Lannig

Do "quality tourists" wear helmets?

Sorry if this has been said before, but... where has he seen Thais eating bread during meals? I know that el Leader Maximo and I don't live in the same Thai people's circles but where I live it's certainly not the case. Well, I can see the occasional pack of slice bread been eaten with spread jam at home and kids sometimes ask for toasted bread with condensed milk when we go to the local swimming pool but that's what? once or twice a week? and never during meals.

Well, a touch of sanity I'd say.

They might have realized that having to shell out 10K for every bribing attempt would soon throw the country into deep budget deficit

They could have figured it out before attempting this lame PR stunt, though.

"Qui se ressemble s'assemble" : French saying for "whatever looks the same, goes together well" (sorry if my translation is broken).

I'm certain that confidence will be running high between the rulers of both countries.

I don't quite get your last sentence. Alcohol sales are not restricted pretty much anywhere in the world. It is individual responsibility to consume measures one can handle WHEN NOT DRIVING, and not consume when one does drive, or how much one consumes with a meal and does not, etc. You would condone going back to black-market sales, because of lessened legal sales? FFSs you must be 90 years old, and from Chicago??

Sorry if my sentence was unclear. By the way I'm in my 50s and I'm French (which qualifies me for heavy drinking and rule breaking, I guess). I don't condone drunk driving. My mention of alcohol was unrelated to the previous topic (driving offenses) but just an example about e.g. the selling hours. Where I am now (small upcountry place) it's only enforced at the 7/11 and the nearest Lotus. And people are quite happy with this. I can only assume that if this, among other things, was to be strictly enforced, that would piss off many of the locals here.

Furthermore, I'm not judging with my morals in any way. Not my country, not my culture so who I am to tell? I'm only saying that I see a trend towards making Thailand a "righteous" country with extremely strict rules (not new) strictly enforced (that would be new) for all kinds of good morality. Based on what I witness every day when I'm here in this place, I think it's going to be quite a shock for most of my friendly neighbors. I see all the people taking much advantage of the lax enforcement of all kinds of rules on a daily basis. Even petty corruption from your local cop seems to come handy in many cases.

Turning Thailand into something like Singapore isn't going to happen in a day and without a lot of frustration for many, many average Thais who might not be willing to go that far into the Great Leader's planned cultural revolution and will start wondering whether he is the right man after all. I'm not even talking about democracy here.

Oh, and about this anti-bribing thing: I've also been told by one of my Thai pals here here that bribing would still take place, but behind closed doors at the police station. And because this would presumably involve somewhat higher-ranked cops, the prices are going to skyrocket.

I wonder how long it will take for many Thais to wonder if they really want to live in a country that's a mix of Singapore as for society rules and Burma for the political regime. Clearly that's what the junta is heading towards and I'm not sure that the average Thai person is ready for this.

For sure this anti-bribery scheme does not raise hurras from some road warriors I've spoken to (like clothes sellers who make the trip from they jangwat to Pratunam at least once a week). Sure, that might clamp down on the number of imaginary offenses they are charged for, but it also means that whenever they get pulled over by a cop, they might waste the rest of the day going to to a distant police station they can't find, doing a likely time-consuming paperwork and eventually pay way much more than the cop would have asked for,

I'm waiting until restrictions on alcohol selling and consumption are strictly enforced country-wide (not only in Bangkok) and other similar measures likely to be immensely popular to see whether the current ruler's aura starts fading or not.

Hadn't Thaksin made almost exactly the same promise with the outcome we know? this sentence sounds familiar to me...

Apart from granting them some kind of autonomy (something I highly doubt he would even consider) or applying some kind of state terror, like Tak Bai on a larger scale, I can see no way of reaching this extraordinarily ambitious and irrealistic goal within a year.

Time will tell.

Well, for an old guy like me it all sounds too familiar.

The US of A. are back to their old habits of supporting dic... err, not completely democratic regimes they had in the 70s and 80s, e.g. in Latin America, after a couple of decades trying to make people believe that they weren't doing so anymore.

Mind you, not that I'm holding my breath until EU moves an ear, though. I'm not that stupid.

