Pib

Thanks....some interesting stuff in the first weblink you provided....the electrek.co link. I pasted some partial quotes below regarding BYD, Tesla, Honda and good ol' Toyota. Also a link at the very bottom talking "How Toyota sneakily spreads anti-EV propaganda in Japan" How Toyota sneakily spreads anti-EV propaganda in Japan https://electrek.co/2021/11/11/how-toyota-sneakily-spreads-anti-ev-propaganda-in-japan/

None of them as I don't like the exterior look of any of them. Too boxy looking....and don't like the HUGE front-end grille. But hey, that's just my personal taste....I know MANY people love the HUGE front grille look which is fine.

I just noticed you received the early Jun first mailing o/a 23 Oct...obviously got delayed big time in the US/Thailand mailing systems....moved like a tortoise...got hung-up somewhere. But you received the late Oct 24 Oct second mailing o/a 4 Nov....obviously that mailing zipped thru the US/Thailand mailing systems....moved like a hare. Good ol' postal mail....sometimes it's like a hare....sometimes it's like a tortoise. But knock on wood (my head) after living at my Bangkok home for over a decade and half mail from the U.S. has always arrived within 9 to 14 calendar days.

Definitely complete/send it back because maybe you first one never made it back...OR, the first did make it to Wilkes-Barre but it arrived after they generated the 2nd mailing. What part of Thailand are you in?

Exactly what my Bangkok BYD dealership told me when picking up my Atto.

True Exchange Rate: 33.264. This assumes only the basic Bt100 BAHTNET receiving bank fee was applied. Remember to add Bt100 onto the amount that posts to your acct. That Bt100 is the Thai bank BAHTNET receiving fee. Note: depending on your Thai bank if you live outside the greater Bangkok area there may also be an upcountry BAHTNET transfer fee added onto the basic Bt100 BAHTNET fee. So, say 40,100.25 posted to your acct. Add Bt100 and you now have 40,200.25. Now divide that number by your "net" SSA payment in dollars & cents and you have the true exchange rate like posted on websites. If you don't take into account any fees, like that Bt100 BAHTNET fee, then you do not have the true exchange rate....you have what some people call the "effective" exchange rate that also includes fees....but fees can vary from individual to individual depending on various factors. And since the SSA pension posted today/1 Nov this is a good example of how the IDD payments sometimes post "before" the 3rd of the month.

The weight to range of an EV is not a linear function.....get up to a certain EV weight and the KWH usage shoots way up....or said another way range goes way down unless you greatly increase the battery size which in turn increases the EV weight. See snapshot at bottom. I don't expect light duty BEV (100% electric) pickup trucks to have many sales in Thailand. Now I do think Hybrid EV (HEV) trucks where electric motors are the primary drive with the combustion engine being primarily used as a generator to charge the HEV traction battery as you drive along would sell very well if the price is say no more than 10-15% more of an ICEV truck. There is definitely HUGE potential of light duty EV pickup trucks in Thailand as I see about a gazillion small pickup trucks on the roads everyday in Thailand....especially small pickups fitted with bed covers which are hauling stuff around from sunrise to sunset....pickups of small businesses with multiple trucks and just Somchai with his one-truck unregistered hauling service. But I just don't think Mr. Somchai will be interested in a BEV (100% electric) pickups until one charge can keep him running from sunrise to sunset....and such affordable and wide spread technology is probably still a decade away. But if an HEV version can keep him primarily running on cheaper electric fuel all day then he will be interested as it lowers his cost of doing business. Vehicle Weight Impact on EV Range https://www.getflipturn.com/blog/how-cargo-weight-affects-ev-range#:~:text=However%2C the extent to which,range by 60-70%.

