malt25

Some one beat me to it.

The one in the white dress/ frock.

Will we see an election in 2016 ?

why would you try to use a GPS in Thailand ,,,If you try to enter a Soi name from any village or back street of a City it will NOT work,,it comes up like unnamed road near such and such a village or a street from the other side of the country,,,or it just doesn't compute,,,,,,,,Had my GPS in car updated last week,,,,,now it comes up with more errors and unnamed streets than before,,,best thing for GPS in Thailand ,,,Keep it turned OFF.

Rubbish ! Traveled over 35,000k in LOS with a Garmin. Never been lost or misdirected. If not sure of exact address coordinates always spot on.

Sit in the lobby and every time someone comes to check in complain about the scam ,if I was to go there and I listened to someone complaining of a scam I would seek new hotel

I'm sure they'd be happy for you to do this. Might even bring you a beer or 2. Yeah.... right.

I think this action would be tolerated about 20 seconds by any hotel. Lower the class of hotel, the quicker you'd be on your way.

This post has become a BIG . But as posted above... what sort of dump do you stay in ?

Garmin, without a doubt. Have used extensively here in LOS & Oz when I go back for a visit.

I find Garmin after sales service is good as well.

The above is the danger of buying electrical appliances on the net, particularly from US based companies.

There are numerous threads on Thaivisa by our friends from across the pond who have seen the Thai (220V) outlet and plugged in a US (115V) appliance resulting in smoke and tears.

BTW the Philippines also has US style outlets and is 220V but 60Hz, I believe the only country that has the 220V 60Hz standard.

It is a holdout then. Australia and quite a few countries used 60hz for many years however about 20 years ago they changed everything to the internationally more accepted 50hz. That was about the same time as they dropped the voltage gfrom 250/260 to 230/240.

It was probabl about the same time as they upped the price for giving you less.

Australia changed to 60hz about 20 years ago?

Are you sure about that?

When I did my electrical apprenticeship ('84 - '87), we were taught that domestic/industrial Australian supply was 240/415VAC at 50 Hz.

To go back, even further, our Sanyo colour television, purchased in time to watch the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games, has a label on the back, "240VAC, 50Hz". I am 100% positive that we didn't plug it into a 250/260V, 60Hz socket or we wouldn't have had a house full of kids watching Bugs Bunny and The Road Runner, in colour.

You read wrong, Australia changed to 50Hz

"That was about the same time as they dropped the voltage from 250/260 to 230/240."

No, me thinks you may have read wrong ! Unless my understanding of basic English has diminished over the years, the statement says, "dropped the voltage".

The above is the danger of buying electrical appliances on the net, particularly from US based companies.

There are numerous threads on Thaivisa by our friends from across the pond who have seen the Thai (220V) outlet and plugged in a US (115V) appliance resulting in smoke and tears.

BTW the Philippines also has US style outlets and is 220V but 60Hz, I believe the only country that has the 220V 60Hz standard.

It is a holdout then. Australia and quite a few countries used 60hz for many years however about 20 years ago they changed everything to the internationally more accepted 50hz. That was about the same time as they dropped the voltage gfrom 250/260 to 230/240.

It was probabl about the same time as they upped the price for giving you less.

Australia changed to 60hz about 20 years ago?

Are you sure about that?

When I did my electrical apprenticeship ('84 - '87), we were taught that domestic/industrial Australian supply was 240/415VAC at 50 Hz.

To go back, even further, our Sanyo colour television, purchased in time to watch the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games, has a label on the back, "240VAC, 50Hz". I am 100% positive that we didn't plug it into a 250/260V, 60Hz socket or we wouldn't have had a house full of kids watching Bugs Bunny and The Road Runner, in colour.

Yes, I agree. As a teenager in the 60's I clearly recall 240v was the standard.

It "MAY" have been 260v in the past, but I doubt it. If so it was much longer than 20 years ago.

I bought a "pot" at the place in Central before this one. It didn't work either. DO they sell 120 kettles in the stores here?

Me thinks there's a good chance that you are related to your avatar. Or are you just trying to wind everyone up ?

Getting stabbed in the capital can be painful. He's lucky it wasn't a stab to the heart or another vital organ. Hope he recovers soon.

Gold necklace, at least 1 baht.....

