croftrobin

I Don't live in Bangkok I',m 360 km's away,!!! - however all I can do is repeat this so people who are in BKK can get the message out to others.

I have sent SMS's and called friends --- Do the same.

Since I posted my original messasge there has been another bomb --- just act ...

22 blasts were predicted - so only half way so far....

go home now, if your out in bkk,

that's the whole point: those who are out, they can't possibly read this your messages addressed to them and neither this thread.

on TV they show reports saying that many foreigners are still arriving to the WTC area as nothing has happened or as if they didn't know. that means they realy DON'T know anything !

some SMS messages must have been sent to those who have local cell phones, or as I siad - may be place some guy with mike on each and every crowded area who'd constantly give anouncements in several languages...

22 blasts were predicted - so only half way so far....

go home now, if your out in bkk,

Hi Simon

On Asiasat 3 you will be able to receive Aljazeera News International - which is a very good English News Channel and seem to have pinched the best reporters from the BBC and CNN

It started broadcasting in November and is free to air.

You should certainly be able to see Panamsat 8 with BBC World and the Australia network at your location

As other posters have stated - a small mesh dish pointing at Thaicom 2/5 with a C band LNB and 6 receivers will allow you to rebroadcast the 6 Thai TV Channels - Cost should be under 20,000 Baht for this.

"FYI, I currently get free-to-air channels from AsiaSat 2 and 3. This is a mix of (generally) boring TV channels from arab states, Cuba, Italy etc. But no channels in English with sport, music, movies etc."

Wow an extra 10 baht a year!!!

As many of you may have noticed, more and more of Thai government agencies are now connected to their central office/database via the internet, thus saving time & money for eveyone.

The implementation of this has cost a lot of money.

So simply prices rise, to pay fot it.

This centralisation does have significant cost benefits - not only for the government but also everyone else.

YOU NO LONGER HAVE TO TRAVEL BACK TO THE PROVINCE OF ISSUE TO RENEW YOUR LICENCE -- as was the case @ 2-3 years ago for all licence holdrers, be you Thai or Foreign.

The majority of Taxi drivers come from other provinces and they used to have to go back to their respective province every 1 or 5 years to renew the license.

Here are 2 contacts numbers for TOT IPSTAR HELPDESK

02 575 9607

02 575 9585

However I do not think they work evenings or weekends!

So if you are going to have a problem, try and have the problem during working hours! TIT

I have used them before when had problems with outgoing mail server.

The outgoing server that I am currently using is :

ipstar.tot.co.th

Works fine for me - TOT IPStar + Firefox + IE

I have attached a little Excel file where you just type in the units used and it will show the bill.

I have checked macb's bill of 476 units and it works out exactly

It only works on useage of over 400 units a month - as mine is always a multiple of that!

Thai_Electricity_Bill_Price_Checker.xls

Thai Electricity price tarriffs are progressive - the more you use - the more you pay

Your electricity bill seems very cheap !

I have calculated your bill (this is how I calculate mine)

based on the most common schedule for most houses in Thailand

1.1.2 Consumption exceeding 150 KWh. per month 40.90 std charge

First 150 KWh. (0 - 150th) 1.8047

Next 250 KWh. (151st - 400th) 2.7781

Over 400 KWh. (401st - up) 2.9780

So your bill was 436 units.

150 units @ 1.8047 B/unit =270.705

250 Units @ 2.7781 B/unit =694.525

36 units @ 2.9780 B/unit =107.28

Fuel Tax (436 units x 0.8544 B/Unit) = 372.5184

Standing Charge = 40.90 baht

Total exc VAT = 1485.92

VAT @ 7 % = 0.07 x 1485.92= 104.01

Grand Total = 1589.92

Looks like your getting off cheaply!

You can check yourself using the rates here:

http://www.pea.co.th/eweb/r_rate1.htm

Can anyone shed some light on this(excuse the pun) our elctricity bill for the last two months has been used 169 units service charge 364 baht- used 195 units service charge 436 Baht, now comes the problem used 408 units service charge 1029 Baht. does the more electricity you use mean a bigger service charge or am I not reading this righ,t seems a massive jump for an extra200 units from the previous month.

Does it appear to those having a child with a thai that the immigrations more easy pass you through?

