4evermaat

I recently purchased TOT 6Mbps/1Mbps line. It's pretty good so far, but I don't have plans on tossing my CAT wireless connection either. So I did some google searches to find out about sharing multiple internet connections simultaneously to see if it can be done. Didn't see anything at thaivisa so I figured I'd give it a shot here. I would prefer software solutions or operating system tweaks. But hardware solutions are also welcome. I would prefer mac solutions, but I have a windows laptop also. Either or both solutions are welcome. The original plan was to just have one connection for one computer to download files, and then the other connection for browsing. But seeing the speed of the ToT, I would like to get the most out of my connection.

What exactly does this receiver do?

http://www.wifi4you....=ALFA%20NETWORK

Unfortunately their checkout page is in Thai so I have not been able to order.

Maybe thai friend can help?

I had the sprint version of the 8830. It comes unlocked already for the GSM part of it. So just put a sim card in and you should be good to go. If the network settings are not set to "Auto", then you may have to manually select the GSM network.

sometimes if the text message is not from the same carrier or whatever reasons, it will come in as +66 123456789 instead of 0123456789. I had no problem using the reply button to send. It does get tricky trying to identify some numbers. So you can update the international prefix and stuff in the call options menu.

If you try the sim card and you cannot get it to work, then maybe it was locked by verizon and you may need to get it unlocked. There's a guy called dr mobile who can do it over the internet remotely. it will require data cable and download of specific software to bridge the phone to the computer and then through a network.

http://www.coolunloc...d_internet.html

He appears to know his stuff very well and is experienced in unlocking phones. 290 to unlock, 390 to unlock and put thai font, 200 for thai font only.

I put thai language font on the phone, and it cost 200 baht. He has instructions to deposit to several banks. email the receipt or tell him the date/time of deposit, then setup an appointment and it takes probably 10 minutes to complete everything on your laptop or internet shop. Other mobile shops in Patong were asking 500 b on up. When I mention that I only pay 200 baht, they give you that surprised look. The same look some tour operators give me when I tell them how much I paid for a specific tour. "Wow [you're not supposed to get that local price]"

The thai language enables you to read thai text in browser and SMS msg. You cannot write thai, but you can use a translater and copy the thai symbols into a text message. Sometimes, you must take a previous text message and "reply" or "forward"

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The new version of the Galaxy S, sometimes referred to as the SL, has an LCD screen, which may be fine, hence the lower price point. (Samsung switched super amoled lines over to the larger screen for the S2.) The Galaxy Cooper has a 3.5" version of this screen and looks pretty good; and the smaller size makes it a bit more portable and probably offers better battery perfomance. Still, not having a 850 Mhz 3G radio is a drawback as you cannot use True.

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The cooper has long battery life. I was able to play games on wifi and play audiobooks for 3-4 hours before being prompted to plug in charger. It's longer if you use EDGE. Playing music continuously you can get maybe 7-8 hours or more, as long as you keep the screen off. It does a good job of keeping the screen off during phone calls. The top 2 things that burn battery are screen on and wifi/phone signal use. The standby time is excellent. Maybe 2-3 days of near-zero use and the battery was still at over 1/2. But with all smartphones, the best thing is to leave it in a charger overnight. Also try to plug it in whenever it is just sitting and playing music or other autonomous function. This avoids you having to worry about having juice when you need to go all of a sudden.

Does the new Galaxy S have all 3 3G radios?

Thanks Darrel. Your help is much appreciated.

Anyone like the look of this one below?

Samsung Galaxy Mini / S5570 : 5,990 baht

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This was one of the newer lines of Galaxy series. It is about 1-2 steps down from the cooper. But to save the 3-4000 baht from the cooper, you have to sacrifice a smaller, and less sharp display, less memory and processing power. The camera....does it have flash? Manufacturers go out of their way to ensure they remove one key feature in a phone to make the decision making process "hard". In 2011, we still don't include a basic flash on a phone? And the outer color of the phone.

There's also the acer b140

I always disliked that kind of manufacturing practice. Basically you purposely cripple a product in order to make people upgrade later or perform more maintenance work.

A good example of this in the software field is skype disabling 3G connectivity in the USA.

Well, one thing you need to consider is who will use the phone also. When you buy it in Thailand or surrounding countries, there will usually have multiple Asian languages as well as english (US/UK or somethimes both like with the Samsung Cooper).

The language options on my (flashed) Blade include about 40 languages and several different scripts including Thai.

Sounds good, although i agree with lomatopo; a mod shouldnt be necessary unless it consists of a manufacture language pack or other upgrade.