I was interested in how the EV/HEV/Combustion modes work/interface on this PHEV....that is, switch between All Electric, Hybrid Electric, Combustion Engine, etc. The owners manual (link below) covers the different modes starting at page 26. https://bydautomotive.com.au/brochures/BYD-SHARK-6-Owners-Handbook-2024.pdf

I just looked in the BYD Atto Thailand Facebook Group and see other people have had the same problem with their "N" light/letter having issues....like pieces of it coming like which happened to me. One lady got her hand poked (but no blood) when the edges of the N got bent up like little spikes. See 1st image. And in another post someone is holding a replacement lighting plate....so that half moon lightning plate can be popped in and out fairly easily (if you know how like a BYD mechanic). See 2nd image...the two little black spots on the N...now little spikes that would have eventually broke off. My Thai wife just told me the dealership service rep said they have frequently seen this issue on 2022-2023 models...we have a 2023 model. But supposedly the 2024 model got the issue fixed with a new N design where those two spikes can not form and flake off....and in the 2nd image I can see how the new design on the right would prevent spikes from forming/breaking off....the 2022-2023 design is on the left and that one shows how my N looked when I first got the car. On my car today they installed the 2024 design. Just minor changes can many times make all the difference in how long something lasts. Image 1...the N starting to form little spikes that will flake/break off....and maybe poke your hand before they do fall off. Image 2. 2022-2023 design on left.....2024 design on right.

Well, today I got my BYD Atto 3 gear shift lever "LED lights/lettering" replaced for free under warranty....that is, got the "N" for neutral LED looking like an "N" again. See my earlier post above and the part I bolded. On the way to Foodland I drive by one of two BYD dealerships I use for service. Today as I was getting ready to pass the dealership on the way to Foodland I noticed in the ReverSharger app 1 of the 2 DC chargers was going to be freed-up within a minute or two....I was hoping there was no car waiting in a queue....and I got lucky as I drove into the dealership the vehicle was pulling out of the charging slot and I got to pull right in....get to charge up from 65% to 100% for free. While charging I walked into the dealership to ask a service desk rep to come look at my gearshift lever....the damaged "N" light....see if they could fix it...hopefully for free under warranty.....or was it one of those Sorry Dude type affairs. This was during the mechanics lunch hour (12 noon to 1pm) and the service rep said they'll can look at the issue at 1pm which turns out was going to me just minutes after I will finish charging to 100%. The service rep generated the service paperwork...when my car finished charging at 12:55pm I moved it to a parking space awaiting service. At 1:05pm the car was taken into the garage.....and at 2:02pm I left with new gearshift lighting...replaced/installed free of charge. See below picture of old/damage gearshift lighting/lettering on the left and the new lighting/lettering on the right. This was a good trip....got charged up for free and got my gearshift lever lightning/lettering replaced for free....then on to Foodland. I "think" the half moon assembly containing the R, N, and D lights is an assembly which can be removed/replaced pretty easily (if you know how) without replacing the entire top part of the gear shift even though close examination it sure appears the lighting assembly is "not" a pop-up/easily replaced assembly. Yeap, I got really good dealership service today. Old/damage lighting New/replaced lighting

It could arrive the business day before or after....I've seen it go both ways. Wouldn't have a clue as to what the future exchange rate will be especially since the IDD system exchanges the USD to THB several business days "before" transferring the THB payment. But as I showed several posts up in that spreadsheet the exchange rate will be approx 3/4% below the Bangkok Bank TT Buying Rate but that slightly lower exchange rate comes with a lot less fees than the ACH method so it works out to about the same effective rate/total baht posting when fees are also considered. Gotta consider both exchange rate and fees. If your net payment is approx $1,125 you would end up with slightly more baht posting with IDD than if using ACH; if your net payment is over $1,125 you would end up with slightly more baht posting when using ACH. Refer to my early spreadsheet.

Snapshot from the BOI LTR website. "Approved" LTR Visa since program kick-off 1 Sep 2022 thru 30 Sep 2024. If my brain math is right that covers a 25 month period. 5,172 divided by 25 equal an average of almost 207 approved LTR visa per month.

Just confirmed we can now once again post weblinks to Bangkok Post new articles...so here's the link. https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/motoring/2892323/chinese-ev-sets-german-test-track-record Chinese EV sets German test-track record

The Bangkok Post is also carrying a 29 Oct 2024 article regarding above speed record.....just google "Chinese EV sets German test-track record" and the Bangkok Post story will be listed....or just go to the Bangkok Post and look for 29 Oct 2024 articles.