Pearl necklace might be better.

News, a MUST visit on every trip I make to Pattaya.

If you Google Bangkok charities you'll find several places to leave your bag.

Just my 2 cents worth.

There's all wheel drive & 4 wheel drive. All wheel drive is constant, like Subaru. Four wheel drive in most SUV. You have to select 4x4, you always have 4x4 with all wheel drive.

On wet roads all wheel or four wheel drive is somewhat of an advantage. Most sensible drivers adjust their driving to suit the prevailing conditions, so unless you are in a real hurry, you don't need any sort of 4x4. Yes, I know, I'll get conflicting opinions from some purists.

I've driven the length & breadth of Australia, beach, deserts, mountains. Bad tracks & no tracks, total wilderness. From memory have only ever needed 4x4 on 2 occasions. The main advantage of most 4x4 vehicles is the extra ground clearance. If you are sensible & use some caution there's few places you can't reach with a 2wd vehicle. As mentioned, ground clearance is the big advantage of 4x4.

So, unless you are tempted to explore the unexplored, driving where you were never meant to drive, have sufficient baht not to have to think about economics, you really don't need a 4 x 4.

To all the 4 x 4 experts out there.. I've owned & driven numerous Mitsubishi, Toyota & Nissan 4 x 4's All great vehicles. But in most instances you just don't need them.

Cheers..... Mal.

I don't understand how you and some other respondents to this post can belittle the importance of 4WD, as well as the increased likeliehood of breakdown and the extra expense.

My experience in driving 2WD pickups and sedans in the deserts of Southern California and Arizona and Utah has been than any vehicle is likely to get stuck out there in the boondocks and especially so if you are not very careful where you point your front wheels. Places where it rains very little in a year, if at all, there are lots of sandy areas, even on the dirt roads, that will catch your 2WD pickup, no matter what kind of tires you have. And if it has rained recently - though the sky is plain blue at present - there are puddles here and there where clayey soil has held the rainwater. So your tires spin and get clogged with clay and become clogged with clay in a minute. Then you sit and spin. You find out your 2WD is really 1-wheel drive, unless you have positraction - so the off-side wheel doesn't turn while the spinning wheel just digs in. It works much the same in snow.

I drive as sensibly, carefully as most people and I have gotten stuck in seemingly safe places and have blasted through flooded areas sometimes where momentum perhaps, with the weight of a small trailer behind the truck, helped push me through.

I remember in Borrego Springs, California, that rich kids from the city would come out to the desert in 4WD vehicles and party and - get stuck. Because they don't know how to drive off-road, and their expensive pickups are not the same as tanks.

And I feel like others who have mentioned the extra expense for 4WD and more parts to break and more chips to fail.

The Reason it matters to me is I have 20 acres of dirt in remote Utah - where people go because that is where they live - and they get stuck there - sometimes have to leave the truck and walk the remaining distance to the home and walk back to the truck in the morining after the water has maybe evaporated - or in the night, after the slush has frozen so they can drive over it - and I have ordinary Dodge pickup. When I start building there I will be driving in and out a lot and hauling materials. In the past I have driven off the dirt track over bushes to go around puddles in the low spots.

So, what i would like to know is what type of 4WD/AWD rig do you advise?

(Besides go back to Thailand and ride a motor scooter).

Everybody their choice, but this is Thailand.

I chose a 2wd when I changed rides, previous one was 4wd. Since I hardly ever really felt the need for 4ed. Yes, I have missed it, maybe 3 times in 3+ years. IMO not worth the extra expense.

Yes, this IS Thailand. OP was asking about buying a vehicle here. Unless you are an enthusiast, weekend warrior, why would you even consider a 4x4 ? All wheel drive, maybe.

I'd guess about 98% of all 4x4's in Thailand never go off road. It's more of a status thing. Fortuna & Pajero & the like are all great vehicles. Size, seating capacity, towing ability & so on. If they were offered in rear wheel drive only, with appropriate price reduction, they'd be better value.

Why would people want to unless they have time to waste, for me I would not have the time to do this so I would rather get there in a matter of hours by plane

Sight seeing. Adventure. Meet all sort of people. See the world. + + + + + + + + +.

But you do come across as somewhat boring.

Just my 2 cents worth.

