I Dont Understand Why Rich Thais In Bangkok Buy Expensive Cars

[khrab]

You buy a expensive and european car that you get the girls and that Police does not bother.

Police know the price of the car and asume you must be a big fish and so better leave you alone.

So easy...money talks!

AND

these cars come with an universal parking permit. You can park everywhere you want (in Bangkok). Handicaped spots, absolutely no parking zones, exits you name it. Nobody including the BIBs would bother you because you seems to be rich and must have all the conections of the special kind.

[tinom]

I never seen as many Hummers and new model Range Rover as in Phnom Penh...

And except the Camry taxi drivers, no one knows how to drive a car here, they will block the road for 15 minutes for an easy parking, do reverse preselections (drive the rightest lane to turn left, and when fast, they reach 30Km/h...

... but everywhere they say Cambodia is one of the poorest country in the world...

So yes here I wonder why richer who are not able to drive a car do not support a bit the poorest instead of driv8ng the biggest luxury cars?

[hanno]

Funny how so many non-rich judge the rich so harshly and then self-righteously "think" what they'd do if they were rich.

I find it amusing how you rationalize to yourself how much better your life is because you're sitting outside on your bike in the heat, noise and dirty air, while he sits in his plush leather seats in a cool, quite, air-con car listening to music on a bitchin' sound system. I know which one I'd choose. 555

Agree but that is the thing on TV: any excuse by the poor/disgruntled/unhappy/ to start another round of Thai-bashing. It is getting tiring at times.

I went to hotel school in a Swiss resort town and the place was famous for the amount of European senior citizens being helped out of their low-slung Ferraris or Lambos.....

[smileydude]

Its the same everywhere. Cars are status symbols for most people and status commands respect.

Everyone wants to be respected as superficial as this kind of respect is.

But for some people who can afford it, we go for the finer things in life because you usually get what you pay for.

You get safety.

You get comfort.

You get speed.

You get style and character.

For me, styling and design always comes first. Reliability second. Some people are more logical and go for Prius's and Accord's which are great but bland.

If it doesn't break the bank I always go for what appeals to me on a visceral level and I appreciate functional art. I'm the one ogling over a Bang&Olufsen stereo, a Dyson fan or a Phillip Starck headset.

Cars are functional art to me so if you see a dude driving in a odd-looking Nissan Figaro its probably me enjoying nostalgia.

Edited February 1, 2014 by smileydude

[ppmacready]

Waiting for the free bus, I think says most of it!

[bkk75]

Difference in Asia with the face thing is that these people with these overpriced cars, are very often NOT rich. They certainly don't live a rich lifestyle.

They own an expensive car AND THAT'S It! They live in a disgusting accommodation, with roaches and rats running amok, cheap arse flip flops and old clothes. Can't take many trips anywhere (and probably have little interest).

Chinese and Thai-Chinese are big offenders.

Now, there are of course actually rich Thais, but they are FAR fewer in number than most think.

Can I just say wow?

I think you've been living here far too long and generalizing.

Who cares if they buy expensive cars and live in a dump?

Who are you guys to judge how each person values personal possession?

Live and let live I say.

Edited February 1, 2014 by bkk75

[ozyjon]

I once saw an older BMW drive past us and said to my ex girl friend, gee that's a nice car, only because i liked the style, she pointed out that the owners must be rich because they owned a BMW (a 318 over 15 years old and rusty) we drove a Fortuner, that guzzled my diesel and my cash, and that only rich people drive BM or Benz, i told her i once owned a Ferrari, looked at me with a dumb look on her face, is it anything like a Toyota, yes i told her just like a Toyota, a smile came over her face,, cars and Thai people, don't get me started.

[khrab]

OP:

Maybe the Benz driver was about leaving town or v.v.

Since two years I live 60km South of Chiangmai. The first eight months I used my motorcycle when I had business there. Than I switched to a car. Never rode the m/c again, but still own two of them.

Looking back I can't believe that I drove this distance some many times.

During the first car months, my neighbour always (of course) asked when leaving by car: "Where go? Rain coming!" Answer: "Mai pen rai. Have ROOF."

The car takes only about twice as much gas that the bike, but I can transport 10 - 50x times more. Furthermore I have a little fridge in the trunk.

