NGV Car Conversion

[anon467848]

Has anybody used a garage in Chiang Mai to convert their car to NGV ? I have sent emails to various garages I came across after googling, but none of them have responded with a quote. Thais do appear to have an aversion towards emails...

Any recommendations, prices, pitfalls would be appreciated...

How many gas stations supply NGV in Chiang Mai? I have read that a number of PTT stations supply, but don't know the locations...

Thanks in advance..

[CMKiwi]

Im a bit confused... is NGV the same as CNG (Compressed Natural Gas)? If so I havent seen a great deal of those outlets around. The more common alternative fuel appears to be LPG (Liquid Petroleum Gas).

It was a bit of a raffle in New Zealand when these alternative fuels appeared on the scene. In the end LPG made a bigger foot hold and took over the market.

Ive googled PTT NGV and a map appeared but as I dont read Thai, I couldnt do the search function. If you can or have a Thai partner maybe they could look it up and show you where the filling stations are. Which in turn may lead you to a garage that does the installation of required parts.

[CMKiwi]

Ok I attacked it from another angle, google PTT NGV Chiang Mai stations and look up maps. It shows just 4 in the region one of which is closed. To me it appears that you will need to go out of your way to fill up unless you are close to one of these stations.

Maybe its more economical but then it could be a pain in the butt due to a lack of refilling stations

OTY

[anon467848]

Ok I attacked it from another angle, google PTT NGV Chiang Mai stations and look up maps. It shows just 4 in the region one of which is closed. To me it appears that you will need to go out of your way to fill up unless you are close to one of these stations.

Maybe its more economical but then it could be a pain in the butt due to a lack of refilling stations

OTY

Thanks Kiwi.... The lack of stations would appear to be a drawback.... According to 'she who must be obeyed' the govt. are trying to open more NGV stations and phase out LPG...

[CMKiwi]

Check out the Nvg vs lpg blog on this site. Apparently the NVG doesnt have the range that LPG tanks have. By that I believe you can get more LPG into a tank that converts to a bigger range (greater distance) whereas NGV or CNG is a compressed and its based on pressure so therefore you are limited to what you can carry.

I thinks that is also why NZ went to the LPG option.... better range and less requirement to fill up.

NVG also takes a lot longer to fill up.

[lj cm]

First of all; do not convert to CNG/NGV. There are limited refill stations in CM and elsewhere in Thailand. And they always have a long queue out to the road.

It's not the Government that decide, but rather PTT; and I have not seen any new NGV stations for a long time. PTT is actually building LPG stations and some of them even have a 7-11.

I would recommend to convert to LPG and there are refill stations all over (Thailand).

I had all my cars converted at a shop on third ring road.

If you come on Mahidol Rd. on the way to San Kamphaeng; turn right on the third ring road, and the shop is just 500 meter down the road, on the right side.

The last time I checked the price for a "normal" car, it was 27,000 Baht (with a Donut Tank).

[anon467848]

First of all; do not convert to CNG/NGV. There are limited refill stations in CM and elsewhere in Thailand. And they always have a long queue out to the road.

It's not the Government that decide, but rather PTT; and I have not seen any new NGV stations for a long time. PTT is actually building LPG stations and some of them even have a 7-11.

I would recommend to convert to LPG and there are refill stations all over (Thailand).

I had all my cars converted at a shop on third ring road.

If you come on Mahidol Rd. on the way to San Kamphaeng; turn right on the third ring road, and the shop is just 500 meter down the road, on the right side.

The last time I checked the price for a "normal" car, it was 27,000 Baht (with a Donut Tank).

Thanks Ij cm, what is the current price of LPG? I believe that LPG is not subsidised as much as it used to be. Has the price not gone up 30/40% in the last year or so?

I agree that there are plenty of LPG stations compared to CNG/NGV. I think the wife is being influenced by friends saying LPG is dangerous, and you cannot park the car in certain malls if you have LPG? Try telling a Thai that there are millions of LPG users in Europe without issue I guess all the bad press about LPG in Thailand is due to poor, unqualified, installations

Looks like I will have to tell the other half that LPG is the way to go

[MESmith]

First of all; do not convert to CNG/NGV. There are limited refill stations in CM and elsewhere in Thailand. And they always have a long queue out to the road.

