swain

Bear in mind too the non-pirated games are quite reasonably priced, will state on the box for sale in Thailand only. Seems they are selling these at a reasonable price to compete with the pirates.

If this is true then its about time. I would much rather buy the legal version of a game.

Are there a lot of jobs that are being taken by illegal frangs, that Thai nationals would get if they were not here? I am not sure what the problem is. Or is this like the USA .. . keep the Mexicans out because they are stealing our jobs... jobs we wouldn't do even if they were available.

I tutor students in English and have found that the students from the EP program at Varee to be very well educated. Much better in fact than some other schools I will not mention. I have a 2 year old daughter and I will send her to this school when the time comes. I think the EP program is the only way to go.

Though I have to say, many students that I teach from the bilingual program at the same school, are not doing very well. I am not not sure that this is an example of bad teaching or just a few problem students.

(The reason for the edit)

(I wasn't going to post the negative comment on the bilingual program because I do know some children that are excelling on it.)

I tried it as well.. new winner... I guess its time to raise the prices.. and start charging for water~

Valid question... I would be interested too. Buffet breakfasts are not always three times the price. I am a big fan of breakfast buffets and would like to know the best ones in Chiang Mai.

The teachers will be thinned by this increase.. as the pay is not going up... when I say thinned I mean only the quality teachers.. that really will benefit their students... There will always be the teacher that really couldn't care less about their students and and is staying in Thailand for whatever reason. But there are quality teachers that will see inflation, devaluation of the dollar against the baht, and increases in fees as a good excuse to think about going back to the country of origin. Yes.. yes.. Thailand wont be losing any money with the exodus of these people ... but the quality will decrease... ...

There will be leather bound ebooks, and maybe even texture to the plastic maybe a small aroma of newspaper ... Books are great.. I agree.. Though I would be talking about old books with the quality paper and ink and leather and other quality materials... but not what books have evolved to. Paperbacks with bindings that barely last you through one reading much less two. Its time for a change..

Sawasdee Khrup, TV Friends,

An interesting discussion. My human grew up without television (until age 12 or so), and was an avid reader from the age six on (but was also a big fan of radio dramas).

I was lucky to grow up in an atmosphere where books were appreciated, and we had many fine custom-bound books, special editions. Early on I had a sense of the beauty of the Caslon and other "classic" typefaces many of these books were set in, the beauty of the etchings by artists like Gustave Dore, the remarkable metallic inks used in the superb edition we had of the Fitzgerad translation of Umar Khayyam's Rubaiyat.

For me, I think holding a book, the tactile experience of paper, the look of ink, is such a deeply ingrained pattern ... a "way of life," perhaps ... that even though I use a computer many hours per day (programming, researching technical issues, in e-mail correspondence, and for creative writing) ... that no e-book will ever replace the pleasure I have holding a book.

Computer are innovation. E-books are retrovation.

If you mean wood pulp books will soon be thought of as retro, I would agree with that.

It is a very long article about e books, but by a well know author and it generated a lot of controversy. I really enjoyed the whole thing.

You guys are thinking that things will remain the same. The advances in epaper that will take books to the next level is only a few years a way. Ebooks like this will be history soon enough.

The Chinese will have a cheap version out in no time... and though books with wood pulp will always be around. They will be more of a novelty not the norm. People will buy Ebooks not everyone is an expat trying to live on a ever decreasing budget.

Maybe "many" would have been a better word, but I know so many people who are downloading the latest TV shows and movies as soon as they are available that is seems like "most" to me.

Software, video games, movies, television, e-books, audio books, news, telephone, global video interaction, and lets not forget adult entertainment. I would not have stayed in Thailand if I didn't have this pipe. Well, to be honest I will not stay anywhere that doesn't have a high speed connection. You have the world at your finger tips. The Internet for better or worse is bringing people and knowledge together. Newspapers, books, magazines, television sets, radios.. We will be laughing at people that rely on them 10-20 years from now.

