heiri007

1 hour ago, Jeffr2 said:

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=hike+hiking+trek+thailand

 

Well that's the usual Google info all over Thailand, but thanks for the effort! ????

Can anyone suggest a hike near Bangkok, preferably not in a National Park?

Or a trully worthwhile hike in a National Park that is within reach of Bangkok, such as Erawan? Been many times to Khao Yai, so looking for new ventures.

Maybe something in Kanchanaburi? So much nature, I have troubles believing that the only hikes are in National Parks?

Or maybe a river walk or something off the beaten track? 

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

7 hours ago, denkiblue555 said:

Have done a bit of googling from time to time over the past year or so, and despite the fact that the XV is the entry-level car (which I assumed to be first-in-line for local production) I can't find any news reports confirming its local assembly, unlike the Forester which is regularly mentioned in older news reports. As the Forester starts now about 1.03M THB (I didn't know about the excise advertising price issue) as a locally assembled product, it should mean that the xv starts closer to 900k than 1M, however it still starts at 970,000. For reference, (despite different spec levels) in Australia the XV starts at AU$29,240 (B660,000), while the Forester starts at AU$34,240 (B784,000). Hardly comparing apples and apples, but this could mean that the XV should be around B875,500 if it were sold at 85% of a Forester's price (as is the case in Australia).

So, long answer short - no idea unfortunately.

Again, these prices exclude the local excise tax. No clue how Subaru gets by like this. Sounds illegal to advertise tax-less car sales prices.

3 hours ago, eppic said:

Any chance you could share approximate discounts on offer?

 

I see nearly new (18-20) XV units on offer for just under 900k, but wanted to compare to the new price after discounts.

 

As another poster mentioned, it seems Subaru may be advertising false prices (excl excise) that have also been picked up on many 3rd party sites.

Discounts of some 10%, maybe more, plus can ask for extras. 

First thought was they're trying to make way for a new XV release. Didn't ask whether Forester gets same discounts.

10 hours ago, denkiblue555 said:

As many have mentioned here already, great small car - best in class IMHO. But full disclosure, I sold them for a couple of months a few years ago so drove them a lot, but have only had a Legacy GT and Forester GT myself.

 

Motor Image imports Subarus here in Thailand I believe, and the specs have differed significantly from the Inchcape models received in Australia for example (Japan vs Malaysia production may be part of it?). That said, from MY2019 onwards I think the specs seem to have caught up are at least closer to foreign markets.

 

The XV is Subaru's entry-level car, and for that 'small SUV' segment, it is fairly over-engineered; full-time AWD, flat-four engine (2 x valve trains and cam sets) etc... This does come at a cost though, and AWD will always eat more fuel than 2WD - but this is a small cost toward active safety. Full-time AWD and 4WD are absolutely magic in bad conditions - the best thing a car can have to avoid accidents IMHO. All this means Subaru spent more money on things that matter safety/performance wise and less on shiny interiors. 

The FB20-series engine seems like it has had a reasonable amount of investment and is fairly important to Subaru, and while the it could use a small turbo in the XV I don't think it is 'underpowered'. It also seems that the number of Subaru dealerships have been growing a lot in Thailand over the past 2-3 years - or I could just be noticing them more. While the the dealers and staff may be less knowledgable than other more established brands, reliability is one of Subaru's strongpoints.

 

With the local factory up and running now for a year or so?, I think the situation here can only get better from a value-for-money point of view. It is certainly much better now than 10 years ago, for example. I'm not in the market for an XV, however I am trying to steer the wife from a dual cab 4WD to a Forester. The new MY21 looks the goods and are hard to beat bang-for-buck wise in Thailand (US spec shown below):
 

Bangkok Post reported last year that the Subaru Lat Krabang factory will start producing XV, so that they're no longer imported from Malaysia. The report also said Subaru expects to launch four SUVs by 2021. Any idea if the XV is on the local production schedule?

