an iPod Touch, not the phone, so can't use bluetooth for the music, shame really.

As for the USB, I reformatted to a FAT file system and that now works too, cheers.

I must add that the lighting is really cool too - the footwell lighting is unexpectedly handy as the wife has bags on the floor. The front/rear lights coming on when you click the remote to unlock is also handy as I live in the sticks!

looking forward to a blast down the highway tomorrow. If accurate, the fuel economy result is great. Today, nearly 80kms of city driving averaged 8.1 litres per 100km - I am always looking at the 'live fuel economy' read out change as I accelerate/coast... not very safe!!

Cheers

Jim

Jim,

I managed to fit an iphone holder with suction cup to the plastic fake drawer between the aircon and stereo. It is just high enough to not get in the way of the Gear Shifter.

cost me around 400 baht? I found the "iPod " holder like you said too small= plus the iphone goes flying across the tunnel when hitting corners at speed!

By the way, what color did you decide on?

We got the Aurora Blue.

Actually thought they look good in white, but we have heaps of cows around where we live so don't fancy washing the car every second day!

Hi,

I went for Silver as they had that and white in stock. I liked the 5dr white. We have 80% tint and it looks pretty nice and keeps the leather cool in the day... but at night, I double check at every junction... time for an invention of daytime tint that fades at night!

Out of interest, where did you get the iPod suction gizmo?

still finding the jerking a bit off putting.... oh, and when trying to show off the voice activated dialing, I came a cropper as I tried to dial the wife, but to no avail - turned out i hadn't put her in the directory... she was most upset that all my friends were in there as well as the local cafe, but i'd forgotten her!

cheers

Hi Mr B,

I went out and tried the iPod with the AUX jack and it's perfect! I get control of the iPod via the dashboard + sound. As you said, there are quite a few wires, so we shall see if this remains viable.... also, the little holder next to the connectors isn't wide enough to house an iPod with the cables attached, it has to 'sit upright'. I have an iPod Touch, not the phone, so can't use bluetooth for the music, shame really.

As for the USB, I reformatted to a FAT file system and that now works too, cheers.

I must add that the lighting is really cool too - the footwell lighting is unexpectedly handy as the wife has bags on the floor. The front/rear lights coming on when you click the remote to unlock is also handy as I live in the sticks!

looking forward to a blast down the highway tomorrow. If accurate, the fuel economy result is great. Today, nearly 80kms of city driving averaged 8.1 litres per 100km - I am always looking at the 'live fuel economy' read out change as I accelerate/coast... not very safe!!

Cheers

Jim

Hi,

I have just picked up my Fiesta 1.6S, and so far (less than 12 hours in) I have no complaints... however, what are peoples' thoughts about the dual clutch when driving at slow speeds - I have already noticed the car either slowing quicker than expected under engine braking or 'jumping/twitching' slightly when not sure which gear to go in.

This is my first dual clutch and this might be normal and just take getting used to/change of driving style, or it might be jumpy as its brand new and settle down after a bit... or the car is <deleted>, hence I would be interested in knowing your thoughts.

I love the bluetooth option - set it up for my missus, but she got pissed that I set her big sister as 'sister' and not 'pee' (she never calls her sister 'sister'... d'oh!) however, the USB stick I put in wasn't recognized... it was formatted NTFS, so will try FAT system tomorrow and hope for better results as this is a big point for me. Oh, finally, whilst I'm on one, has anyone had trouble with the iPod? If I use the standard AUX jack I can hear everything and control the iPod from the unit itself, but if I connect it via the USB cable, I can control the iPod via the menu on the dashboard (safer) but there is no sound. I know Ford sell a 'special' iPod USB connector, anyone got one and does this solve the problem?

After rereading my post, sounds like I could have a lemon on my hands!!! haha... fingers crossed it's just me being a dufus :-)

Cheers

Jim

Hi,

I was in the same boat a few years back and didn't have to do anything different to a Thai person selling their car. I would recommend photocopies of those documents just in case... but to sell there are no special 'farang only' documents required.

Cheers

Jim

Hi there,

just wondered what your experiences/thoughts are on male caddies.

My friend and I recently played Gold Canyon in Lamphun (350 B for the round, 250 B for the caddy) and we had two male caddies. My friend, just here visiting, was a bit miffed as he likes a bit of banter with a smiling lady. I assured him that I had had a male caddy in Udon once and he was brilliant - a golfer who knew the course.

These two guys were very different and were so poor that I think that I shall never have another male caddy again. I can forgive the fact that they were new (3 months) but most of the time they were inattentive and just plain crap. We lost several balls through terrible spotting and poor instructions (first time playing). It ended up with us taking our own clubs out and not bothering to ask for green advice. However, what we found the worst was the lack of course maintenance - they didn't repair pitch marks on the greens (they did after we pointed it out) nor pour sand on the fairway after our shots. They were so poor, that we tipped them 100B each instead of the 200B (I wanted to not tip them, but felt a bit guilty so I relented). There was no one there who I could speak to about them, apart from the waitress, so I didn't bother.

To sum up - if you go to Gold Canyon, DON'T GET A MALE CADDY!

Cheers

James

PS The course is very good and highly recommended for the price :-)

Cheers guys... TV can be like therapy! You're right, I was having 'buyer's remorse' and for no good reason - cheers. :jap:

I pick her up tomorrow and hope that all goes well, thanks again.

