My86drives

My86drives MY86DRIVES documents everything on my 2012' Toyota 86. I am documenting the journey with the car, discovering Malaysia and making new friends along the way.

Keep it rumbling! MY86DRIVES is owned by Alan Tan.

It's more than one week since my last update on my road trip in the Northeasthern region of Thailand also known as 'Isaa...
19/10/2025

It's more than one week since my last update on my road trip in the Northeasthern region of Thailand also known as 'Isaan'. In my last post, I arrived at Chang International circuit / Buriram Sport Arena. I spent one night in Buriram and then continue east towards Udon Ratchathani. I also made a quick stopover at the recent '7-11 bombed site' along the Thai-Cambodia border. The damaged 7-11 as you can see is being rebuilt.

Arriving at Udon Ratchathani, I have to visit the Siridhorn Dam and Wat Siridhorn which offers a great view to the border of Thailand-Laos. The drives in Isaan region is unlike the drives in Mae Hong Son / Chiang Mai. The vast agriculture lands here are flat so instead of following the shorter route, I've decided to scale along the Mekong River to my next destination, Mukdahan. The most popular attraction here is the Wat Roi Phra Phutthabat Phu Manorom which features a Dragon and Buddha. People come here to make wishes and tie them to branches surrounding the dragon sculpture.

From Mukdahan to Nakhon Phanom, the drive is one of my shortest of around 180km. I was looking forward to this city because it has one of the best riverfront overlooking the land of mountain across the border into Thakhek, Laos. The view is really amazing during both sunset and sunrise. It is also very lively with many cafe, restaurant along the riverfront.

I regretted not staying 2 nights here and the following day is a long drive scaling the rest of Thai-Laos Mekong River from Nakhon Phanom to Bueng Kan to Nong Khai before arriving at Udon Thani.

Bueng Kan offered some of the most unique attraction in this region. I visited Wat Phu Thot, a temple built on a large 'rock' and with several level (6-7 levels) of wooden pathways and stairways taking you one level at one time. I spent about two hours exploring the entire place and it's definitely not for the faint hearted. If you made it to the top, it pays off with some of the best view of Isaan vast landscape.

Arriving at Nongkhai only means that I have driven and mapped the entire Thailand border with Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Malaysia.

Thank you for reading and what's next?


Each year in the month of October, I will travel with my Toyota 86 for week(s) long solo-road trip to wherever the road ...
10/10/2025

Each year in the month of October, I will travel with my Toyota 86 for week(s) long solo-road trip to wherever the road takes me too - Thailand specifically.

This year, the road takes us to Northeasthern Thailand - also known as Isaan. This part of Thailand is along the Cambodian border in the south and Laos border in the northeasthern. As the time of writing, I'm on my 4th day and has driven approximately 2500km from Kuala Lumpur to Buriram.

It is another milestone achieved to drive my Toyota 86 to Chang International Circuit. Although there's no open track day perhaps..another time. Besides the circuit, the other giant in Buriram is their football club - Buriram United. It is very similar to our very own JDT!

If you browse the photographs, you'd notice a picture of a Cathedral - it is located in Chanthaburi (about 3 hours east of Bangkok). It is a very popular landmark and seemingly shares a similiar vibes as Melaka city. Chanthaburi is also a popular place for gemstone and jewellery traders! You can source for uncut gemstones or custom made any shape and style with one of many artisans here.

How about the drive? It's slow and it's flat - in another word, it is boring but I'm here to explore and scale the borders. I drove one section of the road closest to Cambodia border towards Poipet border, it was quiet, eerie and there was no other cars until I bumped into a checkpoint. The officer/ranger spoke only Thai but I could manage with my little Thais.

I told them, I am from Malaysia, driving towards Buriram. GPS took me here. This is my passport, I entered on the 7th from Yala. It was understood, they look around and then asked if I am alone. Well yes! No problem and I drove away. I lied, the GPS didn't took me on this route, I intentionally pick this route because what's an exploration without adventure kann?

Thank you for reading! Wait for the next one!

Green car use green pump!
02/10/2025

Green car use green pump!

The cat found a warm spot underneath the muffler to chill.
19/08/2025

The cat found a warm spot underneath the muffler to chill.

After 10 years of ownership I finally decided to have a reverse camera 😂. Bought the part for over a year, procrastinate...
16/08/2025

After 10 years of ownership I finally decided to have a reverse camera 😂. Bought the part for over a year, procrastinated to install and decided to sort it out.

DIY install took me 3 hours. No delay, just extended because need to trim, extend wires, hide the wires etc.

Now I can reverse with ease.

My front diffuser came off and broke again during Subaru Track Day in Sepang Circuit. This is the second time it came of...
22/07/2025

My front diffuser came off and broke again during Subaru Track Day in Sepang Circuit. This is the second time it came off and my third diffuser in the last 7 years. So this round I've decided to repair it with fiberglass and epoxy.

The fiberglass is an effective way for reconstruction and the epoxy is really good for shaping (it's like plastecine) and hardened when it's dried.

It's a simple DIY and cost me a little under RM50 for all the materials. The new front lip from is around RM350. Am I being frugal? Maybe .... but these thing breaks easily so if it's repairable why throw them away?

Why would anyone pay over RM1400 for a 12v battery? Can add horsepower meh?The answer is no, it won't add horsepower but...
17/07/2025

Why would anyone pay over RM1400 for a 12v battery? Can add horsepower meh?

The answer is no, it won't add horsepower but it immediately shave off 10kg of weight differences from both lead-acid to LFP battery.

Battalion Battery is lightweight, weighing only 4kgs and provides 3 times more cold cranking power - 900CCA but most importantly one of the main reason is I don't use my car very often, it is parked more than it is on the road - my battery weakened over times and I have to replaced them every 18-24 months. You do the maths lor.

Lithium battery has a slow discharge cycle meaning it would stay charged for much longer. LFP battery are said to last 8-10 years. And if the battery decides to drain and you got stuck somewhere - Battalion battery is one of the few brands that comes with a built-in jumper.

What ah?

So there's a button you can press and it will jump start and you can start rolling again.

So is it worth it? First it's light, then more powerful then longer lifespan - oklor

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