KhunLA

Yep, that pretty much mirrors my Udon Thani existence for 16 yrs. Made the best of it, but hindsight, and even while there, wouldn't be my first choice. Also lived 20 ish minute out of town, which provided almost everything. UT, KK, Korat or anywhere in the NE/Isan wouldn't be my first or top 100 places to live in TH. Half a year of air pollution is enough reason not to live there. If forced to live there, I'd probably leave the country, and my wife is from Nong Bua Lamphu. OP is in for a culture & lifestyle shock, coming from Phuket. Only positive, less congested traffic, if not living in the city. I don't see this ending well. Good Luck

Competition is a beautiful thing.

Never did the collar up thingy, for style, always thought it was stupid, and don't like things high up on my neck. Always wear loose clothes, and can't stand tight restricting apparel, damn annoying. I avoided the 'disco' age, and more jeans, flannels & doobies for me. Inexpensive & practical ???? All cotton for comfort. 'Grease is NOT the way' ... ????

Great....another anti EV'er, but agree, the Leaf is krap, especially in hot weather. Doesn't take much research to find which EVs are good, or bad. If people actually did a bit of research, before plopping down their ฿1 or ฿2M, then they'd be happy consumers instead of regretting their purchases. Can't fix stupid ... Importing used cars ... people would actually buy them ? Sounds high risk. Could import all the flooded cars from TH, all cleaned up and ready to sell ????

I would think during those 15ish yrs, the topic of not being an alky has been discussed. Failed, and now ready to bail. Wise choice, as why be miserable because of your partner. Not getting any younger ... enjoy life instead of waiting for someone else to change. For better or worst is fine ... if not self induced. You're on your own, if throwing you own life away. Not being an accident or health issue, leave her. And I don't agree with the sentiment, alcoholism is a disease. It's self inflicted, that's not a disease. Threw the 1st TH wife out for about the same, drank & gambled too much. Not nearly as patient as the op, less than 1 yrs and divorced. Too much living to do, to waste on other people.

Hard to equate the CH to TH price, until actually announced in TH, by the manufacturers. Hopefully ~฿1.5M is the price to start. Taking the MG ZS EV (2022) as an example, it sells for basically the same price here/TH, as it does in CH. BUT ... that includes a ฿240k baht govt incentive. Seems MG gave a huge govt incentive ฿240k & ฿247k for the ZS & EP respectfully. Making them quite the bargain, at a time with less competition, and kudos for that. That, the incentives, being passed to buyers now, seems to have been lowered to ฿150k, for other MG models, and other brands of late. MG ZS EV basically listed for ~20% more than CH price, and reduced to CH price via govt incentive. If ฿150k incentive, that would of reduced the price by only ~13% If Seal holds true to that math ฿150k incentive, then it also would be priced about the same as the CH price. Don't think we can expect anything better or much worse in pricing. So 1.5M would be a nice ballpark price to start. Again, those thinking of going EV, sooner the better, and I personally wouldn't wait for any new tech to hit the mass production line, and being available, before the incentives expire. Especially since new tech usually carries a new higher price, until the competition catches up to it. Also, considering the age of some of us retired folks here, if wanting to get some of that ROI, before the big BBQ, unless having a 20 ish yr old younger wife to pass the benefits on to.

Eat dark chocolate almost everyday. It's one of the dog's and mine, sweet treats we can't seem to go without. Rarely do processed chocolate candies (Snickers/etc) any more. Go right for the real stuff, so much better, and healthier. And I know, some say you should never give dogs chocolate, as one friend pointed out, told it would kill them. Obviously me & my dog's have proved that silly notion wrong. He used to feed his dog only poached chicken & dog food ... poor thing. Wife has done the cacao pods before, and damn tasty, but way too much work.

Actually depends on the chocolate being used & the rest of the ingredients. "So is dark chocolate actually healthy? Dark chocolate is rich in disease-fighting antioxidants. Studies show it can help reduce blood pressure and lower the risk of heart disease. Studies show that dark chocolate — when it is not loaded with sugar and saturated fat — is indeed a heart-healthy chocolate treat and more." https://www.scripps.org/news_items/5317-is-dark-chocolate-healthy#:~:text=So is dark chocolate actually,healthy chocolate treat and more.

