bobbin

A friend said he was told by Yamaha at the current Motor Show that they are re-introducing the Tricity with the 155cc engine....

INCORRECT! The French group called Casino is the largest shareholder and has been for years., just check the Big c website.

Their website is incorrect. Do some real research and stop believing the first thing you read.

The by all means please inform where you got your information........why would Big C have its own history section wrong? I won't expect a reply.

Casino sold out about 3 months ago Jess..

Well Kenny...

There are questions and there are questions...

Lawyers like to say "Never ask a question you don't want to hear the answer to.."

BTW... for a truly invigorating discussion, never forget to add the phrase..."What think you?"

-snip-

I do have friends who say they would never buy, but the truth is, they can't afford to buy, so they rent, but I'm sure ThaiVisa members are different, they all have loads of money and choose to rent.

Oh, ain't that just the sweetest thing I've ever read...

"Some of us" don't need to buy in Thailand. "Some of us" own our homes in our home countries and travel at will. "Some of us" are actually allowed to own our own land and a home with a large garage and automatic garage door opener. "Some of us" have Western style houses with central heat and air conditioning and real kitchens and bathrooms.

"Some of us" wouldn't own a POS condo in Thailand if it was free.

Cheers.

But one of us, "hint hint", will continue to haunt the Pattaya forum so they can pass on their accumulated wisdom...

...despite retreating back home.

This week I saw one of these at the Mityon used bike lot next to their service department on Pattaya Tai. It is new and discounted to 30,000 baht.

First thing I noticed was the front drum brake..

Hard to see how they will sell it when the auto scooters beat it for technology and practicality i.e. under seat storage.

I have 2 Lazy-Boy fabric recliner chairs in my condo at present... I'm a fan.

3 months ago I bought a high back full swivel office chair at Ikea BangNa for approximately 2400 Baht. Good but not great quality. They had other chairs up to about 4500 Baht.

When I checked out the link to the LazyBoy office chairs at Central Online, I was seriously looking at upgrading..

Until....

A little research uncovered the fact that the Garner model is covered in PU Leather. Yes, PU, as in polyurethane (vinyl). Simulated leather. The Alston model is covered in Bonded Leather. That process uses chopped up leather pulp. Not simulated leather but not real leather.

And these chairs listed for 20,000 Baht? Even at the discounted price of 9600 Baht delivered, it was a no-brainer to stick with the Ikea chair.

Why did he leave out the feared ladyboys ?

Maybe because they aren't really women......

Wonder Red up 15 Baht..

That's a 30% price increase.

How dare these young Canadian women take up valuable space in a go-go leering at other naked young women....

That's my job!!

I mean... they can just take off their clothes and stand in front of a mirror to see the goodies...

Makro South.

Saw them last week. Stock situation may change...

Hope the Mods don't let this thread get over run with the usual sarcastic/ insensitive comments.

His Friends and family could be (probably are) reading this.

:-

Dave I am in total agreement with what you say about refraining from the usual sarcastic/insensitive comments.

May I add, that I also agree that we should refrain from doing so, in all cases like this, farang and Thai. That we should do so, not only out of respect for the deceased, their friends and family, whether they can read it or not, but also out of one's self respect and dignity.

However, I think this wishful thinking will not eventuate due to the nature of some people who find that dehumanizing the unfortunate is easier on their mind than compassion.

Censorship in all it's forms is an effective method of quieting rhetoric that may 'offend' those who are 'sensitive'; but once you step down that path, don't complain about the cutting abilities of double-edged swords. Falling off a cliff is much easier that climbing back up. I'll err of the side of freedom of expression.

John Cleese: I'm offended every day. For example, the British newspapers every day offend me with their laziness, their nastiness, and their inaccuracy, but I'm not going to expect someone to stop that happening; I just simply speak out about it. Sometimes when people are offended they want — you can just come in and say, "Right, stop that." to whoever it is offending them. And, of course, as a former chairman of the BBC one said, "There are some people who I would wish to offend." And I think there's truth in that too. So the idea that you have to be protected from any kind of uncomfortable emotion is what I absolutely do not subscribe to. And a fellow who I helped write two books about psychology and psychiatry was a renowned psychiatrist in London called Robin Skynner said something very interesting to me. He said, "If people can't control their own emotions, then they have to start trying to control other people's behavior." And when you're around super-sensitive people, you cannot relax and be spontaneous because you have no idea what's going to upset them next. And that's why I've been warned recently don't to go to most university campuses because the political correctness has been taken from being a good idea, which is let's not be mean in particular to people who are not able to look after themselves very well — that's a good idea — to the point where any kind of criticism or any individual or group could be labeled cruel.

