After long deliberation, I finally decided to purchase a compact brand-new car in Thailand.

The car is Toyota Yaris 1.5 G-Limited. In Japan, this model is called "Vitz" and has been the most popular car over the last two months in the Japanese market.

The pricing in Japan for Vits is as cheap as just 110,000 Yen or US$ 10,000, but the price here in Thailand is almost doubled (750,000 Bahts or US$20,000). It's a quite embarrassing price for an expatriate Japanese living in Thailand.

I have been reluctant to buy a car in Thailand before, because my house is located at a convenient location near BTS Sky Train station. Plus, cars are outrageously priced due to the 200 percent tax for imported automobile parts.

So why did I buy such a "fancy" car? I have several reasons for this...