Well, it has its downside. Going into CM after exiting the highway, stuck in the inner city traffic of CM, I wish I had my m/c back. I remember very well the times when I lived near Chang Puek gate and wushed easily through the heaviest traffic.

Now it takes more time to go from there to any of the BigCs than from BigC back to my little village (about 50km).

[HerbalEd]

For many of them the car, the condo, or whatever they purchase ..... that purchase is not the point.

Owning the thing is not important, it is being SEEN to be able to own the thing.

That's why they have big fancy car, even if they never drive them or have a driver to drive their cars for them.

It's not the car, it's being seen to be able to buy the car.

For many wealthy persons the show of being seen to be wealthy is far more important than the reality of being wealthy.

(I must be important, I can buy that expensive thing).

Actually, many of them are quite insecure, and the show of owning the expensive item is how they bolster their own self-confidence.

They MUST be important if they can spend that much money ..... or that's what they tell themselves anyhow.

Your generalities are definitely true of some people. However, driving/riding in the comfort of a fine luxury car or living in luxury digs can be very nice indeed ... if one can afford such without worry and stress.

[bkk75]

To OP, it's like me saying why most farangs that retire here let their body go and wear hideous fashion.

Invest in a gym membership and some decent wardrobe.

Different but same same.

[Skint]

Bus is for the poor.

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[JacChang]

To the OP, what's so hard to understand? Maybe there are more things in life that you need to understand. Everyone moves up the ladder in society, you grow up, get a job, get a car, get a house, then move on to getting more things in life. If you can't make it to that stage, blame yourself, dont hate others who can. If you had 1000 million? Yes, "IF". There are two sides of people in society, those who have and those who do not have. "If" you had, you would buy a car, and have a decent life. But because you do not have that much of money, therefore you do not "understand".

Today you are putting another man down because he is sitting in traffic with his fancy luxurious car and you on the other hand got to a destination way faster by taking the bus and walking. I dont know if I should congratulate you or clap my hands for this great so called achievement. You dont know him, and you could say stuff about him like this. He was on his way to pick up his girlfriend? Take his mom to the hospital? To have a conference with business partners? Sure you could go do all these 3 things by taking the bus. Will the people with 1000 million congratulate you? To each his own business.

So, what you need to understand is. The world isn't what you think. You need to understand more things before coming up with judgements and making yourself feel good. Speak with actions, when one day you really do become rich. Show us you are walking to places, eating at soi food stalls, and smelling the great polluted air that Bangkok has to offer. We'll see if you get judged as a fool instead of trying to judge others.
P.S. And for your information he didn't struggled hard in life, the rich has things easy for them. Work less for more. Maybe you could understand the rich, instead of working more for less.

[blazes]

cannot be bothered to read the op, but wish to respond to the title:

BECAUSE THEY CAN

I bothered to start to read it but quit after encountering these gems:

new rich Thais want to express them self's

Even if I had 1000 million baht and lived in BKK I would never ever buy a car like that. I would go for a motorbike cuz you are only driving alone or 2 persons anyway right?

Can't see why someone who buys a BMW is more impacted by the traffic than someone buying a Honda Civic or why dealing with Bangkok traffic jams is more frustrating than traffic jams in other cities that get tied up in gridlock. You don't even have to be all that wealthy in Thailand to hire someone to drive for you. Getting into a taxi still doesn't make the traffic move any faster. Riding a motorbike anytime, but especially during the rainy season, is not really on the table as an option for most people who could avoid it.

Even if we (by which I mean I have someone else drive) take the car (a mere Honda Civic) to Bangkok, we leave it parked at the hotel and resort to the SkyTrain or tuktuks or taxis. I agree the traffic can be a nightmare, but paying someone to drive me in my (fantasy) Benz still seems more attractive than than standing in a crush aboard a freezing SkyTrain car or listening to a cabbie doing a comedy routine as we inch forward and suck in the exhaust fumes... assuming I had the money and the Benz.

If I had a 1000 bazillion baht I'd buy a luxury car and pay someone to haul me around too, just cuz I could.

But surely, if you had "1000 bazillion" baht, you wouldn't be living in sodding Bkk, would you?

