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Published on August 1, 2007

He ended up staying and having a family there, and he visits Thailand just once a year, although he follows the news here closely, especially that relating to politics.

Last week, he e-mailed me asking about the political situation, saying the news he was getting made him worried. I told him he should not worry, that he probably feels like that because he has been away for a long time and has lost touch with Thai culture. If he were in Thailand, he would automatically feel there was nothing new to be worried about.

Thailand has developed in many ways since he left, except for politics, which has made no progress at all. No matter from which party, politicians are still the clowns behind the microphones with people laughing and cheering at them, before they are elected to office. Their views are always beneficial to themselves or their parties, so nothing has changed.

The Thai people may have made mistakes in choosing the right politicians, or maybe they misunderstand democracy. That's because of their poor education. On the other hand, most Thai politicians make mistakes or do bad things out of self-interest, or for the good of their party. So in terms of politics, Thailand progresses very slowly.

The next e-mail on that day asked me to comment on cleaning up engines, rather than cleaning up Thai politics. Khun aranya_ps asked how engines should be cleaned and whether using cleaning agents will harm engines.

I am not sure whether she was asking about cleaning the exterior or interior of the engine, so I'll respond to both.

To clean the exterior of an engine, there was a time when water was routinely sprayed on to the engine and it was then brushed or wiped with detergent to remove the grease and dirt. This not only made it clean and shiny, but checking things like the level of the engine oil and the battery was easier.

More recently, foam has become popular instead of water, resulting in higher costs, but a lot of people like it because it makes the engine look really good.

However, engines these days come with a lot of electronics. Just open the engine compartment and check out all the wires in there. It is well known that water and electronics do not mix, despite the fact that manufacturers provide ways of preventing water and moisture from getting into the electrical system. But that is for when the car is being driven in rain or through shallow floods, and not to protect against a direct blast of water being sprayed into the engine compartment.

So it is best not to clean the exterior of the engine by spraying water. Even foam or other chemicals should be avoided. If you really want to clean the exterior of the engine it is better to find someone who really understands the engine and the car's electrical system.

As for myself, I will not risk cleaning my car's engine with water or any chemicals.

If you think your car's engine is really too dirty, dampen a piece of cloth with a mixture of kerosene and water and wipe the dirt off. But be careful with the wires or electrical connections.

 If plugs are loosened or accidentally disconnected the engine may malfunction or you might not be able to start it. Tracing the fault will also be difficult and time-consuming.

As for using flushing oil to clean the interior of the engine, there is no need for this because most engine oils already contain detergents and cleaning agents. If you change the engine oil on schedule and replace the oil filter with one of the required specifications, then the chances of the engine's interior being dirty are very small.

Flushing oil should only be used when the engine oil is seen to take a long time to reach the upper parts of the engine after it is started, or when the flow of engine oil is not smooth and you want to avoid opening the engine to check on the cause. Using flushing oil is only a temporary measure to remove clogs in the engine's oil circulation system.

E-mail your motoring questions to Pattanadesh@nationgroup.com.

Ultimate in Luxury

The Luxury LS 460 is a wonderfully comfaortable car fitted with all mod cons, althoough not necessarily the most fun vehicle to drive.