xandreu

OK, so I've just moved into my new condo which is fantastic. Only problem is, I wanted to hook up my laptop to the TV but can't work out how to do it.

My laptop has HDMI out and DVi out sockets but my TV only has either Auxiliary inputs (I'm not sure what they're called - it's the yellow (video), white and red(audio) round things with one pin in the middle) or it has Composite inputs which I believe is some form of High Def input - they're green blue and red with the letters Y, Ps and Pr next to them respectively.

So - is it possible to buy a lead or a converter which will hook my laptop up to my TV? If so, can I buy one in Chiang Mai? If so, where? And what exactly am I asking for?

PS - I'm not too bothered about an audio signal - I can use separate speakers that if I have to.

Ta

Hi all

I'm moving into a condo at the weekend. First time I've ever rented my own place in Thailand.

When I went to look at it I told the landlady I wanted to set up my own internet connection instead of using the wi-fi for the building. She showed me an Ethernet socket in the wall and said all I have to do is arrange it and it's a simple case of an engineer coming out and switching it on.

This is where I reach the extent of my knowledge about broadband in Chiang Mai.

So firstly, can anyone recommend a fast and reliable internet company? The condo is near the Kad Suan Kaew shopping plaza on Huai Kaeo Road, if location makes any difference. The faster the better.

Secondly, I'm only renting for six months. Will that be a problem? I mean, will I be expected to sign a 1 year contract with the internet company?

Thirdly, does the Ethernet socket plug straight into my computer or can I still use a router? I have 2 computers and an iPhone, so will need to connect both computers to the internet as well as have wi-fi for my iPhone.

Fourthly, (if there's such a word?) How do I pay the bill for it? I've seen payment booths that look like they're from internet/phone companies in shopping malls. Do I just go to one of those to pay? Can I go to one of those to ask them to set it up?

Thanks

If it's not a Thai Iphone, you will be sent to Airport Plaza to see the Wizard.

He has to operate before the Thai market SIM will work properly.

You can't just bring a phone in and change over the SIM.

Tosh! I went to KSK today and bought a sim no problem. I have no idea what sim it is, what package I'm on, how much it is to top up, how to top up or what network it is, but it now has the 3G symbol in the upper left corner of the screen and I think she mentioned wi-fi too, so...result!

I think.

Excellent. Thanks guys

I don't know if I'm asking the dumbest question on earth but I'm looking for a micro sim for my iphone which will give me 3G and I'm not having much luck.

I think an AIS 1-2-Call is what I'm looking for, and was told I had to go to an actual AIS shop to buy one so I went to one in Panthip Plaza and they just kind of looked at me as if I was from another.... country.

They told me to go to one of the mobile phone shops which I did, and they told me that the only place to get a micro sim was somewhere near the airport? Is this true?

I see on other threads that lots of people have these sim cards so I get the feeling I'm just being a bit dumb.

I'm looking for a pre-paid sim which I can top up whenever I need to.

Please help :/

Thanks all for your help. I bought something called a Happy Internet sim in Bangkok but I should have waited till I got to Chiang Mai. It came with 50mb of Internet and I put 200b credit on it which I thought would give me more internet but it just added it on to my call time. I also discovered it's not 3G. Think I might have to ditch it when I get to Chiang Mai. I get the feeling this whole pre paid sim business works a little differently here than back home where calls/sms/mms/Internet are all included in the one package?

It also doesn't help that everything is in Thai. Who'd have thought it?

I'll look into your suggestions.

Thanks again.

Ok. I've just spent about an hour trawling the net and am still none the wiser so wondered if you good people could point me in the right direction?

I've just moved to Thailand and am looking for a pre paid sim for my iPhone 4 which more importantly than calls, will give me a good 3G deal.

In the UK I paid £10 per month which gave me £10 of calls, 500 SMS and 500GB of data, which suited me fine. Anyone know of any deals like that which will keep me in iPhone heaven? I'm in Bangkok right now but moving to Chiang Mai in 3 days where I'll be staying for the forceable. Is it better to wait till I get there, in terms of different 3G coverage?

Any help/suggestions hugely appreciated.

This is not the kind of thread one wants to read a week before moving out to CM !

I think we need to be more mindful of the fact that as relatively rich westerners, we choose to live in a country where wealth, and as a consequence of wealth, opportunities that we are used to doesn't exist for many.

I'm not condoning murder, mugging, physical assault etc, but if us westerners took the time to look at things from a Thai's perspective, and look at ourselves as Thai's see us, we might be a bit more careful about things like advertising our wealth and relative comfort.