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The developer, hobbbyist and enthusiast community associated with this model is quite large, which came as a surprise to me.

You areeither a tech geek, or a serious cell phone hobbyist.

There's always a new something coming out in a couple of months. How long do you wait?

+1

I think that this phone is an excellent choice for anyone visiting the UK or expecting visitors from the UK any time soon.

It has to beat paying 10,000B here.

Well, one thing you need to consider is who will use the phone also. When you buy it in Thailand or surrounding countries, there will usually have multiple Asian languages as well as english (US/UK or somethimes both like with the Samsung Cooper).

In some cases it's easy to add language packs, but not necessarily.

definetly selective hearing with the thai GF. And to test whether she can hear and understand what I say, I try to rephrase it into terms she can understand. "Maybe I lose my ATM card...." "Maybe I not have money next month." Her hearing aid seems to be on full blast then!

All this poor guy is asking is where and how can he meet a decent ,everyday thai girl to take out on a date and maybe get to know!

i've seen this answered many times before on here without all this crap you're throwing at this harmless guy...jeez...give him a break.

Op..go to thaimusings.com..heaps of answers there.

I have to agree on Ian in that the OP never clearly defined what he was looking for. He did state he did not want a party/bar girl, which is a start. Using a generic term like "good girl" can mean different things to different people. So it would help to find out more about the expectations the OP has, short and long term.

One important question is how much per month can you set aside for this woman monthly? Will she live with you? I'm not aware of a woman that does not have a price, and that's anywhere in the world. I think if you have at least 6000 baht/mo, you shouldn't have a problem KEEPING her.

If OP knows thai, even just a little bit, just walk around and I'm sure you'll find some "good girls" to talk to. I think the massage shops (professional ones) are good. Any mall, food, or bank will have a bunch of women working there. I've always liked the uniforms of the ladies in the eyeglass shops.

There was also a website "retire on 550 a month" which has a Thailand introduction service, targeted at retirees but anybody considering living in thailand are welcome. They are based in chang mai, and they have a non-bar girl introduction service. Not totally online. You get to meet with the ladies in person.

Dont know if there is an introduction service like that in Bangkok, but I already had a butterfly of a friend who schooled me on the art of meeting thai women without lying and without drinking alcohol or going to bars. He's not a bar person either. I was having such an fun time in Phuket, I never bothered with the "retire on 550 a month" service.

There is an online health food store servicing all of Thailand. They have a good selection of items that are hard to find here and that I have not seen elsewhere.

No maple syrup but some other great ingredients like a sugar - free vanilla extract for example. Even the 100% natural Schillings junk has corn syrup.

http://www.goodkarmathailand.com

Villa indeed does have like 3 maple syrups from Canada. Will check prices next time I am there.

I ended up making 2 trips to bangkok. Villa Market is definetly a stopping point you want to make and pick up all the stuff you cannot get locally. Villa ships as well.

Maple syrup, there is a wholesaler called bangkokdynamics.com that will also ship maple syrup to your door. But you'll need a thai speaker to assist you in ordering.

In this thread one TV member has this model. I also know several people who have it, and I have used one extensively, albeit on a AIS/One-2Call/2G network. It is a great phone; I highly recommend it as one the best mid-range Android smartphones. I like the style, design, look, size, weight, feel, screen. Battery life is fantastic, much better than my Captivate. The camera with flash is also great. It has Android 2.2.1, and the sliding Thai keyboard is cool. Some Thais think the virtual keypad is harder to use than the Blackberry.

+1. I guess I'm the guy that has the phone, lol. My girlfriend confirmed that the thai keyboard on this model is much better than the one on her imobile 3g 8500 (which is android 1.6). I like the english keyboard and the ability to easily switch between keyboard languages.

The cooper definetly lives up to the hype. Stable with the multifunction. Excellent camera, although I wish it were a little quicker in the autofocus. I haven't had to use k-9 mail, but i'm sure non-google email program would work just fine.

I wouldn't mind getting another one for ~9000 for her, or when I upgrade my phone.

One of the hesitations of purchasing the 20,000 phones is, will you really use everything it offers? You can get a really good windows laptop (maybe quad-core or more, with 4gb ram, decent video card, thin, light, etc. for that price. When dual core smartphones become the norm with 1 gb minimum ram, then i think the 20k will be easier (not fully) to justify.

FWIW, on some Thai forums there are widespread reports of serious problems with this model. Most seem to be regeretting the decision to purchase. As with all forums, you tend to get the whiners and complainers, while those who are satisfied have other things to do. YMMV.

Depends on what they are complaining about. Was it software or hardware failures? is it the same problems?

