matchar

Looks like Neta Auto is about to go bust...

https://carnewschina.com/2025/05/14/troubled-neta-auto-faces-potential-bankruptcy-rather-than-toyota-acquisition/

They are going to leave a lot of unhappy creditors behind...this could have a major impact on the Thai auto industry.

Apparently they owe Nissan Leasing (Thailand) 10 billion baht!

https://www.nationthailand.com/business/automobile/40047841

38 minutes ago, vinny41 said:

Still a very comfortable markup 

Current Byd seal pricing

• BYD SEAL Dynamic model, price 999,900 baht  this price includes Thailand 7% VAT which if we remove price becomes 929,207 baht add 10% UK import tax = 1,022,897.7 plus 20% vat final price 1,227,477.24 which coverted into GBP at rate 43.63 Baht to sterling comes out at £28,130 against uk Price of £45,705 a difference of £17,575 or 766,797 baht

• For any existing Seal owner that is thinking about permanently moving back to blighty and if they keep the vehicle in Thailand for 12 months and then apply to HMRC for Transfer of Residence (TOR) if TOR is approved then import duty is 0% and vat is zero rated 0% of course need to factor in cost of changes for uk spec and shipping charges but a 12 month old Thai version of any car but if we stick with a BYD SEAL Dynamic at £21,297 + cost for any changes for UK spec and shipping costs versus 12 month old UK byd seal starting prices from £31k 

•  

Then compare with the Chinese specs and price:

BYD Seal 2025 in China, comes with LiDAR and 800V architecture, starting at 860,000 baht.

12 hours ago, blaze master said:

I don't see much hope at all for the UK or it's future. Gdp basically flat since 2007. 

 

Action was needed 15 to 20 years ago. 

 

 

Unfortunately the population is not flat due to mass immigration so GDP per capita is actually decreasing. That's why everyone is getting poorer.

You can study in Thailand. BA in TESOL from Siam Technical College or somewhere. I know several people working in Thailand who graduated from there.

I think the price of steel skyrocketed post COVID which could explain why many of these newer buildings in Thailand were so damaged if they simply used less steel or substandard steel.

16 hours ago, statman78 said:

I agree that there are some Thai and Chinese companies that cut corners and do not follow codes.  If you look around and you will see hundreds of high rises that are still standing with little or no damage.  Our 27 story building has been examined by structural engineers and everything is fine.  There a number of reliable construction companies working in Bangkok.  We did a lot of research before we bought our condo years ago.

So which construction companies would you recommend? Thanks

1 hour ago, KhunLA said:

The Atto 3 seems a bit outdated now that the competition is heating up.

Apparently BYD didn't even make the top 20 for the latest motor show bookings:

2 hours ago, Rolo89 said:

Sends alarm bells ringing. 

 

How can they have started on structural repairs from the day of the earthquake? These things need to be invesigated properly and a proper assessment would take place about a week after the event rather than right away.

Yes it does seem rather hurried but not as bad as I expected...at least they reinforced it and didn't just cover it with cement.

Here is an update from the developer regarding the repair job on the ground floor pillar that some people have posted photos of here...

Progress Update on the Column Repair at LIFE Ladprao Valley:

Latest Update (March 30, 2025): Today, government officials visited the LIFE Ladprao Valley project site. The team included: • Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) Department of Public Works • Chatuchak District Office of Public Works • Construction experts from the Engineering Institute of Thailand • Associate Professor Sub-Lt. Dr. Supachai Sinthavorn, Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Srinakharinwirot University, one of the members of the inspection team.

The visit was to inspect the progress of the structural repair work. All involved parties have acknowledged and agreed on the repair steps and procedures currently being carried out. The method being used is “Jacketing Column”—encasing the existing column with a newly cast concrete jacket, designed based on structural engineering calculations.

Completed Steps: 1. Sealed the area with fiber-reinforced cement to prevent the epoxy pressure grout from leaking during injection. The purpose of the epoxy injection is to fill and bond small cracks in the original concrete. 2. Installed formwork and poured high-strength, non-shrink premixed mortar to restore the original cross-sectional area of the column.

Ongoing Step: 3. Reinforcing the column with 25 mm thick steel plates, wrapped around the column to a height of 3.60 meters from the floor.