Being British, I'm totally useless when it comes to negotiating and haggling. I know this is something I'm going to have to get used to in Thailand, but I'm looking to rent a condo in Chiang Mai, which inevitably involves some reasonable negotiation skills.

Are there any hard and fast rules when it comes to this? For example, when knowing the asking price, should I knock a certain percentage off and start the bargaining from there? If I looked at a condo which, lets say the asking price was 10000B, where should I start making an offer? If I make an offer too low, am I likely to offend or will I just get laughed out of the door?

Thanks

When I move out there in a couple of weeks I'm going to go down the VPN route. Not only can you watch (assuming your from the UK) all the UK channels 'live' as they're being broadcast, but you also have access to things like BBC iPlayer and ITV player etc. There are free VPN services as has been mentioned but I'd assume you'd get a faster and more reliable connection with a 'paid' one.

Please think carefully before deciding to keep a bird as a pet. It's an animal who's purpose is to fly. Like the saying goes - "as free as a bird". I can't think of anything more cruel than keeping an animal from what nature intended. It certainly won't love you for it. What's wrong with a dog or a cat?

I understand the requirements involved with the types of visa, I just don't get the purpose of having to leave and re enter the country every 90 days when you've been issued a visa which lasts for a year.

It's not a complaint as such. It seems a small price to pay to be able to live in Thailand for a year, I just don't understand what benefit comes of it? There must be a reason why the government requires people to do visa runs, I just can't work out what that reason is?

Does it help them keep tabs on who's in or out of the country at any one time? I know a lot of things happen in Thailand without any obvious rhyme or reason, but there must be an official reason for this? Surely?

I'm hoping to get a one year non immigrant B visa to stay in LOS, and the one thing that baffles me about it is why I'm going to be forced to leave and re enter the country every 90 days, even though my visa lasts for a year.

This is my first time of living outside the UK, and was wondering what the official reason for making people do this is? Who benefits from it and why? What does it achieve? I can understand if your on a tourist visa, but if you've already been granted a visa which lasts for a year, what point is there in making people leave and re-enter the country every ninety days?

I used to think it had an air of "cheating the system" about it, but even on the visa form it says this is what you have to do, so if it's official government advice, there's nothing underhand about it.

Which still leaves me baffled as to why we're made to do it at all?

Your right andrew55 -

In addition to the carry on item as above, following items are also allowed to be carried into the cabin without additional charges: 1.small handbag/pocket/purse provided that it has a maximum length 37.5 cm (15 inches), width 25 cm (10 inches), depth 12.5 cm (5 inches), or the sum of the three dimension not exceeding 75 cm (30 inches), and the overall weight not exceeding 1.5 kg. (3.3 lb). Such item includes computer notebook.

Although it does state that the computer bag shouldn't weigh more than 1.5kg? What computer did they have in mind when they wrote this? A piece of paper and an abacus?

From the responses it seems I won't have anything to worry about anyway so thanks for the help guys

Thanks Andrew55. I wasn't aware of that, although I can't see anything on their website which states that? I'll call them just to confirm if this is still the case.

I'll be boarding in London.

Hi. I'm flying to Bangkok with Thai airways and I have quite a bit of stuff that I don't want to put in the hold. ie, a couple of laptops, cameras etc. It will all fit in a bag with the right dimensions for hand luggage, but it will probably weigh about 10kg and the Thai Airways site says the limit is 7kg.

Does anyone know how strictly they enforce the weight of hand luggage? And if they tell me it is too heavy, is there anything I can do to avoid having to put stuff in the hold, like pay a little more or something?

Thanks.

Interesting. And Promising.

Although in the big picture of things, if you take into account that homosexuality has existed since the dawn of man, acceptance of it throughout history and culture's/civilizations has always had it's peaks and troughs.

This looks like a peak to me. Which is good. But a trough will inevitably come. It always does.

And yes, my glass is always half empty. Never half full.

Hi All...

I'm moving to Thailand in six weeks, can't wait...

I've visited the fabulous land of smiles a dozen or so times in the last ten years, and can't think of a better place on this planet to live. I've planned to stay for a year at least. After that, who knows..?

One thing that I have noticed during my visits though, is that there seems to be a distinct lack of non retired gay ferang around. I've sampled the delights of Bangkok, Pattaya and Chiang Mai, and while in all of these places, I noticed that when it came to being straight, there were ferangs of all ages sampling the delights of Thailand. From families to hen/stag parties to groups of mates to the lone foreigner. They seem to come is all shapes, sizes, social classes and ages.