About the bloody (literally) hoe: have I missed something or nothing has been said yet about DNA match of the said blood with the victims' ?

Well, not only they will not be fully enforced, but they're probably not going to be enforced at all because that's close to impossible.

Death penalty for causing an airport closure. Well, how many heads would have rolled in 2008, then?

Imagine the international outrage...

Anyway, yellow or red, this seems to be Thailand's speciality to come up with laws that are so ridiculously strict that no one seriously considers ever enforcing them. It's been like this for decades.

This country will start making progress towards policital maturity by the day they will realise this and start inventing laws that make sense and provide for practical enforcement of not ridiculously harsh penalties. They're still quite far away from this.

I won't even start arguing about the last sentence of Lukecan's post... not worth the effort.

I'm sure we don't have the full story here. There probably already was some kind of conflict between these two youngsters, be it girls, debt or whatever, and this agument about kitchen chores is likely to have been the final spark to this horrible explosion of lethal violence.

Because of this, I find the title of this thread and the corresponding article a bit over the edge.

Not that it makes this event any more acceptable...

There is only one reason why foreign tourists in bikinis are tolerated on Thai beaches, and that is because of the $$$ earned from these tourists.

Most Thai people are conservative in outlook and frown upon the wearing of such clothing. Remember that most Thais are Buddhist, with a large Muslim minority (majority in the south).

Don't think for one minute that you would be welcome on the beaches of Thailand in your bikini if it were not for your money.

I'm really not sure how much of their wearing t-shirts on beaches comes from conservatism and how much comes from their terrible fear of becoming sun tanned and therefore dark.

On the few occasions I've discussed this with "ordinary" thai ladies (i.e. not from Pattaya or similar places) of the right age for wearing bikinis, the fear of becoming dark seemed like their main reason.

Of course, they might not want to openly admit being shy either.

I've just watched a live report of the protests on BBC and I was amazed to notice that the crowd of protesters seems to be almost completely female. Well, at least the ones who accept being filmed (I almost wrote "shot" but that was inappropriate) and accept to talk to the reporter.

Tells a lot about the Thai society, I think.

Hello folks,

Geez, here in the central-northen region, it's as dry as in April and almost as hot. Well, OK, not quite, but still unusually hot.

I haven't seen a single drop of rain in 5 days.

I was planning to take my thai family to Hua-Hin for a 4-day vacation, a long time request. We were supposed to leave tomorrow and now I'm wondering whether this is a good idea or not. How's the situation there now? The picture looks awfully like what we've endured for weeks here in 2011. You people have all my sympathy, I know the feeling.

Also I've heard that whenever there's heavy rainfall over Hua-Hin, the beaches are litterally infested with jellyfish. This would make the stay even more unpleasant since the kids want to enjoy swimming. Truth or rumour?

Any comments and tips from people there are more than welcome, I need to make a decision quick now. This is going to be an expensive vacation, so I wouldn't like it to be ruined.

Thanks in advance.

Seems that your little grey cells are fading.

Remember what I wrote?

If using the Net SIM and have used up your five hours and want another five hours for 39 baht(plus VAT), add some credit(at least 42 baht) and then *133*36*008615# Send

.

But you decided to pay 50 baht plus VAT and then complain.

Oopsie. Indeed, I had overlooked this particular tidbit. My bad.

Not to get the last word or anything, but (unless I've missed it twice) this particular offer seems nowhere to be seen on the two AIS pages linked in one of your posts. Unfortunately they are the ones I had printed before leaving as a reference.

Which brings up the next question: where did you find this?

Mind you, I didn't really complain. Just wanted to tell my little story because it was some fun after all to realise all I had to go through for the bloody 5 hours of online time

I need to rethink all of this anyway until my next trip, and I've got good pieces of advice to help me think. Thanks.

Wasn't about you... BUT, since you are here...

You wrote earlier

Folks, thanks for all the technical tips and questions but I've had all of this covered. I know for sure that both my Nexus One and my 3G stick work flawlessly, are 100% unlocked, give me full 3G in areas of coverage in Thailand (with AIS at least),

The problem with that statement is that now you are also claiming that you picked up a 3G signal from DTAC with the same modem. That is simply not possible. The Huawei E160 is UMTS 850MHz/2100Mhz or 900MHz/2100MHz or 2100MHz only. So it would not be possible to get both AIS 3G and DTAC 3G using the same modem.