It's not the Government that decide, but rather PTT; and I have not seen any new NGV stations for a long time. PTT is actually building LPG stations and some of them even have a 7-11.

I would recommend to convert to LPG and there are refill stations all over (Thailand).

I had all my cars converted at a shop on third ring road.

If you come on Mahidol Rd. on the way to San Kamphaeng; turn right on the third ring road, and the shop is just 500 meter down the road, on the right side.

The last time I checked the price for a "normal" car, it was 27,000 Baht (with a Donut Tank).

Has the price not gone up 30/40% in the last year or so?

And is it going to continue to rise until it costs the same as other fuel? That's what I would be asking....

Try the "motoring" forum.

You may have missed the boat....

[Saan]

First of all; do not convert to CNG/NGV. There are limited refill stations in CM and elsewhere in Thailand. And they always have a long queue out to the road.

It's not the Government that decide, but rather PTT; and I have not seen any new NGV stations for a long time. PTT is actually building LPG stations and some of them even have a 7-11.

I would recommend to convert to LPG and there are refill stations all over (Thailand).

I had all my cars converted at a shop on third ring road.

If you come on Mahidol Rd. on the way to San Kamphaeng; turn right on the third ring road, and the shop is just 500 meter down the road, on the right side.

The last time I checked the price for a "normal" car, it was 27,000 Baht (with a Donut Tank).

Thanks Ij cm, what is the current price of LPG? I believe that LPG is not subsidised as much as it used to be. Has the price not gone up 30/40% in the last year or so?

I agree that there are plenty of LPG stations compared to CNG/NGV. I think the wife is being influenced by friends saying LPG is dangerous, and you cannot park the car in certain malls if you have LPG? Try telling a Thai that there are millions of LPG users in Europe without issue I guess all the bad press about LPG in Thailand is due to poor, unqualified, installations

Looks like I will have to tell the other half that LPG is the way to go

And tell your wife that when she wants to sell your CNG converted vehicle she might have trouble finding a buyer.

More than six months ago I was looking for a second car and I looked at nice car that was converted to CNG. It is still for sale.

[lj cm]

First of all; do not convert to CNG/NGV. There are limited refill stations in CM and elsewhere in Thailand. And they always have a long queue out to the road.

It's not the Government that decide, but rather PTT; and I have not seen any new NGV stations for a long time. PTT is actually building LPG stations and some of them even have a 7-11.

I would recommend to convert to LPG and there are refill stations all over (Thailand).

I had all my cars converted at a shop on third ring road.

If you come on Mahidol Rd. on the way to San Kamphaeng; turn right on the third ring road, and the shop is just 500 meter down the road, on the right side.

The last time I checked the price for a "normal" car, it was 27,000 Baht (with a Donut Tank).

Thanks Ij cm, what is the current price of LPG? I believe that LPG is not subsidised as much as it used to be. Has the price not gone up 30/40% in the last year or so?

I agree that there are plenty of LPG stations compared to CNG/NGV. I think the wife is being influenced by friends saying LPG is dangerous, and you cannot park the car in certain malls if you have LPG? Try telling a Thai that there are millions of LPG users in Europe without issue I guess all the bad press about LPG in Thailand is due to poor, unqualified, installations:gigglem:

Looks like I will have to tell the other half that LPG is the way to go

The price for LPG has gone up from about 12-13 Baht to 16.16 Baht, where it has stayed for more than half a year . The Government's plan is, that the price will be the same as the world market price, but I don't know if were are there yet!.

You will loose about 10% km/l with LPG, but I don't know about NGV. NGV is a little bit more than 1 Baht cheaper. LPG is sold per litre and NGV per kg.

On a side note: CM has some of the highest fuel prices in Thailand. There must be a powerful Cartel controlling it. In the middle of Isan, fuel is cheaper.

It is correct, that in Malls, you can not park inside, if you have a "gas car", but that goes for both LPG and NGV.

I read in Bangkok Post that the installations of LPG (80%} and NGV (20%) have gone down from 8,000 to 2,000 a month due to the cheap gasoline prices. The oil prices are already going up again, and you might get a good offer for conversion, because they are not busy at the moment.

[stoli]

I drive from Pattaya to Chaiyaphum quite often. All along the route, I see gas stations, LPG stations, and NGV stations. You would have no problem finding them, but I am talking about the highways. In the towns the story could be quite different. Good luck with your conversion.....