By the way, as of last week I have now owned my BYD Atto for a year and put over 23,600 kilometers on it. No breakdowns, no issues/problems of any real significance. Just good and low cost driving. And the original factory tires look like they will easily make at least 50,000 kilometers. Now I have had some minor issues where a few days after picking up the car the back seat squeaked when hitting certain bumps....took it back to the dealership who spent around an hour removing and re-installing the seat to tighten up seat bolts and the squeak was now gone. Next issue was day after the 3 month/5,000 kilometer checkup the car developed squeaky front brakes for about 20 kilometers but after making a U-turn to abort my the trip then the problem just went away...and then I started my long trip again....problem never returned...I guess some road debris got temporarily got stuck between the front brake pads and rotors....the brake pads/rotors themselves still don't show any wear...they will probably last at least 100,000 kilometers And I also had a software glitch when going from infotainment system firmware V1.7 to V1.8 regarding how the interior ambient lights work. Oh yea, and one more issue where on the gear shift lever the LED Neutral light which is signified by a lighted "N", well, that N no longer looks like an N as a very small piece of silver coating flacked of the LED...now it just looks like a rectangular LED light....the "D" for Diver and "P" for Park lights still look like a D and P. Whoops, almost forgot...one more thing....one time in bumper to bumper Bangkok traffic while driving along at about 25KmH the vehicles "Predictive Emergency Braking System (PEBS) " engaged abruptly applying the brakes...but it shouldn't have kicked-in. From reading the manual it notes quite a few things could falsely trigger the radar/sensor system. I didn't like that abrupt braking and turned off PEBS....will rely on only my own eyes and brain as to when I need to abruptly stop. Yeap, knock on wood (my head)....so far the Atto has been a good car.

Who in the heck uses cruise control anymore unless you might get lucky enough to engage it for a short while driving on a major highway/tollway when the traffic is extremely light....like maybe in the middle of night. Other times you are driving in stop & go city traffic or heavy highway traffic where you are constantly going back and forth between the fuel and brake pedals while doing your best to be on the lookout for vehicles cutting in front of you, motorcycles pulling out from side roads, stray dogs, etc. Heck, I don't have a clue how to use the cruise control on my 2009 Fortuner or my 2023 Atto as there is no place I can use it in my day to day driving in/around the greater Bangkok area, surrounding provinces, etc. When a sales brochure talk the vehicle's cruise control it means close to zero to me since it's practically of no use in most driving conditions. Gosh, I must be anti-cruise control. 😜

PPV and Pickup sales down, down, down.... https://www.car250.com/ppv-th-2024-09.html https://www.car250.com/pickup-sale-2024-th-09-1.html

