Since I bought my car (Alfa Romeo 156) I’ve been enjoying maintaining and playing with it. One thing I knew I needed to do when I got the car was change the tyres, the old tyres celebrated their 5th year birthday this week ;-) but like everything else I do I gotta go through a research and fermentation phase till I actually go ahead with whatever it is I want to buy. This Saturday we’ve got a trip coming up to a trackday in Pattaya Bira race track so I thought it’s time to actually get the new tyres (I’m not going on track but getting there involves a couple of hours on the highway). Like most people new to owning a car in Bangkok I had no idea where to begin. The nice folks at the Alfa Romeo Thailand Club helped with some tips I followed on from there.

As for the tyre itself, after doing some research, reviews reading, auto magazine tests I decided to go for the Michelin Pilot Spot 3. I wanted a nice performance tyre since my rides are mostly for fun and I don’t do high routine commute mileage. If you want to read more about the tyre and others in its category you can see more here.

Here’s the mini report on my findings re buying tires in Bangkok. I went around the area where I live looking at tyre shops, small and chain stores for the PS3, including some very “local” shops and this is the jist of what I found out: basically if the shop has the tyres in stock then you can get some discount, the B-Quik chain store price is 4890 Baht and the lowest I was offered at a small shop was 4600. However the tyres at that shop were coming to 1 year old, not ideal, especially given the storage conditions – pretty much open air, no direct sunlight but plenty of natural light and UV all around. Small shops which didn’t have the tyre in stock could bring it in within a couple of hours but the prices were unattractive, 4900, 5000 etc.

Then I went to TyrePlus where the lady just stared at me and had trouble understanding me despite the fact I asked everything in Thai (and all the other shops had no problem understanding it), eventually she snapped out of it and said there’s no stock and it’ll take 4 days to bring them, the price was 49XX I can’t remember exactly now.

Finally I ended up at B-Quik as the last stop, turns out you can negotiate there and they knocked 100 Baht off each tyre so 4790 each, the best thing was that the tyres are brand new! 0212 and stored in the shade. So I bought them and had them fitted. For the old tyres, a couple of the smaller shops looked at them closely but both decided they weren’t in good enough shape and they weren’t interested in buying them at all. I ended up just leaving them at BQ.

The level of professionalism at BQ (Beungkum branch located at GPS coordinates: 13.790707,100.679709) was quite impressive. It was obvious they were very experienced doing this day in and day out. The alloys were gently handled, tyres balance checked and then laser alignment checked. Unlike in some other shops they didn’t tighten the bolts to the max with an air powered tool but used a ratchet with proper tightness setting. There are also all kinds of after-sales warranties and services at BQ which seems like a nice add-on. I still need to figure out what exactly the warranty covers. Another advantage at BQ is that the cover is national, you can get service at any of the hundreds of shops they have. That’s it, hopefully this helps someone if they’re like me – have had no idea about how to get new tyres here in LOS.

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Interesting article in WSJ:

Hong Kong Ranked Sixth Most Expensive City in Asia.

This part in particular about Singapore’s rising cost of living was illuminating:

Singapore, on the other hand, inched up right behind Hong Kong, ranking No. 8 in Asia and No. 42 world-wide. Hong Kong’s cost-of-living difference was 15% higher than Singapore’s in 2008; in 2010, the difference is 2%.

You don’t see a lot of reliable economic data in many Asian countries, such as CPI, employment etc. The numbers quoted in the Wall Street Journal seem on target to me. I didn’t notice a big change in prices in Hong Kong when I was there last month but I did notice major trend in rising prices across the board in Singapore throughout 2008-2010. I’ve also heard complaints from Singaporeans on how things are getting more expensive, crowded and foreign..

Tags: asia, cost of living, cpi, economic data, expensive, Hong Kong, ranking, singapore, trends, Wall Street Journal

An interesting post at Proprietary Trader about Singapore: Rethink Singapore Economic Growth Model. I agree with the spirit of most of the text highlighted in red. However with some caveats and a pre-requisites which I feel weren’t addressed by Prof Lim.

For one, it’s a pity the article starts with “Singapore should..”, this is like the code for government speak when trying to coax people into a certain mindset/action, for example: “Singaporeans should speak proper English instead of Singlish” or “Singaporeans should make more babies”, it immediately creates a dissonance, well at least for me.

Secondly, in order for “releasing capital and talent to local entrepreneurs” to be effective you need the right kind of infrastructure and environment in place, and I’m not talking about communications hardware or low cost business registration fees and online facilities, it goes much deeper than that.

