OliverKlozerof

I will stick my neck out here and recommend them.

I have a 12mb service which they say is the best for international connections avoid going for lesser speeds as they regard those as domestic and the international speeds will suck.

Well, it looks like quite a few folks are satisfied with 3BB. So you went with 12Mb on their recommendation. B1490 plus VAT, right? Several have said they're happy with the basic 6Mb (B590+) plan. Have you ever tried someone's 6Mb connection? How do you know it wouldn't work for you? Their rep told me he thought the 8Mb plan would work for me. (Only the 6Mb plan, he said, was insufficient for 'international' surfing.)

So, at least it's working. 3BB must be a tiny company compared to True....

Not that tiny. February 2011, True has 1.5 million subscribers - 800k in Bangkok. 3BB in 2010 had about 794 thousand subscribers - 208k in Bangkok.

Broadband Traffic Management

Jasmine (3BB) 4Q 2010 report

Right. However, True also does phone biz (wired and mobile), TV and other stuff (right), so they actually have decent sized offices you can go to. In the case of 3BB, the phone rep said I had to go to "4th floor Siam Paragon to the 3BB kiosk in front of Fitness First." Well, I eventually found it--they'd rented space for a tiny kiosk/stand in the shop across from FF. Other oddities: When you call their number (1530), they eventually say "press 9 for English, but not at the beginning of the recording, *in English* which would be the obvious way to do it. Also, the phone rep was unable to look up whether they provided service in my area of Bangkok (Chitlom), over the phone and said I had to go to their kiosk for that info. (Gee, why couldn't they give him a *computer* with which to look this up? His English was not bad.) AND, I was in a waiting queue for a couple minutes before I got to talk to the guy. So, if I do go with them, I'll expect service and such to pretty random.

Hmm. My True has actually been up all evening. Just ran speedtest.net, speakeasy.net. Both show DL around 5Mb, UPload .1-.2Mb (I pay for 1Mb upload). So, at least it's working. 3BB must be a tiny company compared to True....

As a Mac user, it’s simple to take a screen shot after getting the speedtest.net or speakeasy.net results. I’ve been doing this occasionally, so I have a record of when my connection has slowed and to what extent. After a while I thought I might even take the results (I’ve got about 60 screen shots at this point), and make an Excel graph which I could then show True as evidence of how hard they suck.

The whole issue has made me think there’s an obvious need for software to automate this process. I just googled it and searched for Mac software on CNET. Didn’t find any Mac software. Did (with a 2 minute look), find a thread by a guy who had the same idea. He knew enough UNIX to make (or attempt to make) a little program to automate this: go to the speed test service(s); parse out the resulting ping, download, upload data; paste it into a spreadsheet. If I knew enough UNIX, I could do this myself, right from my Mac, but alas, I don’t. :-(

Phil: Yup, read that thread.

Hmm. Well, current situation is untenable, so I may as well try 3BB. If only True showed an interest in fixing my problems (can't get through to them), they may find it's simply something in the mass of wires on the utility pole. At least 3BB will string a new wire to my building (since no one here has it yet).

Side note: I've had an 800baht plan with True for a few years. Of course, when they came out with better speed for less money, they waited for me to ask for it instead of just giving it to me. Then they said, if I continue to pay 800 (something), I could get the new (at that time) faster download (6Mb) and also 1Mb (instead of standard 512kb) upload. Since I do a fair amount of uploading I went for it. But did my upload speeds ever go much beyond 512? Nope.

While I’ve been quite happy with my True internet over the past 5 years here in Bangkok, in the last month and a half it has completely sucked: constant disconnects, periods of less-than-dialup speeds, and unable to get through to phone support. As a Mac consultant I often used to recommend them to clients, but they no longer deserve my business.

I’ve heard some good things about 3BB and am thinking of switching to them. The fact that the service comes via cable, instead of telephone wire, sounds good (when I switched from telephone wire interent to cable in the US, it was a faster and more stable connection.

However, their rep at Siam Paragon said re: the different speed packages (6Mb, 8Mb, 12Mb, etc.), that these speeds are for DOMESTIC surfing only, and that the speeds for INTERNATIONAL browsing are 1Mb, 2Mb and 3Mb (respectively, for the 3 domestic speeds, above).

I've used speedtest.net (and a similar site), to check my speed with True, and (when it was working well, a couple months ago), I'd often show almost 6Mb to the US/Europe. So, if 3BB is only 1 or 2Mb internationally, that could suck.