[arthurwait]

Difference in Asia with the face thing is that these people with these overpriced cars, are very often NOT rich. They certainly don't live a rich lifestyle.

They own an expensive car AND THAT'S It! They live in a disgusting accommodation, with roaches and rats running amok, cheap arse flip flops and old clothes. Can't take many trips anywhere (and probably have little interest).

Chinese and Thai-Chinese are big offenders.

Now, there are of course actually rich Thais, but they are FAR fewer in number than most think.

And Westerners don't do the same thing???? Buying houses and cars they cannot afford kicked off the financial crisis in the West......

Not to the see degree with the primary objective to gain face or its equivalent. To enjoy selfishly, but, as said, to lessor degree (at least so much is true in North America). Don't know about Europe as I only lived in UK for a little over a year many years ago.

Never seen white van man park his white van outside someone-elses house while his ford based Jaguar and his wife Peugeot CC are on the driveway that they concreted over the garden to get enough room to do ?

[thrilled]

I know every time that I'm in Bangkok,i'm glad I don't have A car there.I stopped doing traffic jams after I retired.In my life before I retired I would sometimes be in as much as 3 traffic jams A day.Not A good way to spend your life.

[pauly1964]

Ummm lets see you are waiting for a free bus !!! and you see some guy in a flash car and that makes feel the need to go to print, JEALOUS are we !!!

[scorecard]

Stuck in traffic every day in a cheap car or an expensive car is still stuck in traffic.

Some stuck in low end cars, some stuck in expensive cars.

Some have the funds to be stuck in expensive cars, some don't.

.

Is there a point to your post?

[Roymeboy]

This is a weird topic. If u got it flaunt it. I too agree it's better to be in air-con car-quiet access to cell phone and complete some work or home projects.

I drive a Lexus FSports 460AWD here in New York - a head turner - I am not rich but comfortable and at the age where I want to drive a better class of car.

I would not drive though if I had access to SKYTRAIN. I could not afford that car in Thailand as it's probably a 6 Million baht car, here it is 2.7 Million.

[bikerider21]

Years ago, I used to come back from meetings in Chatuansao. Sometimes I'd be 3 hours without moving. Fortunately I could close my eyes and listen to the news in English while my driver sat at the wheel.

I wouldn't have said no to a luxury car where you could shut out the noisy world, watch tv, drink some wine, play on the Internet, play with my secretary? Come on, I know which I'd choose without a second thought

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[David48]

Weird how so many people on this thread seem to accept that it is ok to sit in traffic for four hours a day!!!

The sub-text here is the obvious truth that Bangkok must be one of the most uninhabitable cities in the world. Ok, the AIR might be cleaner than even worse polluting cities (like, say, Beijing,which probably accounts for any increases in tourist numbers these days), but really WHY suffer like that, why put your body and mind through that hell?

And the thought of the damage to one's ears as stereo systems boom out in closed cars makes me despair of the human race.....not to mention the stress stress stress road rage rage rage being bottled up, ready to be released by an early heart attack.

There does seem to be a wee disconnect between your Post and the intent of the OP.

I haven't read that anyone actually agrees that it is OK to "to sit in traffic for four hours a day!!!"

[Aussieroaming]

Better to be stuck in a Benz than a bus

[khrab]

My home and my car are my castles

[noikrit]

It"s better to cry in a Rolls Royce than smiling on a bicycle... .

I hear ya Chuang !!! ............. If the Rolls is a Rocken .... don't bother a knocken !! ........ If you have worked hard .... then reap the rewards !!! ...

[Guitar God]

There are practical reasons for driving a more expensive car, my Mercedes has heated and air conditioned seats, split temperature controls so it's warm enough for your Thai passanger and cool enough for farang drivers, carbon hepa air filters so you can't smell the city, nicer stereo and it's so well soundproofed that you barely hear all the racket outside. Driving in stop-and-go traffic is easier with distronic proximity control and adaptive braking. It's not as fas as the BTS or MRT in getting across the city but if you're going somewhere not served by the lines, it's a lot more comfortable.