Next Steps to be Carried Out: 4. Inject epoxy pressure grout between the steel plates and the original concrete. 5. Further reinforce the column by increasing its cross-sectional area by 15 cm on each side. This includes installing 24 reinforcement bars (20 mm diameter), tied with stirrups (12 mm diameter) at 20 cm spacing, and pouring concrete from the footing up to the top of the column beneath the 3rd-floor slab.

All parties have been working on the repairs since the day of the earthquake, involving a team of AP engineers, third-party experts, senior structural engineers, and contractors. The entire repair process is expected to be completed by April 4, 2025, following sound engineering principles.

All of these discounts are permanent. When they say it's temporary it's just a marketing tactic. They may raise the price again for a few weeks or even months but it will quickly come back down once sales drop.

I think now is a bad time to buy a new car whether it's ICE or EV. Prices are still going down and we are still some way from the bottom...don't try to catch a falling knife and all.

LFP will last longer, all else equal

But LFP needs to be charged to 100% periodically for accurate battery capacity estimation

Often misunderstood, letting LFP sit at 100% is still bad for its life. All current battery chemistries age faster the higher their state of charge. Nothing magic happens at 80% or 100%, the cells just age faster the higher the state of charge. LFP is no different, but because they age slower overall, and need that occasional full charge for capacity estimation, the advice on them is different. Charging any cell to 100% for a couple hours before driving is fine. They only sit at the high state of charge for a little bit, not days.

LFP less likely to catch fire

LFP will be heavier for a given amount of range

I'm not saying LFP is bad...it's swings and roundabouts really. Yes they last for more cycles but even NMC batteries are expected to outlast the lifespan of the car.

MG offer a "lifetime" warranty on both battery chemistries for the MG 4 so they must be fairly confident in the durability of NMC.

NMC generally has a higher energy density and faster charging but more expensive to produce so manufacturers favour LFP since it's more profitable for them.

6 hours ago, motdaeng said:

 

but as fare as i know NMC battery, which would be a no go for me ...

May I ask why you don't want NMC?

Both LFP and NMC have advantages and disadvantages but I don't think there is a clear winner.

A lot of misconceptions out there though. A common misconception is that it's good to charge LFP batteries to 100% all the time.

Zeekr 7X certainly looks interesting. 800V architecture and 100kWh battery.

Not allowed on expressways but any other road in Thailand is fine...the police usually don't bat an eyelid.

https://electrek.co/2025/03/06/toyotas-cheapest-ev-china-crashes-server-starting-at-15000/

Looks like Toyota is back in the game...

I doubt they will be selling it in Thailand anytime soon though, still not enough competition in the Thai market and they can still sell plenty of their outdated ICE models here.

3 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

EV's low on power ???... You truly haven't checked this out before posting, why not ?

 

The Tesla Model 3 performance can do Zero to 100 kmh in 2.9 seconds - thats a supercar beater and only surpassed by what now are called Hypercars. 

The BYD Seal Performance does 0-100 Kmh in 3.8 seconds.

The SUV KIA EV 5 does 0-100 Kmh in 6.1 seconds.

 

No cars in their segment are quicker.... (unless looking at RS model Audi's or AMG Mercs etc).

 

 

Regarding sales: 

Sales trends of all vehicles slowed down in 2024....   with EV's still holding a minor part of the market sales trends slowed the least with ICE's actually having a negative trend shift. 

 

As below from 2023 to 2024

- Regular ICE cars saw a -4.3% drop in sales.

- Pick-up ICE's saw no change

- EV's saw an increase in 66.7% (which is actually reduction in the previously increasing rate / trend rate, nevertheless a 66.7% growth).

 

 

This also shows that EV's have a 5% market share, but have increased that market share from 0.1% in 2020 to 1.2% in 2022, 3% in 2024.....   this there remains growth as a percentage of the market... 

 

 

 

 

What is the source for your data? As it looks completely wrong showing no drop in pickup sales and an increase in EV sales.

Actually ExpatOilWorker is correct and BEV sales are down slightly in 2024.

8 hours ago, thesetat said:

I just returned from the Prachuap Khiri Khan tax office at the Prachuap provincial office. (Not Hua Hin) I had my total amount that was transferred to fill in their forms. As well as proof the the monies were from Social Security office. 

