DJH77

Hi Mate, What are you wanting to build, single or 2 storey and what is your budget. I have a builder in mind who was my contractor. Check out mukdahanmanor.com to see if the quality suits you and if your interested contact me. All the Best.

To Import your personal belongings and furniture you must first come to Thailand on a Non-Immigrant O visa. Once here you can obtain a Retirement Visa as you are 50 years old or over. Then you can Import your goods and its good to have receipts to prove that these goods were used by you for a minimum of 6 months at home before you left for Thailand. This should make them Duty Free but NO guarantees as the Customs officers may still want payment. Many Import Agents or Removalists companys will tell you that you must still pay the duty, it's never easy. Good Luck.

The top of the range Mazda 3's price on their site says 1,069,000 bht. The new Mazda 2 will be in the showroom at Mukdahan tomorrow-Friday, to compare with the opposition.

God dam_n it I lost my post! Too late to repost again ..

I'm waiting to hear what else you have to say about your test drive and what deal you were offered.

It's hard to tell as you are buying a discounted car. However newish tdci focuses seem to sell for less than one million, based on car webistes I've seen. So they can lose 100-150K in the first year or so. Check out this 2009 model for 745Khttp://www.taladrod....aspx?cib=726871

But this car is already discounted @ 180,000 and no one would know that when reselling unless someone was foolish enough to tell them so that discount already covers any depreciation and then some as I posted earlier..

Anyway test drove one yesterday at the second dealer we went to which was much more professional as was the sales guy. I'll post up more impressions later as I have some errands to tend to today.

One glaring frustration for me though is the delay in the DSG shift, though it was smooth and quite responsive for a DSG. As previously mentioned there is no way an auto box will ever outshift a manual in my hands and as well the gear read out in the Thai model is very hard to locate and small to read. This is one example where a heads up display for at least something like that function would be useful (not a fan of all readouts being heads up) but at minimum it should be stand alone and larger more distinctive numbers for instant recall and not lost in the rest of the dash indicators as it is now which makes you have to search for it..

The salesman agreed with me and tells me it is stand alone on European models but not Thai and that was a far more sensible answer then so many others I've heard on various things here. To be continued......

I Drove 130k's today to finally get a test drive and when i got there they said i only had time to go around the block as the Boss had to go somewhere and it was his car, a bit of a waste of time and i had an appointment. I had a 5 minute drag up and back to the dealers, the only corner was 2 U-turns so i can't comment about the handeling but the engine reved easy and had a nice sound,not like a diesel. I agree with you about the size and position of the gear your in display, a bit weak but the car i drove had a very slick shift up and down and it would be hard to beat it in a manual even in an old 1989 MX5 which was probably the best shift i have driven. I took it from 0 to 150k and back down through the gears and thought it was good. The driving position is good due to the 4way adjustable wheel but my left knee was hard on the plastic center consul and the right knee has no support at all, probably 4 inches from the door lining, for hard driving or track work a support pad would need to be fitted, for me anyway. I had to do the same with my TT-RX7 back in Oz. I was told NO freebies at this price and had to argue about the Insurance as apparently Ford has put this cost on the dealer. I have another test drive booked for tomorrow but it a 340k drive each way so maybe i'll give it a miss, these Ford dealers in the north east are a joke.

Hi NigNoy,

I hope the wreath is laid as promised. RIP Jim.

Is there any chance you could write some more about the incident in question or perhaps your time in Thailand during the war? Fully understand if you do not wish to.

The reason for my interest is that over the past year or so I have had a few vets make contact with me and my blog remembering their time spent in Ubon during the war. Some of them them supplied photos and video as well. Just a few days ago I uploaded quite a few photos of time spent at the Ubon airforce base with a commentary given by one ex soldier. http://memock.wordpr...he-vietnam-war/ This is the third time I have done this and I find the stories, information and photos all fascinating.

Which old airfield are you referring to?

Hi Memock, I think the old airfield is in the overgrown bush on the left side of the back road from L N T to Yasothon not far from the traffic lights,say 1 kl. I know about 10yrs ago the yanks came to inspect what was left incase they could possible need to use it again. This i was told by an English guy who's house backed onto it. The house is still there and a very good one but i havn't seen him since then, heard he was another ripped off victim.

I already ordered one, delivery next week.

3% interest rate over 5 years. Free 1st class insurance and film.

It's my first time to buy a new car. I hope I made a right choice.

The interest rates quoted to me are, 2.55% over 48 mths- 2.65% over 60 mths- 2.80% over72 mths and i checked the sheet to make sure. Not a big difference to 3% but it all adds up so go for it.

