Well I am in part agreement with Darren above.. Its not secret I have been debating the risk of trying a temp import toy car, and as its something I would be stuck with for a while, and have to work to keep on temp import status, the balance of performance v service needs v practicality etc is one I have been giving way too much thought to. My fears are less the road quality and more who is going to diagnose and turn off a warning light or deeply understand the car to correctly diagnose an issue.
I looked at a lot of 911s (996) from the UK and came within a hair of pulling the trigger on a gen 2 3.6l 996 that was very nice with a host of subtle but appealing upgrades and mods. But I am actually glad I didnt jump on it as despite it being a car my heart would love, with only one porsche service center down in bangkok, a fairly high set of service needs and probably HUGE bills should anything dramatic happen (early 996s the 3.4l are known to be a slightly weak engine from a reliability point of view) and it adds up to a highish risk when really, flash factor aside, I could have nearly as much fun in a BMW 330 coupe at 1/5th the cost.
As a Thai car is likely to get more trashed and lack experienced service techs I looked at a lot of BMW530ds to be really practical, but I want more hoon factor.. Keep coming back to z4s especially the z4m which seems great value and that straight 6 BMW engine is one that takes a lot of abuse and doesnt have a reliability rep. Plus barcelona motors can do basic work up here. Looked at M5s and M3s. Looked at 2nd Gen Audi TT RS's (still quite strong money in comparison) even manual SLKs but they might be a bit soft. Run myself around in circles getting confused and sort of gave up.
But as Darren points out, in the UK with its camera culture everywhere you simply cannot drive fast anymore on the rd and keep your license, here sure theres variable rd surfaces and a nice car will get stone chipped and if its really sport suspended the ride will be harsh in some places.. But the rds around nan are as we know amazing, the R12 through nam neo over towards udon and the rd to utaradit is another roller coaster. You can drive hard, you can push the car, you can overtake and get to the limits of traction. Basically you can still drive a performance car here hard in places and use it as it was intended.
If I could find an old RWD ricer project car, RX7, nissan 200sx or 300, old skyline, etc etc with a Thai registration.. I wouldnt mind spannering it as part of the fun and having it as a pure toy car, playtime only, stripped out and not suitable for day to day use. Go to some track days down south.. But theres so little on the Thai market at say sub 500k that fits that idea. In the UK cars like that are dime a dozen, couple of grand gets these things. Here its mega money. I dont really care what it looks like, I am a lot less driven by the image factor then I am a strong, solid RWD platform to use for playtime. My buddy restores old fords and has a stripped out mexico that he does gymkhana meets with in bangkok. Looks like such fun.