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Oriental Offerings - Reincarnated


KruJoe

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I've never seen an Accord hatch here, here's a saloon (off google).

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It might be right but the number plate light area has been adjusted.

Initially thought MK2 Accord, but I'm not sure now.
In conclusion: I'm not sure, too.

 

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I was going to say, that looks like one of the infamous Bangkok Expressways.

The expressways are toll motorways built on stilts raised above BKK's main routes. They are scary.

Today's news from there:

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http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/412386-speeding-van-falls-off-bangkok-expressway-killing-at-least-eight/

:shock:

 

Time for a few more.

 

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Zoom in...

 

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Toyota Publica sporting alloys and rear lights from the one parked up.

As seen on this.

 

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This one as promised, is the only other Lancia I've seen here. (The first was the red Beta in the temple.)

 

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In Chiang Mai on BKK plates.

 

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Time for a 'Catch of the Day'.

 

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Again photographed between the bars of the gate.

 

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I'm thinking "Australian"..?

It's the first and only Lancer wagon I've seen, and it's face looks different to the Lancers I know-- Galant?

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Thanks Gompo!

Something for the weekend, Sir?

 

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^Liteace

 

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Can't find a Mazda Bongo? Hiace Bongo Car, that'll do.

 

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Re-spot? (same area) But no, it's a Ford!

 

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Sincere apologies if I'm re-posting any, the thread is longer than my memory!

These are a rarity:

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I've seen a couple of late 800s, too.

 

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A slightly left-field 'Catch of the Day' -

"Old boy departs aboard pink three wheeled twisting moped."

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thanks for the comments, guys!

 

Well, I'm back in CM, and from our first few hours around town here are half a dozen to restart the spotting fun and frolics.

 

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I normally wouldn't stop for these, but this was another pristine one, polished to within an inch of its life, with the driver nearby, cloth in hand, touting for business. He's available for hire as a sightseeing guide. What a way to see the old town!

There's a beige wedge shape Galant around the corner doing similar business, but in rather more tatty condition. That one was out today, so no pics, but I'll get him.

Another I normally wouldn't stop for here, but the subtle mods really worked for me:

 

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Rear light fun:

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If I were heading for a Boutique Guesthouse, I'd wish to travel in the back of this.

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I have hundreds more unposted from previous times here, and more new spots yet to upload, but here is today's Catch of the Day:

 

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I'm guessing Mazda 800? I should have gone and had a look under the bonnet, I have a picture of an interesting Mini at the same workshop last year.

Plenty more to come, but I'm working with tardier interwebz here.

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The Dattie 411...

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...I think has lights from a Sentra. Could have been worse, at least they kept it in the family.

 

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The black one (suspected 312) was there again this morning, and being Sunday the shop was closed, so I'll swing by later and snap the front if I can.

 

Some more from the last couple days:

 

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Our kind of establishment.

 

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What's that in front of the Sentra?

 

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Another combo spot.

 

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I passed the same place later in the day, and there was a Mk2 Lancer in place of the W124, that would have been even better!

A closer look at the ADO:

 

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It's sporting stickers for the People's Power Party, the replacement for fugitive ex-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's Thai Rak Thai Party. There's still a lot of support for him here, it being his home town and all.

 

The light has started fading, so I'm off out to get that 312(?) papped.

 

PS A big welcome to Fruttan!

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So it's a 312 fo' sho'

Apologies for the crappy shots, the old Lumix isn't liking the low light, and it was even worse with the flash.

I saw a few other goodies, but I'll have to go and see if there still around in the daylight. It's probably full of muck and fluff from being in my pocket all the time. I'll have it cleaned out cheaply and easily while I'm here.

 

So have some brighter ones from earlier on.

 

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This is brand new, 14km on the clock. It's made by Tiger, a Thai company that has been ripping off Honda step-thrus for years. This is a fresh model for them, cashing in on the popularity of the earliest Honda Cubs.

 

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^That shot sums up this town rather well.

 

Remember that grey-green jalopy 'Ford' with no glass?

Looks like it has a relative:

 

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See that modified 626 in the background^

 

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Superbly shoddy Corona Fastback/Liftback (can't remember).

 

Catch of the Day if only because it has made someone's day rather special today:

 

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Pristine, maybe freshly restored?

 

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The table of offerings must be part of the wedding ceremony.

See the stick on plate!

 

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Over the last few days we’ve been looking at some more saloons to use while we’re here.