Thinks like, shorting down the period it takes to get you the "O" visa, maybe not bother too much

It will matter not if you have a child or not , when you apply for your first extension based on marriage, you WILL get a visit from the Immigration Dept - or their repesentatives - often a police officer from a local area.

If you live together then its never a problem. He/She will arrive (any day unexpectedly) and chat to you (in fact to your wife) as most often the Imm or rep don't speak English. They will expect you to supply them (there and then) with a photocopy of your passport - Showing - obviously name & pic, also the pages of your O Visa, TM Card and last chop in page. (SO MAKE SURE YOU HAVE COPIES OF THESE IN THE HOUSE- or have a photocopier!). They may also wish to see marriage certificate (also make a copy)

* If you can not provide the copies on the day - they will come back for them, from you, so to expediate your extension clearance make sure you have them to hand.

- They will never on this visit ask for any financial information or any fee- If you are asked for this then telephone your local immigration office to clarify their identity.

They will also strike up conversation with neighbours etc. to clarify things or just to enjoy the life for a few hours. Its no hassle, expect it and be polite and natural.

Regarding the financial requirements,

In my experience having renewed 3 times now my original multi O, it has never been a problem if I have droppped a liitle under the financial requirements after the "show funds" date. When I say a little I mean 50 -or 60 K -.

I have used a wireless router with IPStar for 3, 1/2 years now.

The current router I use is a SMC 2804WBR model - which I installed a year ago after my previous SMC wireless router (which I brought from the UK gave up to the Thai electrical System!)

It’s a Barricade model with an excellent firewall.

I have used the SMC wireless products for 6 years now - Before on TELEWEST Cable Internet in the UK and would not recommend anything else.

The support in the UK (& Europe) (not had to find out in Thailand) is excellent - they sent out a replacement model to me before having the original back, after my cat knocked the router off a shelf!)

I bought the SMC 2804WBR in Pantip last year - It was about 6000 baht then but will be cheaper now.

It plugs directly into the IPStar consumer unit and then I have a PC wired to it directly and also a small shop network, (via a hub).

The wireless works very well and supports speeds up to 54 Mbs; I use both a laptop and a Palm wirelessly. (These are older devices and only connect at 11Mbs; however my daughter’s new ACER laptop and friend’s laptops can take advantage of the 54Mbs speed on the local network. So they can watch streaming films or TV from my server.

In all my time using SMC products I have NEVER had any security problems on either my own PC's or the Internet Cafe Network

SMC may be a little more expensive than other models (not much more) but I am very happy with their products - and I am a very fussy b*****d when it comes to IT equipment.

If you want to have control of your ports then you will need to pay for a fixed IP address.

Which I think costs 100 -200 baht per month.

I had one with CSLOXinfo's IPstar but haven't bothered with TOT's IPStar as I no longer require it

Just contact support and arrange for a fixed IP

I got an email from them today also - I have pasted the English details below

However is it a VISA or MCARD?

What card option did you choose for your Air Asia ticket purchase?

Here is the emails contents:

Dear Web Card Holder

Subject: KBank has already issued CVV number for your Web Card

KASIKORNBANK has already issued CVV number for your Web Card. You can view it by

1. Login to K-Cyber Banking.

2. Choose the menu, “Account Summary”, on the left.

3. The 16-digit of your Web Card number, Account Nickname, Web Card

Limit and Available Credit will be shown at the bottom of the page “Account Summary”.

4. Choose “Balance Inquiry” for the Web Card account.

5. The system will show the 16-digit of your Web Card number, Account

Name, CVV number, The account number that were debit, Expiry date, Credit Limit (THB), Total Credit Used (THB) and Available balance (THB).

Now you can use the card to enjoy your online shopping.

For more details, please contact K-Contact Center 0 2888 8800

Best regards,

KASIKORNBANK, PCL.

I checked today the details of my Kasikornbank Webcard and surprisingly the CVV field was filled!

So I tried to make a online booking at AirAsia and it worked perfectly!

Good news for everybody that wants to make internet shopping but does not have a credit card.

Here is the link to TOT's IPSTAR Details.

Its in Thai but you'll get all the details there!

http://www.tot.co.th/content/content.php?C...604201108090366

I cancelled my CSloxinfo IPSatr 1024k connection at the end of June (after 3 years) and have had Tot 1024 corporate installed.

Its been fine - I do have the problem that other people are mentioning between 1 & 5 pm but its seems thats the way it is.