I sorta doubt what the kid told me is correct though, since I've now heard from 3 quite happy customers. So my question is, if you have 3BB, have you checked your actual speed to US/Europe? How is it?

Postscript:

I found a place called Brothers Seaview resort that is just clockwise around the island from Pattaya beach a bit that looked interesting. They wanted me to put half down on my intended 6-night stay (1k/night = 3000), which I did by bank transfer.

Then, of course, the weather was cold and rainy...trains were not going to Hat Yai because of the flooding. I waited as long as I could, but still trains weren't going (I intended to take the train south). I was really looking forward to a relaxing week on a gorgeous beach but finally swallowed my disappointment and flew to Udon Thani and then spent 5 night in Vientiane. That was relaxing and interesting, but I was still very disappointed not to be able to go to Lipe.

Actually, when the flooding started, I emailed Brothers resort and told them I'd be delayed arriving. They wrote back saying no problem, that many of their customers had had do do the same.

Then, when it was apparent I couldn't get there (by train, at least), I emailed to say I wouldn’t be coming this time, but perhaps in the future, and would they please refund my deposit. they wrote back and said that others had managed to get there and that they wouldn’t refund it.

Well, their website does say ‘non refundable,’ and I can certainly understand why they’d need to have people pay a deposit, as many people would otherwise not show up without telling them. However, it seems like in this case that this very unusual weather and flooding should be seen as almost an ‘act of god,’ and that they would refund my money in order to keep good faith with a potential future customer. But they decided to do otherwise.

So, sorry for the long speech, but I’m not impressed with Brother Seaview’s attitude toward customers in this regard. B3000 is not a fortune, but I think it should have been returned in this case.

Anyone been to Koh Lipe (near Malaysia) recently? Know of a good place to stay there? Main thing I hate 'rave' or similar music, so must be QUIET, especially at night. Otherwise, good but reasonable price.... Thanks.

My True has been (insert favorite swear word), since yesterday, maybe before. Speedtest.net barely registers any bandwidth at all. Right, can't get through on phone. They'd better have a mighty good explanation for this (e.g., broken fiber cable or something).

Anyone know of places that have an 'open mic' night? I'd like to try out my solo tunes and need a venue. Thanks.

I’ve been working on some solo guitar tunes for a while and would like to offer a free show at your place or mine. Practicing by myself it’s hard to get geared up for an actual performance. Plus, I could get feed back from different people before playing in an actual venue like a bar, restaurant, etc.

I’ve been playing guitar basically all my life, and have played in many bands, solo, etc. Solo guitar is a bit more challenging. You can see some pictures, hear some tunes at the links below. If have a space with nice natural echo (a room with hard walls, for example), that would be fun. You could even have dinner with a friend while I play, etc. However, it needs to be a quiet place.

(BTW, I also teach guitar [emphasis on blues, music theory].) Contact me at snerj8 at yahoo if interested. Thx.

Pics:

http://web.me.com/davepeterson2/DVP/Music_Career.html

Tunes:

http://bangkokmac.com/sologuitar.html

Yesterday a client said his True i-net connection kept dropping and he was forced to restart his DSL modem to get his connection back. Last night I experienced the same thing. Anyone else experiencing this?

(My computer shows it has a valid IP address, but cannot get to the broader internet.)

D

Yes, I will file a US tax return. what I'm talking about here is a Thai tax return. I'm saying that whereas in the US, most people must file, even if they have no income, the Thai tax man seemed to imply I didn't even have to file a Thai tax return (since he offered to throw it in the garbage for me). But this being Thailand, I'm wondering if he was wrong and that I'm at least required to file a return, even though I had no income. :-}

Yes, the money I live on is transferred from the US. The odd thing was, in the US, even if you owe no tax, you must file a tax return. But the guy in the tax office sure seemed to imply even that was not necessary. Left me with a weird feeling. But then, this is Thailand. I did get his name, but other than that no official 'proof' that I had gone through the appropriate channels. (In case I'm even questioned about it.)

I have a retirement visa as of October last year. I went to the tax help counter, 13th floor Times Square building, like I did last year when I had a work permit and visa and saw the same guy who helped me fill out the forms last year. This time I had the forms I received in the mail. I told him I had no income in 2009. He didn't speak much English, but he seemed to understand well enough to say I didn't owe any tax. I gave him my forms to put in the trash and he did.

This being Thailand, just wanted to check...is this right?

Thx, Oliver

Actually, I've been doing a bit of this for the last 3 years in BK, but have hesitated promoting myself very extensively as I don't have a business license like I did for 5 years in the US. Anyone know how I could go about doing this above board here?

