Raising a family in Thailand // Documenting Issan food, culture, music, and people
Somebody drove their original Toyota 2000GT through Bangkok traffic to a classic car show last week.
What a legend!
This must be the same car I wrote about being kept in an underground garage a couple years ago: Toyota 2000GT in Thailand
Credit goes to Kai Vorra-asd on Facebook: LINK
A year ago, on one of my daily walking routes. I see all kinds of vehicles here that I used to see in Japan – cars, trucks, ferries, heavy equipment. They often still bear company names and logos (other than the manufacturer) that were applied decades ago… It’s strangely comforting.
I need to get my Crown fixed and out of the shop – it’s been sitting there since the great floods a couple years back. It feels like it’s almost time.
I love this truck and it’s actually been my only vehicle with twin 12″ subs, but daddy needs a minivan.
The truck is registered in Bangkok, but is currently in Maha Sarakham, Thailand. It is a 2013 model. The engine is the 2.4 petrol version that runs on 91 gasohol or E20. I bought the car a year and a half ago because my Crown got ruined in the great floods of 2021. The engine is just over 200k and was inspected and overhauled when I bought it. It runs flawlessly. This is a fun car to cruise in and the air conditioning is ice cold. Battery was replaced this week. Headlight assemblies are new; actual headlights are LEDs. Price is 185,000 baht OBO.
TEL / LINE: 0845136254
NOTE: The Hello Kitty air freshener is NOT included in the sale.
We just came back from a back-to-back four day trip to Pattaya and 8 day trip to Japan. I will try and document some of it here. The Pattaya trip was a 40-person corporate trip for my cousin’s company in Japan that Nam and I organized; it turned out well. It all started out with a double-decker bus we chartered to pick up the group at BKK. It was a pretty awesome setup and the driver, Noi, was very cool.
Saw this girl being transported to school a while back
I still see something new every day up here.
Someday, I will make a list all of the vehicles I have owned over the years. A truck has never been among them, until recently. After our neighborhood and my precious Crown was flooded in 2022 (the Crown is sitting at my mechanic’s place, waiting for me to save enough money for a proper restoration), I needed new wheels. Since both of our kids were studying in the USA at the time, I figured we could get away with a standard size pickup and got a great deal on the Triton. It’s been great for carrying stuff around.
An older lady in the neighborhood was giving away huge potted plants, so Nam and I headed over to her house after work one night.
She told us the local name of the plants, which I have since forgotten, and I have since misidentified them several times. We originally thought they were giant lilies (Crinum asiaticum), but that appears not to be the case.
We gave the two shown on the back of the truck to Nam’s mom and kept the twins in the pot on our driveway shown in the top pic. The twins were eventually infected with rust, so I had to do some serious leaf removal.
I found this beauty at one of my go-to breakfast places in town – it doesn’t serve breakfast food specifically, but it’s open from early, so you can eat whatever they make from the early morning all day. I usually order several bags of curry, stir fries, soups, and desserts to take home. But hey, I got all excited talking about food, and this is a car post.
This is an original or reproduction Celica 2000 GT liftback, reminiscent of a mini ‘Stang from the same era. It might have the legendary 18RG engine in it. I’m still heartsick about what to do with the Crown (it’s been sitting in the back lot of a nearby body shop since it got flooded), so I didn’t want to stick around and wait for the owner to ask questions. But damn, it was pretty. I generally like my cars black, black, and black, but this color really suits this car. If I found one in crustier condition, I would wide body it and immediately change the wing mirrors…
Just before the new provincial art project statue thingy bridging the halves of the old MSU campus. Said thingy will probably be the subject of a future post.
Thailand, where old Japanese trucks go to thrive once again.
@ Maha Sarakham University old campus