I now save @ 2000 baht a month compared to CSloxinfo. ( Whom I have paid around 300 thousand baht in the last 3 years)!

CSloxinfo were IPStars major player in Thailand until May this year, ie. they sold other ISP's the IPStar bandwidth,

As was announced last year TOT were awarded the contract so now TOT control the other ISP's bandwidth (including CSLoxinfo's) CS loxinfo had a 33% reduction in bandwith last month and were negociating for an additional 6% - which they got near the end of the month, however it was too late to keep their major customers who have now said bye bye.

TOT I think have the contract for the next 3-5 years, so they will call the shots and set the prices for this period of time

Only downside is that the TOT helpline is very much in its iffancy........... but time will tell!

Got the new equipment installed yesterday afternoon. TOT IpStar 2048/1028.

It works like a charm, I get full (90%) speed when connecting to speedtest at adslthailand and I get 400-600Kbit when testing with bandwidth.thaivisa.com

No bottle necks here! It's lightning fast! Streaming video and radio works great without buffering. I am very, very happy!

Will fax my cancellation to CS-Loxinfo tomorrow morning.

According to TOT this corporate account has a 1:10 sharing.

Setup 2,000 Baht one-time fee. Monthy fee 7,700 + VAT.

See how you feel about it in 14 days.

Very interesting, Now I'm tempted to dump mine and go talk to TOT, please keep us informed on how it holds up if you will.

That one does not work either.

TOT on 1100 have suggested a few but as yet no success.

Everytime you try an existing smtp server its rejected and the ones they suggest you can not even get DNS for.

I'm sure as its new for them it will take a few days to get the info but its a bit annoying!

sTILL

tot.pacific.net.th

Try that one

Also again ring 1100 the call centre I'm sure they can help you!

I know when I changed packages the SMPT changed

Again let the us know which one works to help save time for another of us confused some times non tech types!

I'd already tried all these without success unfortunately.

Still looking!

This from another (old) thread.

Try these.

*** สำหรับผู้ใช้บริการในเขตนครหลวงที่ทุกๆความเร็ว

Primary DNS คือ 203.121.130.39

Secondary DNS คือ 203.121.130.40

SMTP คือ smtp.pacific.net.th

*** สำหรับผู้ใช้บริการในเขตภูมิภาคที่ความเร็ว Speed 256/128 กับ 512/256 kbps

Primary DNS คือ 203.155.33.2

Secondary DNS คือ 202.44.144.34

SMTP คือ totadsl.th.com

*** สำหรับผู้ใช้บริการในเขตภูมิภาคที่ความเร็ว Speed 1024/256 kbps

Primary DNS คือ 202.44.202.3

Secondary DNS คือ 203.150.213.1

SMTP คือ 203.150.218.198

Also you can try changing the SMTPPort from the standard port 25 to port 587 I had trouble a couple of weeks ago my ISP just suddenly started blocking port 25.

You can test conectivity by opening an MS-Dos promt

and for example issuing this command

telnet totadsl.th.com 25 (enter)

if succesful you will see an anwer something like this

220 mailtest.ksc.co.th ESMTP Sendmail 8.13.1/8.13.1; Mon, 28 Mar 2005 17:53:51 +

0700

if not try another port

telnet totadsl.th.com 587 (enter) or try another server untill you get a welcome message.

Then all you have to do is set up your email client.

Just got TOT's IPSTAR Offering after cancelling my CSLOXINFO IPSTAR Contract and its all working fine.

However I need TOT's outgoing mail server (smtp).

What CSLoxinfo don't tell you is that since the !st of June their IPStar bandwidth has been reduced by almost a third.

They no longer are the major player for Ipstar in Thailand. TOT have the contract now. (And the all the bandwidth)

I have just ordered another installation of IPStar from TOT and once that is in I will cancle the CSLoxinfo contract. (Which I have had for over 3 years)

For the same advertised D/L speed of 1024 TOT are 2000 baht cheaper than the 7000+VAT that I currently pay CSLoxinfo.

CSLoxinfo were negotiating for some more bandwith and they got a little more on Wednesday- that's why the service has improved over the last 2 days.

Vote with your feet.

SNIP

Thats a bummer. We all could band together and not pay until it is 80% of advertised.

Can a person sell 1/2 litre of petrol as 1 litre? I think only way to force the issue.