 

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The old Rootes Arrow isn’t going to happen unfortunately. It would be fun to pootle around the north here, but we want to go further afield on longer journeys. Also the original owner hasn’t been tracked down, so we can’t register it properly. The boss won’t allow it :( 59,000B=£1200

 

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W123 Diesel n/a Giffermatic for super-sedate touring. I have no doubts over it’s bom-proof-ness, but the interior and trim looked tired, and generally seemed to have been 'maintained' on a budget. 188k Baht = £3750

 

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Accord 2.0 auto. One owner(seller) very clean, straight and honest, I good choice, but slightly small and ‘normal’ inside. Just like all the other mid-90s J-tin out there including our Subarus in the UK. We also want something with more space, especially in the back for all the sisters, aunts and cousins. 150k = £3000

 

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W126 280SE Auto LPG, Met brown and cream leather. Very special and good value, seemed true to it’s 80,000km clocks, I can’t think of a more pleasant way to travel the length of the country. Beautiful, but just too much car for us, I feel it would be a liability around town. 250k B = £5000

 

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Cefiro Mk3 2.0 fwd, (Maxima to you, Sir) same price as the W126, but the chavvy steering wheel and bellend salesman put us off.

 

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A6 2.5? 5cyl Auto, LPG, fwd. Again very nice, well maintained and comfortable, but we didn’t want to spend over 200 (£4k). Also we’ve done the Audi thing in our house, fancy something different. Good value at 250grand = £5k

 

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And the winner is…

850 20v n/a Auto LPG. I believe it has a 2.3 lump unique to Thailand for tax bracket reasons. 202k Baht = £4k

 

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Sensible colour, won’t show the dust too bad.

 

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Mrs KJ found the inside a lovely place to be. Volvos feel more solid and comfortable than all the Jap brands, yet are often cheaper due to low demand. They don’t have the prestige of Mercs and BMWs, so are often overlooked.

 

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Yes probably 10 times more than I'd have paid back home, but it is for the long run.

We could have bought outright a grotty, pokey apartment for the price of a 15yr old Volvo, but that's how values are skewed here. We could also have had a tired, thrashed 20 year old Toyota, so this'll do for now.

 

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After some messing around, the seller found the original wheels for it and it drives much better than the other two sets.

This last shot shows it as is now. I'm on the lookout for two more centre caps to complete it.

 

This morning, I was trailing around trying to find a jack and wheelbrace for it. The hunt took me to this place:

 

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Found what I needed, but the cranking handle for the jack is comedy long, it only just fits in the boot!

 

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This was parked outside. I loved the Subaru, but it'll do nicely as Catch of the Day.

 

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Sorry some of the pics are snap-n-go ish, they were really taken to remind us what we've been looking at. Just thought I'd share.

We're testing the Volvo with a drive to BKK in the morning. (500miles?)

I unstuck a rear caliper and changed the coolant today, filled up with £7 of LPG so we're good to go!

I'll be off the scene for a bit down south, but I'll have the camera. Wish us luck!

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So, the Ovlov performed well on the way to BKK, using only about 12-15 pounds worth of gas. The tank only took about 35litres, so we stopped a couple times for that, and a few more for snacks and loo breaks. We landed in just under nine hours, so not bad going, and it was more comfortable and quicker than by bus or train, and cheap with three of us in the car. (Mrs KJ’s sister came with us to buy rabbits. Don’t ask.)

The only slight worry was the low water light blinked on a few times. At the next stop, it took a pint or two to reach the MAX line, and on we went. A close look at the rad shows it suffers a common 850 issue, hairline cracks around the top hose, in the plastic. Something to keep an eye on. It must be an original radiator, I read that all replacements are much strengthened in that area.

 

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On the way down, I expected to see more tat, but it seems most old crap keeps away from the Thai M1 equivalent and the highways around Bangkok. I just know there would be so much down each side road, but we had to keep moving. I was glad of the relaxed cruising ability and modern brakes on the way down. There were a few sights to be seen, most unpapped, but I caught this one as we waited to turn right.

 

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It was trundling along nicely with a slightly less scruffy provincial service bus on a tow bar behind it!

Glorious.

 

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Safety first, etc.

 

Photobucket is unhappy on this BKK connection, so today's are brought to you by Picasa.

 

Is there some sort of horrendous car tax fiasco going on in Thailand?

 

From memory, car tax and insurance were about 600Baht each (£12) and are pretty much standard across the board.

 

The weird taxes are on new motors, that's one reason why pick-ups are so common here. For regular cars, the system is complex and often changes, but I believe it steps up steeply with engine size, power and price. There are various breaks for Asean built, and more for Thai built vehicles. That's why there are a number of Thai only specifications of 'luxury' cars with reduced capacity / de-tuned engines.

 

Not cheap over there is it! I suppose if that's the market then you wont lose much per-se.