So yes, you wrote that....for sure ;

Well, you might be right on this. I'm not 100% positive that I was using my own 3G stick at that time. However you may want to consider that there are several variants of the E160 model which might have support for different 3G bands. I'm not sure which one I have because it doesn't even bear this name. I've bought it as a rebranded Vodafone product bearing a completely different model name and possibly some tweaks, I don't know.

Anyway, point taken.

So, currently being in the LOS and the next SIM card in my stack of AIS Net SIMs reaching the end of its bundled 5 hours of online time, I've tried to apply the bits of advice received here. Due to my (admittedly very atypical) usage pattern, I've opted for another 5 hours bundle at 50B. Not a huge gain compared to the price of a new SIM (59B) but still. So I've been to my nearest friendly 7-11 and bought a 50B refill coupon. I've entered it into my phone, so far so good. I've dialed *138*57# and... huh? insufficient credit? WTH? oh yeah... read the fine print, dumb. 50B VAT excluded. How clever... so I need to add some credit eh? This is starting to look like less of a bargain. Since I'll be away in less than a week, I've opted for a 10B credit from one of these online top-up booths. Heck. They charge 2B for the service. So it's 12B to you, Sir.

So let's do a recount : 50+10+2 = 62B, compared to the price of a new SIM I can pick up easily at the Lotus nearby? At 59B? still makes sense to me to use one SIM after another, doesn't it?

Now, please don't shoot me. I still appreciate all the helpful tips received here. Would my usage pattern be a little less atypical, it'd certainly be much more convenient to switch to some of the offers presented here. This little 5 hours top-up adventure was even funny considering the tiny amount of money involved. I may reconsider my way of being online while in the LOS completely such as having my (probably another) smartphone online all the time and using tethering when I need my notebook online. Heck, I'm over 50, I don't switch habits easily.

Thanks for your time reading me and helping, folks. Will be back to this never-ending winter in Europe in a matter of days. Well, I might appreciate some cool weather at first... >40 daily and not a single drop of rain in two weeks here on the central plain was a bit harsh.

P.S. and oh yeah, AIS does suck. Their service even seems to have gotten significantly worse since my last trip. From not being able to turn data on for several minutes to nonexistent bandwidth (like not a byte getting through, not even a short mail) in remote areas, even when the phone claims receiving a full strength GSM signal and EDGE being shown as up.

Secondly, had he bothered to read the thread, he would have discovered the the phone is compatible with AIS/One2Call only. So True and DTAC are out anyway.

Huh? sorry? who said that? not me for sure.

I can't tell for sure because I can't remember having tried with other SIMs. Wait... yes I did I think, at least once with my 3G dongle on DTAC and it did catch 3G in BKK. Don't know about the others.

Admittedly I have tried nothing but AIS on my Nexus One. Will do soon since I'm on my way to LOS, and I shall report.

Oh and by the way I don't leave the data enabled on my smartphone when I don't need it. So time-based packages are fine to me. I don't like the idea of being tracked all the time anyway (yes I know there are plenty of ways to avoid this, I just don't want to bother).

Thanks for all the tips given, I'll try to make the best use of them.

Guys, maybe things have changed since january, but I can tell for sure that neither AIS nor DTAC had 3G coverage in my place 30km away from downtown Nakorn Sawan at that time. Haven't tried True, though.

So maybe "nationwide" should be taken with a grain of salt, shouldn't it?

The same equipment picked up 3G alright in BKK.

@Jiu-Jistsu : at least something immediately usable. Thanks. If I don't switch to anything else, I can use my AIS Net SIM more efficiently at least. Strange that no one could give me this hint at various AIS / Telewiz desks around Nakorn Sawan

Folks, thanks for all the technical tips and questions but I've had all of this covered. I know for sure that both my Nexus One and my 3G stick work flawlessly, are 100% unlocked, give me full 3G in areas of coverage in Thailand (with AIS at least), I'm happy with the way I use them etc.

