tjd46

Last month TOT automatically upgraded me from a 3Mb plan to a new 6Mb plan for the same monthly service fee. Since then, I've had nothing but problems...loss of ADSL signal, throttling Torrent downloads etc etc. I'm constantly resetting my modem to get different IP addresses to see if this helps. Sometimes it does, but not for long. As I write, my true bandwidth is about 45kB [1 torrent download from TheBox at 35kB and a speedtest rating of 8kB]. Yesterday I enjoyed an uninterrupted 39 minutes at about 400kB...then TOT pulled the plug and I lost my ADSL signal for a while. For the rest of the day the best I could get was 60kB and several ADSL signal losses. I call TOT every day but of course they are in denial. "We'll refer this problem to our technicians in Rayong." . Everyday the same answer, but no fix. Anyone else suffering the same pain? I'd switch to True, but they don't have internet services in Rayong province yet.

Yep it will be moved soon!.

Agreed, trying to down load footy - England v Bulgaria, pants, between 55-90 kb/s:angry:

Judging by the response, it looks time to move on to another ISP. I'm not paying a 3MB tariff for dial-up performance. Anyone had experience of TrueVisions? Just what are the options?

Is TOT at it again? For the past 2 or 3 days my torrent downloads have been hanging or crawling along at or below dial-up speed. I've done speed tests on both the Bangkok and Singapore servers and the results reflect normal speeds for my 3MB line, and everything else works fine. But downloading torrents is a real pain. Anybody else suffering the same experience?

This had to happen. It probably a good thing. You'll "hopefully" see performance of voip, web mail, etc.. improve. Torrents are drain especially since most peers exists outside of TOT, if you look at an average torrent drainer using a steady 1mbit the economics just dont make sense. I cant even buy full transit routes on 1000mbit commits for < 550baht/mbit (or anywhere near that). So hopefully TOT stop, separate, or traffic shape them.

Ideally I'd like to see torrent drainer pay a massive premium. Part ignorance for most windoze users as the systray hides the little U, but wow imagine how fast the internet would be in Thailand without torrent drainers.

Ends rant.

You're entitled to your opinion, but I think you are very much in the minority

I agree!

Can all those affected get on the phone NOW and start complaining to TOT. If nobody does anything we'll be stuck with the situation

I have done this only a few minutes ago. TOT is in denial, and when I asked to speak to the supervisor, he/she was not available. All of them should be in a kindergarten. All of them treat their customers as idiots. And now, UKNova [the last available] is blocked! Jesus!

I too am with TOT and also leave my laptop on 24/7. I have had the same trouble since late yesterday afternoon. The TOT men were in town all day and I was cut off until late afternoon. Before they turned it off in the morning everything was working fine (and generally I am happy with TOT's service). Since the connection came back on web browsing has been very erratic - sometimes fine sometimes completely static with most pages timing out. Also, all but one of the trackers I use have become inaccessible. My interest is primarily UK TV programs . Most programs are only to be find on specialist and private trackers such as UKNova, The Box and, to a lesser extent, TVChaosUK. Of these only UKNova has been accessible and working normally - the others time out when adding a new torrent or trying to update the tracker. I use uTorrent and UKNova torrents have green or blue arrows to show that they are seeding or downloading normally, but the others have red arrows. They still say they are seeding or downloading but there is to traffic. in some cases there are both seeders or leechers shown but on several there are zero. UKnova torrents are up- and downloading at full speed so it looks as though my TOT connection is OK.

The public trackers suggested above do not meet my needs as they carry only a few of the programs I want to watch. But I tried TPB, AHAshare and Demonoid this morning and although I can access their sites torrents from both are timing out in uTorrent and showing zero seeders and leechers. The sites often have many trackers - and one from AHAShare has 14 trackers listed in utorrent and all are showing as "timed out" or "no connection could be made". Clearly they can't all be down so what is the reason for this? And why is UKNova still OK?

Wontok...amazing! this almost completely mirrors my experience. I emailed thebox.bz and one of their frontline chaps pointed out to me that my uTorrent client version [2.0.1.]that I had been happily using for months had been banned by thebox.bz on 2 August ...so now I've gone back to their approved version [1.8.3] but still with no success. UKNova IS working, however. It's a real mystery.

I can't explain it - I've restarted the computer and the router, and I've reinstalled utorrent but with no improvement.

Any ideas anyone?

Sometimes, the upload bandwidth from your ISP takes a fall. Say from 512 kbps to 256 kbps. If you have set your torrent program with an upload speed limit to 256 kbps or more, torrent download speed will fall like a rock.

So if torrent download speed slows, turn off torrent and check on the upload speed you have. Then reset a new upload speed limit (about 60% of what you are getting) into the torrent program to compensate.

I will try this, and thanks....odd, though, I have had uTorrent working 24/7 on the same setting for months...then suddenly this happened yesterday. But thanks again for your suggestion. given supernova's comments, it looks like the problem is mine.

http://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/

kickasstorrents has been down since last night, and still is...

...but no problems in downloading torrent files from elsewhere? Are you with TOT? My patience with them is running very thin indeed.

Since late yesterday afternoon I've been unable to download torrent files. TOT, my ISP, is playing dumb ["maybe a traffic jam" etc etc]. I also can't get into kickasstorrents.com [it times out]. Everything else [software downloads and updates and all other sites, domestic or international] works fine. I am sure this is a purposeful block but getting anything sensible out of TOT customer service is just impossible. All they can offer is "to reset the signal". Anybody else having similar problems?

er, sorry...am I missing something? Anyone heard of internet betting?