As i said in an earlier post, i tried to get a TEST drive in a Focus TDCI some 2 years ago and got nowhere. I sent E-mail's to Ford and never got a reply to any. It seems that nothing has changed in 2 years as i have gotten no reply to E-mails this time. So i called the Ford HOTLINE and asked where i could see and Test Drive this car now as you have a Special Runout Promotion sale on and they said they would Check the Dealers and call me back. Amazingly they did call me back but the answer was THERE ARE NO TDCI's ANYWHERE AVAILABLE FOR YOU TO TEST DRIVE. WHAT A BLOODY JOKE. I asked for the Name and Number of Highly Positioned Foreigner within Ford that i could speak with and was given Nothing. So Unfortunately it seems the cars are on a promotion but you cannot even see one let alone Test Drive it. I was told i could test drive a Petrol engine car in Mukdahan so i tried to explain that there is NO conparison, the cars are completely different and i have actually never even seen a TDCI in the flesh, only photo's, so i want to know where i can actually go to at least look over the car, but no reply to that either as yet. If anybody out there can enlighten me about any of this it would be appreciated.

Forget email, when dealing with Thai's you have to pick up the phone - but it appears you got that

Also, forget the call center girl that's trained how to help people with flat batteries and tires. Go find the phone numbers for dealerships nearby yourself, then speak to the people who really do want to sell you a car (i.e. salespeople)..

Good luck!

Well MRO, 2 years ago i tried that and the only dealer with a car was in Udon Thani, 300kl from here. They were happy for me to drive there to look at the car but NO test drive. 600k's to look at the car, bullshit. Mitsubishi drove me to Khon Kaene to look and test drive the 3.2 Pajero and then i drove it back to Mukdahan and bought it. And of course their after service has been excellent to the point where they sent 1 of their Technical guys from Bangkok to supervise the installation of the 3rd differential to cure the whine and he had a 4th diff with him in case number 3 wasn't a success, all very good so i really wonder about Ford. The last one i owned in Oz was a 1975, 351 Cu Inch cleveland engined, Landau and it was a great car but that is in another world compared to here.

As i said in an earlier post, i tried to get a TEST drive in a Focus TDCI some 2 years ago and got nowhere. I sent E-mail's to Ford and never got a reply to any. It seems that nothing has changed in 2 years as i have gotten no reply to E-mails this time. So i called the Ford HOTLINE and asked where i could see and Test Drive this car now as you have a Special Runout Promotion sale on and they said they would Check the Dealers and call me back. Amazingly they did call me back but the answer was THERE ARE NO TDCI's ANYWHERE AVAILABLE FOR YOU TO TEST DRIVE. WHAT A BLOODY JOKE. I asked for the Name and Number of Highly Positioned Foreigner within Ford that i could speak with and was given Nothing. So Unfortunately it seems the cars are on a promotion but you cannot even see one let alone Test Drive it. I was told i could test drive a Petrol engine car in Mukdahan so i tried to explain that there is NO conparison, the cars are completely different and i have actually never even seen a TDCI in the flesh, only photo's, so i want to know where i can actually go to at least look over the car, but no reply to that either as yet. If anybody out there can enlighten me about any of this it would be appreciated.

Had a look at the Focus today can't believe I passed up the dealership yesterday and proceeded on a tour of Bangkok as it was quite close actually but near an overpass that obstructed my view across the road and we were also on the frontage road and not on the main road at the time. The sales girl is a honey but not very well versed but that's ok not too many sales people are where I'm concerned.

I like the car but haven't tested it yet as I'm not quite ready to make the deal but it's mostly a formality anyways in this case.

I did notice a rather quirky feature about it though, I definitely do not like but it won't prevent the purchase. The hood or "bonnet" (for those colonialists among us) only opens with the ignition key in a lock behind the Ford emblem on the front grill, so if you wanted to open the hood to say, jump someones car you'd have to shut off the car first, get out and open it and then start it back up. I think this was poorly thought out trying to be too innovative and will turn out to be quite a P-I-T-A at times.. There may also be times when I want to open the hood without shutting the car off..

Other then that the leather seats seem a bit hard initially though not driven it yet, and they lack what I consider good side bolsters for solid support when cornering from my point of view. It is also a bit frustrating & disappointing these days to open a hood and see only a large plastic cover, I want to see the engineering underneath it..

The doors feel really heavy and solid suggesting the whole car is such. While solid and strong is desirable it has to be packaged accordingly and for a car that size it may drive heavy but I'll reserve that opinion for the test drive..

