ajahnlau

My pickup was lowred a little bit in the rear by previous owner. When we went to reg. office to change ownership the inspectors noticed it and made us go to a tech. school and get the head inst. sign off on it that it was safe to drive. Couple hundred baht so not a scam. Have to carry the paper in the truck in case the BIB pull me up.

Have seen a few American SUVS running in front and behind a royal journey,all black and heavily tinted. They fly through Hua Hin at breakneck speeds.

New or used?

Lotus have a few salt water fish,sea perch is aroi.

CM is having a bike rally Dec.8-9. Main venue is at Imperial Mae Ping hotel. There are about 20 different clubs in CM.

Not allowed to leave country as book is not in your name. A letter from the owner might work.

The car should have a Blue Book. Make sure that the name in the blue book is the same as your neighboor, You should both go to the transportation office to change ownership. You will receive a new blue book with your name as owner.

You will not rec. a new book. Your name will be added to the pages. Only get new book when changing provinces, I think.

If you ever decide to convert ANY car to LPG (provided the engine can handle it), you need to make sure the shop is reputable...perhaps there is some sort of govt database on shops that have the knowledge/tools to do the job right. LPG conversion requires safety valves and other components to prevent your car from becoming a bomb on wheels. From what I've heard, it costs about 40,000 Baht to have the conversion done here in BKK, so if somebody were asking for a lot less than that here, I would be wary.

With LPG, you'll probably have to fill up more often, but with the MUCH lower cost per liter, it should be a lot cheaper than using regular gas or diesel. However, LPG tanks are usually stored in the trunk of a car which limits cargo space. I would lean more towards the diesel option if I were in your shoes; even if the car could take LPG. Good luck!

The reg. book will stay with the finance co. till paid. The guarantor is only for the financing. Your gf's name should not be on anything,if it is something is not right.

just bought a new place and have to decide on a washing machine. i narrowed my choices to LG, Siemens and Electrolux. I'd like an 8kg frontloader. who has experience with the mentioned brand names? do they last long? what are brand typical problems? what's the service like? i want to spend between 25,000 to 30,000 baht. any comments appreciated.

Had a front load Zanussi for about 15yrs. Replaced with Lux last year,model without hot water feature 14,000bht from Lotus. Would not think about top loader.

Hi there.

I'm looking for a big V-Twin sports-bike, green book or not dosent matter, would prefere if a Suzuki GSXR 1000 2002 model could be a part of the deal. Please PM me

Cheers

Tilapia

People trying to beat the prices here do alot of talking but in the end never do it. It would be interesting if you went for B or C and then let us know the whole story afterwards. Lotsa luck

That's a fair challenge, Ajahn. Quoting from an email reply I had to this question:

"If it was easy everyone would be doing it right?"

I don't know the answer to that question, because I have not yet found a straightforward, step by step itemization of what one must do, and pay, to accomplish a legal importation and registration. If I DO go the importation route I will indeed document and put back on the record the whole process - I've been remunerated for doing that kind of work before and I know how to do it.

People ARE and HAVE BEEN importing bikes, however, and I would think that someone would have already established some kind of a checklist, or flow chart, that clarifies the steps that are to be followed, including which Ministries have to be contacted, etc. Does this not exist in a FAQ somewhere? Tell me where to look, and I'll do the homework...

Tks as always for pointers...

S.

Bingo. I knew there had to be such a thing out there, and here it is, from another thread:

http://www.customs.go.th/Customs-Eng/Perso...Nme=PersonalPer

Time to make the doughnuts....

THIS QUESTION IS ALSO POSTED ON GT-RIDER.COM - APOLOGIES TO OVERLAPPING MEMBERS...

Thanks up front to those who have been shedding light on the importation/registration questions, a couple of which I had posed myself, much earlier in my bike search. Based on that information, I had basically concluded that importation was out of the question on the basis of complexity, cost, time and general frustration. With apologies for adding further clutter on this topic, I'd like to revisit the issue in more specific terms. My question is based on the very limited availability of bikes in the niche market (mid-sized dual sports) I'm shopping in, and very high prices (partially accounted for by the dramatic drop in the value of the US dollar, the currency of my income).

Here's the scenario:

Bike A is a 7 year old DS in good condition, sensibly accessorized, with relatively low stated mileage and fully legitimate green book and clean pedigree from original date of purchase in Thailand. Price is, let us say, $12,000 US.

Bike B is the same make, model, and year, with much lower mileage though fewer accessories. It is located, however, in the US. It can be purchased for $4,000 and accessorized to my taste for another $1,000, bringing the total pre-importation investment to $5,000 US.

Bike C is a brand new bike that, unlike A or B, is exactly what I am looking for. It can be purchased in the US and accessorized for $7,000.

My question is this: Assuming that I'm willing to put up with the shipping and processing delay, hassle, and cost, isn't it possible that I could import/legally register either Option B at lower total cost (value proposition = same bike @ lower total cost) or Option C (value proposition = newer and better-suited bike @ similar or marginally greater cost)? Option B gives me $7K to work with after buying the bike, Option C gives me $5K. Is that really not enough margin to make the import/legal registration process worthwhile?

I appreciate your responses. I know the topic is tedious to those of you that have been through it many times, but the sliding dollar changes (IMHO) some of the financial elements of this decision, at least if one's income is dollar based. A bike purchased a couple of years ago at 41 to 1 becomes a different proposition at 31 to 1. Unfortunately the same is true of real estate, but that's another story...