Jim

Hi OP,

would you consider buying a car a few KM out of CM? I am living in Lampang and there are all the main dealers, in fact, Toyota, Isuzu have two. There are less customers than in CM and so a better chance of getting something in stock? Make a day of it and visit the elephant centre on the way there :-)

cheers

James

Hello all,

as the OP I feel that I should put this thread to rest... although it is entitled Mitsu/Cruze my 2 satang, readers might have been aware that I was potentially going for a Mazda 2 MT after both the aforementioned models were a bit too pricey.

Well, today I finally plumped for a car. Drum roll please..... Fiesta 1.6S 4dr @ 699k

Reasons?

- They agreed to take my Focus back at 460k THB (I used this as down payment and took 239k over 60 months at 2.65% = 4.5k per month)

- I know the dealership people and have had nothing but nice things to say about them, plus the sales lady was polite and not overly salesy

- The 4 dr Fiesta is a great little car.

- They had silver in stock and can pick it up tomorrow.

The truth is that I would have preferred a City, but the 3 month wait plus not being able to sell my current car were massive factors. My Focus is a bit of a lemon and I am happy to get rid. As for the Fiesta, I prefer the look of the 5 door, but the boot space is severely limited and we carry a fair bit with pushchair, golf clubs etc and you get auto a/c and leather as standard with the 4dr (heaven knows why).

As for the deal, we get:

Free insurance, 1st class

Free ownership book transfer

Free tax

Free film 80% sides and rear, 40% front.

Free floor mats

500 bhat petrol (that was the real deal breaker :-)

At 4.5k per month, my meager monthly earnings shouldn't come under too much pressure and I get a fun car to drive with nice touches such a blue tooth and voice activated stuff...! It felt a more 'significant car' than the Mazda 2 (whose interior I was never a fan of) and has very good specifications for a car of that price/category. Of course, no 100k cash back from Yingluck, but maybe I'm doing Thailand a favour by not taking that!

Thanks for all the helpful posts and friendly banter.

Safe driving,

James

Hi,

My local chemist sells 10mg diazepam for 10B each. I always take two on long haul flights and on overnight bus trips too.

I don't think that this is illegal, just normally a prescription drug in most places. That said, if you are on a stopover in any middle east country, notably Dubai, then do not have anything on your person whatsoever. I entered Dubai with a 10 pack of these little blue pills only to realize later the stupidity of my actions.

cheers

Jim

Hi there,

I have pasted a link to the place on the TCT website where you can register for these tests - it is on the 'pinned' topic a the top of this forum.

cheers

though might as well post it here too!

http://upload.ksp.or.th/ksptest/index_en.php

Hi there,

As Aidenai mentioned before, you can now register again for the TCT tests that are in mid/late January 2012. You have to register and pay before 25th Ocotber.

TIP: use Internet Explorer as your browser or else you may have difficulty filling in all the fields, notably DOB.

http://upload.ksp.or.th/ksptest/index_en.php

click on the left hand side icon called "online application".

cheers

Just reading this post fires up the imagination and gets me in a good mood thinking about luxury cars... this, of course, followed by the subsequent 'downer' as real life crashes in.

To the OP, I would suggest something nippy, practical and with nice clearance - a second hand Ford 2.0s :-)

But in all honesty, I wouldn't be able to offer up anything useful to you... but cheers for the chance to fantasize.

Oh, BTW, any chance on you spilling the beans on who the 911 used to belong to?

cheers

Jim

Hi OP,

I teach P1 English and sometimes walk in on the back end of the math class taught in Thai. The math is quite 'dry', so sprucing it up some would be to your advantage. I have no idea how much you know of their math level, but our P1 are doing basic adding and subtracting, so maybe some form of team game based on these concepts? By simply using English you are fusing together the two subjects... maybe start off with target vocab such as how to ask a math question, what the names of the symbols etc... then they use the vocab correctly in the math section? Sorry if this is telling your grandma how to suck eggs!!

In my experience, Thai overlords are looking for charisma and a natural affinity with the kids which you say you have, which is great... however, I have been the joint assessor in same cases and it so happened that a foreign teacher who was too confident passed the demonstration OK but fluffed the interview part as they came off as 'too domineering' (if that makes sense) Over confidence can be a problem, Thais like people who are relatively humble, again just my 2 satang, but maybe something you might not have been aware of.

Good luck, and all the best.

Jim

My Ford Focus has excellent seats, really firm, supportive and a nice blend of leather and meshed fabric. I found the Cruze's leather seats in the test LTZ to be a bit 'slippery' and they didn't give great lower back support... but I guess that is just the natural feeling after sitting for nearly two years in great seats.

It's funny, but I figured that to make a car feel great, manufacturers need to have great front seats and a thick, attractive steering wheel. For me, everything else is secondary. Always strikes me as crazy that they don't all do this...

Mine aren't slippery. Different texture.

The thing about back support is subjective. I found the Focus' seats uncomfortable as they dig into my lower back. That would drive me crazy. That was one of the main reasons why I didn't go for a focus.

I like that the Cruze really hugs the sides and keeps you in. Not the same in the Focus.

Seats, however, you can change.

Hi TH Cruze,

I agree with you, the seats on the 'new' Focus (it's mechanically the same as my 2005 Focus but with nicer interior and a newer exterior) I found to be quite flat and I found them also to be 'slippy', not moulded/slight bucket seats at all, in fact, I found them similar to the Cruze's leather ones on the LTZ test drive. They weren't 'bad'... just not quite to my personal taste.

Oh, you either have the driest sense of humour imaginable or you really are a petty minded twit. I have yet to decide... and kudos to you for that :-)