Thanks,

Oliver

I just put some flash cards for learning Thai characters on my site. Check it out and let me know what you think:

http://bangkokmac.com/thai/Consonants.html

--DP

I'm 51, have played guitar since age 8. Played in top-40 bands in Seattle 10 years, solo 2 years. Now mainly into solo country blues fingerpicking, getting better at jazz. Would like to meet other musicians to kick it around with, practice jazz, do vocal harmony.... (Sorry, no hip-hop, rap, etc. I like melody, harmony, dynamics, lyrics....) I like pop, classic rock, blues, etc. I'd like to receive an MP3 of you.

http://homepage.mac.com/davepeterson2/FileSharing4.html

Click on "Music," then the red download arrow.

You can contact me at "snerj8 (at) yahoo dot com"

Dave

Location: Chitlom

We've all see these sorts of headlines so many times in our lives. Of course this one grabs our interest because it is more relevant: a foreigner killing a Thai. An of course the brazennessof it.

For me, that thing it really triggers for me is not really, "what a sick f*** he is," which is obvious, but rather (and once again), "how do humans, who are born full of wonder and sensitivity, get somehow influenced in their lives to the point where they can imagine doing something like this?"

I have no strong feeling one way or the other about the death penalty, but I do have fairly strong feelings about how we influence the growth of children. As adults we must take responsibility for our actions, no matter how messed up our upbringing might have been. But my guess he had lots of helped getting as screwed up as he is.

We've all see these sorts of headlines so many times in our lives. Of course this one grabs our interest because it is more relevant: a foreigner killing a Thai. An of course the brazennessof it.

For me, that thing it really triggers for me is not really, "what a sick f*** he is,

1) to those who say, 'why all the armchair detectives and no sympathy for the victims?' Get real: we've all seen so much death in the news since we were kids that who honestly has any feeling left when we see it yet again?

2) 5am...drinking whisky & coke on the beach...Russian bimbos (well, this is basedon the recent photos--of course I don't know if they were 'bimbos' or not)...Thai perp on a motorbike.... Are there even chair vendors at that hour? What incentive would the vendors have to get out of bed at that hour when no chair rentals begin until the sun is up? To me the idea it was a hit by a vendor is laughable. I just wonder if the Russian gangsters (if that's who was behind it) gave some cops a case of Johnny Walker to say, 'we think it was a chair vendor....'

I studied some at a wat in the USA and took 20 hours at Somchart school, but have recently slacked off. I'd like to find an educated, mature Thai who is interested in doing a language exchange with me. (I did this when I lived in Japan, and it worked well.) We'd probably speak one hour English, then one hour Thai (or something similar). I also teach guitar and Macintosh computer, in case someone would rather learn about those things during their hour.

If you, or someone you know is interested, pls PM me.

Thanks,

DP

Would like to meet some real musicians to jam or 'knock it around' with. I hate rap, techno, so pls don't bother if you like those styles. I'm trying to get better at jazz--maybe work through some standards from the Real Book. Also like classic pop, nice vocal harmonies, acoustic-oriented music. 'Playing out' (in clubs) not an impossibility, but initially just interested in meeting for fun, inspiration. I'm now 50, been playing guitar since age 8. Played professionally 10 years. If you have any doubt as to whether you're a "musician" or not, please don't bother. However, I might be interested in teaching blues and music theory on guitar, if someone is sincerely interested in that. PM me. Thanks, DP

Music samples: (click Music folder, then red download arrow)

http://homepage.mac.com/davepeterson2/FileSharing4.html

Pics:

http://homepage.mac.com/davepeterson2/PhotoAlbum2.html

Hi,

I've been guitar player all my life. Might be fun to jam and see how it goes. Check these links:

http://homepage.mac.com/davepeterson2/PhotoAlbum2.html

http://homepage.mac.com/davepeterson2/FileSharing4.html

--Dave P.

dave "at" bangkokmac "dot" com

Thanks for casting some light on it.

DP

Well, I had a little misunderstanding with my sweetie and she left me a note with "less my heart" (in English) on the end. I'll ask her what she meant, of course...but I'm thinking she must be trying to use one of the many "jai" words, like "jainoi" or "noijai" or something like that. Anybody have an idea of what Thai term she's trying to convey, and if so, how could you put it into somewhat understandable English?

Oh yeah--another phrase was "I'm sorry make you bustling existence." She must have found these words in a dictionary. Any idea what she was trying to say?

Thanks,

DP