Cheers and regards,

S.

I thought that Harleys and Phantoms were the same.

And they are ,,,only the riders differ.

Unfortunately I have found out that Harley riders wear rubber underpants .

Phantom riders dont wear any underwear pants.

So I guess that Phantom riders are cooler

If that's the summary of what you know about bikes I'd keep it to yourself as it makes you look like you know nada. Just because you don't like HD's don't try to slam the riders.

Go to police station and report it. They will give you a letter which you take to motor veh. Costs about 100bht and 2 mos. waiting for new plate.

I am in the market for a truck. We will buy the top of the range 4x4 4 door automatic with leather seats. I love the Triton (just me then?) and my wife loves the Vigo. I also like the vigo exterior but I think the interior is bland and plasticky wheras the Triton is actually quite nice.

I haven't driven either yet so that will be the real decider I guess.

My wife says the Triton is no good and we will lose money due to the low resale value. And herein lies my problem.

Wherever I see second hand Tritons they look to be around the same price as Vigos. I am thinking about 1 year old models.

So is this resale stuff an urban myth or can someone point me in the direction of year old top of the range tritons with low prices! Cause if the arse drops out of them second hand I am happy to buy one thats already lost the fat wedge of depreciation.

If you're going to have either for a number of years then it doesn't matter that much.

I am currently into buying a CBR400 or CBR600. From a Thai friend I got now an offer for a '90 CBR400RR nicely refurbished, new paint. He is asking for something like 60k THB. To me that sounds reasonable. Any comments or alternative offers would be appreciated.

Thanks!

My wife told me about a neighbour who borrowed money to buy a car.

I asked her how much interest do you pay in Thailand?

She said 4%. I replied - "Oh that's very reasonable, 4% per year!"

Then she said "Oh no - 4% per month .. and the money lender takes a mortgage over their land as security.

48% per year - OMG! How do people fall for this?

I met a German guy who was telling me quite proudly that he was making good money

and aquiring blocks of land when people defaulted on payments.

I find this disgusting and immoral, charging outrageous interest and then grabbing land off

poor Thai people.

Take time to consider that these people are not good credit risks. If they were they'd borrow from a proper bank or farmers aid agency. Most have already done this and now borrow from high risk loan takers. Nobody is pointing a gun at their head to borrow these funds. Who's to take responsibility for these people? Your tax dollars?

Have read about limits on transferring from UK bank to Thai bank - 30% holding tax by Thai.

I am planning to transfer 900,000 BHT from UK to Bangkok Bank. AM I better to do it in 2 transfers or would it be OK in a single transfer ?

I have a question. I never see any bikes on the Rangsit-Wipawadi. Thats the lower road (free one), not the newer tollway above. Are you allowed to take a bike on this, or must you use the service roads runnning along the side of the Rangsit?

You must stay in the service road.

There's a cbr 150 on phuketgazette.com for 40,000 and less than 900kms.

Hi Guys,

Might have been posted before and probably has, but is it possible to get out of Bangkok without using the express ways? I understand it is illegal for any kind of motorcycle to be driven on the Toll Roads - thinking of a w/e trip to lopburi or Kanchanaburi - does anyone know any bike friendly (and legal) routes out of BKK to these places? Tried the net and asking people, nothing conclusive.

Any tips much appreciated

Cheers

Root

Forgot to say it was a rented car. Their insurance took car of most of the hospital bills. I am being ignorant of such matters but would their insurance be interested in compensation claims against the other driver, or the motor vehicle company themselves if it was found that certain things in th car didnt work that should have?

Hope this is the right place for this. Couldn't find another place to ask advice.

I just got out of a 2 week stay in hospital. Had a car accident 2 weeks ago. The other driver has as good as admitted fault. Fractured kneecap, cracked ribs, broken nose, split lip, lots of pain... The local police suggested that he start negotiations about paying me compensation, which he has done - he has made an offer which doesnt even cover my loss of earnings ( I wont be able to walk or work for about 2 months).

Anyone been through this process of bargaining for compensation?

Any advice?

PS The other driver is Thai

At the weekend market, I was doing my bit to keep the economy strong and the Thai people working by doing some shopping. I searched high and low until I found what I was looking for. Well to be honest, I made a b-line to the first pair of camouflage shorts I saw and tried to find a pair that fit me.

I went from stack to stack trying to find a pair that would fit a 31" or a 32" waist. I looked and I looked but I was not finding my size. I asked one of the guys for assistance but he sent over an older lady. She came over but I was not getting a feeling of assistance from her. As she stood over me from the elevated platform, I felt the cold shadow of indifference... I felt as if she was looking at me as though I owed her a profitable transaction at that very moment and every second that passed beyond that point was me wasting her time.... Well that is how I summed it all up... From her voice, body language, stance and facial expression.

I asked for my size but she told me I was a 34" waist. I know my waist size and have been measured more times than I can count by other vendors on previous shopping events and my waist is 31" She took her measuring tape from around her neck, came down to were I was standing, wrapped the tape measure around my waist and announced "34!" She then pulled a pile of shorts and plucked from it the style of shorts I was looking for with an expectation for me to buy them.

I smiled and said no... I am 31" waist. She again told me "34".... I asked to borrow her tape measure and she smiled at me, pointed at my waist and said "Maybe I measure wrong, I do over belt is why." she then turned put the shorts back in order and walked away.

She was going to sucker me but the smile made it all better.