But when it comes to us gay's, Thailand doesn't seem, to me anyway, to attract anywhere near the wide spectrum of ferang that seems to populate the straight world.

Because of this, I'm assuming that the majority of gay ferang reading this are of retirement age, and perhaps will take/find/seek out offense at my comments, but I'd like to assure you that this isn't the purpose of my post.

I'm 39 myself. Not so old, not so young either. But it does naturally place me in a position to ask why there doesn't seem to be the same wide variety of gay ferangs in Thailand as there are straight ferangs?

I guess I'm asking this because I've decided to live in Chiang Mai, and as much as I easily make friends with people from all ages, backgrounds and sexualities, it would be nice to get to know some guys like myself, ie, gay and non retired. Like I said, I'm sure some people will read this as some kind of insult to retired ferangs, (I've read these boards long enough to know how it works) but we all try and seek out those similar to ourselves in life. Be it similar in age, characteristics, hobbies, sexuality or ethnicity.

I'm just wondering what the likelihood of finding some ferang gay friends around my age in Chiang Mai are going to be?

"French man killed by money boy"

Am I missing something here?

"police arrest a 39 years old american"

So...not quite to do with a "money boy" that one would traditionally associate with a gay Thai message board then?

" a 39 years old american"

I get the 'money' bit but where does the word 'boy' even fit into all of this?

I'm genuinely confused... Without wishing to downplay what seems to be an awful crime, are the words 'French man killed by money boy' on a gay Thai message board nothing more than a sensationalist headline or have I missed something?

It was explained by a Thai lawyer at an expat club meeting a couple of years ago that Thai law mandates that one's original passport (not a copy) be on one's person at all times.

...and if it isn't?

As a fellow cyclist myself, and especially reading that you'd ridden it round the world for the last couple of years, I'm so sorry that you've had it stolen. You must be gutted.

I'm sorry that I can't help as I'm not in Chiang Mai at the moment, but I'll keep my fingers doubly crossed for you that you get it back.

If you do, please let us know.

I've often had the feeling that Thai's are indifferent to the problem. I fail to see how someone can be a habitual predatory pedophile in LOS without anyone knowing about it. Especially given the native's infamous inquisitive nature when it comes to the lives of other people. Media reports of these men getting busted are often accompanied by neighbour accounts of children hanging around the perpetrator's house all the time and the pedo always surrounding himself with children. Which often makes me wonder why nobody thought to report it sooner?

There's a documentary in BBC iPlayer at the moment which goes inside one of America's toughest jail's in Miami. It shows the sheer brutality of what goes on inside, where inmates fight over everything, even just to pass the time, while the guards just ignore it. It's quite an experience to watch. I wonder if a similar thing could be done for the 'Bangkok Hilton' which is shown on all flights bound for Thailand. Maybe that would make some people think twice about going there to abuse kids.

Bringing guests back to your home/condo.

DON't DO IT!

You rent a room for the night 250-400bht, no fear of theft or unwanted return visits.

NEVER let them know where you live!

Good advice! Yet another example of the difference between being a tourist and a resident. I've never really worried about it as a tourist as I wasn't hanging around for long anyway, but I guess living somewhere on a permanent basis is a whole different ball game..

In my condo building, if I do not want to subscribe to the wireless network that is provided, then I use my USB air stick. There are a variety of diferent packages available - details available online or in mobile phone shops.

Do you mean those sticks/dongle's which pick up 3G?

Thanks for the replies guys. The only reason I bought up the security issue was because while looking around the net, I'd read several times that the main advantage of living in a condo was the extra security. I assumed that this implied that not living in a condo was somehow less secure, but that doesn't seem the case. Not around Chiang Mai anyway. I get the feeling that what people mean by that just comes down to if you regularly bring 'guests' back to your condo, there is someone there to check and keep hold of their ID cards for you.

As for internet speeds, well, the more I research, the more confused I get. It seems to be a bit hit and miss. Would I be right in thinking that if you live in a condo, you're pretty much at the mercy of the ISP for the building, but if you live somewhere with your own dedicated line, you'd be free to pick and choose your own ISP? I read somewhere that you can get a super-duper fast connection (100MB/s) if you live within a certain area, but I lost the page where I read that. If anyone has any info on that I'd be grateful...

As with a lot of things, it looks like you can only do so much on the net. Guess I'll have to wait till I get there and have a good look around in real life before deciding where to live.

Cheers