Next step is to embed a chip in your skull and have the data streamed directly into the brain. (Computer viruses will take on a whole new meaning....) Or virtual reality will make major advances and we will from the comfort of our lazy boy at home be able to visit Thailand or anywhere else for that matter... Virtual sex will replace real sex because no risk of disease. Maybe the body itself will be put in suspended animation and we will live our lives in virtual reality, virtually interacting with our fellow man.

Or maybe the copy write police will win and we will keep chopping down trees to make books, magazines, and newspapers...

Yes yes rambling off course... sorry...

Pantib plaza Bangkok... I checked out a dvd mixed in with other software, games and music discs that had 13,000 eBooks on it. I was amazed .. didn't know that piracy extended to the written works as well. I didn't buy it of course as it would be illegal but my friend did. It was quite amazing. He ran right out and bought one of those readers. Never really gave it a thought before.. but looked at the torrents as well. E-books and audio books are all over the torrents. Not just the text but the full book with illistrations. I think eventually with Blu ray you could make a 4 disc set of the entire works of the planet. Amazing how many fit on such a small space. IF the readers came down in price just think what a knowledge revolution this would be.

Yes yes I know.. for now its all quite illegal.. but it does make you think.

I sell books so I am not impartial, but to me, the whole e-books thing is smelling more and more like another big con job by the retail industry. Remember how they told us that CDs would have perfect sound, never skip, last forever and the price would come down quickly?

Yes, someday an e-book will possibly have evolved to the point where it is as useful and comfortable as a traditional book is today, but that might be in another 50 years, or more.

Hardly anyone is using them now, so the complaints haven't even started yet. Why waste your money on the clunky and expensive prototypes machines that they are churning out now?

How about just getting a real book - as we have done for centuries. I guess that is true that another sucker is born every day.

If your interested you can download the show here and get a more detailed description---link to the show

There are a lot of variables. location is a big part of it. Are you close to the last mile. Where copper meets fiber. What package you get and what your willing to spend. Many parts of town you only have one provider that you can choose from but they have different packages available. What we did is go to the villages we were interested in living in and ask the neighbors. Really the only way to go if this is an important requirement. I have not run into too many people that have had both negative and positive with the same package in the same village. If you do find this then you are most likely looking at a bad wiring job on the house or the wires leading to the house. So its best you get multiple recomendations.

We found many houses that we would have rather lived in but we were limited in choice because of our internet requirements.

another quick question... how DO you find out how far you are from the closest switching station for DSL? Here in SFO, i am 2 blks from the station and i know it cuz the tech tells me and cuz i get the full speed i pay for, and more (not less).

i mean, i can imagine in thailand that if you have a connection problem, they might always tell you that you are "far from box"...... how do you get at the truth? is there a secret map somewhere?

zippy

You wont get the truth because even the people that should know .. don't... their knowledge base is severely restrictive. I think the argument for this... is if they don't know they cant say anything negative. They are given the company answers and thats what they give out. The smiling faces you see and talk to on the phone are smiling because they don't carry the burden of knowing anything other than the company info bite they are given.

Update on the Haier air con that we picked up for 8,500 baht for 9000 BTU Have had it for one year... we run our air cons all night and some days all day. Good to fair energy usage... (better than some not as good as others) but works with no problems what so ever. I would recommend it.

Its amazing that the propaganda machine in the USA is so effective. Really I never trusted any other medical care other than care I got in the USA. Sicko open my mind and I see things very differently now. I was convinced that Canadians were getting sub-standard care and that they were being denied the care needed because of long ques of people waiting to get attention. I try to look back on where exactly I got this information but really I have no clue.

I have one.. watch out for offers that if you don't decline you are automatically signed up for. The rules in this country are a bit more loose than the USA and things that they can pull here would never be allowed there.

Mikes has always been my favorite. I love how late they are open to!

There are a lot of variables. location is a big part of it. Are you close to the last mile. Where copper meets fiber. What package you get and what your willing to spend. Many parts of town you only have one provider that you can choose from but they have different packages available. What we did is go to the villages we were interested in living in and ask the neighbors. Really the only way to go if this is an important requirement. I have not run into too many people that have had both negative and positive with the same package in the same village. If you do find this then you are most likely looking at a bad wiring job on the house or the wires leading to the house. So its best you get multiple recomendations.

