JensenZ

There's no problem with my wifi, but if you have fast fiber connection, with LAN straight to your PC, it's not a matter of "each to his own", but what is better. Having a movie ON your hard drive is far superior to streaming it. My PC is connected to my TV. I'm also a YouTube guy but you don't have to be one or the other - you can be both. I wouldn't watch movies on YouTube though, preferring HD or Ultra HD on the big screen.

Not at all. It's far better than streaming and is not going anywhere. It's faster to get what you want, and you have a much larger selection... and you don't need to log into a streaming service. There's a lot of older, good stuff you will never find on streaming services.

LOL. You would never attempt that on a public road. You'd need to be an experienced race driver on a special, very long, straight race track. You can grab one in Thailand (cheaper model) for only 113,600,000 baht (about 3.5 million USD) and test it out. https://www.ccarprice.com/th/bugatti-chiron-car-price-in-thailand-398

I have downloaded bittorrents for 15 years, so I have downloaded a few terrabytes by now. I don't spend my retirement watching movies (if that is what you're implying) and spend most of my time online trading, so I need the best possible connection I can get with no compromise to save a few baht. Disconnections at the wrong times can cost money. In fact, a few years ago I was paying over 5000 baht for my (at the time) fast fiber. 500/500 has significant meaning as it's your starting point to get the fastest International speeds possible. If you start lower, you'll end up with less speed. I don't know how good your True 500/500 service is vs CAT. They're probably about the same, but it's the CAT service I appreciate., High speed movie downloads is a convenient advantage to a good connection, but not the reason I got it. When I've finished my work, I look for something to watch and get it quickly. If I don't like one movie, I trash it and get another, and another. Quick is great. It's much better to download than stream. I tried Netfilx for awhile, but there's no need. I can get everything I want when I want it, for free. The navigation through movies that are streamed is cumbersome vs downloaded copies that are on your PC... and of course you don't get a spinning clock, and can watch even when your connection is down (if that ever occurs). TOT were never affiliated with CAT. They amalgamated last year to form "NT Telecom". I also have used TOT, and agree their service was extremely poor. I've also TT&T and 3BB (TT&T was 3BB before they changed names). In fact, my experience with TOT was so bad that when I got the letter explaining the amalgamation and name change, the first thing I did was email my account manager. I was dreadfully concerned that the service level would drop.

Let's assume you are not joking or trolling, and just had difficulty understanding what I posted. Slim chance, but I'll take it. 26.6 seconds is the speed of downloading a 3 GB file if you are getting a full 900 Mbps speed at your bittorrent client and the torrent has ample seeders. I get a max of around 30 MB/s, which is 240 Mbps and it would take 100 seconds, hence my comment that I can download a 2 - 3 GB movie in 1 or 2 minutes. As it happens, a lot of files will take longer due to the torrent not being "healthy". Either way, I have movies to watch in about the same time as it takes to prepare a cup of instant coffee. Using my Mesh Wifi routers (2 provided free of charge), I have enough speed to stream 2160p video anywhere in the house. Think of it like this. You're driving a Bugatti Chiron, which has a top speed of about 490 km/h, on a congested freeway, where your maximum possible speed is 90 km/h. This discourse started as a recommendation to get NT Internet (ex-CAT) if you want reliability. I've used CAT since 2006, at which time my max speed was 2/1 Mbps. They used to be much more expensive than their competitors, but they have now caught up in speed for price, and have much better customer service. still have much better service.

Ever the joker... I download a lot of movies and TV packs, of 10 - 30 GB. Allow me to elaborate so you might understand how it works. You should know what the specs of Internet packages are, and what they mean. They are rated as the maximum download/upload speed to servers in Thailand. It's the absolute most speed you can get. I download 2- 3 GB moves very fast, but not at 900 (or so) Mbps which is 112.5 MB/s (divide by 8). If I got the full movie download speed on torrents of 112.5 MB/s, it would take exactly 26.7 seconds to download a 3 GB movie. Go back and read my post. I said 2 - 3 GB in a minute or two. I can reach download speeds of 20 - 30 MB/s on many healthy torrents (the number of people seeding a torrent is most important). Assuming a download speed of 30 MB/s, that would take 100 seconds to download 3 GB and 150 seconds at a slower speed of 20 MB/s.... and we also talking about 2 GB, so most certainly it takes a minute or two. ... therefore my estimate is right on the money.

Do you mean lose less money by not flying? I would say that is accurate. It will take some time to get to BE, but they have to start from somewhere.

TOT and CAT amalgamated last year to form NT (National Telecom), although CAT still handles my Internet and I deal with the CAT office. I was worried that the service would deteriorate because TOT customer service was always dismal, but fortunately it is still high. Apart from good internet, the best of CAT is that I have personal contact with a manager in the office who handles my account (who knows me by name) and get instant email replies to any concerns I have. One time there was a problem on Saturday and technicians turned up on Sunday morning. My manager even bartered with head office to get me a faster service for the same money, and free Mesh Wifi routers, as I have been a long term customer. They must have CAT/NT on the Darkside. I would check it out. Here's what I get for 850 baht/month (incl tax). A 2 - 3 GB movie would take about a minute or 2 to download. Usually these days I download high def movies of about 5 - 10 GB in no time flat. I have never been throttled on download speed. The service is rated 1000/500 Mbps. I never reach 1000, but it's close enough. If you use such a service, check your cables as some will only carry 100 Mbps. Look for CAT 6 cables. I rout this over the house with Mesh Wifi and get super fast internet on all my devices throughout a 250m2 floor plan.