The Nissan Leaf is the perfect example of corporate price gouging when there is little competition. Here/TH, because of the new competition, and their krap rep, they cut their price by more than half. Even that's false advertising, as they were selling for 1.5M around March 2020, or so I read. Then there is this little tidbit, that counters the silly notion that Leaf batteries have to be replaced in a few years: https://cleantechnica.com/2022/09/21/surprise-nissan-leaf-batteries-last-much-longer-than-expected/ AU really does suck for auto buying, as Leaf cost more the 2X what it costs here.

Important thing for Neta V ... replace 'reducer' (transmission) oil @ 10k, then ever 20k kms afterwards ... apparently a 'cooling & freezing' fluid needs to be changed ever 40k kms ... replace AC filter @ 20k, then ever 10k kms afterward ... Everything else seems to be inspect at certain intervals. Google translate (on laptop) does a OK job of translating manual. Maintenance schedule starts @ page 123. https://18022748.s21i.faiusr.com/61/2/ABUIABA9GAAgiNmfjAYokLPq7gQ.pdf Guess you could do the same, reading the manual they give you, with GLens from phone.

That would be more that 2x as far from wife's family, if living near Phimai town, than Korat is.

I think better simply to add the battery pack to our home solar system. If only 50-75% capacity, still more than the 20kWh ESSs we have now. Use the motors for some, maybe the gate or lift for the tower ???? Surely in 20 yrs, a well developed after market will pop up.

or accessing the internet/AN, if not having solar ????

... those 3 stand out as NATO target of late ... just add to the list of regime change failures, sadly, so many millions killed and or displaced from their homes. Ukraine, the current regime change failure

Another NATO endorsed regime change, another destroyed country. UN & NATO, making the world a better, safer place ????

Mask won't help sewage stench, or keep munch else out, with the type of masks worn and on how worn. There's a reason millions of people infected.

Personally I'd rather be in PhiMai than Korat. Never was much of a fan of Korat. Phimai does have a Lotus's, and L'expresses. For ease of daily living, depending how much time wife plans on being with the family, Phimai may be a better choice, and save Korat for once or twice month stocking up on western food items/ingredients. Can't help with housing rec, as never peeked at the market or the area in that way. Korat does get its share of flooding, so need to pay attention with that one. Good Luck.

I used to do that in USA, 30 yrs of driving, and only bought 1 new truck, and only for work, needing dependability. Though no 2nd car that I owned, had ever left me stranded. So I seem to pick them fairly well. Here, only 21 years of owning cars, and on our 5th new one ???? Retired, so no need to conserve and save money for retirement. Though can't say I was ever conservative, just thrifty. Had 4 autos & 2 mb at one time. "Honey, do you really need all those" ... "yea, be quiet" ???? Wifey @ 2 didn't last long.

If heading southbound, further than Hua Hin (1 hour N of us), to Phuket, here's a ball park idea of what to expect, CS wise. There a few in between HH and us (PKK municipality), only 100 kms. More than a few, Krung Thep to HH. Our little outing last week, 4 overnight locations from 1 to 4 nights, so a long week. I think we charged up, about 5 times, from as little as 20% to 60% added. All 30 mins or less, while being pre-occupied. About 200 kms knocking around where we overnighted. More CSs, as I filter the vendors that we actually use. No stretch without a CS was more than 100 kms.

As did mine, and we average 20-25k kms a year, and sold all 3 (vios & m2 at about 150k kms mark). Knew they were krap over the road (road noise), but really reinforced when we stepped up to the MG ZS. Road noise and overall comfort level, the only negatives, and mostly the road noise. Aside from that, fine cars for around town. They served their purpose, inexpensive transport. Even though they were silly priced, but that's relative to car prices in the USA. I think at the time, same was 25% less in USA. Considering overhead in USA, that's embarrassing, and they really do rip off the Thai consumer when it comes to autos.

I don't know what auto insurance company you use, but the policies I pay for, pay out what the policy states. Past experiences, selling, the insured value was lower than the market value, as we got more than (10-20% more & quick sale) than insured value selling all our ICE cars in TH. 2 Vios, Mazda2 & MG ZS. All sold for more than insured value.

As should EVs. Our battery is scheduled to last about 900k kms, and the electric motors, guessing will last just as long. Not sure about the rest of the car, unless those kms are put on fast ????

Actually I gained 11k baht. Paid 949k, if totaled, insured value is 960k ???? I've owned 2 Vios and would never buy another. Along with Mazda 2. Fine for around town, but not over the road, as way too noisy. Mazda just a wee bit better than the Vios.

<8 hrs, no upgrade needed.

You might want to leave Cuba out of any real discussion about cars: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cuba-cars-idUSKBN20J2E6