wump

Have you got yours already? How bad is the bad pixel density?

This is one of the best pieces I've read in a long time.

I was so happy to make the change and come back to Thailand. I had forgotten how much I missed being in a happy place and feeling safe.

Why not just buy them at official Samsung shops? I doubt they will be much cheaper in local shop. Plus, you need to buy from a proper shop to claim VAT which gets you another 1040 Baht off the price.

On another forum someone just pointed out that the Sony Xperia Z Ultra ist much better:

Full HD, only 6 mm (!) thick, can write on it with anything and waterproof, 2.2 Ghz quad core, also has a big screen (6.4"). But it only gets released in September or so. That is why I gonna get the Mega first and then maybe sell it on Ebay back home (the RRP in here is 200$ less than the cheapest price online for the 16 GB version back home) and try out the Xperia Z Ultra.

The pixel density on the Mega is about the same as on the S2. Compared to the S3 I remember the S2 having really big pixels. I hope this won't be annoying all the time.

Will anyone make one you can read in Sunlight, i hate the Dam things.Designed for Moles. Cant they coppy Aircraft Displays. . Those idiots who show you Pics on their Mobile, when your outside need a Doctor.

I hear you should be able to read in sunlight with the Mega as it is a LCD display, not AMOLED.

Btw available now in Pattaya too at 14,900.

Your link just links to this page?

Okay just called another Samsung branch in Bangkok, its 14,900 for the 16GB version, which is pretty cool (but they only got 2 in stock?)

Samsung just answered in Facebook that the official launch is today in Bangkok and nearby areas

Hi guys,

update: According to the Facebook page, the official launch in the Philippines is tomorrow. So I called the Samsung shop in Terminal 21 (Asoke BTS).

They do have the Mega 6.3 but they say it is 17,900. Isn't that a bit pricey?

For this price I could get a VEGA No. 6 shipped from Korea via Ebay... the size is only slightly smaller but the specs are far superior (Full HD, Quad Core, 13 MP Camera, 32 GB internal memory vs. 720p, Dual Core, 8 MP Camera, an 8/16 GB internal memory)

Comparison here

There is also really cool videos on Youtube. What do you guys think?

Edit: Called Samsung in Central Festival Pattaya, they say they don't have it yet, but it should be there in a week. Price should be 14,900 he says

I sent an email to Samsung Thailand and their reply was "check with the shop" and they sent me a list of all (?) Samsung branches in Thailand. Should I call them all?

So are these grey-market Megas actually physically available anywhere?

At this price it's insta-buy for me. Where where where someone tell me

I've been looking for the Galaxy Mega everywhere in Pattaya... seems all the shops don't even know it exists? Not even the Samsung shop would help me out.

Also, the cheapest price for the Note 2 in here seems to be 16,900 (the Mega should come with this price tag as well). I would consider the Note 2 for 14K but I don't think any shop in here will do this price (the small shops still want 17,900 for it and 21,900 for the S4 which is 19,900 in the Samsung shop)

I would appreciate if someone could tell me any shop (in Bangkok too) where I can buy the Mega (also, what's their price?).

Sounds fun. I don't suppose anyone blew off the overpriced visa scam, and got their visa at the border for the regular price?

There is no such thing as a regular price at the border and even though there is a sign "20$" most people will still pay 1,000 Baht (plus another 100 Baht if you didn't bring a passport photo).

Mind you, last time the bus company tried to scam us for 1,400 Baht and they succeeded with everyone else on the bus. They were pretty angry that me and my mate wouldn't take their "service" and said they would not wait for us at the border. Well, it all takes ages anyway so got on the other bus in the end .

On a recent trip to Koh Kong a friend of mine got away with 20$ plus 100 Baht for the visa (used to be very bad down there).

Does anyone have the coordinates of where this is, as I can't find it on Google maps, or on my Garmin GPS?

thanks

It's located on the narrowest stretch of Thailand on the east coast near the town of Prachuap: http://goo.gl/maps/qi1cm

It's a very good road that has been newly paved 2 years ago or so.

If it was raining and I would be in some random bar on 2nd road I probably wouldn't be, otherwise I think it makes sense to always ask for the menu. In Phuket there is quite a few places where Chang is more expensive than Singha and the price difference between the different small bottles can be as much as 80 baht: Stuff like Heineken 80 Baht, San Miguel 160 Baht etc.

Still your points don't justify hiking the price up 4 times as much as these other bars who by the way have been there for years and years. After all, they would have to pay tea money in approx. the same range since they employ bar girls and aren't too far from the other places and most of them are also Western-owned.

I don't know how much you pay for your electricity but the last time I checked mine it was 3.5 Baht/kWh. A normal A/C unit uses 0.9 kW per hour, or about 3 Baht, so even if your bar has A/C and you have a few units in a month it won't add up to more than the salary of a single girl.