I like the DSG on the center shift console instead of the steering wheel, that feels more natural for me and doesn't interfere with cornering and shifting like small shift pads do on the wheel which also tend to be difficult to locate changing position with the wheel constantly. Before race car comparisons are thrown out, a race car does not require the turning radius a street car does and as such seldom do they need to use more then a half or 3/4 rotation trough turns and not 2 or 3 rotations a road car often requires while turning especially with FWD and controlling torque steer and a turbo diesel torque steer to boot..

So the only question left is if we close the deal should I begin a new thread cheerleading the Focus purchase ala the Cruze thread? Save for the fact that the car comes standard with leather seats ..

Hi Warpspeed, I'm very interested in what sort of a deal you are able to get, and as i put in a previous post, you can get the TDCI in the Ghia Sedan but i agree it hasn't got the looks. Up here in Mukdahan there has never been any diesel in the showroom so 2 years ago i contacted the Khon Kaene dealer who had one but wouldn't let me test drive it. I sent many E-mails to Ford but never got a reply so their approach to selling cars is rather strange. The Ford Dealership owner here actually told me to only buy a petrol engine car and when asked why he replied that maybe they can't fix the TDCI in Mukdahan. I gave up in the finish and bought a Pajero GT. But with this deal they are offering now i am very interested again, so please let me know what you can screw out of them. Tell them if the deal is good enough they may get 2 sales, OK.

The finance rate here is 2.55% for 48 months, 2.65% for 60 Months, both based on 20% deposit.

Had a look at the Focus today can't believe I passed up the dealership yesterday and proceeded on a tour of Bangkok as it was quite close actually but near an overpass that obstructed my view across the road and we were also on the frontage road and not on the main road at the time. The sales girl is a honey but not very well versed but that's ok not too many sales people are where I'm concerned.

I like the car but haven't tested it yet as I'm not quite ready to make the deal but it's mostly a formality anyways in this case.

I did notice a rather quirky feature about it though, I definitely do not like but it won't prevent the purchase. The hood or "bonnet" (for those colonialists among us) only opens with the ignition key in a lock behind the Ford emblem on the front grill, so if you wanted to open the hood to say, jump someones car you'd have to shut off the car first, get out and open it and then start it back up. I think this was poorly thought out trying to be too innovative and will turn out to be quite a P-I-T-A at times.. There may also be times when I want to open the hood without shutting the car off..

Other then that the leather seats seem a bit hard initially though not driven it yet, and they lack what I consider good side bolsters for solid support when cornering from my point of view. It is also a bit frustrating & disappointing these days to open a hood and see only a large plastic cover, I want to see the engineering underneath it..

The doors feel really heavy and solid suggesting the whole car is such. While solid and strong is desirable it has to be packaged accordingly and for a car that size it may drive heavy but I'll reserve that opinion for the test drive..

I like the DSG on the center shift console instead of the steering wheel, that feels more natural for me and doesn't interfere with cornering and shifting like small shift pads do on the wheel which also tend to be difficult to locate changing position with the wheel constantly. Before race car comparisons are thrown out, a race car does not require the turning radius a street car does and as such seldom do they need to use more then a half or 3/4 rotation trough turns and not 2 or 3 rotations a road car often requires while turning especially with FWD and controlling torque steer and a turbo diesel torque steer to boot..

So the only question left is if we close the deal should I begin a new thread cheerleading the Focus purchase ala the Cruze thread? Save for the fact that the car comes standard with leather seats ..

Hi Warpspeed, I'm very interested in what sort of a deal you are able to get, and as i put in a previous post, you can get the TDCI in the Ghia Sedan but i agree it hasn't got the looks. Up here in Mukdahan there has never been any diesel in the showroom so 2 years ago i contacted the Khon Kaene dealer who had one but wouldn't let me test drive it. I sent many E-mails to Ford but never got a reply so their approach to selling cars is rather strange. The Ford Dealership owner here actually told me to only buy a petrol engine car and when asked why he replied that maybe they can't fix the TDCI in Mukdahan. I gave up in the finish and bought a Pajero GT. But with this deal they are offering now i am very interested again, so please let me know what you can screw out of them. Tell them if the deal is good enough they may get 2 sales, OK.

I don't think the sedan qualifies does it? Only the hatch version..

No deals have been announced for the sedan - I think Ford are willing to let it just slip quitely away into the night (it was always a terrible seller).

I've read so much i have got a little confused, but if your talking about the Focus Ghia TDCI 4 door it is the same price, 999,000 and the only difference in the spec is no aluminium foot pedals and a different array of spoilers due to the different shape of course. I almost bought one of these 2 years ago but decided on the 3.2 Pajero GT as it was more car for the money but with this deal i am considering it again very seriously.