There's all wheel drive & 4 wheel drive. All wheel drive is constant, like Subaru. Four wheel drive in most SUV. You have to select 4x4, you always have 4x4 with all wheel drive.

On wet roads all wheel or four wheel drive is somewhat of an advantage. Most sensible drivers adjust their driving to suit the prevailing conditions, so unless you are in a real hurry, you don't need any sort of 4x4. Yes, I know, I'll get conflicting opinions from some purists.

I've driven the length & breadth of Australia, beach, deserts, mountains. Bad tracks & no tracks, total wilderness. From memory have only ever needed 4x4 on 2 occasions. The main advantage of most 4x4 vehicles is the extra ground clearance. If you are sensible & use some caution there's few places you can't reach with a 2wd vehicle. As mentioned, ground clearance is the big advantage of 4x4.

So, unless you are tempted to explore the unexplored, driving where you were never meant to drive, have sufficient baht not to have to think about economics, you really don't need a 4 x 4.

To all the 4 x 4 experts out there.. I've owned & driven numerous Mitsubishi, Toyota & Nissan 4 x 4's All great vehicles. But in most instances you just don't need them.

Cheers..... Mal.

Maybe it wasn't originally a roundabout. Maybe just an area of land where the clock tower was built & over years of some development in the area it just turned into a roundabout. Maybe the traffic lights were there long before. It might have just been an intersection & overtime developed into a roundabout.

That's my roundabout way of trying to suggest what might have occurred.

I think it's roundabout time I was getting around to having a beer.

Cheers..... Mal.

If yours has round fog lights, you could replace them with projectors, then fit HID xenon bulbs in those, without fear of blinding other drivers.

If yours has the oblong shape fog lights, about the only thing you can do is fit brighter bulbs or HID xenon, but the light pattern will not be correct and it's going to bother other drivers.

Thanks for that. I have the oblong type.

Thanks for your concern, but if you can't provide the requested info not much point in a reply.

With little to NO enforcement of speeding, 4 on a motorcycle, 12 + in the back of a pickup, no helmets, riding & driving on the wrong side of the road, & just about every other road rule, I'll take my chances with an upgrade to the fog lights.

But thanks anyway.

Hi all.

I have a 2012 Mazda 3 hatch. Great little car.

I find the fog lights pretty much hopeless. Any ideas for up grade. Not so interested in fog light functionality, more driving light.

All suggestions appreciated.

Thanks..... Mal.

Few things happened to me:

- Bought brand new pickup and asked if the wheels were balanced and aligned. They said they did already. Brand service station. Later felt that not everything was 100% and when taking it to XXXXX km service asked them to do the check again. They answered they don't have the wheel alignment machine (<deleted>?). Took it to another garage that did with the result that one wheel had been so badly worn out on one side that I had to buy a new one. Dangerous and unforgivable service that I paid for. Took the wheel to the boss of that brand shop as a gift. Slammed it direct to his desk with compliments.

How does that work..

If it was brand new you would have purchased it from a dealership and it would have been balanced and aligned at the factory.

What does "Brand service station" have to do with it ?.

Ok, see how this sounds.

Brand service station, I would assume is the Dealer service Department.

Factory balance & alignment is very basic. From leaving the factory most vehicles pass through many hands. In & out of storage. On & off transport, possibly several times before reaching the delivering dealer.

All dealers are required to perform a pre-delivery inspection & service. Unfortunately this is part of the "on road costs" passed onto the customer, in most instances. So, if the delivering dealer didn't have the appropriate equipment to perform the prescribed per-delivery service, it is quite possible that the vehicle was out of specs, alignment & balance wise, at time of delivery.

Would suggest that this poster didn't have to replace the wheel, but may have had to replace the tire.

Cheers..... Mal.

I think the actual law is... Child's feet should be able to reach the passenger foot pegs. There's also a law about helmets & riding side saddle. But like all other road rules... everyone ignores em & 99% of the time police never enforce. That is unless they are a bit short of beer money.

If that's your son riding with you.... you won't have a problem.

Cheers..... Mal.

Hi Mrs Chris.

Treat it as a l-o-n-g holiday, an adventure if you like.

I was 66 when I cut all ties with Aussie & moved over here. Should have made the move 10 years earlier.

Cheers..... Mal.

NO, but best of luck !

Huh ????