160 Baht for a beer in some random beer bar on the street (was it Second Road?) is just outrageous and just taking the piss. I didn't say a beer should cost 40 but was pointing out that apparently some places do charge that and I didn't know how prices higher than 80 or 90 could be justified. Pattaya is not Phuket and even there you are generally not paying more than 100 for a Singha on Soi Bangla, excluding gogos and discos.

In my friend's defense he didn't actually know what he was getting. He just thought that he is paying to get an extension, gave his passport to some random guy that was recommend by him and received it back a couple of days later with the extension.

This was in some major tourist resort by the sea. And no, I'm not my friend .

Thanks for your replies. You are probably right. What I find strange is that they would hand out 3 months in advance for medical reasons and that not a single question was asked afterwards.

Also, what would have happened if they had asked what it was for? He didn't know what he signed for so I guess he would have gotten into major trouble then?

I have seen it with my own eyes today: A friend of mine has only got a normal entry stamp at the airport (no visa) and he told me he paid 10,000 Baht to some middle man who got him a three month extension. Now the extension is just the normal stamp that you get with a normal visa ("Foreigner can stay in the kingdom until ... or will be deported etc").

I can assure you (I wouldn't believe it myself) that there is ONLY the entry and exit stamp in the passport (which is brand new), there is no other stamps, visas whatsoever so this 3-month extension must be real.

He didn't have to leave the country to do that and got no trouble when he left at the airport either. I don't know why they accept an extension in the passport when there is no visa for it. Anyone heard of similar stories?

I did an exchange semester at Chulalongkorn and to be fair I'd have to say that I learned far more than at my Australian home uni. Students and teachers were very accomodating towards foreigners and the uni took every effort to make you feel welcome.

I think you guys are being a bit harsh here and have never seen a Thai uni from inside. After all, Chula is something like 140th best uni in the world (according to Times) and better than most European and Australian unis.

There is a lot of projects and homework involved and you really have to do it or you will fail. In Australia you mostly got by by just reading the text book 2 days before the exam, answering a few M/C questions and never going to lecture. In Thailand there is an attendence requirement and anything under 85% and you fail.

Also, there are a lot of good foreign guest professors from the industry that don't only teach you the text book stuff.

The quality control is an issue we all hope they attend to stricktly.

Just buy an imported American Coca-cola vs the one you get i Thailand. Miles apart.

( Heard a story once, dunno if it's true, but a good story anyhow; the reason why there is no coke can vendor machines in Thailand, should be the punishment handed out to Coca-cola Thailand by Coca-cola, because they fail in getting the taste right. )

The current Vietnam brewed Carlsberg is not pretty bad - but its still stretching it, to call it a Carlsberg..

But Thai's and quality control, is a bit bard to fit into once sentence, without chuckling.

Anyway we will all have to wait and see.

Untrue. There is coke vending machines at a couple of places, especially in Bangkok. Price is usually 14 or 15 Baht, and you can only use coins.

I've just bought a set-top box from thaiexpat.tv for 8,000 baht with a 12 month subscription. There are 8 uk channels streamed live and with 2 time delays. Servers are based in Thailand so a 3mb line does a great job.

The box has a HDMI port, etherenet port and a digital audio if want to listen in surrond sound. It's like an apple tv, with on screen graphics where you use a remote to flick through the channels.

You don't have to have a box, you can use a PC to get the software.

I'm cancelling True as it's too expensive and doesn't have what I want to watch.

Full of amateurishly disguised ref-links. Original links on page one in his post. Ban please!

So is this the same company talking that raised the prices by 30% (10 to 13 Baht) last year for their Tom Yum Cups?

About the MSG: I think salt is a lot more unhealthy. Salt also acts as a flavour enhancer (also fats do), but you need a much greater amount for it. So I believe substituting a larger quantity of salt with a smaller quantity of MSG is actually less damaging for you health.

Where is MSG actually banned? I never heard of that. I just know western consumers don't like to read it on the label, so it gets substituted with yeast extract, which is essentially the same thing. A lot of stuff that we use to make our meals tasty actually contain quite a bit of natural MSG like tomatoes, Parmesan cheese etc.

I think the potential harmful thing with MSG is that it just makes you more hungry and you tend to eat more. But if you can handle this and don't overeat (Thais really aren't that fat) I don't see the problem. I think there was also a controlled study that has proven that the Chinese restaurant syndrome really doesn't exist, except if the quantity of MSG is extremely large, like on the seafood pizzas from The Pizza Company.

But then again, eat an overdose of salt and you also get symptoms like sweating, feeling sick and headaches.

So I assume you would be driving yourself and also returning the vehicle to Phuket? Why not just rent one... it's low season and you are able to book early so you should get the best price. Pickups are usually the cheapest to rent starting from 800 Baht a day for a small 2-seater at a lot of rental places (There is loads around the airport, they probably also deliver to your area and then you could just drop it off at the airport when you fly back to Patts). Alternatively I know a guy in Patong who rents out his large new Hilux 4-seater for 1200-1400 per day during high season, don't know the low season price.