craig

This probably has nothing to do with your particular problem...but here is a heads up. Last week my box died... We have another box in my wife's house (I chose to have two small houses..gives me privacy) where she has the Knowledge package...I have the Platinum...She brought her box to my house. We hooked it up and put my card in it. Nothing worked..so, we took the box back to her house where she watched tv.

Several days late, with my problem solved with a replacement box, my wife's box stopped working...no reception...She called True and they said...if you use another card in the box, then in a few days the box will refuse service...True said they automatically disabled a box if another card was used in it..this is to prevent someone stealing a card and using it.

So it goes.

Thanks for the info...I will give it a try. I presently have IE, Firefox and Opera as browsers...have tried a number of others but decided to keep these. IE because it came wth my Vista OS...I don't use it...but thought to keep it. Firefox used to be my favored browser..I still like it a lot but Opera is my most used browser...It does all I ask it to do. and is as fast as Firefox. Sometimes Firefox stops working...Here in my semi rural area I use a Solomon Edge modem with Dtac. Sometimes one browser will work faster when the other one is suffering doldrums...

I don't have a romantic attachment to any browser nor do I feel attacked when someone else prefers something different than I do...I like Opera but will give the new Firefox a whirl.

Last night my neighbor, a Thai man about 40 years with three young daughters, was shot dead by 20 year old thug. My wife and I heard gunshots last night and this morning found out a friendly neighbor, described as a good man, and the father of friends of my wife's children was killed by a local young man. The killer who fled the scene is described by the locals as a "bad' person...his father is thought of in the same vein.

I don't know the details yet...This small village southeast of Pattaya has a large number of drug dealers and users...Yaba. The murdered neighbor is not known as a being involved at any level in the drug scene.

I read in Pattaya One this morning about a Police Volunteer being the prime suspect in shooting a man in the stomach.

Is Pattaya...or Thailand just becoming too dangerous to be in? I know there are places in my country, the US, where this stuff goes on...I am not claiming any kind of superiority here...just concerned about the violence and corruption...I just read the thread on the Airport Extortion.

I'm just kind of shaken by the event...my wife is concerned for her kids.

longball53098 has had good luck with UBCTrue...I'm happy for him. My wife is off to town to get a new box...We will see what she brings back. I do not keep it in an enclosed space and have a moving fan that hit it when it is on.

I don't remember any poster who puts positive comments about UBCTrue being slammed by other posters...if they have been that was wrong. We should be able to put up comments about this company from both positive and negative experiences.

Anyway, thanks for the comments.

I had the box die a couple of years ago. Took it to the local True shop(UBC shop at the time) and exchanged it for another one. I rent the equipment so no hassles when things go haywire.

Thanks, My wife finally got through on the phone...the man said he would send someone out tomorrow to replace the box. We live in Huay Yai, south of Pattaya, and one time before we spent an entire day waiting for the UBC man to appear..he came...the next day. This will be the third box in four years...My wife will take the box in in the morning and get a new one.

I get so frustrated with this company...maybe I am just a whining farang; but, I think, if we pay money we should get a product that works. Is there any viable alternative for someone living outside of town and no cable tv out here.....

I was changing channels and the the box went dead...no lights and the tv said no signal. This happened several weeks ago when the power returned from an outage but corrected itself quickly...this time not so.

I turned off and on the box several times and then all the lights on the front came on...nothing would respond to the remote or by manual usage. I turned the power off for a period of time...to cool down the box..it is not in an enclosed space.

After an extended period of time, I turned the power on to the box again...all the lights come on and nothing will respond nor give a signal to the tv.

My Thai wife tried calling them to no avail..a message kept saying they are busy with other customers for over an hour.

Anyone have any experience with this?

We live not too far from there and it is on the way to and from town...My Thai wife likes the place and we have gone several times to eat...She has taken the kids and friends other times...It is a tourist trap. But, as someone else said Pattaya is a tourist trap so what's the difference. I agree with those who said...DO NOT GO ON THE WEEKEND...we do not....so many people. The smaller restaurant owners are friendly enough and trying to make an honest living...so support them....Those who are not afraid of work and are honest need support...It is OK.

I live in Huay Yai and use this road usually when returning from Pattaya. Lenny W has a good point...There are 2 cement plants at the south end near the Huay Yai junction, on the southbound side, they are only about 100 & 200m from the Huay Yai road, do you think the trucks going in there are going to make a few kilometer detour to do a u turn and abide by the direction of the road??

This road is mega dangerous, take care!!

basjke, I'm a bit confused over your post. I live in Huay Yai and use this road often. Presently, I can exit the road coming from Pattaya at Huay Yai...Near Pattaya Air Park is the beginnings of a major construction...the locals tell me that is will be an aquarium..they say there is one in Kanat...buri (the river Kwai town)...and it will move here...trucks are dumping lots of earth, a spirit house is up, temporary construction quarters are put up and a dedication ceremony took place.