1 hour ago, JoePai said:

Looked at the new Forester at the Motor Show - very impressed and the best value out there at present

Much bigger than XV which would be perfect, also Forester doesn't look pecularly well... when's the next motor show in town?

2 hours ago, Katipo said:

Have you considered the Forester then? It's had a facelift for 2020, and only costs slighty more than the XV. https://www.subaru.asia/th/en/vehicles/forester/

 

They have an eyesight variation for 1.13m THB.

 

Given that it's notably bigger as well, it is the better value proposition, 

That price seems to be without excise tax - see here for the XV, looks like Subaru is publishing lower than real prices... 

1 hour ago, Katipo said:

There was a recent article in Thai comparing the XV vs. the Mazda CX-30 vs. Corolla Cross. 

It went something like this, but I can't find the article sadly:

 

Best handling and driver experience went to XV and Mazda.

Safest Onroad: XV

Nicest Interior: Mazda

Engine performance: Mazda

Offroad and weekend warrior: XV

Fuel Economy: Corolla

Family Vehicle: Toyota (although XV had the most space

 

What surprised me was how often the XV was at the top considering it's age. Of course having full time 4wd and the best ground clearance was always going to be an advantage in in some areas.

 

My own experience driving Subarus in NZ is that they stick to the road like glue and are very reliable. Being Thailand I wouldn't want to live to far from a dealership though. it can make even getting an oil change quite an inconvenient affair.

I will  be looking to see if the face-lift 2021 version is in Thailand when I change my vehicle next year. https://www.subaru.com/2021-crosstrek

Great feedback, thanks.

Point with the current XV Thai models is they lack EyeSight safety system - a real letdown since it's one of the best driver assistant technologies available.

They're currently offering substantial cash discounts at Bangkok showrooms - could it be to make way for the 2021 face-lift, including EyeSight? A Subaru without this tech is a no-go.

Feels like a nice solid ride with a pleasant looks and interior, yet bit of an asthmatic engine.

Can anyone share Subaru XV experience? Fuel economy, reliability, other observations?

2 hours ago, qualtrough said:

Historically the Thai bureaucracy keeps chugging along despite the occasional coup or civil unrest. Having said that, if there is a real upsetting of the current system that could certainly change the situation. Particularly if the person needed to finally sign off on applications is no longer around or too worried about things more important than signing off on new citizenship applications. The latter is a distinct possibility.

Question being, does the office sign? Everything published in the RG needs signing. That's a mountain of paperwork.

If the students' awakening keeps the gov't busy, there will be more and longer naturalization delays. Anyone?

36 minutes ago, saakura said:

It took me about 5yrs after applying (with a ton of documents) to be granted a PR. Then i had to wait a further 5yrs to be eligible to apply for citizenship, which i have done this year, and all going smoothly, may get it in 3-4yrs. So in sum total, about 13yrs. All through this time, i need to be working and paying taxes. So it is not as easy as it sounds, need a huge lot of patience.

Compare your own situation to someone who is married and works for three years? I think that puts PR hodlers in a very unfavorable position. Sounds like getting PR today is even more difficult than Thai ID.

4 minutes ago, saakura said:

To be eligible for citizenship you should have been working and paying taxes for a minimum of 3yrs and additionally, either be married to a Thai citizen, or be holding Permanent Resident status for 5yrs.

Of course, it couldn't be that easy. ???? Still, very basic requirements compared to most nations.

Overall I think it's very generous by Thai authorities to grant citizenships to visa holders. In most parts of the world at least some sort of residency is a basic requirement.

18 minutes ago, newnative said:

     My partner and I looked at the 2008 and the 3008 suvs at the Bangkok Motor Show.  They both looked nice but too early to say about the quality and resale.  Horrible name for the 2008--that's the best they could think of?  "This is my 2008 over here."  "Wow, I didn't realize you were driving a car that old!  Doesn't look too bad for its age."   We thought the Kicks was small, over-priced, and poorly-styled; if you like the weirdly-styled Toyota CR-X or whatever the copycat Honda name is, you'll probably like the Kicks.  Couldn't get into the Toyota booth as it was too crowded.  