Third, making big bets on few projects has worked reasonably well for Singapore over the long run. Sure there were some hiccups with over investments in hard disks, wafer fabs etc. and maybe now in the financial sector but it’s not possible to get it right 100%, under any kind of model. I do agree though that there should be a more balanced approach and less reliance on just those big bets.

Fourth, the sentence “a national government, for example, should not use domestic savings to create employment disproportionately for foreigners simply in order to claim success in establishing a particular sector of its choosing that may not be validated by underlying market forces.” sounds a bit populistic to me. I think Sg’s flexibility in attracting foreign workers while still maintaining control over long term immigration is a strength rather than a weakness, but I may be biased :-) Also “claiming success” isn’t, I believe, the top priority of policy makers, rather it’s increasing the size of the pie for everyone.

As for the last part: “‘Don’t think of yourself as an outpost of a declining empire, or a
second Shanghai or a second Boston. Why not be a first Singapore?’” I think there’s already a shift away from that mindset and there are attempts to develop a more unique Sg. Ironically, one of the best ways to do that is through the actions Prof Lim criticises, i.e. government initiatives, making several big bets and seeing what sticks and how they develop.

Just read this interesting story What I Learned Buying a Rug in Turkey (via Maoxian). Those sellers targeting tourists are masters in this art of influencing people. I’ve come across many of them in my travels in Asia, the best ones I met were in India. Anyway I thought I’d compile my list of rules that helped me in the past: how NOT to buy a rug in Turkey, or an artwork in India or gemstones in Thailand, etc.

Rule number 1: Never, ever, respond to a conversation or any kind of interaction with those shills or sellers unless you’re already well educated in the area you’re considering a purchase in and are ready to buy right now. Preferably, I try to even avoid any eye contact as this minimizes those “where are you from?” questions.

Rule number 2: refer to rule number 1, can’t be reiterated enough. If you do nothing else then just observing the above will get you out of most trouble. For “advanced” users, I’m already quite immune to those shills so sometimes I do crack a joke with them, often in such a way that makes them realize I’m not going to buy anything from them and gets (some of) them off my back.

Rule number 3: Never, ever, buy in the first shop you get into. If by design or by breaking rule number 1 (tsk tsk) you do get into a shop and start discussing an item, even if you like something and the price seems right, do not buy yet. Why? You can almost always come back later, it’s very rare that only one seller has this item, stepping away puts you in control and the shop owner is more likely to reveal their lowest selling price.

Rule number 4: Plan in advance for any pruchase worth more than just pocket money. Do your research, start with online shops – almost anything is sold online too these days, with friends who’ve been to the place, travel forums, hotel stafff (depending no what kind of hotel you’re in this is sometimes not a great idea) and multiple shops in the destination. When checking prices it’s best to check in different kinds of shops including those that seem expensive like in shopping malls, main street, and then markets. Will give you some good reference points.

Rule number 5: Coordinate with travel partner(s). Discuss in advance with your travel partner(s) on what stage you’re in: checking things out or ready to buy and what items and prices you’re aiming for. It also helps if no one goes into a shop saying: “yes I really love it, it’s the best item I’ve ever seen and we’ll surely never find anything better and cheaper anywhere else” ;-)

Rule number 6: Negotiate. It’s impossible to teach negotiation in a blog post. Nevertheless knowing how to neogtiate helps tremendously of course. If you’ve done your homework in steps 4 and 5 you should know what sort of prices to expect and everyone should be on the same page with regards to how to approach the seller. When I don’t feel comfortable in my research of step 4 then if the item is expensive I won’t buy yet but negotiate to find out prices, if it isn’t expensive and/or worth the time then I go for rule of thumb of cutting the price in half and seeing how that goes.

P.S. I actually did buy a beautiful rug in the past, in Nepal. Let’s just say I didn’t pay $1,100 for it, or even a tenth of that price.

P.S.S. Two books I recommend if you want to up your game in this area are the classics: You Can Negotiate Anything and Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.

If readers have any other suggestions then feel free to add them in the comments.

Thailand is one place where the abundance of petrodollars of oil rich Arab countries won’t buy everything. Seems like ex-PM Thaksin went a little too far in wanting to augment his billions. I estimate, conservatively, that 99.9999% of Thais will fiercely oppose any such plans to sell land, particularily large rice farming land, to foreigners – at any price. And that’s something worth respecting.

