The Fugitive

Agree on that. If you've always had good service then why change? Our other vehicles are; 30, 23 and 22 years old and we always take them to a local guy. He has a yard (or rather a field) that's always full of mainly pick-ups at the rear of our house so we know he does plenty of business.

Thanks for your information. No surprise about main dealers! However, good to know about Maxxis tyres. Had good experience (and prices) at AutoBacs myself for tyres.

Thanks for the information!

Very helpful. Thanks.

Makes good sense. Thanks.

You've made my day! Many thanks.

Didn't renew my Bangkok Bank debit cards when they expired about eighteen months ago. Have managed without since. Yesterday evening my phone battery was flat and refused to charge. Tried a couple of power banks, various mains chargers and different cables and adapters. Needed to draw some cash. Used a U.K. credit card at local ATM. Wouldn't charge first thing in the morning either. Mid-morning it accepted charging as normal. My backup phone is now too old to install banking apps, hence not a backup in this instance!

Good suggestion thanks!

I agree. But it isn't my vehicle and I don't drive. Mrs thinks it uses too much petrol. Plus, she has cancer and thinks this will be her last car so wants a new one for once in her life.

Wow! Many thanks for that, hadn't checked. Mrs bought it secondhand from a friend four years ago for 400,000 baht. Sounds as though she got a good deal.

Good suggestion, thanks. Incidentally, we had four new tyres in May 2024. The steering rack was replaced in July 2024 at a different garage.

Thai wife took her 2012 Pajero Sport (2998cc V6 petrol) for oil change at 101,000 km. Garage found faults and gave her an estimate for replacement of the steering gear set etc. totalling 39,000 baht. She’s decided enough is enough and wants a new SUV. The garage offered 100,000 baht in part-exchange. Our old vehicles go to the grown-up children who are normally grateful. However, they don’t want this. Neither do any of our friends. Even for free. Too heavy on petrol for them. Wife’s decided on a 2.4 ultra diesel. She’s convinced it’ll be much more economical. However, she likes the present one because it’s fast. She says don’t pay cash because she has cancer and doesn’t want me to be saddled with it as I no longer drive and hate the things. She intends to buy in installments. I’m looking at 1,579,000 baht less PX. It’s not necessary of course but difficult to refuse in the circumstances. For those who’ve bought vehicles on credit is the downpayment currently 25%? I’ve seen repayment periods from 4 to 7 years. Anywhere known around Khon Kaen for good finance deals?

Two years ago someone must have captured my bookmarks. They went through all my websites that could have a credit card saved to them. I received many warnings such as; 'Multiple attempts have been made to log into your account from Russia/Romania'. Fortunately, at that time, I only used one credit card and quickly cancelled it. I've since changed all passwords and set up 2FA where possible. A couple of days ago I received a warning of 'suspicious activity' upon my PayPal account. I therefore changed my password yet again.

Seem to work OK in my area. We don't notice any flashes when our hybrid hydro dam switches between solar and hydro. Apparently, they go on battery power during the change overs. Never had a circuit board burnt out in an applicance in Thailand either. Happened several times when I lived in South America.

Been to a couple of floating solar panel hybrid hydro dams nearest to me. Floating motorised platforms provide food, drink and karaoke entertainment. Banana and donut boats for those who are able! Apparently, as I don't know how they know, fish enjoy the shade provided underneath the solar panels. I like the dual benefits these provide. Renewable energy plus extending the life of the dams built in the 1960's that are now suffering from low water levels. A feasibility study is planned for a new dam in my small town, if successful to be built around 2034.