briley

Can I sum up a little? This post is going the right way, but via Chaing Rai at times!

TOT's ADSL is 500 baht per month for 256Kb/s download (128Kb/s upload). They subscribe you to a company that gives you the service. You pay TOT and nobody else but if you have a problem you can phone this other company to get it fixed.

With ADSL you do NOT pay to dial up - it is an always connected service. Even if the connection fails it re-connects itself and you do not pay - not even 3baht. This makes it very competative in Chaing Mai, after all dial up for half an hour a day and you spend 100 baht on calls and about 200 baht for the card - to have always on for 200 baht more and (even if theoretically) fast service is a bargin. There are no time limits or data limits at all on the TOT service - the only limit is the speed. Compare this with say the UK, many connections only give 1 Gig of data month and charge 150 baht a Gig over that limit.

To connect you use a different modem than for dial up and it costs more. The choice is either a USB modem (cheapest option) or a Router Modem that plugs into your LAN socket on the computer, looks like a telephone socket but has 8 instead of 6 wires. There are technical advantages to a router. Both types work virtually automatically under windows XP. A USB modem has to be told to conect when you switch the computer on in the morning, a router automatically connects and allows you to use more than one computer on the ADSL link - ie they are networked together.

You do not use a cable modem, that is a different beast all together.

If TOT have the equipment they will sell you either a USB or router modem at a very reasonable price.

Instalation for some reason takes a week. One visit to check that your line is suitable and then they come back a week later to actually install. May be possible to short cut if you speak Thai!

Contention is a very contentious issue. Almost certainly many people will disagree with me BUT

My understanding is that the ISP has a pipe out of Chiang Mai that can carry 100 Meg of data. They sell you links that can carry up to 1 meg of data. Now if they sell 100 links it is possible for every person to connect at once and get full speed. But most of the time you're reading e-mails so not using your full 1 Meg. To save money the ISP sells 1 meg links to 2,000 people. Now if everyone comes on at once and tries to use their full 1Meg they can't - they can only have 1/20th of that. This is a contenction of 1 to 20. Of course it is unlikely that all 2000 people are trying to download the latest block buster at the same time so normally you get all the speed you want.

Often people think that 20 to 1 means you share with 20 other people and if one of those people are greedy you suffer. In fact you share with a few thousand people and if only a few are greedy then there isn't a major problem. Most ISP's look out for greedy individuals and force them onto mosre expensive links.

What you should find is that direct file downloads from a site, say McAfee updates, come at almost top speed. But getting web pages does depend upon how fast the web page server sends you the information. Some are very slow. Listening to the radio over the web is the same, often the server sending you the information is overloaded so you get stuttering on the sound. I find that web pages don't come any faster on ADSL than dial up. Radio is normally better quality and less interuptions. File downloads fly along.

Useful?? I'm not going to read it all through again so I hope there are no errors............

500 baht a month for tot ADSL 'always on' internet access at the chaeapest level plus 1000 baht connection (but often offers waiving that). You also need to buy an ADSL modem for your computer.

No problems using any dial up if the ADSL fails provided you keep a modem in the computer.

Incidentally 2 months on TOT and I am very happy.

Bird flu was last year and gave us free eggs - mind the cheapest I got was 1 baht an egg.

And I know the price of eggs in the UK - but the UK egg price has been reasonably static over the last 2 or 3 years. And other contries egg price should, presuably, have little or nothing to do with the price in Chaing Mai.

And the current egg price is nearly double that before the bird flu.

Hence my wonder as to why the price has gone up so much? Must be causing problems for Thai's especially thos providing roadside food at the fixed 10 or 20 baht price.

Mark

This time last year they gave eggs away, but when they weren't eggs in the market were about 15 baht for 10.

In November they had crept up to 20 baht for 10

Yesterday they were pushing 30 baht for 10 (actually 29)

Anyone any clue what is causing this rampant inflation? - not sure I'll be able to enjoy an egg with my imported bacon soon

Mark

I was wrong.

Just been to the local police station and yes they'll supply the information for £10, but not in time for my departure. I'm about to find out if they will send the reply to me in Thailand. Fingers crossed.

Mark

That was a fast reply..................!

Will be applying in Chiang Mai - already have a non-imm O in my passport and travel back next week.

I know that the UK police will not give anyone information about your criminal record, not even yourself!

Mark

My old'ish information says you need a criminal record in home country to get a retirement visa - assume that means letter to say no criminal record.

Has anyone ever had to produce this?

Feel that in the UK it will be very hard to get this sort of letter from the police.

On a second point, I assume that if I go for the retirement visa my UK wife can get a non-imm O visa without our both having to have 800,000 Baht?

Thanks

Mark

Just heard about a fire in the 103 condo block 4 - up near CMU behind Dunking Doughnut - in Chiang Mai. I've got an appartment there but am currently in the UK.

Anyone with any information? Gather my place is OK but am interested in details.