The manual for my Fortuna says the same as the OP posted. Turn off the AC 5 minutes before you switch off the engine. I think it is to help dry out the evaporator to prevent corrosion, mould and bad smells.

I've never actually done this and not have any problems. (apart from the odd bad smell, but that may be me)

Car electrics are far stronger today than in the 60's and 70's. the turn off routine was just to make it easier to restart the motor. As for the bad smell from the evaporator, the old way to cure this was to pull it out and give it a good clean and wash it in Vinegar.

Maybe at the Green Door opposite the bus station, not sure, but if you come to Mukdahan you can get them at Mukdahan Manor's Waterfront-Song Fung Khong Restaurant.

Has no one noticed the D. Max version of a Pin Stripe. Its done with a Lotus Paint Roller , straight down the middle , sort of Sixties Boy Racer Style. Im told the Air Brush guys who do the fancy VIP Coaches will do it for you . Those Pics get my vote , nice balance.

Thanks mate, the air brush work was done by a bloke in Pattaya who does Bikes and Crash Helmets if anybody is interesed, pretty good job, cost 20k, I hate to think what it would cost in Oz or USA, 4 days work, probably 2 to 3k in d0llars.

I can't remember the last time I saw pinstripes

Got any pics?

MRO, I hope this works. here a few pics.

Well, DJH I gotta say I'm a bit f'n speechless!

Here I was expecting to see a couple of pinstripes to break-up the monotony of the side, but what I'm actually seeing is the Paj from Hell! LOL!

Brilliant!

Will keep the B&B in mind next time I'm in the area BTW..

Glad you like it. I have a few questions that i want to ask you so how can i contact you. My Mob. 0810474781. Please send me message or give me a call.

I can't remember the last time I saw pinstripes

Got any pics?

MRO, I hope this works. here a few pics.

Is this from Bangkok?

NO MUKDAHAN, if you know where that is.

I can't remember the last time I saw pinstripes

Got any pics?

MRO, I hope this works. here a few pics.

Don't forget if you are on a Tourist Visa you will only get a 15 day Visa on your return to Thailand. If you are on a Non- O with a multiple entry permit you will get 90 days.

According to one source (unconfirmed) the wheelbase for the Trailblazer remains unchanged from the Colorado at 3095mm - if that's the case, we're looking at something at least Pajero Sport/Fortuner size.. But also sharing the same issue as the Fortuner where the rear doors are so long they can't be opened in Thai car parking spaces without whacking the car next door..

For perspective, the Pajero Sport wheelbase is 2800mm, and the Fortuner's is a little shorter again at 2750mm.

If Chev are able to equip this with the 2.8L, 6AT and Pajero Sport levels of features at Pajero Sport prices, they've possibly got a real market share contender on their hands.. Especially if they fix that horrific interior color scheme Can you imagine what the tops of those doors are going to look like after a couple of months? What were they thinking?

Being Chev though, it's unlikely they'll be able to get the pricing right though, and doubtful they'll get the interior design looking right either

I think it looks OK but the profile of the window lines seems off to me. Once you pass the rear doors the window line changes to the reverse angle and ends the sleek look i think. It's a bit like the Pajero's rising body line from the windscreen pillar to the start of the rear guard with a Fortuna rear tacked onto it at the reverse angle.

If your up in the North East around Mukdahan Go to the Mukdahan Manor's Waterfront-Song Fung Khong Restaurant for a choice of Mediterranean style slow cooked Lamb Shanks plus there are Aussie Lamb Loin and Lamb Leg Cops on the Menu with All the Aussie Steak and Seafood Dishes as well. Check the web site for Directions.

Why not go and see Don? Best western food by a huge margin and the nicest setting in town.

Thanks Memock, Although it's not on our Menu you can have whatever type of Burger you want here, Fillet steak, Chicken, Pork, Duck or John Dory Fish, All served with Steak House Chips. For your interest as i here you are in Oz, we were recently presented by the Governor of Mukdahan, The 2011 Best Restaurant Award and the place gets busyer every month. But still 99% Thai customers. As people have difficulty finding us i suggest the check our site, Mukdahan Manor.

Nothing in Mukdahan at all yet, where are you located.

I did some cars with this staff before...it makes a visible difference,if it's done right...I was just thinking about it,even before this topic started...if it's available and 3M still makes it,I will be interested...

If your in the North East i can help you, if not you could buy on the net.

Pinstriping mid 70's -80's everything S/H got striped along with whitewalls on XJ's & Rollers punters thought they looked great, little did they know the knife that cut them possibly also cut their paint, patently obvious six months later when they had large rusty barnicles on all the panels .

They must have been very heavy handed or maybe Butchers, It trims very easily.