Where exactly is this craig? Is it on the Pheonix to Ban Amphur road, In the air park road, on the road from Ban Amphur to Thoonghan??

Lenny, It isn't on the Phoenix Golf road...if you turn left off that road at the first major intersection next to the newish shop selling construction materials you will pass by a wat and following that road to the left (north) it will lead to Pattaya Air Park...or continue west on the major road and a sign will direct you to the Air park turn to the left (north).

It is just west of the air park...I live a bit further to the west of it...daily trucks haul in tons of dirt. Four engineers for the site just rented a house next to mine...they want more than a year's rental contract...they say that after the aquarium goes up a resort will follow...Progress into my sometimes quiet neighborhood...My wife says one of the Princesses has a stake in the venture...I just hope that if influence comes into the area that the police will see fit to stop the rampant and open drug dealing going on here.

Did that help? I don't think I described well.

I think this was really aimed at the north, where parents are forced to pay tuition fees, and pay for uniforms, books, materials and activities. This law is an attempt to give parents the right of 15 years of free education for their children. It probably would make more sense to send out auditors and investigators to the northern provinces and clamp down on corrupt directors and administrators who were extracting fees, rather than have the MOE dump more money into their pockets.

My Thai wife's three kids are in public school...two different schools south of Pattaya...Here parents had to buy all the stuff mentioned in the quote..Hey, this is the first time I've used a quote....this term my wife was given just over 500 baht for each kid...It is a help but does not cover all the expenses. One of the schools says the books are free this year. Last year the oldest daughter had to pay a 500 baht service charge for the computer class...now, both daughters are in the same school...don't know about the lab fee yet. Girl and boy scout uniforms are required also. This is a good start.

Early this Wednesday afternoon my Thai wife and were leaving Tesco when we noticed a number of policemen gathered at the ATMs outside the building. Four of them were taking pictures of a 1000 baht bill. Someone had opened up an ATM and police were watching...a foreign couple stood with two policemen watching. A few minutes later a policeman talked to the foreign male and the foreigner produced, what appeared to be, his passport. I checked the websites for the local papers and a local forum...no mention of this.

My guess is that the guy bought something and the staff noticed a bogus bill...

I'm just wondering what would happen if the foreigner claimed he withdrew money from the bank's ATM and has withdrawal receipt. An hour or so before this I took out 20,000 baht from the Siam Commercial Bank's ATM upstair in Tesco...my wife checked the bills...all seem OK.

basjke, I'm a bit confused over your post. I live in Huay Yai and use this road often. Presently, I can exit the road coming from Pattaya at Huay Yai...Near Pattaya Air Park is the beginnings of a major construction...the locals tell me that is will be an aquarium..they say there is one in Kanat...buri (the river Kwai town)...and it will move here...trucks are dumping lots of earth, a spirit house is up, temporary construction quarters are put up and a dedication ceremony took place.

Why are members becoming rude to each other on this thread. People died and some would like to understand why...so, they speculate...and think up what may be the reason...official explanations here may not be true. If you are tired of the speculation or think the speculation of others is of no interest then, I suggest, you simply don't read this thread...maybe then those who are interested in the subject may discuss it without your distractions.

Some of the speculation here is with little basis in fact...lack of knowledge, etc. but if it is put forth in an honest effort to contribute to the understanding of the subject it is welcome and certainly of more worth than what the complainers post. This is my opinion.

The fox tv channel is not news. I don't like it because they distort the truth and tell falsehoods. This is a fact...Sean Hannity told me so when we were getting drunk...bill o'reilly agreed.

My wife said she saw this on TV and thought it was at Samui, the kids said Sattahip...I did a long search on the internet and came up with nothing...Thanks for the info, Sotsira...I imagine more information will be forthcoming.

Thanks for the help..I'll take it in next week after the water tossing days are over and see about cost of repair...I don't need a top end or even middle of the pack camera...I don't take a lot of photos but do need to take pictures now and then. Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll keep my eyes open for a budget prices point and shoot of a more better known brand name.

By the way, after pushing the on button everyday several times...it turned on this morning...I downloaded the pictures I had taken to the computer and hope it start again. Go figure.

My old dependable Brica digital camera won't turn on. When I used it last the batteries were low. I put fresh batteries in and it will not turn on when I push the on button. I tried another set of fresh batteries and the same.

Is there somewhere in Pattaya where I can get it fixed? I kind of like this old friend.