I really thought that this office was a covid-free zone and that the virus was banned as they have been trying their best to make in person visits necessary for the entire time since this whole thing began... cramming people in there like sardines. What a surprise that some viruses didn't get the memo.

They reported a 448 million baht loss, but it meaningless without a figure for total revenue from tourism. if they had 38 million tourists in that year, it's about 11 baht per tourist. They need to stop worrying about pennies and consider the pounds. If they start making it a hassle for tourists to visit, they will lose a lot more than the unpaid hospital bills. They need to understand that tourists have a lot of options... with many other countries hungry for their money.

For many years many people have been sure this will change in the "near future". I suppose "near" is subjective. How near do you think it is and why are you so sure?

I get that too, but this site works with an Ad-blocker.

That's too bad. I get straight on using Chrome, Opera and Microsoft Edge. There's something inhibiting your web experience.

You should try that link again. I got no pop up ads at all. It is a very well written report about the state of covid in most countries that matter. The table columns are clickable to enable you to rank the countries in the different categories. https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/covid-resilience-ranking/ "Southeast Asian countries continue to rank lowest, with Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines in the bottom six for the third month. While the region’s outbreak may have peaked and vaccination has progressed, especially in Malaysia, many of these export-reliant economies are still reeling from delta’s hit. That’s spurring these nations to chart clearer paths to reopening, though it’ll take time for them to catch up to Europe and the U.S." Note the use of "lowest" in reference to the 6 bottom positions in the list. The lowest 6. Thailand is 3rd from lowest, or in other words, one of the lowest.

If the covid spread worsens, they can blame dirty foreigners again.

I'm not often on Facebook and I have an add blocker. If I'm looking for an expensive item, I shop around.

Mine are floating on the ceiling LOL. They come with special adhesive blobs that do the trick. They'll stay up for weeks and not damage the paint. I suppose helium is not so popular in many countries these days as it is a very convenient way to commit suicide (inert gas asphyxiation).

I find coffee exceedingly relaxing. I can take a nap straight after one. I can easily quit if I wish. I suppose these drugs affect people differently. There is mounting evidence of the health benefits of coffee. I never have problems relaxing. It's getting energy to do stuff that is in short supply.

Quit smoking or coffee drinking? I have never smoked but I won't be quiting coffee, ever. I need to grab one right now LOL

Shipping fees? As far as prices are concerned, there's usually a huge selection to shift through, at many price levels. I use Lazada a lot, and AliExpress if the prices are too high, usually with free shipping to Thailand, but a longer wait.

Started with the flames now - "nonsense" used twice, and now you're laughing too... (when/if you reply, how about holding back on the insulting language to keep it civil) I wonder who should be laughing, because it's quite clear you don't understand how to interpret the statistics you presented. It is well known that from February 2020 until April 2021, before the apha strain started doing the rounds, that Thailand had an extremely low case and death rate. We should only be concerned with the current state of affairs and not average figures from the past 18 months. With that in mind, from your source, Thailand is 11th on the list for NEW CASES (click on the title of the column to apply filter), 12th on the list for NEW DEATHS, and 20th on the list for active cases. Please note that this ranking does not consider per capita cases. If we take the per capita NEW cases into consideration, Thailand (131 NEW cases per million) overtakes the US with 79 new cases per million, India with 9, and Brazil with 49. I don't have time to do the full list, but places will change drastically if you do. In my post that you ridiculed, this is what I said: "Out of all the safe countries, Thailand would be on the bottom of the list, as the least safe." Obviously it was not clear to you what I meant by "out of all the safe countries". I am refering to the 46 safe country list offered in the original post of this thread. Using the total new cases filter from your linked reference, Thailand would be 4th from the bottom of that list (42nd worst from 46). Adjust per capita, we sink to 43rd worst from 46). Only Germany, UK and Poland are worse (per capita). OK, granted, not at the very bottom of the list, but very close. As you didn't take the time to view my link as you claimed an add blocked you, The add should not block you as you just close it at the X, but you didn't want to see it. I'll post screenshots of the list of 53 countries. This is the list of the best and worst countries to be as Covid reopening gathers pace.

Check out this list, which would be more useful that most, in assessing the risk of countries: https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/covid-resilience-ranking/ How can Thailand be 100 on a list of 48 safe countries? By the way, as you're obvioulsy a grammar nazi, allow me to respond to your "correction". English is not mathematics, and imprecision is acceptable and the point is quite clear to most people, and I will continue to use "one of the highest" along with others such as "one of the best", no matter how much it irks you. Spell and grammar checking is not good forum etiquette, especially on an international forum. Be very careful you don't fall afoul of Muphy's Law (a deliberate mispelling of Murphy's Law): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muphry's_law The iron law of nitpicking: "You are never more likely to make a grammatical error than when correcting someone else's grammar." I will be watching you.

One or more cups of coffee could actually be healthy for most people. I drink a lot more than one cup a day... probably 3 or 4 on average.

Out of all the safe countries, Thailand would be on the bottom of the list, as the least safe. Why would people want to travel from safe countries to risk travelling in Thailand, which still has one of the highest case stats in the world per capita.

Yes the requirement (returning expats submitting proof of minimum 50,000 USD medical coverage), suggests it will mean permanent healthcare coverage is necessary, unless you don't leave (for not at least).