[MMarlow]

Did the guy tell you he was rich I ask this question because in the 80s I moved from the Uk to Washington DC on a three year assignment . I was well paid my children went to private school and I considered myself fortunate to have a very nice top of the range station wagon. Having said that my job meant I was well travelled throughout the USA going as far as Hawaii but I was always amazed that when I entered heavily populated black areas where a lot of the properties consisted of tin shacks outside you would see the most wonderful Cadillac one could wish for what I am trying to say is just because you have a 3/4 million baht car it does not mean you are wealthy It could come down as a persons desire to have a status symbol , whilst in ibeat last week there was a Thai guy waving his gold iphone 5 around for all to see trouble was he was in desperate need for some. Decent attire as well as a can of deodorant hi BO levels were enough to make you throw up

"just because you have a 3/4 million baht car it does not mean you are wealthy".

Dead right 750,000B is nowhere near out of the ordinary for a car here.

[Docno]

No big deal. I spend a lot of my time in Singapore and Mercedes are a dime a dozen. Even many of the taxis are Mercedes. The traffic in Singapore is not much better than in Bangkok, but at least in Thailand you have a 'hinterland' where you can go on weekends and open it up a bit. No such thing in Singapore. And to make matters worse, high end cars are much more expensive in Singapore because of a special government tax on vehicles (a Honda Civic will put you back over US$100,000). Yet every day in Singapore you will see people driving around in Porsches, Lamborghinis, etc etc (people who wouldn't be caught dead in a Mercedes). It's part of Chinese in Singapore here... showing off your wealth and success. Perhaps the Sino-Thais of Bangkok are no different...

Traffic in Singapore is significantly better than in Bangkok - and people can actually drive which makes a refreshing break.

That's not my experience of living Singapore. Traffic's better, but not a whole lot. That said, I avoid Bangkok as much as I can. The other thing to keep in mind is that there are functional road cameras along all of Singapore's highways (90kph limit) so even if traffic is light, there's not much you can do. Back in Canada, if you were on the 401, doing 120 would put you in the slow lane.

Yes, more functional road cameras would make a massive difference in Thailand as (and that is also the case everywhere else for that matter) they will only listen and change their habits if you hit them where it hurts: their wallets.

However, the only solution to the congestion problem in Bangkok would be a congestion charge such as the one in London, which also decreased pollution levels.

Indeed, London copied their system from Singapore :-) These systems have their advantages, but of course their impact is felt more by the middle class and working 'poor' than by the rich....

[MMarlow]

Weird how so many people on this thread seem to accept that it is ok to sit in traffic for four hours a day!!!

The sub-text here is the obvious truth that Bangkok must be one of the most uninhabitable cities in the world. Ok, the AIR might be cleaner than even worse polluting cities (like, say, Beijing,which probably accounts for any increases in tourist numbers these days), but really WHY suffer like that, why put your body and mind through that hell?

And the thought of the damage to one's ears as stereo systems boom out in closed cars makes me despair of the human race.....not to mention the stress stress stress road rage rage rage being bottled up, ready to be released by an early heart attack.

"The sub-text here is the obvious truth that Bangkok must be one of the most uninhabitable cities in the world".

Bangkok is not uninhabitable, if you ever come here you will see millions of people living here very happily, not a desolate empty city.

"And the thought of the damage to one's ears as stereo systems boom out in closed cars makes me despair of the human race.."

Just because someone chooses to listen to loud music you despair of the human race? A bit over-dramatic.

[fasteddie]

He gets the girls! nuff said.

[MMarlow]

How Stupid....If you can afford it, why not be stuck in traffic in a Rolls rather than on a yYmaha.

Listen closely (so the others can't hear, don't want to make you feel stupid)... A Yamaha is either a motorbike or a musical instrument. Either way you won't be stuck in traffic in a Rolls (I presume you mean a Rolls Royce, not the bacon, lettuce and tomato variety).

If the Yamaha is a motorbike then you can scoot through the traffic.

If it's a musical instrument then why bother with any of this ...you're an artist and not concerned with the day to day hassles.

Rolls Royces don't get stuck in traffic? How does that work? Or are you talking about Rolls Royce powered aircraft?

[crazyguyinthailand]

Ummm lets see you are waiting for a free bus !!! and you see some guy in a flash car and that makes feel the need to go to print, JEALOUS are we !!!

I Never get jealous about cars. other things sure gold chains and stuff but not cars.