In my final decision, was worried about the quality control of the unit. Did they rush out the unit to compete at the upcoming mobile expos?

The new Motorola Atrix 4G looks like the hottest hardware platform currently available. Additionally it does have 850 Mhz (for True) and 2100 Mhz (for TOT/MVNOs) 3G radios. Dual-core, 1GB RAM, qHD screen. Wow.

Unboxing video

The Dell Venue also looks to be a decent phone with 850 Mhz/2100 Mhz 3G radios.

Motorola Atrix 4G Is it released in Thailand? I want that phone. How much is it?

i would recommend DragonSoft's Live Holdem Pro. 24/7 FREE texas holdem tournaments or ring games. Good speeds with slower Edge connections.

One application to avoid is any kind of task manager or task killer. Do not install any of these as they cause far more problems than they solve.

You got my attention with that comment. Did some digging and now have a better understanding of "under the hood" of Android. Prior to 2.0 they were useful tools but since, memory management has taken leaps on Android. At the time I installed it everyone was highly recommending it.

After looking at these topics, I will be removing it from my Desire.

Android Task Killers are Dead—Here's What You Should Be Doing

Android Task Killers Explained: What They Do and Why You Shouldn't Use Them

FAQ: Why You Shouldn't Be Using a Task Killer with Android

So, thanks for the heads up.

Hmmm. I think the newer androids task manager has integrated task manager that can kill all programs. And 2.2.1 has the RAM cleaner as well. But skype was stubborn to die. I forgot if I had to use my 3rd party task siller or the built-in manager to do the job.

TOT3G has improved a lot recently, in quality and coverage. I'm getting about 3.5mbi/1mbit pretty much everywhere i go nowadays.

Isn't there a contract to use TOT3G wireless? I would love a prepaid plan with them. Their hourly or half-hour cards are expensive imo.

I've heard very good things about Droidslator. Was going to download it but it asks permission to see my personal data including my contacts. I can't see any goof thing about that except to spam my contacts. What has been your experience?

I've had Droidslator on my Desire for some time now without problems. It has SMS access integrated into it and probably why the contact list permission is required.

Maybe I will test this app. How does it compare with google's own Google Translate?

I have seen this in recent mobile expo at Queen Sirikit. But for 9900 Baht I will go for Samsung or HTC android phone.

+1. I almost bought one at the expo. what made me get the samsung galaxy cooper was, among other things, the ability to have support in "English" after I bought the phone. Support in multiple locations in thailand, and I wanted to be reasonably sure that I wouldn't have too many problems with the phone after i bought it. Plus upgrading to a newer firmware would be less hassle. So since they dropped the price on the cooper to 9100, and the free extras, I confirmed with my lady that the samsung was the better option. The screen is smaller than the A99, but the interface is flawless.

The A99 phone looked beautiful, and was light-weight. I didn't play with the keyboard. So you or your spouse should thoroughly check the keyboard and other functions you will use to see if it is ok. One positive thing I can say about Welcomm is that they don't just give up on their phone after they release it, they will issue a firmware update if the hardware can support it. iMobile tends to only focus on hardware support at their stores and will give you the blank stare if you ask for newer firmware. Another positive thing is that Wellcom seems to want to keep up with their competitors hardware wise. After the i858, iMobile has been really slacking with their upcomming models.

The A86 was also a good budget android phone . Maybe some of the shops will still offer 2 A86 for 10,000 baht. If it had a flash, i probably would have bought one.

If you do end up getting the A99, come back and tell us about it.

I recommend one I just bought - Talking Thai English dictionary.

http://www.word-in-t...tiphone_ov.html

Doesn't have speech recognition, but it has a very fast search function, and has the "word in word" feature which I like - it tells you what other Thai words a Thai word is made up from. It also has pronunciations for all words

It's $25 but it's very well made and well worth it IMO, considering it's way better than any of the electronic talking dictionary products you can buy, and also cheaper.

By the way: Even if there is one that has speech recognition, if the Apple iPhone voice control feature is any indication it won't work very well. Chances are typing in words is going to be way faster. Talking Thai I mentioned above, you type words, and it matches as you type so you usually only type the first 3 or 4 characters until you find what you're looking for.

How does this compare with google translate? I don't use voice recognition, as that's usually not good anyway. I type and get suggestions and google translate is usually 90% on the mark.

Maybe I will get an android version of this.

Yesterday evening, my macbook power cord finally gave out, and my applecare warranty just expired 2 months ago. So I made yet another trip to bangkok to see how to remedy that.

One thing my friend said is correct: you just have to walk around the whole mall at least once to shop around. Deals are there, but you have to look for them.