Very frustrating at Tesco's Banchang...we have a workaround which works quite well. We take empty packets of stuff that we normally have to go to Villa's for and give them to the lady at Kitch Friend, and ask if she can get this for us...we have done this successfully for chicken stuffing and whole bean coffee. She has a problem finding the distributor detail for shredded cheese but we have found that if she can source stuff, she will. It's a niche market for her that Tesco seem unwilling or unable to fill...having said that, Tesco's wine range is improving but it's been a long haul. Our fallback for wine [especially Jacob's Creek Chardonnay] has always been Ann's Liquor store and his prices are competitive.

"...presumed..."? Is that it? Are the the police having the water heater tested?

"...presumed..."? Is that it? Are the the police having the water heater tested?

I was in Hanoi in July, and I found the guys at the Thai Embassy to be courteous and efficient. My Tourist Visa took one day - I submitted my application in the morning and it was waiting for me the following afternoon. They will ask to see your flight details out of Vietnam, so include a copy of your ticket with your application. Two other things: you will need to get a visa approval letter [go to www.Vietnam-Immigration.Org, or vietnamvisaexpress.com for this - it will cost about 25USD including handling charge], and get your one-month visa [for another 25USD] at the airport in Vietnam; and take USD with you, it is the preferred currency. Enjoy the bread. They sure know how to bake baguettes!

Has anyone had problems coming in from Australia [or any other country] getting a Tourist Visa? I have 2 Tourist Visas from Cambodia and Vietnam] and I understand [just today] that the law has been changed to disallow more than 2. Are all Consulates adhering to this new ruling, or is at the discretion of each Consulate? I'm leaving for Australia to my daughter's wedding on Thursday so any advice will be much appreciated.

Any advice on where I could buy the above printer would be greatly appreciated.

It's a high-end printer and not available in a lot of places (apparently).

Thanks in advance for any input.

I bought my Pro9500 from shop4thai.com...no promo price, though. It's a world class photoprinter!

Any advice on where I could buy the above printer would be greatly appreciated.

It's a high-end printer and not available in a lot of places (apparently).

Thanks in advance for any input.

Good informative stuff...where's the Licence Department in Pattaya/Jomtien?

The licence center is out on highway 36 just north of the Regents School, if approaching from Pattaya direction you have to go past and do a u turn, their is a sign a couple of hundred yeards down from the school.

Thanks...much appreciated

No test required in Pattaya if you have an IDP except for the three small tests in the office which are, depth perception, reaction test and colour test all done in 2 mins.

You will need a medical certificate despite some reports to the contrary, these can be obtained from any doctors surgery for around 100baht, you will also need a certificate of residence (Jomtien Immigration 200baht) or a work permit. Dont forget some pics, two for each licence and copies of your passport, main page, visa page etc.

Take a pen and if you can someone thta speaks Thai, around mid afternoon it gets quiet early mornings are normally mahem! I think thats it.

Good informative stuff...where's the Licence Department in Pattaya/Jomtien?

hi -- i have a 60 day tourist visa,under the new regulations how many re-entry 30 day visas am i allowed ... thankyou

It works this way...after 60 days you apply for a 30 day extension from your local immigration office (1,900 baht). At the end of this period you have to go to the border (Ban Laem, for example, on the Cambodian border), and go out and come back in on a 30 day entry stamp. (The cost of this is about 2,200 baht from Pattaya if you go on a group trip. If you go by car by yourself it will cost [excluding petrol] 1,100 for Cambodian stamps and visas, and about 200/300 baht for a tourist ticket in Cambodia [you don't actually go on the tour; the Thais are after proof of a legitimate reason for you to be there. The ticket guarantees this.]) You are allowed to do this 3 times. After your third trip to the border you have to leave Thailand and apply for another 60 day tourist visa from a Thai embassy in another country and start the whole process over again. I go to Penang in Malaysia. At Penang a 60 day tourist visa costs 100 Ringgit (about 1,000 baht). I have seen group trips organised for about 6,000 baht including visa costs. This trip takes about 3 days. You apply one morning and collect the next afternoon. Travel time is on top. I went Air Asia the last two times and if you buy early you can get very good rates, but remember at an an airport they charge you 700 baht departure tax and this is included as part of the ticket costs.

Hope this helps!

I paid attention to all the visa hoopla last September/October, and thought I understood it as far as it pertains to my situation.

Then a few days ago some fellow who teaches English was telling me that after six months in the country on tourists visas you must get your next visa in a non-neighboring country, eg Singapore (do the Thais still have a consulate there? just joking).

I had not heard of this before, and I haven't been able to verify it. I know it can't be from experience as it is not October 1 2006 +6 months yet.

Anyone else have knowledge of this?

This was the reality for me...I came in under a 60 day tourist visa, extended by immigration in Maptaphut for 30 days. Then I did the Cambodia run for 3 months. Then this month I went to Penang to get another 60 day tourist visa to start the whole process over again. The Thai Embassy in Penang is good: submit application and passport in the morning on one day and collect your passport [with new visa] the following day in the afternoon. It costs 100 ringgits [about 1,000 baht]. You HAVE to pay in ringgits.

Something I forgot to mention is that when applying for PR you are given a 6-month extension visa, which is followed by 3-month extensions until the application is approved or rejected. But you can ask for 6-month extensions and that will save you a work permit renewal each time. Make a point of seeing the same officer you dealt with before and asking for 6 months.

There is some good information about PR requirements at http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004/en/do...tion4extend.doc dated December 2003. It gives a good idea of how they intended the system to work, complete with a disclaimer at the end saying that even if you fulfill all the requirements they can still reject you and don't have to tell you the reason.

All good stuff...would it be possible for you to provide the name and contact details of your lawyer's firm?