Good effort on the Volvo rather than something German.

 

No, we shouldn't loose too much if we sold it. In fact, since we arrived in BKK, the seller called us again asking if we wanted to sell it, apparently someone else came back to him offering rather more for it!

We VERY nearly went for the W126, it seemed superb value, but the Volvo was just more suitable really, if a rather left-field choice in the eyes of the Thais. I'd have liked some shite on this side of the world, but it WILL happen one day, perhaps a Mazda 1400 pickup for when we start building, as cheap as anything too, starting at £500ish for a usable one.

 

This evening I spotted what looked like another version of a Peugeot 505(?) for sale in a 'tent' around the corner. (An estate, but with a raised back roofline and extra windows along the gutter, like a Discovery.) I'll see if I can go back in daylight to share a closer look. I have some river tat to share later, too.

 

Since I started writing this, I've learned that Mrs KJ's sis has bought one rabbit, four baby guinea pigs, two albino gerbils, two squirrels and an owl. I wonder how many of them will survive the overnight trundle-bus journey back to Chiang Mai. 'VIP' my arse. I'm off to take her and the menagerie to the bus station.

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As promised:

 

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This tug was rather impressive.

 

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It was pulling this HUGE barge upstream:

 

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But as we passed at speed...

 

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...there were three or four more barges behind that!

 

This was the rather smaller lump powering our long-tailed boat. Fairly typically a pick-up engine, with over-efficient cooling system. (Raw river water.)

 

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An unusual choice, fitted to a smaller river taxi:

 

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That sounded great as it carved its way across the river. I've just noticed the fuel tank (?!)

Talking H+S, here's another from today:

 

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What's the worst that could happen?

 

Right, the Peugeot.

It's a 504, after all, but with a higher roof than I've seen before.

 

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When I approached it, I thought it may be one of those crew-cab pick-ups with a fibreglass "Carryboy"-style back on it.

 

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But it's all steel, and the body looks original. Any ideas?

Gotta be Catch of the Day.

There's more, as always, but we're island hopping tomorrow. Here's a taster of the others on the pitch:

 

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KTHNXBAI

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Right, we're back to BKK after several long days of hard work for the Volvo. It performed (almost) faultlessly down to the deep south and back, in comfort and safety.

 

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So far it has had only one day off while we had a couple of nights on Ko Ngai, an island off the coast of Trang province.

 

Some sights from the road...

 

At major junctions, hawkers walk between the waiting lanes of traffic selling garlands of jasmine flowers to hang from the rear view mirror.

 

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^See the beefed up rear suspension?

 

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Many farmers and market traders fit more robust rear ends with the cages for watermelons, onions, or...

 

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I wouldn't want to get in their way when fully laden - I don't think they'd change direction easily.

When empty, some of them display heroic rake due to the huge extra leaf springs. I'm still trying to catch a good picture.

 

This was a surprise:

 

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He was jumping about, obviously enjoying his ride. Mrs KJ said the coconut collectors sometimes use monkeys to help with the job, but she's never seen it.

 

On the provincial highways, hardworking but fairly modern pick-ups are in the mix with bigger trucks. Most are in better condition than this:

 

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Local bus:

 

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Between a few islands:

 

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^That one was unusual for a long-tailed boat with its suplementary steering system.

Most of them are the water-borne equivalent of the Bond Minicar.

 

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The whole arrangement can swiveled around to pull the craft away from the beach.

 

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This was the first I noticed with any form of silencing. It is seen as an unnecessary inconvenience in this country.

 

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This was the biggest surprise as we landed on Ko Ngai:

 

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It has to be Catch of the Day, even if only for its British Serck plate!

 

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Something about it (the wheels?) said 'Zetor' to me, but I'm probably wrong; certainly no expert.

 

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It seems to have been resurrected/repaired with all sorts, the fuel tank behind the seat, the home-made mud guards, and the roof (with the number plate) seems to have been cut from something else (JCB?) and crudely welded on.

 

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The only wording I saw was 'MINIMEC' on the diesel pump. Any ideas? Someone run the number D663 UVW for us and see what comes up.

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Ford New Holland, or at least the roof is. Not officially out of the UK either, I wonder if the owner knows where it is.

 

The enquiry is complete

The vehicle details for D663 UVW are:

 

Date of Liability 01 09 2003

Date of First Registration 06 05 1987

Year of Manufacture 1987

Cylinder Capacity (cc) Not Available

CO2 Emissions Not Available

Fuel Type Heavy Oil

Export Marker Not Applicable

Vehicle Status Unlicensed

Vehicle Colour BLUE

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