We found many houses that we would have rather lived in but we were limited in choice because of our internet requirements.

....cheap motorbike and ....at a farmers market on a saturday morning .

the Saturday (I think it was a Saturday-only) market at Sanpatong famous for selling oxen (wua) and water-buffalo (kwai). They did have an area full of motorbikes for sale......

Still there, can't miss it. It has really gotten big over the years and now is on both sides of the main highway. Just be sure you can get all the proper paperwork showing a clear title

You might want to try the auctions as well. They happen almost every week, and you can get a good deal as well.

....cheap motorbike and ....at a farmers market on a saturday morning .

the Saturday (I think it was a Saturday-only) market at Sanpatong famous for selling oxen (wua) and water-buffalo (kwai). They did have an area full of motorbikes for sale......

Still there, can't miss it. It has really gotten big over the years and now is on both sides of the main highway. Just be sure you can get all the proper paperwork showing a clear title

I can confirm its still there... and many bikes.. But there are many that have paper problems. If you live in a large village and you don't plan to go anywhere this can be ok.. but out on the street this could cause you a problem. Its like anything the prices can be very low but you definitely get what you pay for so if its too low... look for the problem.

It starts at 6am and starts winding down around 12:30 pm

I think thats a Google generated ad... meaning Google analyzes your current searches and puts up something in line with what it thinks you will be interested in. So someone who searches about lady boys online would get banners for lady boys.

Nothing implied but I think this is how it works.

Switched to premier and everything works now... unfortunately I could not vote with my wallet... I wish I could leave but there is no other choice where I live ...but as soon as there is... I am soooo gone.

I have Indy and have been happy with it up until the most recent deterioration. My neighbor has Premier. I tried using my magic jack on my system, nothing... I went over plugged into his and it worked fine. They are using bandwidth Modulation to control Indy now. They said they would do this about two years ago but they never got it setup correctly. Now they have. Indy for me is great between the hours of 12 midnight to about 6 in the morning. Magic Jack works fine and I am downloading at full speed. About 6 am it turns into a pumpkin.

How it works is they are cutting the packets up and spreading delivery around, Modulated bandwidth is incredibly bad for VOIP and Torrents, and streaming video as you lose connection and the stream is terminated. Yes Premier is having quality issues as well but this has to do with other issues, maybe bad equipment, maybe undersea blah blah blah. Indy was incredibly reasonable for what we were getting. I don't think this is coming back. Premier is working ... not as good as it was.. but a 100 times better than Indy. I believe this is TT&Ts push to raise revenues. To the very basic Thai customer that doesn't speak English and is loading Thai websites based in Thailand its passable. Not great because modulated bandwidth sucks for local customers as well as people pulling international content.

The level 1 tech support people are scripted and have about as much knowledge base as the person who cleans my house. Level two has a better knowledge base but they are not fed much in the way of information from the network technicians. This gives the impression that they are trying mainly because its true that they are trying to resolve the problem. They test the line to the house, test the router, and come up with what they think is the answer. Its never the answer. And we are not going to be given the answer. I am going to smile and take it because I have to have the internet. I will move to Premier because in my area I have no choice.

For you who have a choice you are in a position to vote with your wallet. I hope enough of you will leave and show them that this course of action is ill founded. Though what I think will happen is we will bitch and moan and some of you will move to Premier and the rest of you will continue to bitch and moan...

Grandview Hotel lunch buffet has added Ice Tea and juice to their hot coffee and tea area, not to mention the free water that they keep coming around and filling your glass. (I guess I did just mention it) The food is good to just above good. Ate there today.. I think the best bang for the baht *142 baht all in*. It was packed as well, so many others are voting with their baht for Grandview.

North Chiang Mai University has 2 confirmed cases of H1N1 and we have been told they are considering closing as well. Word is out all over Hang Dong that a Mother of a 7 month old girl died after only contracting the virus 24 hours before. I have family that interacts directly with this family and this is how I come upon the information.

Our daughters Nursery school is closed for the next two weeks.

The mother died within 24 hours of contracting the virus?

I dont know how it came out that way.. no the infant died... not the mother. Sorry for the error.