Just checked out the Kicks - poor interior, looks and feels cheap. Surprised the car even moved.

Paid Peugeot Sukhumvit a visit. They have nothing to do with the former Peugeot folks here who imported the cars. Now they're assembled in Malaysia - different price levels.

3008 is quite impressive - around year end 2008 is expected in the Thai market. 1.2lt engine, sounds small, yet reviews give it quite some thumbs up. Top model should be around 1.2m here. 3008 base model 1.59m.

Made a test drive with the 3008, easy to get hooked on the comfort and ease of use.

Peugeot have big plans here, but still it's a risky brand for early adopters. Will they have reps upcountry soon? Maintenance costs? Reliability? Also no hybrid options for the foreseeable future.

Also paying Nissan a visit, the Kicks looks as an interesting basic hybrid SUV.

Was looking at hybrid Toyota Cross as well - can't compare especially the interior with the Peugeots. Toyota seems more plasticy, not as refinded.

I'd be interested to learn from your early Toyota Cross adopters how you feel with the car. It's a brand new model, maybe slight teething issues, yet Toyota stands for durability. 

Car doesn't look bulky to me. Everything seems fine, but I prefer to wait for a year or so before ordering.

1 hour ago, chilli42 said:

You can keep the plate for sure.  The wife has done it with her expensive collector plate numbers

Of course she can keep it and hang it on the wall. But keep it on hold and later on register it again with a new car? You'd certainly make my day if this is possible. ????

7 minutes ago, johng said:

The buyer of the old car gets a new number plate in their province,so as far as I understand the process

If you want to keep the old number plate and use it on your new car  you have to transfer from the old car to the new car before selling it to someone else.

Right, and we can all do that in Bangkok.

Yet that leads to the question: After transferring the number from the old car to the new one, the old car has no number. Will the buyer get a temporary number until the new number from his province is issued? 

2 hours ago, johng said:

As far as I know you can't just keep the number plate,   you can transfer the plate to another car  within the same province  so Bangkok to Bangkok or Chaingmai to Chaingmai  but not Bangkok to Chaingmai

You also cannot transfer from Motorcycle to car and visa versa..as per (old) normal  things may be different if you know "someone"  who arranges things for a monetary fee

Thanks much. But I could sell the car to someone in another province? Let's say, my car is registered in Bangkok and I want to transfer the number plate to a new car registered in Bangkok. The buyer of the old car, however, has a registered home address in another province. The buyer is a tourist with a certificate of residency of his own condo.

Dear all, is it possible to keep the no. plate of a sold car without immediately transfering it to another car? Like holding a no. plate without car? Issue arises when selling a car and new one is not ready yet... ????

Anyone?

26 minutes ago, 2 is 1 said:

Look nice for that age! I think i buy new that kind(wife want). Last 2007 car i had Finland 2009 lol.

Audi A6 Quattro 3.0 had gearbox problem so i get rid of it! Good luck anyway looks good if somebody want little used car!

Honda no Audi! Those Japanese are really worry-free ????

Honda CR-V 2.4 EL. 4*4
Model year 2007
Color metallic
178,000 km

Accident-free

Reliable and everything in perfect working condition

Original and only owner

Special accessories

New: Michelin tires, shock absorbers, fuel injectors, power steering pump, engine seals

Changed oil every 8k km 

Services according to Honda maintenance

Price 325,000 baht

Comes without number plate (will keep the number)

Shoot if you have any questions! Car is in Bangkok Sukhumvit area.

Thanks @david143 and @yankee99 - am flabbergasted. Looks like the easiest naturalization process on the globe then ????. Again, congrats, well deserved, I hope you guys will visit many national parks and enjoy them rubbing your sweet ID under the rangers' eyes and pay local.