OK. So I'm a hillbilly stuck in Bangkok for four days or so. I went to this big mall called Siam Paragon. They have an 'Auto Gallery' on the 4th floor. I walk in to the Porsche dealer's section (no 997s even, just a base Cayman and this 2002 996TT). I wish I would have taken a pic of the whole car, just for the sake of this thread, but it was nothing special. Totally stock. It was clean. Anyway, you can read all about it here on this piece of paper.

Note: Right now, 1 USD is about 32 Thai Baht. Do the math. WOW.

 

sad to say, the price is about right in this market... i live in Singapore where a Ferrari F430 cost as much as 800k USA

 

That's shocking. If the average income of someone buying a 2002 Turbo in the US was $120k (just guessing) and the car would be $80k (just guessing), what would that mean that the average buyer in Thailand or Singapore made? Is it just that the ratio is the same, or is it just so rare of a thing?

 

Why are so high then?

 

Well, there is no middle class - so average income is out the window as the 5% of the population controls about 85% of the wealth. This would be a drop in the bucket for those 5% and a life time impossibility for the remaining 95%.

I've done some business travel there and the distribution of wealth is simply unbelievable.

 

Taxes in the form of import and registration charges blow the price thru the roof.Thailand is not alone with these types of price distortions.

 

So, not to be uncouth, but we can assume that our Singapore friends on here are BIG ballers then? I mean, none of us are probably hurting, but BIG ballers. I like to understand these things.

 

This supports the broken English answer that the salesman gave me. I didn't understand what he was saying enough to report it here, but your comment is along the lines of what he was saying.

 

Yeah, i heard in Finland is a similar situation...

 

I cant speak for Thailand but in Singapore where I am currently based, the island is so small that cars are actively discouraged by a mix of things. Sales taxes are massive as is the requirement to buy a certificate to use a car for 10 years. Thats right, you can only use a car for 10 years in Singapore (and need to pay around USD20k for that right before you can even put the car on the road) and thereafter have to spend perhaps another USD20k to keep the car on the road for another 10 years, or export the car to countries such as Australia or New Zealand.

A brand new 997tt will cost approx USD510k, my used 2000 996tt will currently cost around USD215k on the second hand market if you want to buy one. And in 2010 I will need to pay another USD20k if I want to continue using it for a further 10 years.

Heck my Volvo XC90 cost me USD178k!

 

Prices in Hong Kong are similarly high ... because of 100% tax on imported cars.

 

I think we just have to save darn hard. Big ballers we are not...

Sad, really.

 

Things are not that bad around here - though a new 997 Turbo is 391k USD with the current rates...

Not in love with the local car taxation...

 

How sick is the food court in the Paragon? Did you check out the Lambo showroom across the way. They had some sick Mucies back in April.

 

Yeah. Actually, they are having some kind of Italian celebration festival right now. So there's all this Italian food, Italian clothes, and Lambos mixed with Maseratis (even the old Spyder) out in the hallways. They had 2 Murcielagos in the hall in the Fashion area and then in their room they had a lone black (and badass) Gallardo. I didn't even make it to the food court, actually.