My mentioning a data-only SIM was because I've been using the same voice-only SIM for several years, it doesn't have data and I put it in a cheap feature phone. I'm fine with this also and switching to another phone number would be a major annoyance.

This wasn't my question, anyway. It was about the pre-paid or subscription plans available based on my periods of presence on Thai soil and usage patterns described above.

I've got some interesting suggestions here, thanks for this. The 50 hour/200B plan seems like a possible fit, however what happens when you leave it dead with zero balance remaining for several months? can I re-activate it when I return? how? do I need to visit an AIS shop for this?

The other plans in the 500B+ range seem like overkill for my needs. I can get along buying 3 to 5 of these 59B SIMs with 5 bundled hours during my stay, although having to switch SIMs is a (small) pain.

Then DigiLife shop at Pantip Plaza is your friend. Make sure tablet has IPS or MVA panel, not TN panel (cheaper tablets use TN panel which can't be seen from other directions). RK3066 chip is pretty good.

Thanks. Do you have some recently seen prices and models in mind?

I know the difference between IPS and TN.

Well, I can order from China while staying in my home country as well. Many people do it here.

I just don't want to. I like to hold a tablet in my hands before buying it. I'm ready to pay a bit more for this.

Thanks for the suggestion anyway.

First, thanks to all for the replies so far. I'm still kind of confused but starting to see some light.

I guess it would help if you could share the exact brand/model of your smartphone and USB aircard, so we can attempt to match you up with the potentially best service provider.

Smartphone is a Goole Nexus One. Works OK on both 3G and EDGE in Thailand.
USB 3G dongle is a Huawei E160. Both of these have been extensively tested over several trips with AIS Net SIMs. No technical issue so far.

And if you could share any details re: your usage, locations, budget, frequency of visits.

Usage: some e-mail, some navigation (Google Maps), some news reading using media apps, some listening to western radios.
About most one hour/day average and probably only 10 Mb or so/day average.
Locations: mostly around Nakorn Sawan (not downtown though: no 3G available on AIS at least), a couple of day trips to BKK, depending on the season I might spend a few days in Hua Hin as well.
I come 3 or 4 times/year, for 2 to 3 weeks stays.

>Most people purchase a SIM, add value and then subscribe to a mobile data plan. You can add value using many different channels: 7/11, ATM, scratch card, etc. Most mobile data plans auto-renew each month. You can subscribe to a time-based plan, or a volume-based plan.

It's my belief that to subscribe to a monthly plan, you need a work permit don't you?
Anyway considering the amount of time I spend in the LOS every year, it's probably not worth it.

I'm familiar with the different channels one can use to refill a prepaid card (as I've mentioned, I've lived several years in the LOS), just that the amount of service I get for my money when I refill my AIS Net SIM doesn't make sense. Some people have mentioned "choosing the right promotion" to me, which does make sense, but no one (including the local AIS shop) has been able to tell exactly which one :-)

Seems that prepaid data-only 3G SIMs are very little known.

There are many, many potential options for you but I'm not sure the current one you are utilizing is the ideal one?

Not sure either, hence my asking here :-)

Hello folks,

Not being a resident anymore, I can't use a subscription-based SIM. I need a data connection when I'm in the LOS.

I used to buy the AIS Net SIM. These were giving 10 hours of air time for 59B. A few months ago they've slashed this to 5 hours, which still isn't bad, but I'm wondering whether there might be better bargains.

I need something that will work (possibly not in 3G, I understand the coverage issues) out of greater BKK because I spend most of my time upcountry (and not in any tourist high place either).

I need it to be usable both in my smartphone (for data only) and in my 3G stick on my computer.

Furthermore, has anyone found the "right" way to refill one of these SIMs and get decent online time per baht? Seems that every time I've tried to refill my AIS Net SIM after the free hours were exhausted, I got like less than one hour of very moderate usage for 50B. This just doesn't make sense. So I kept buying new SIMs and dumping them after the bundled free online time is exhausted. What a waste.

Thanks in advance for your tips.