There seems to only be 3 or 4 apple authorized sellers/repair facilities. One of them was closed for counting inventory (??) and the others were out of stock. Everyone else is selling copys; some will admit it, some will not. I guess people will make a dollar however they can, but jeez.

How do you know it's genuine?

- Does it have the apple ouside packaging exactly like it would if you bought it in an apple store?

- Are they listed on apple's website as being an authorized repair center or authorized reseller?

- Ask if you can repair at any apple store, or only their store.

- Does the person say "I'll be right back....I check with my friend to see if he has in stock...wait here....no no, no need to follow me, wait here."

I ended up getting the copy adapter (60 watt) from IT Family for 1600 baht (M floor). The genuine adapter I think was 3300 baht and it would have taken 3-5 business days to order new. Funny i was thinking of getting the copy, but one of the genuine resellers actually told me to go to the M floor for the copy adapter 1/2 price, unless you want to go outside the mall and find the iStudios that might have some originals in stock. There may have been 1 lady on the first floor (before M floor) in a real small Apple-looking reseller shop that had genuine parts that said 2500 baht for the 85 watt charger. But I didn't see it on display. I thought about it and decided to take my chances with the copy. I still think 1600 baht was kind of high for the copy. Oh well. It was either buy the charger, or throw out the macbook.

I also ended up buying a windows laptop Acer dual core for a backup just in case as I do not like to be in that "no working computer" situation again. 7000 baht very good deal for a used laptop with all those features. Surprised there aren't a whole ton of used laptops at that place (windows or mac). The majority of the vendors were selling new laptops.

Overall I was impressed at the amount of computer electronics available. Make sure you take your laptop there with you and test the accessory if possible right there to verify compatibility.

I can confirm that there is a cheaper option. Bangkok Dynamics is 50-200 baht cheaper depending on which bottle you get. They claim to be the local importer and everyone buys from them. And they have the whole selection of Turkey Hill maple syrup. Here's what you should know:

1) They don't reply to english speaking emails (regardless of how many times they say they will check and get back to you.). You will need your thai friend to call in to order for you. I find that odd, because their website has only english, no thai.

2) They don't update their stock on their website. So they carry lots of stuff, but you wouldn't know if you didn't call. I guess faxing could work also, but a phone call followup doesn't hurt.

3) Having the maple syrup bottle with thai labeling from villa market helped the girlfriend communicate what I wanted.

4) Request EMS shipping. Insist that they ship it before 12:00 noon the next day after you deposit the finds into their account. It is not expensive. Also insist that they give you the tracking # after they ship.

5) Follow up on shipping day around 9 or 10am (the day after you pay) to make sure they ship the items.

330 baht for the same bottles I was paying 419 or 450 for at villa. I really want to know if that maple leaf looking one is really 702 baht. The shipping for EMS was reasonable. Who knows, maybe if I buy more, I could knock it down more. But I ordered 5 bottles. I eat a lot more pancakes now.

but 330 baht for 250ml is good. Still expensive, but it's a BIG leap forward from 600 baht for 300 ml

I've never used traveller's cheques, but will look into them to top-up my cash.

I should imagine that exchange booths would not deal in TCs however, but it is no more trouble going into a bank.

No problem at the local bank exchange booths. The non-bank exchange booths do not typically cash TCs.

Depending on how you aquire your traveler's checks, you will pay 1-2% transaction fee for the checks WHEN THEY ARE ISSUED. I paid 1.5% of the total amount from a hawaiian bank. Then you will also pay about 1% when you go to an exchange booth. So the "safety" of not walking around with all cash comes at a price. So make sure you use the highest denomination possible. Some banks will only issue bigger denominations in a book/set of traveler's checks. In other words, if a book of $100 checks come in $500 set, then you must buy in $500 incriments. Check the bank you will buy travelers cheques from what their policies are.

I would put $1,500.00 in travelers checks to pay to the hospital and bring $200.00 in cash to live on. This will leave you $100.00 in your account in case you need it later, in which case you can use your ATM card at any bank. The Bank will charge you 150 baht (about $5.00) per transaction plus whatever your credit union charges you for overseas transaction (2% most of the time). You can save the 150 baht charge if you find an Aoen Bank with a ATM for withdraws as they (they are the only ones) don't charge a fee.

The surgical work here is very good but as anywhere else in the World their is always a small chance for complications. Keep that in mind and budget a little extra money for it just in case.

Good luck on the surgery.

Look at what the cash advance fees are on your debit card. If they are zero, consider walking into a bangkok bank and doing a counter cash advance transaction.