Bangkok Post : Saudi investment in rice sector opposed

According to Mr Prapat, the proposed investment involves a joint farming project with Thai farmers, renting farmland, and a joint rice export venture.Mr Somsak said the ministry would definitely reject any plans that ignored the importance of the agricultural sector and threatened the farmers’ way of life.

”Rice farming is an occupation that is reserved for Thai nationals only according to the foreign business law. So, don’t look at it only as a business or for profits and don’t put your own interests first,” the minister said.

”How have they initiated such an idea to hire academics and farmers to grow rice for a 5,000 baht per rai wage? They couldn’t care less about farmers.”

”This kind of idea is tantamount to selling off the nation, aiming to take farmers away from their motherland,” he said. Mr Somsak added, however, that he did not know whose idea it was.

Prasit Boonchuey, president of the Thai Farmers Association, said the proposed investment would not benefit Thai farmers.

”If the government lets foreigners invest in rice farming in our country, the occupation of farming will become extinct, leaving only hired hands and Thais will then have to buy rice from foreigners,” said the farmers’ leader.

Got back to Bangkok last night after a delayed flight. I had a really nice time in Singapore meeting friends and going out for drinks and food at our usual places. Just like the last time I went back to Singapore in November, Singapore has both changed and remained the same. Three related change themes emerged this trip:

1. Everything is even more expensive than before, prices increased across the board for everything. Surprisingly though people aren’t talking or complaining about it too much. I think there’s a bit of a boiling the frog effect going on, the gradual increase doesn’t cause much outcry but if you step away like I did for half a year and return then things seem different.

2. It’s more crowded. Everywhere you go you see lots of people all the time. A lot more than before. There are several government initiatives to increase the population of Singapore dramatically by a couple of million people and like in most areas, the Singapore government is showing results. The main downside I see to their strategy though is that they’re targeting very high quality immigration. This sounds like a good idea and indeed those new immigrants contribute to the economy from the get-go but it also carries high risks. Highly competent and skilled immigrants become transient again when the economy takes a down turn or better opportunities come along. A lot of efforts are being made by the government to recruit Aussies for example, I doubt though that many Aussies will settle down in Singapore forever.

3. Related to the above, everywhere I went and had to deal with some official business (telecom, banking etc.) instead of the usual request to see my Employment Pass or Passport I was always asked to show my Singapore Identity Card. That was very new to me. It seems Singaporeans are getting more and more used to seeing foreigners are locals.

Overall it’s always nice to go back there. A kind of home away from home no matter where I live.

More funny stuff coming out of Singapore these days. Apparently the government in Singapore thinks Singaporeans are not only ‘blur’ on sex and need to be told how to do it but also require official government lessons on how to flirt and create relationships. I highlighted the parts I found interesting. I thought the SDU was shut down btw? Any Singaporean can confirm this?

Singapore students get lessons in love – Reuters.com

In an effort to boost the city-state’s low birth rate, Singapore’s Ngee Ann Polytechnic has launched a government-backed course teaching students about flirting and relationships. Subjects include love song analysis, speed-dating and online chatting. “My teacher said if a guy looks into my eyes for more than five seconds, it could mean that he is attracted to me and I stand a chance,” 18-year-old student Isabel Seet was quoted as saying by the local Straits Times newspaper.

The course, “Understanding Relationships: Love and Sexuality”, is taught by an official from the Social Development Unit, the government’s match-making agency. It has become so popular since its inception in October last year that the school has had to recruit another trainer, the polytechnic’s spokeswoman told Reuters.

The course is intended to provide an “understanding of the fundamentals of human relationships” and is one of two offered by Singapore’s polytechnics to encourage young Singaporeans to get married, the newspaper said. Fearing that an ageing population will hurt economic growth, Singapore’s government has been trying for years to encourage educated young people in particular to have children, with incentives ranging from tax breaks to “baby bonuses”.

There has also been more hands-on encouragement for university students in the form of parties and trips organised by the Social Development Unit. “By learning the dynamics and intricacies of diverse relations, they can effectively apply strategies and techniques to cultivate fulfilling lifelong relationships,” the spokeswoman said.

The course is modelled along general elective classes that students from all faculties can take. Student Kamal Prakash told the Straits Times that while his relationship with his parents has improved since taking the course, he is still single. “I think most people who take the course would find it easier to get a girlfriend,” Prakash was quoted as saying. “But I’m not really looking for a girlfriend now as I want to concentrate on my studies.”

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