One of the first things on my ‘to do’ list when we arrived in Chiang Rai was to find an honest Mechanic.
Khun Narlung – My Trusted Mechanic in Chiang Rai
I have already accumulated a shortlist of trustworthy car / bike mechanics from our 2 years living in Chiang Mai. So it stood to reason that I would begin a new auto adventure as our road trips continued further and further north.
After one day of google searching and forum skimming I came across some written directions for ‘Khun Narlung’. Several expats had already recommended his services and spoken about his trustworthy demeanour. And with the added bonus that he spoke excellent English it was a no brainer that Narlung would be top of my list for Mechanics in Chiang Rai. (Map for Khun Narlungs Workshop)
I followed the forum directions to Narlungs Workshop and ended up parked up in a residential area not far from the Chiang Rai Bus Terminal 2. Narlungs autoshop is actually part of his home but he has a ramp and lift built into his covered driveway, so it is pretty easy to spot.
Me explaining the problems to Narlung
I walked straight in and struck up a conversation with him about our old Ford. Within seconds I could tell he was going to become my go to guy for car repairs. Narlung is ultra friendly and knows a lot about vehicles, he diagnosed several problems that had been eluding other mechanics for over a year and gave me a solid timeline of when the car would be finished. His English was indeed excellent, even going as far as using ‘English’ words like Petrol rather than Gas and Boot/Bonnet instead of Trunk/Hood like most other of my other Thai Mechanic friends would do in American English.
Narlungs English is excellent, which helps when you need things explained in detail
The car had been making several unhealthy knocking noises for some time and I was curious to see if I would finally be able to get them sorted out. Especially because we had another 3000km road trip planned the following week when our friend arrived from the UK.
We decided to leave the car in his capable hands for 3 days while we explored Chiang Rai on our motorcycle. When we returned even Sacha was really impressed at the level of detail he had gone into with the repairs. She immediately felt the difference in the solidity of the car, Narlung had decided to repair the linkage in the gear lever and tightened up other parts of the car that I hadn’t even noticed were wearing out until they had been repaired. He fitted a new bonnet catch for free and welded new supports onto the front Chassis that had cracked over time. On top of that he performed a full service and replaced all the differential oil, Gearbox oil and Engine Oil. The car was more ready for its journey than it had ever been. We were both very impressed at the standard of Narlungs work. He even gave us a bunch of Lychees from his garden when we left the workshop. 🙂
The old Nissan A14 Engine inside our Mk1 Ford Escort
Narlung even specializes in LPG conversions for all types of cars and trucks, Carburetor or Fuel Injection. He uses an Italian branded kit and gave a very reasonable quote to have the conversion done to our escort (Around 18000 Thai baht for Carbs and 30000 Thai baht for fuel injection systems). We are definitely going to return to have the LPG fuel system fitted, as the cost of Petrol has risen rather high over the last few years.
Narlung is a LPG fuel system specialist
All in all I highly recommend Narlung as an honest car mechanic in Chiang Rai, and also as an all round nice guy who takes pride in his work.
Call Khun Narlung on: 0819306033 or 0817837673
Or just pop into his place during the day, he is usually working on a car out front. Tell him J with the old Ford Escort says hi 🙂
Honest Mechanic Chiang Rai Map
View Honest Mechanic Chiang Rai – Narlung (English Speaking) in a larger map
*Other Useful information
The Real Cost of Living in North Thailand – We break down how much we spend in a month
Pet Friendly Hotels in other parts of Thailand? – Looking for Pet Friendly Hotels in other parts of Thailand?
Bringing a dog to Thailand – The ins and outs of Exporting a dog from the UK to Thailand.
Info we have categorized under Pets – Other Posts Related to Edens Dog Life in Thailand. Including cute dog videos and some Pet Friendly Hotel reviews too.
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