What motor show would be a motor show without a few funny cars? And the 2009 Bangkok International Motor Show had a few very funny cars. Chinese automaker Chery with the Faira gets my vote for the silliest car of the show.

VW is taking a more serious stab at the Thai market, and chose to show a number of interesting models at this year's Bangkok International Motor Show. But are they actually going to have a hope of selling these cars in Thailand at these prices?

Earlier I gave a brief look at some of the "highlights" from Toyota's floorspace at the 2009 Bangkok International Motor Show. Right across the aisle from Toyota is Honda who seemed more interested in some "Honda Pretty" competition thing, than they did their cars. Anyway that's the way of things at the Bangkok Motor Show, and to be fair Honda needed something to take the attention off the lack of new metal.

Visitors to the 2009 Bangkok International Motor Show will find that Toyota has a "new" Yaris, a Prius II "Prototype" and a 1/X Concept. Exciting!

Now for something a little different. Most people visiting this site are more than a little into cars. And the fact that I've been blogging about them for over 3 years might suggest that I'm also a little car crazy.

Here is a video to help keep things in perspective. There are many things more important than cars, starting with our relationship with Jesus Christ. There is a well known fact that what you drive says something about you. But it might not work exactly the way you think.

Nissan didn't wait for the Bangkok Motor Show to launch the all new Nissan Teana, it has been in Nissan showrooms across the country days ahead of the show. Although I haven't had a chance to drive the Teana yet, here are my first impression from sitting in the car and playing around with everything.

Auto sales in Thailand were 30.7 percent in February than the same month last year. This is the ninth consecutive month of decline and the largest drop since June 2008. Although things are looking quite grim, there is expectation that things will pick up at the end of March when the Bangkok International Motor Show kicks off.

It is no secret that running red lights is dangerous. This video shows some examples of the kind of accidents that can result from efforts to safe a few minutes/seconds at the lights. The video is a compilation of surveillance footage from junctions/intersections around Thailand, and you should be warned that you may find some of the accidents disturbing.

Although most automakers seem to be trying hard to keep a positive attitude in the face of a dramatic slow down in the industry, few are as optimistic as Hyundai Thailand. The company is eyeing 63% growth this year, and is already looking forward to introducing new cars.

Of course Hyundai can realise this 63% growth by achieving sales of just 1,500 units this year, compared to about 900 units in 2008. Hyundai's big seller is the H1, a people mover/VAN that offers good value for money despite coming into the country in CBU (completely built up) form. Hyundai will introduce a freshened up version of the H1, to be kitted out with some extra equipment, at the upcoming Bangkok Motor Show.

The situation for the global auto industry is looking increasingly bleak, and here in Thailand things are no different, with the industry posting sales figures for January that show a drop in sales of almost 30% when compared to January 2008.

Passenger car sales are down by about 10% which isn't actually all that bad. But commercial vehicle sales dipped almost 40% to just 18,558 units.

An email forward has been circulating for a while now, that outlines the locations of the intersection cameras designed to capture images of cars running red lights in Bangkok. Although many criticise governments for using speed cameras, I am less critical of this measure, as there should never be a good reason to run a red light. This practise results in many needless accidents and deaths in Thailand.

Hopefully this measure will prevent some deaths. Please don't ever be tempted to run the red light.

The replacement Nissan Teana is due very soon and more details are starting to appear. Some of these merely confirm earlier speculation (read previous article on 2009 Nissan Teana here.), but there are some interesting details that give us a clear indication that Nissan is attempting to raise the bar in the segment.

When Nissan introduced the Teana, it was a major departure from the styling of the car it replaced, the Cefiro. But more than simply redefine the face of the Japanese automakers flagship sedan, it also marked the start of a brand-wide style change.

If you haven't driven in Thailand you might not be familiar with the whistle blowers that are employed by hotels, department stores, and other businesses to help direct the traffic, and to assist with car parking etc.

As if the sound of a screeching whistle wasn't enough to put you off, the directions given by these whistle blowers is often very confusing, and I often wonder if some of them have ever been behind the wheel of a car.

Do you know the proper technique for jump starting a car with a flat battery? Maybe you do, or maybe you think you do. Either way it can't hurt to read this so that there isn't any doubt.

First, I'd like to dispel a commonly held misconception that connecting a healthy battery to a flat battery can damage the good battery, or the car that it is in.

This is not true. If you do it right it will not cause any harm at all.

The other common misconception is that you need to connect the negative terminals first. This is also bogus. In fact, you connect the positive terminals first!