Plain and simple, they are adding user(s) MILLIONS in 14 + countries and not increasing

the bandwidth WE ALL HAVE TO SHARE. It will only get worse........

I have advised CS Loxinfo verbally at the Pattaya office as well as by telcon to accounts in Bangkok also by email to IPSuport that I will not pay the current bill untill I am assured of a credit note for the shortfall in bandwidth. As expected, n o t h i n g !

I too emailed them earlier this week and told them I would not be paying their invoice for 7000 + VAT - I wil pay for the cheapest connection but no more.

I also told them to send me the credit note before I paid the invoice.

I too have had no response for that request or my request for their billing dept to call me.

What CSLoxinfo don't tell you is that since the !st of June their IPStar bandwidth has been reduced by almost a third.

They no longer are the major player for Ipstar in Thailand. TOT have the contract now. (And the all the bandwidth)

I have just ordered another installation of IPStar from TOT and once that is in I will cancle the CSLoxinfo contract. (Which I have had for over 3 years)

For the same advertised D/L speed of 1024 TOT are 2000 baht cheaper than the 7000+VAT that I currently pay CSLoxinfo.

CSLoxinfo were negotiating for some more bandwith and they got a little more on Wednesday- that's why the service has improved over the last 2 days.

Vote with your feet.

I'm not wrong - I built an extension 18 months ago - it is not to be seen.

An English neighbour's house about 1km from me does not even show and he's been moved in for a year!

Unfortunately the pictures are about 2 years old

However its a very usefull resource

You're wrong , I made a fence around my house in January this year.

My brother in law made a new rice stock in February/March 2006

All these are clearly visible.

Because the fish ponds are waterless. The photo's were made before the rain, so I think March/April this year. At least for the Buriram/Satuk area.

I don't know for the Khon Kaen area, but I don't remember this large in photo's (Incl. Maha Sarakham)

Cheers Topatia

I'm looking to buy a new mobile phone and was wondering if anyone had some recommendations. This is what I'm looking for:

• Price around 5-6,000 baht.
  
• Looks good (image is everything in thailand, right?). I've always liked phones that flip open.
  
• Has a color screen (is that standard these days?)
  
• Has some decent games for those long, traffic-jammed taxi rides.
  
• I do not need internet capability or palm pilot or other complex capabilities.
  
• Easy for typing text messages in Thai and English.
  
• A camera is a nice feature, but by no means required.
  
• The phone is to be bought in Thailand for use in Thailand only.
  

I think there's a lot of phones that would fit these requirements now a days. If you have a phone that you really like, let me know. Any model recommendations, or sites where I can browse through phones?

I just bought our twins new Nokia 6103 phones last week.

They were 6700 baht in Korat but I am sure you can find them a bit cheaper in Bangkok.

Very nice looking flip phones, with camera, bluetooth and GPRS Edge, They love them!!

Here is a link to the UK nokia site with the phone spec's :

http://www.nokia.co.uk/nokia/0,,86676,00.html

Unfortunately the pictures are about 2 years old

However its a very usefull resource

Today I saw that google earth now uses photo's in some parts in lower isaan.

for e.g. the Airport in Satuk Buriram and area.

cheers, Topatia

You can send a fax from a Thai mobile only if you have a contract phone, AIS or Dtac.

You can not send a fax if you are using a pre pay sim.

It sounds too good to be true.

My ISP has just announced a Fair Use Policy and set the monthly cap at 10GB. (outside Thailand)

How much would this little box take in a month???

Its a complete wate of time if you live in Thailand full-time.

Its ony useful for holidaymakers or part-timers who still have a broadband connection at home in the country of programme origin, USA UK etc.

It's for all the sad people who go on holiday for 2 weeks a year and cant go without missing their latest soap opera!!

This service also assumes you have a good streaming connection to the internet - so forget Thailand with its high packet loss, for watching live streaming.

U K N O V A is your friend if you want to keep up to date with UK programmes, (give or take a few days) and it costs ...........

0

Make up your own mind and keep the cash for a better internet connection here!

that the IPStar is working very bad is well known, but are there any tipps/tricks to improve it?

Maybe someone knows the Admin PW of the box?

The Admin password is "operator"

Its a bit slow for me the last few days - seems that I'm not getting much bandwidth either.

Time to call them..

for me it is terrible at the moment, but thanks for the password

They say that they expect more bandwidth available by/on/ near too !! Friday so will just ave to wait and see