Guderian

"Landscaping and sidewalk and trees enhancement from Deva Beach Resort Hotel to Soi Jomtien 19." In other words, do what these idiots always do: cut down any nice, shady trees and replace them with scraggy palms, because that's what the Chinese tourists say they like.

Yesterday afternoon I tried the local Mini Big C and a 7-eleven - they only had a few small bottles of Meiji full fat, Dutch Mill and Chokchai, but I was going to Makro this morning anyway, so I left it. In Makro this morning there was no Meiji milk at all, and no full fat that I could see, though there was a Thai brand that was new to me, all Thai writing, I didn't bother checking any further, probably melamine concentrate for the Chinese market, lol. I called off at a local 7-eleven again on the way back and, finally, they had a couple of 2 litre bottles of the Meiji full fat. Maybe the drought of decent milk is coming to an end, slowly?

Actually, I'd have called it confrontation rather than contemplation. Sad news all the same, and the right attitude IMHO, since there seems to be no avoiding the end, enjoy yourself while you still can.

I just give them to the GF and she distributes them to the needy, probably her friends and family, lol, but they're a lot needier than I am. The gardeners and security guards in the village where I live also appreciate a decent shirt if I have one that fits them.

No ladyboys involved? What is this city coming to, lol?

Do they really need to specify Thai? Are there feral gangs of foreign transwomen lurking in the Pattaya shadows that we haven't heard about yet, lol?

Yes, I forgot to mention that. Samsung gave a 3-year warranty on the 85" QLED TV, but the only way to activate it was via a LINE page. there was no paper warranty to mail. Naturally, the page is all in Thai with no option to switch to English. I soldiered through and completed it as best I could, then submitted it, but never heard anything from them. A few weeks later I was passing Home Pro where I'd bought the TV so I stopped and asked the salesman to have a look. He did, I'd apparently filled in the wrong TV ID number at some stage and so the process hadn't worked, but he was successful. The only problem was that since it had been more than 3 weeks since I bought the TV, Samsung would no longer honour the 3-year warranty and instead just gave me a 1-year one. Really? A delay of a few weeks in registration because of your rubbish registration system, and you cut off two years of warranty? OK, so fork you Samsung, if you want to play it that way then I'll simply never buy one of your flaky products again.

I've had three Samsung TV's here over the last decade, and not cheap models either. The latest one is an 85" QLED, while the previous one (now in the bedroom) is 65" Series 9. My experience of these is that the pictures are great, but the Samsung software is flaky and unreliable, plus certain components (like the Bluetooth cards) can be dodgy. It's nice to read about how black the black is on the best TV's, and all the other fancy technical stuff, but I honestly think that 99+% of us couldn't tell the difference between a cheap Chinese TCL picture and a Samsung Nano QLED one for most programmes we're likely to watch. My advice would be to have a look in one of the big TV places (I like the one in Home Pro on Suk, up by Boonthavorn), take a USB drive with the kind of things you mostly watch, and start with the cheapest TV that interests you. Then work your way up to the top models and see if you think the difference in picture quality is worth all the extra money.

I found this review of the Honda HR-V compared with the Toyota Corolla Cross. https://www.motortrend.com/reviews/2023-honda-hr-v-vs-2022-toyota-corolla-cross-comparison-test-review/ It's an Australian review, so the models aren't exactly the same as the Thai versions, but I guess the conclusions are still relevant: Verdict: What the Corolla Cross lacks in sportiness, refinement, and equipment it makes up for in commendable fuel economy. To be honest, fuel economy isn't very high on my list of the most important things here in Thailand. With petrol being roughly half the price it is in the UK, I can live with a bit of a gas guzzler. Anyway, they're both hybrids so the fuel economy for town driving, which is what I mostly do, must be pretty good. The Cross has got 17" wheels like the Honda EL, and its front grille is more like the RS and to my eyes better than the EL's. OTOH, for what it's worth, I find the rear end of the Honda much nicer than the Toyota.

Heavy rain in South Pattaya yesterday afternoon but it only lasted a few minutes. Then a longer spell this morning but the rain gauge still had only 15 mm in it for the last 24 hours. That's not going to replenish the reservoirs.

I tried that, but then I found out that simply pointing and waving some money about is just as effective as speaking the lingo! lol

Interesting. I asked the Honda salesguy about installing a dashcam and no way was he going to throw it in for free. It wasn't expensive, a bit over 4K Baht, but it would be installed to the left of the mirror, so that the driver couldn't see it. There were no playback controls so you had to download the footage from the dashcam to your phone to view it. And there was no option for a rear dashcam. As I said earlier, they seem to be almost completely inflexible in what they are willing to offer you. Where was the dealer you used located? From what I've seen and heard, the dealers in the Pattaya area are pretty stingy with freebies.

I know nothing about Subaru cars, nor do I know anyone who's owned one. It might be a good idea but it would be a step in the dark from my viewpoint.

Glad to hear a positive review! From what the salesman told me, the only differences between the RS and EL are: 17" instead of 18" alloys manual seat adjustment controls no sunroof (hurrah!) no fancy chrome front grille no wireless phone recharging pad (that doesn't bother me at all) Is that really the lot or did he miss anything out? The other thing is that he claimed apart from these relatively minor things, the body and engine are exactly the same. So in principle, if I wanted to spend the money, I could replace the 17" alloys with 18". Is that right?