While speaking to the personnel. They asked my wife where did my money come from. My wife showed them my form 1099 that showed how much was paid to me from the SSI. They then told her that all of that income on that piece of paper would be taxed and i would need to pay thousands on it to their office. I tried to explain to them (with wife's help in Thai) that the DTA for SSi to Thailand is not taxable. The tax office asked my wife why i got this money for mean she told them i was disabled. They asked me to show them proof of my disability. The office knew nothing about this and said I would need to pay on that amount and then clarified that disabled in Thailand are given proof of their disability and are only allotted an income of about 100,000 before they paid tax.. To make matters worse, the amount sent to Thailand was more than what i got from my SSDI. Because my children in Thailand also get SSDI and that is sent to my US account and then transferred to Thailand. They said only my income mattered that showed on my 1099 form. They did not care what was sent from the US to Thailand out of my pension. I then began thinking this tax office clearly has no idea about taxation laws and the DTA that applies to SSI pensions. 

I showed them online that SSI from the US to Thailand is not paid as per the DTA. They would not accept this.

( The US-Thailand Tax Agreement:
Under this agreement, US social security income is exempt from Thai taxation. This means if your primary source of income is US social security, you are not required to pay Thai taxes on this income, regardless of how and when it's transferred to your Thai bank account }

Again they wanted me to show proof that I was disabled as well. America does not issue proof for this as far as I know. WE do not carry a card around saying I get SSDI because I am disabled. Only when you require special services are you then given some document that grants permission for those services. (IE disabled parking, ramps, and other things that police will perhaps hassle you over. But not income from direct deposits coming from the SSI office. 

So here I am. Telling you the tax office here in Mueang Prachuap Khiri Khan. Has no clue about how to manage my taxes and are determined to make me pay thousands on my SSI. 

 

Does anyone know if another office (perhaps Hua Hin) is more knowledgeable in this and has an English speaker working there to assist us? 

 

I know if I file through this office, they will do it wrong and make me pay alot for no reason. 

Are you and your children entitled to receive disability payments from the US while living in Thailand?

I was playing around with insurance quotes on the MG 4 on Roojai and it seems the older the car, the more expensive the insurance premiums by a significant amount.

2022 models are the most expensive and 2024 models the cheapest to insure.

2 hours ago, 4myr said:

https://autolifethailand-tv.translate.goog/official-price-mg4-electric-d-jan2025/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=nl&_x_tr_pto=wapp

 

Wow, what a bargain for a car that drives well!  The MG 4 D for 599k baht. You can order any color now.

Fast charging is as fast/slow as Atto 3. For the price can't complain about the boot space, the spartan interior, speakers and infotainment system.

 

Does anyone own the 49/51 kwh model? How is the experience on long road trips like Bangkok to Chiang Mai? 

I'll check if my local MG dealer wants to rent this car for a few days and see how convenient road tripping is.

Just a shame about the much higher insurance costs compared to a 599k ICE car.

So what happens to the cars with no licence plates or "faded" licence plates that the cameras possibly can't read which I see very often these days.

Funnily enough, I was just in Gourmet Market planning to buy the Riddle Creek Shiraz that was recommended on here.

But as soon as I picked up the bottle the staff kind of laughed to each other "Liddle Cleek" and one of them brought over an Italian red (Castellanovo) which they recommended instead, which was the same price (also 399). They said it's made from sangiovese grapes and that's about all I know.

So I went with their recommendation, I haven't opened it yet but will report back later.

1 hour ago, JBChiangRai said:

We just had quotes on insurance for the MG4, 11,000 THB with Roojai for me as the only driver.

 

28,000-30,000 for the other companies with my daughters as named drivers.

 

I think it’s outrageous.

Sounds like Thailand is just catching up to Western insurance trends.

Younger, less experienced drivers are more risky and EVs are more dangerous as they are heavier with greater acceleration.

IKEA Terms and Conditions:

You may exchange your newly purchased mattress once within 365 days of the date stated on your valid receipt or order form if you don’t love it, provided that it is not dirty, marked or damaged and all care instructions have been strictly followed. If the proper care instructions have not been followed, then IKEA reserves the right to refuse the exchange. Care instructions can be found in the product information provided with the mattress.

If you need us to collect the mattress, a collection fee will be charged. Delivery fees may vary depending on the delivery terms and conditions.

The IKEA Sleep On It mattress exchange policy can be applied a maximum of one time.

1 hour ago, scubascuba3 said:

Maybe you can ask IKEA that, either way they took two mattresses back from me different times without arguing 

Did you have to pay a collection or delivery fee?