Consider opening an account with USAA or other military-friendly bank/credit union. They usually very friendly towards overseas transactions (no atm fees, no or low foreign transaction fees, overseas branches)

Honestly though, as much as we can bi**h about the atm fees, it's the simplest, most straightforward way to get your hands on your money. Do your best to increase your limit at your home bank as high as you can (you can usually phone in a temporary limit increase or fax/hand to teller a request for permanent increase--verify BEFORE you leave these things are possible). The more times you have to re-insert your ATM card into the machine, the more fees. And the ATM exchange rate (TT rate) is usually the best rate anyway. Use this site to compare daily and intraday rates http://bankexchanger...et/default.aspx

when I visit Thailand I bring cash.I don't bring over 10,000.I also have an account with kasikorn bank.Once you open A bank account with thailand you can transfer money into it and use your atm card for the operation.But ya need to come to thailand to open A bank account.

+1. Same with bangkok bank. Then in the future, you could just wire your funds over. Or to save additional money, use ACH and just send your funds electronically to your thailand bank account. That is the cheapest, and most economical way. It would take about 2-5 business days.

Or you could just bring, say, $500 with you, and then wire over the other $1300. An international wire would cost you $40 usd? + thailand incoming bank fees? Might be worth it.

You could western union or moneygram the money to yourself. But I think their fees are like 5-10%; tiered to be cheaper the more you send.

Paypal is another option. Once you are here, open a paypal account and then pay yourself from your paypal account in the states or elsewhere. Then transfer to local (thailand) bank account.

But bringing cash, TCs, ATM, doing a counter cash advance at bangkok bank, or western unioning the money to yourself are going to be the most straightforward approaches without requiring any additional effort on your part when you get to thailand.

The cheapest? You'd have to do the math. Bringing all the cash with you would be cheapest (bring 100-50 bills only, NO COINS).

The atm charging 2% may not be that bad, if you can increase your ATM limit to 1000 a day or more. Then find an atm that allows 25000 baht or 30000 baht or even higher. Then do your best to pull out 2 x 25000 baht typical atm max limit + 2 x 150 baht per transactions would be appx $825 USD per transaction or $1649 for the two. 2% of that would be appx $33. 33 + 5 + 5 = $43 which is 2.6% of the total $1649 transaction. If you used a military/overseas friendly bank atm card, even cheaper.

TCs you will pay 1-3% for them to be issued from your home bank. Then once in thailand, 33 baht ($1.10) PER check. So using at least $100 denominations is a must for maximum savings. so 1% when you come. The "better" exchange rate is more than wiped out by these fees, but again, you must do the math for yourself. And balance perceived safety of funds vs cost of carry.

A psychological savings may come with using TCs is that by having to physically cash each check, it may prevent you from spending all your funds on the first girl you see or the first day you are here. A built-in money management type of thing.

I hope all this helps.

I have come across this before as well. The statements your own branch can print for you has name and account number only. No address. Dont understand it also.

Photoshop anyone? Although I agree that one should be able to walk into the branch and get this done.

I just recently did an address change and it's going to take 5 business days because it has to be done at the corporate office. She had to take about 10 minutes to look for the correct forms (I guess not many people change their address). I asked the teller "Is it like this everywhere in thailand?"

Is there a reason for this separation of provinces thing. Is it a law? Lack of infrastructure? I cant do it online. Or at the atm. Perhaps I could initiate the request online, and then go to an ATM to complete verification? Then I have to remember to accept people and things just as they are, and then make a choice. But my reasoning mind does still wonder what's the deal with the separation of provinces thing.

I just confirmed that Bangkok Bank in Chumphon can do cash advance for a foreign debit/credit card, at least with a visa logo (ocean mall). There appears to be no minimum amount (I asked). Great way to avoid the ATM fee. Of course, this only works well if your bank does not charge for cash advances. This varies from bank to bank. The exchange rate appeared to be the usual bangkok bank rates.

Every bangkok bank that has the cash advance swipe machine should be able to do it (most do). Make sure you bring your passport. They will make copy and make you sign it, and you also sign the receipt for the cash advance. Then tell the nice teller how you want your funds denominated.:jap:

In patong (junceylon), I walked into the Kasikorn bank and they said they could do it initially, but then they saw that my card said debit and insisted that it was impossible. I attempted to explain that foreign debit cards are not the same as some of their debit cards and that it is possible. I told them they could try. They escorted me out of the bank and pointed to the ATM machine.

There is an auction in Surat Thai regularly.. But higher prices and less stock than the bangkok auctions run by the same people.

So I guess similar to electronics, Bangkok is the place to go?