Thanks, Craig

Go south on Sukhumvit...It will be on the left side..South of Pattaya but before the turn off for Phoenix Golf...I don't know what the price is...I passed by last week before the craziness started in Pattaya and it looked like it wasn't quite finished...the sign said it was open.

When I was caught misbehaving as a child and my father was about to lay down the law, I might, in hopes of a more lenient punishment, say my sister had done worse than me and why wasn't she being punished...My father would have no truck with such a lame arguments...as my mother said, "two wrongs, don't make a right."

It seems some of us in this forum try to excuse the barbaric actions of the "red shirts" by saying the "yellow shirts" did wrong things also.

This is the argument of child.

I have great sympathy for the poor naive members of the "red shirt" faction but do not condone the violence perpetuated by some lunatics in their midst. Nor, do I excuse the actions of the "yellow shirts."

I do notice that the majority of the violent behavior exhibited by these two groups comes from the Pro-Thaksin folks...rioting at a University meeting in Chiang Mai, slapping down opponents at Siam Square while police watched...and now the Asean debacle and the Bangkok mess.

Hopefully, calm heads will prevail and stop any tit for tat nonsense and try to bring some sort of postitive end to this...The long neglected farmers and poor must have a voice in this society and the old established power stuctures need to be revised.

I agree with the cutting of the satellite feed that allows Thaksin to inflame his followers...It is such a shame that the legitimate grievances of the poor have become intertwined with Thaksin.

Hope all are in and will remain in good health and fortune

Craig

What superior people we are.

Illiterate farmers easily swayed by propaganda and money have no business voting in a democracy.

They should behave like us...after all the woman at a McCain rally denouncing Obama as a muslim...is an example of our intellect.

We, the superior ones, only elect intelligent, honest, and capable persons...after all, the US gave us Bush, Bachmann, and the ilk.

We get sit behind our computers and denounce citizens of the country we are guest in. But, we are superior people. All of us know correct way to live and govern. Just look at our countries.

As my Thai wife says, most Thai drivers don't know the rules of road and they don't care about other people. So, expect the worst and try to be prepared for it. Yesterday while going north toward Pattaya on Sukhumvit, a car made a quick, unsignalled left turn at an intersection. Seeing as how the car was in the far right lane, it had to cross in front of the other vehicles...cars swerved, stood on their brakes, and farang on a motorbike ended up kissing the pavement.

Not to mention that the cardinal rule here is that the bigger the vehicle the more of the roadway belongs to them...Get out of their way when they drive the wrongway in your lane...I could go on, I spent a dozen years as a Driving Instructor while teaching high school in the US...I stessed defensive driving there and here it is imperative.

I noticed the yellow light yesterday...I thought it might have something to do with lost reception due to rain...or, the frequent power failures....when a thunderstorm even thinks about snooping around this area the electricity goes off....so, when changing channels an odd icon appeared...my wife said I have mail...I checked and, yep, there was some mail. We looked at the messages and now the yellow light is off.

I wonder...True can send mail to urge you to buy something. Why can't they send mail about service issues...you know, keep the customer informed about planned service interruptions or such. Oh, I forget, I am in the land of middle school thinkers..cognitive development seemed to have stopped here at about the age of 13.

Even the name of the breed should alert any reasonably intelligent person as to the characteristics of this breed. Pitbull, indeed. I am of two minds here. First, I do not applaud the death or injury to innocents from this breed, however, I cannot shed a tear for those who chose to make it part of their lives... Any owner of this dog whose dog injures or kill a human or even another dog should stand trial as if they did it themselves.

The reckless disgregard for human life , or the life of another dog, by the owners of these animals is staggering. My dog would never do that, they claim, and show astonishment when a child is torn apart is no excuse. It remind me of the guy who, after destroying a family in a car accident, claims innocence as he was drunk...It couldn't be my fault...I was drunk, and I don't remember it. Yeah, put a loaded gun in cabinet drawer and when your child blows his brains out...It couldn't possibly by your fault. You own one of these dogs...you own a dangerous weapon and if it hurts someone, it is just as if you pulled the trigger yourself.

T

In my neighborhood down near the Pattaya airpark in Chonburi province drug sales and use is rampant...four of my immediate neighbors have been convicted of drug sales and all spent time in prison. They are all out and guess what they are doing. Yep, selling drugs. I could give a shit if someone uses drugs but yaba helps provoke strange and violent behavior...just ask the old grandmother who's grandson beat the crap out of her the other day here...he's spent the morning smoking yaba. Smoking pot seems to mellow you out, drinking alcohol makes me sleepy,other folks get violent behind it. Being high on any drug (including alcohol) is no defense...if you hurt someone while high then you need to go away...either in the steel house for a long time or from this planet.

I've used this for a some time now...it seems to work just fine...Ok by me.