Just been for short vacation to Thailand, have to admit that my thoughts drifted to the eponymous head of a similar website formerly frequented by many on this forum as I saw many clearly late middle aged western men with Thai consorts.
But this is a motoring thread....
The selection of cars on the road was quite different to that which I've witnessed elsewhere with the possible exception of Malaysia.
I understand that Thailand has a highly protectionist tax/duty policy on cars such that Toyota, Nissan and Honda manufacture in the country (like Proton in Malaysia). Therefore by far the majority of vehicles come from these manufacturers. Most vehicles seemed to be booted derivatives of small hatchbacks e.g Honda Jazz/City, Toyota Yaris/Vios, Fiesta saloon (not as ugly as you might think). Plus myriad pickup trucks. Local tastes I guess ?
Fuel is cheap (subsidised or hardly taxed perhaps) - nothing was more than about 70p a litre.
Road safety rules appear to be largely ignored e.g.little helmet or seatbelt wearing. Also the spec of many cars omits airbags, even the latest Camry which in HK has 7 airbags comes with only 2 in Thailand. Skoda would do well here then ;-)
I saw almost no VW group products on the road and very few BMWs or Mercs either.
I'd recommend a visit to the country, personally I loved Bangkok but found Puket to be like Benidorm of the 1980s - OK if that's you cup of tea I guess.
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