Heck, my old 2009 Toyota Fortuner has a maintenance schedule menu/display that puts the BYD maintenance schedule menu/display to shame. The Fortuner has individual settings for oil, coolant, brakes, etc...around a dozen settings where you can enter kilometers and date for each of them. And also 2 or 3 misc where you can enter whatever you want like changing the air fresher every X months. Anyway can set whatever amounts into these settings....just like how you can setup/change a notification on your phone, computer, etc., for whatever you want. That maintenance menu/display is not restricted, locked, etc., only for the dealership usage. But back to the BYD Mx Schedule/Display. That can be set/changed by anyone...by you, the dealership, etc. And when it reaches the date/kilometers set a pop-up notification will remind you it time to do something. When I had my last scheduled checkup done for my Atto on 18 Aug 2023 (this was my 1st annual checkup) at a little over 19.1K kilometers that was done early as I picked-up the Atto on 25 oct 2023. It's my understanding the BYD warranty requires the annual checkups to be done on the anniversary from the date you took procession of the vehicle OR a certain amount of kilometers, whichever comes first. And when I picked-up car the dealership rep said to be sure to get the check-up done plus or minus one month OR plus minus 1K kilometers of the checkup requirement. So, when I hit that 19K point but 2 months from my anniversary I went to my BYD dealership to get an annual checkup appt. Initially they were a little resistant since it was 2 months from my anniversary date although I was within 1K of 20Km. They made a couple of calls, which I think was to Rever Automotive which is HQ for BYD dealerships in Thailand, to get approval to do the annual checkup a little early. Anyway, they did give me an appt about two weeks down the road and I ended up getting the annual checkup done a little over 2 months before the anniversary date and around 850km early. Once again, this was done on 18 Aug 2024. Now when I picked up the car that maintenance schedule display now showed a 19.X Km countdown (I can' t remember exactly but it was not 20K but something less) and a date countdown which would popup in mid July 2025...that is, about a month before my last annual inspection done on 18 Aug 2024. So, if this is standard procedure for all BYD dealerships they will set that maintenance schedule count down "notification" to popup based on kilometers and days which would remind you that you are "within about a month and/or 1K km" of needing to have you annual checkup done. Basically, the notification is set kilometers/date wise to pop-up "before" you exactly reach the annual anniversary date or XX kilometers requirement.....that way you then get with your dealership to make an appt because it may take them X-weeks before they can get you in. Not like if you drive in today and say I need my annual checkup done and then being able to do it that day/that hour....instead they need to schedule you with a checkup appt several days/weeks down the road. P.S. By the way, I also got my initial 3 month/5K checkup done almost a month early as I was fast approaching the 5K point...if had waited till the 3 month point I would have surely been over 6K and missed the plus or minus 1K requirement. I had been driving a lot more than average as compared to when driving my ICEV Fortuner so my mileage was racking faster than the timeframe. Once again the dealership was initially just a little resistive since it was being done almost a month early....once again, they made a phone call...got approval and I got it done at the 2 month point.

Yes...they are rotated at the annual/every 20K checkup. The are not rotated at the initial 3 month/5K checkup.

Buying a local insurance policy can work for some but depending on age and/or preexisting conditions it might not be possible or expensive (plus practically useless) for some. It can really PO a person when they have excellent/worldwide insurance but can't satisfy BOI regarding the policy.

I sure hope the wife also mailed hers 7162 back to Wilkes Barrie as email does not hack it except in those cases typically after 1 November where Manila use to say it's OK to email them a copy since you never received a bar-coded 7162 for completion. Based on my past personal experience with Manila and 7162 issues, typically only after 1 Nov will Manila assist/respond to an email saying along the line "Hey I never got the initial 7162..help." Then Manila will email you a blank 7162 for completion and mailing back to Wilkes Barre, and Manila may ask that you send them a copy via email...that's based on my past personal experience from email back and forth with Manila regarding 7162 non-reciept. BUT NOW in 2024 I can't say if they will get involved until your monthly payment might stop...up until then you may be on your own to ensure you send back the bar-coded 7162 received and if not receiving a bar-coded 7162 then downloading, completing, and mailing back a 7162 which can be downloaded from the Manila website. See their FAQs at: https://ph.usembassy.gov/services/social-security/faq/ Regarding the 2nd mailing which occurs in Sep see below SSA weblink and partial snapshot from it. Basically the 1st mailing goes out in May/June and then for those who didn't respond or didn't respond in time a 2nd mailing goes out sometimes in Sep which means a 2nd mailing should have arrived Thailand by now for those who seem to get SSA mail promptly but for others where the mail seems to get delayed in the postal system(s) then it could arrive a lot later. But even if already mailing back the initial bar-coded or manually completed copy if you get a 2nd notice be sure to send it back also to play it safe. https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0302655010