And the whole point about humor, the whole point about comedy, and believe you me I thought about this, is that all comedy is critical. Even if you make a very inclusive joke like how would you make God laugh? Answer: Tell him your plans. Now that's about the human condition; it's not excluding anyone. It's saying we all have all these plans, which probably won't come and isn't it funny how we still believe they're going to happen. So that's a very inclusive joke. It's still critical. All humor is critical. If you start to say, "We mustn't; we mustn't criticize or offend them," then humor is gone. With humor goes a sense of proportion. And then as far as I'm concerned, you're living in 1984.

Ok..the John Cleese quote is a well-reasoned argument that made me think twice..

But so many of these comments have little value, comedic or otherwise. I don't want to censor these people though, I just want to shame them...

DELETED will be waiting quite a while before they get any of my business..

A couple of months ago they had a widely (signs everywhere featuring various items) advertised sale.. I made my way there early on the first day to purchase one of these advertised items only to be informed... that it was a time special (eg. 2:00pm, 4:30pm. etc.) and at the specified time I would be invited to compete in a draw to find out if I was a lucky purchaser!

Needless to say, after expressing my disapproval of their marketing practices to their Market Manager, I informed them that it would be a cold day in **ll before I returned.

Hmmm.. I wonder if today would be a good day to go back...

To the OP... You bought out of sequence! But I feel your pain...

I saw a bright yellow Solex wheel clamp being demonstrated at the auto accessory shop next to Tesco-Lotus South in Pattya...

I would think any big key/lock shop could source one for you.

As for private property I don't see how it would be a (legal) problem..

^^ Enforcement?

Well...there is always the option of the Solex wheel clamp, controversial I know. More likely is a confrontation between the resident who paid for that spot and the "free-loader" who is occupying it..

We would like to minimize the problem of potential "resident on resident" confrontations that will take place in the future.. i.e. between the owner of the car collection (approx. 10% of available space) and someone who can find no space

I and i am sure many co-owners would complain if they arrived home and the only spaces were 'reserved common area' ones. I would simply park it in those spaces and there would literally be nothing the Committee could do to enforce it, unless of course you had the majority resolution of an General meeting allowing for it and yo be safe also agreeing on the penalties for it.

As stated, we are bumping up against capacity already.. occasionally now, and more so in the future, residents are arriving home to find no parking spaces. Vehicles are then parked wherever they can be fitted.

Allocating a relatively small percentage of spaces will relieve the pressure somewhat, as the residents most likely to complain will take up the offer of assured parking. People less inclined to complain will pay nothing and continue to tale their chances with the 80-85% unreserved spaces.

We are now taking the first steps by requiring registration of vehicles and providing building stickers.

Arguments regarding illegality or not must remember that this is Thailand. Look at the parking taking place all over every city. Double parking impeding traffic flow, shop-keepers blocking off parking in front of their shops on public roads etc. I don't think we are in fear of being sued in a Thai court, even if it came to that. Not that we would prevail but that a compromise with the offended party would likely be reached first.

The car "collection" and a couple of long-term unused vehicles are next on the list.

Gee..I have a cheeky comment to make but I'm afraid it might be the "old joke" mentioned above....

"Secondly, setting aside 15-20% of parking spaces for paid reserved parking."

I think you will find that this is illegal as it counteracts the Condominium Act. The Parking area is common ground - that is owned by all the unit owners.

Unit owners pay for the upkeep and use of common ground via their annual maintenance fees

Ah.. a detail man.

The parking spaces are indeed common ground. There are no provisions for parking in the chanotes. In this case nothing is being sold off, only allocated, with the revenue benefiting the Juristic as a whole. That's also the reason we would like to limit the percentage of space that would be allocated. The larger by far percentage would remain unreserved..

But we have a problem that is only going to get worse and are trying to come up with a solution...

While it is reasonable to associate size/number of units to the issue of parking spaces, it's unlikely to figure into the plan due to ratio of units to space available. That's where the purchase of extra entitlement stickers would come into play. Larger owners could purchase a second sticker or opt for an additional assured parking space up to a maximum of two per owner.

Enforcement is always going to be a bit tricky but we can purchase the first Solex wheel clamp from the fees collected for the assured parking spaces. Done correctly, it would be an additional revenue stream.