Well for one thing I had it on my last car before I left the UK 20 years ago, a Vauxhall Omega. Has the car industry gone backwards or something, that a feature that was standard on a car two decades ago is now regarded as only fit for the top-end models? The other point is that, here in the Land of Hand Car Washes, every time they clean the inside of my car they insist on completely readjusting the driver's seat. Because, as you say, once I get the seat in the position I like I should never have to touch it again and so I'm not really familiar with the various handles and cranks on the seat in my Fiesta. A few years ago, I was trying to get the back of the seat in the right position after the car had been cleaned, but was inadvertently cranking the seat height adjustment, with the result that the entire handle broke off! So I really do think there's a good case for having electric seat adjustment controls here in Thailand.

I was in Villa at Little Walk and they had plenty of the 2 litre bottles of Meiji milk in every version EXCEPT the full fat one which I suspect is the most popular, at least among the sweating farangs. Maybe there's no milk shortage, just a full cream or fat shortage, lol?

+1 I renewed at the Pattaya DLT a few months ago using Mot's agency on Soi Khao Talo. Not cheap, but she does everything for you. I can't be bothered with the inanity of TM30's as I haven't changed my address in 12 years, but apparently Jomtien Immo insists on a valid TM30 to issue a residence certificate for the driving licence. Mot sorted that out for me at no extra cost. You must have similar agencies in the Bangkok area, just cough up a few Baht and stop worrying about it, life is too short.

The Mazda CX-30 was originally my preference, but when I saw how small it is compared with the HR-V, and for roughly the same money, I got put off. I also didn't feel that the finish and accessories were anything like as good as in the 2023 HR-V. I looked at the Corolla Cross and it might do the trick but the reviews I read weren't very favourable. I like Honda as, back in the 1990's, I had the old Honda Civic in Europe and it was a great car, very sporty. A good point, though, maybe that one does merit a bit more investigation. I don't know anything about the Kicks or 2008, in fact I have no idea where the nearest Nissan or Peugeot dealers are. You don't seem to see many of them around Pattaya, anyway.

The entire roof is supposedly made of a special ceramic glass that blocks out heat and UV, but even with the sliding gauze thing closed I simply don't like having the tropical sun on my head. I thought about adding a roof rack and then putting a piece of something solid on it to block the sun, but it's a silly thing to have to do to a brand new, top-of-the-range, 1.2 million Baht car. Why on earth don't these idiots at Honda simply give you the option not to have a wretched sunroof?

Something in the 1 to 1.5 million Baht range, I'm not really money-constrained but I'm not going to throw it away on an imported car like a Beemer.

I'm looking to upgrade from my 10-year-old Ford Fiesta to something more recent, with more mod cons and a higher body as I'm getting older and want the ease of getting in and out without bending too far. I decided that the Honda HR-V seemed like the best bet, the right size and price, and a lot of good safety features. I booked a test drive of the top model, the RS, and was impressed. I'd have ordered it on the spot but for the fact that it's not just got a front sunroof, but almost the entire roof of the car is made of glass. The rear sunroof can be blanked off with a solid screen, but the front one only has a flimsy sliding gauze-type of affair. The day I had the test drive it wasn't even very sunny, but I was well aware of the sun shining down on me. I'm not driving around for the next 5 or 10 years with the Thai sun frying my head, so that was the RS out of the game. There are two models, and the salesman, who was well aware of the problem with the sunroof, he said that many Thai people won't buy the RS as a result, showed me the EL. That doesn't have a sunroof and is 100K Baht cheaper than the RS, but it also lacks some of the nice features that make the RS really attractive, such as the 18" alloys, the electric seat controls, and the big chrome radiator grille. Apart from colour, there appear to be no customisation options for either model, it's take it or leave it. If that's the case then I may as well simply buy a second-hand car that I can't customise rather than pay the extra for a new car that I can't customise either. I'm disappointed with Honda's complete absence of flexibility, so I'd like to know what other options there are in the mid-size new SUV range? I've checked out the Toyota CH-R but it's too small. The Mitsu Xpander is just a glorified people carrier, and I'm not a fan of Chinese cars. So what else is there, as I can afford a full-size SUV but don't really want something that big as it's just for me and my small dog, and sometimes the GF too.

Yes, that's the point I was making, the extra holiday mainly goes to civil servants and the professional types like banks and lawyers. But if losing the hard work of all these people for a day actually improves overall GDP, then their average productivity must be negative and the economy would be better off putting them all on permanent furlough, lol.

Amazing Thailand. In the UK, the additional Bank Holiday for the Coronation caused a serious drop in economic output, contributing to a 0.1% fall in GDP in May. Yet in Thailand, it seems that having millions of people on holiday instead of working actually improves the economy, lol.

Have a trip to Siamburi's at the top of Soi Khao Talo, you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Oh dear.... has he been found yet? Maybe they need to do an autopsy on the dog and check out its stomach contents, lol!