As oldcpu recommended continue to provide as much info as you can, but obviously you are probably not going to be able to provide documentation from your insurance company that they will not cancel your policy or change the tariff while in Thailand. And to give honest feedback when I first read you post (especially the part where I bolded above) I got the impression that BOI feels the policy may not be genuine....kinda like a fake college degree diploma and BOI is asking for additional documentation (i.e., like payment info, etc) to help confirm whether the policy is real or not. Now of course a person could always submit more fake paperwork to support the initial fake paperwork, but that can get harder to do. Now the part where BOI asked for paperwork which says the policy will not be cancelled or tariff increased I think that may be a miscommunication...a misworded request....etc., as I can't see any insurance company specifically saying such. The most they might say is the already stated possible reasons for cancellation which would surely already be documented in the current policy/related policy paperwork. Or maybe in your case BOI has real concern your policy could be easily cancelled and the premium you already paid pretty much fully refunded...and you might do this right after you get they LTR visa approved. Maybe BOI has had others do this already....maybe with policies from the same insurance company you are using. But the more I think about it BOI probably has concerns the policy will provide "continuous" coverage while in Thailand and may instead be a policy that would only provide temporary coverage say for example 30-90 days....many policies are like that where they provide excellent coverage in your home country/certain countries but if you move to another country or saying travelling for a few months the coverage is very limited or non-existent. You need to show BOI the policy is basically worldwide coverage....coverage that don't stop simply because you are in another country temporarily OR full time. In closing, I DO NOT mean to imply your policy is fake or questionable....no, no, no....I'm not saying that! But maybe BOI is thinking that based on their past experience with some other applicants. From looking at the old stats on LTR visas where BOI only reported "applications" whether approved or disapproved "compared" to now where they only report "approved" applications it's obvious a LOT of applications do not meet requirements for various reasons but applicants still gave it shot, launched a hail mary, etc., to see if their application might get approved especailly since they have nothing to lose like a non-refundable application fee. And in those cases where BOI asked for additional documentation one or more times it's because the documentation/proof submitted to date is not satisfying BOI. So, "if possible" submit the requested additional doc and/or include a signed memo from yourself to BOI explaining/clarifying the situation. Sometimes these personal memos go a long way in clearing things up and satisfying folks. Good luck.

There is a 25 Oct 2024 Bangkok Post news article titled as below reflecting some pretty bad Thailand car production numbers (ICEV and EV) for domestic and export. Down...down....down..... Google below to find article: Car production to miss target as sales, exports fall

Posting date/time to your Bangkok Bank acct would be the same...the 3rd of the month. As talked earlier in this topic if using the ACH transfer method for your pension it will need to go into a special/restricted Bangkok Bank acct that only allows "in-person" transfer-outs and also no debit card is authorized for this special/restricted acct. However, you can do online transfers into the special acct but you can not do online transfer-outs. And if you already have a regular/unrestricted Bangkok Bank acct if you start having your reoccurring govt pension (like your SSA pension) go into the regular acct at some point Bangkok Bank will spot that and then block the incoming govt pension payment....put it on-hold for approx two weeks giving you enough time to come in and open a special/restricted acct for incoming govt pensions. The bank will notify you by letter. If you do not come and open the special acct Bangkok Bank will send the pension payment back to SSA....ditto for later incoming pension payments. You do "not" need to have a Thailand/overseas address onfile with the SSA. And Bangkok Bank is the only Thai bank with ACH receiving capability since the payment is routed thru their NY branch (which is a license US bank) onto your in-Thailand Bangkok Bank branch. However, if using the IDD transfer method (which uses the SWIFT system instead of the ACH system) the pension payment can go into a regular/unrestricted acct, have a debit card, can do online transfer-outs and -ins, etc....no special/restricted acct required. The acct the pension goes into can be with "any" Thai bank (to include Bangkok Bank) and must be a Thai baht acct; can not be a Foreign Currency Deposit acct since the incoming payment will be in THB vs USD. Payment will arrive on the 3rd of the month. You will also need to have your Thailand/overseas address onfile with the SSA.

Don't worry Toyota's revolutionary new engines and EV batteries (always just around the corner in anti-EV videos/articles) will make Toyota worldwide sales soar in the near future (another always just around corner). 😜😁 And I just love how that Toyota Europe Newsroom release refers to Toyota "hybrid" models as "electrified" sales/models although most of these models just have a small traction battery & small electric motor to "assist" in some driving scenarios the primarily combustion engine. Kinda like being a mixed breed of 90% combustion and 10% electric. Using "electrified" terminology might imply to some the Toyota hybrids are true EVs and Toyota is pressing full speed ahead in transitioning to fully electric vehicles. But hey, it's good salesman language for selling hybrids.