As there are no regulations in place for parking at present, we are planning on implementing the new policy in advance of the AGM, where it may or may not become an issue. Our AGM's are never that well attended due to owner apathy..

Good luck. And quite a few units have more than one car...

Good point... I forgot to address that issue.

We are thinking that everyone gets one sticker/one car. More than one car, you have to pay monthly fee for each additional car/sticker.

We have one owner who seems to "collect" vehicles and occupies approximately 10% of the parking himself! He is not going to be happy about the reorganization!

Unlike many condominium buildings in Bangkok, which control parking through the use of office issued parking stickers, our building has operated our parking on a free first-come basis. While this has worked in the past when there were fewer vehicles, we are now bumping up against capacity on a daily basis. We are belatedly trying to formulate a workable policy on parking. Under pressure, we have come up with a few ideas, but perhaps there are options we have not considered...

Firstly, we will institute a parking sticker policy, to ensure that only residents are using the parking spaces. This requires registration of vehicle number plates. Best way to accomplish this?

Secondly, setting aside 15-20% of parking spaces for paid reserved parking. This would leave 80-85% available for free parking, while generating extra income for the Juristic. There are owners/tenants willing to pay for assured parking.

Thirdly, using a quota system with waiting list, for the free parking. This is trickier to manage. Do we base this on length of ownership/ residency, as seems logical? This will have to be managed from the office, as new owners/tenants would have to be informed that there is no space available for the parking of their cars or pickups. We have more leeway with motorbikes. This is the option that has the most potential for dispute among owners/tenants...

Forthly, restricting juristic staff parking to day use only. There are lower level staff who are driving cars/trucks to work, filling available spaces that owners/tenants could use.

Any other ideas? Our parking spaces are finite. We cannot increase the number of spaces, while there are still unoccupied/unsold units in the building. Unless we have a workable policy the problem will only worsen with time.

The big problem for me will be what will replace all those reasonably priced Casino products from France........

I think you all know the answer

I'm a little old to aspire to joining the ranks of "boy racers".

That extra hp has to have some effect.

I'm not looking to do exhaust modifications, only change the engine management software. We live in a country that penalizes (financially) horsepower. Nowadays it seems that even normal sedans are outputting 200+ hp, with functional dual exhausts.... These, for the most part, are not available in Thailand of course.

I'm thinking that these smaller engines are factory tuned for fuel economy, and wondering what their potential for a little more oomph might be...

It is an automatic transmission, in answer to a previous post.

The reality is, there's not much a chip is going to do in a naturally aspirated car, without other mods.

If there are areas of the powerband that have been intentionally de-tuned to pass emissions tests, you might be in luck - but it's unlikely Mazda were faced with that challenge in this engine. Outside of that, an engine can't make more HP without ingesting more air and fuel (stoich needs to be maintained for a healthy engine), and getting the exhaust gasses out in the most effective way.

A chip can try to inject more fuel, and play with timing a little, but it's only one small part of an overall system.

Thanks for your input IMHO...

I did have to Google stoich though, as I have never heard the term used.

I was hoping that you might be one of the people who responded, as you always have quite level-headed responses on these vehicle threads. I'd also like to thank the other posters who took the time to respond and contribute.

I guess the consensus is that I should just put the Mazda Racing 2 decals on the sides and leave it at that...

I'm a little old to aspire to joining the ranks of "boy racers".

That extra hp has to have some effect.

I'm not looking to do exhaust modifications, only change the engine management software. We live in a country that penalizes (financially) horsepower. Nowadays it seems that even normal sedans are outputting 200+ hp, with functional dual exhausts.... These, for the most part, are not available in Thailand of course.

I'm thinking that these smaller engines are factory tuned for fuel economy, and wondering what their potential for a little more oomph might be...

It is an automatic transmission, in answer to a previous post.

I have a 2014 Mazda 2 Elegance 1.5lt. petrol. I found this:

which answers the first part of my question. It is possible. But is it worthwhile? They use a different measurement for hp than the one I'm used to, coming from N.America, but indicate approximately a 10% hp gain. What's not to like about that?

I note from reading the Ford Everest thread that there is more potential in a diesel engine than a petrol engine...

Does drive-ability suffer or does it only shift the focus of the engine from fuel economy to power output ? I understand that a re-map raises warranty issues but my warranty expires in a little more than a year from now.

There are a lot of us driving these small cars here, but it doesn't mean we wouldn't like more power.....

That is a large amount of cash for such a young guy.

Hopefully he can provide an ATM slip for his cash withdrawal.

I'm guessing the ATM slip would be in the wallet......