jayceenik

Obviously TOT Pattaya is going all the way now to block YouTube. This morning all I get is:

Network Error (dns_server_failure)

Your request could not be processed because an error occurred contacting the DNS server. The DNS server may be temporarily unavailable, or there could be a network problem.

For assistance, contact your network support team.

I'm going to my "network support team" at their Pattaya Klang office this morning and see if I can get "assistance". TOT is truly a ridiculous ISP!

Every YouTube video I try either on their site or embeded into another site shows up "We're sorry, this video is no longer available" The is so frustrating.

Pull up a video, then add "&fmt=18" to the end of the webpage address (i.e. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R5Yh4HY9k&fmt=18). Then enter that new address, so the youtube page reloads. This changes the video stream playback from standard quality to higher quality. For many people with TOT ADSL, this allows streaming of youtube videos. Otherwise, get a flash video program and download and save the flash video file.

That crack has allowed me to watch many otherwise "unavailable" YouTube clips. Again thanks for sharing it. Worked well for a time but unfortunately in the past few days it has been less and less effective. It is now a hit or miss affair. For example I can stream your above quoted link but not

BTW, the FLV file cannot be saved if it's not available!

Could it be that TOT Pattaya is reading this blog and doing its darnedest to plug this crack loophole?

I don't like to download RealPlayer onto my computer. It is spyware that reports back to RealPlayer the videos you are watching. I believe there was a class action lawsuit over this issue. There are other ways to download flash clips from youtube.

You're unfortunately right about that! The despicable b**tards! That's why, to thwart their establishing correctly my VDO watching profile, I play the Yin and Yang game with them. One Obama download, one McCain; one Allah Akhbar IED Attack, one Marines in Action; one UBL pronouncement, one Mission Accomplished; one Pattaya Coyote Girls, one John Hagee; one Soi 6 Follies, one Holy is the Lord; ...

Just set the RealPlayer as your default player when you install it and you'll always get a pop up above right of the VDO screen clip asking if you want to download the clip. Super easy!

,,,,,,,,

Hi Jayceenik, I have downloaded the real player and set it to my default player as you said but I can not see any pop up above right of the VDO screen clip asking if you want to download the clip is this pop up on the youtube vid or the real player ?

Open your real player. Click Tools on the top of the player (not Windows!). In the roll down menu click Preferences (it's the bottom item). In Preferences click Download and Recording (it's the bottom item on the left frame). On the Download and Recording frame that appears on the right check the box Enable Web Downloading and Recording. On same frame down below check the radio button and insert 10 seconds (or whatever, you can always retrieve the download box by mousing over the screen if it disappears). Click OK.

The little Download this Video box will work independently of your real player (open or not, doesn't matter), you will not see real at all, only the web site cum VDO you're watching. It works with near everything: CNN, MSNBC, YouTube, and even with the FLV ads that you get on some web pages!

When you click that download box a bigger box will open which will show the download being initiated and progress. As soon as it gets going you can close the VDO web page (not the box!) and watch that clip later (no need to keep the VDO rolling). Note that if you get TOT internet trouble the download will stop and even announce false completion; check that you got the full MB load. I often get partial downloads on long movies. Just do it again. You'll find the downloaded clip in Windows Explorer>Videos>RealPlayer Downloads (folder automatically set up by real, not by you). Then it's all a matter of playing it. Double click it or open real, click My Library on the second top line and then click All Media or Downloads and Recordings on the left panel that will appear. Your clip should be listed there.

Good luck!

At last. Thanks very much for this tip, it works, I can now view vids again but I still cant download them ? when I try with my youtube downloader 2.2.1.2 it comes up with the message. " Output folder does not exists " don't know whats going on there ?

Yes, indeed, it seems like the YouTube downloader doesn't work with this "high quality" setting. Just download the free RealOne player at http://service.real.com/main.html and you'll be able to download nearly everything, including YouTube clips. Just set the RealPlayer as your default player when you install it and you'll always get a pop up above right of the VDO screen clip asking if you want to download the clip. Super easy!

I haven't tried embedded videos yet, so that will be the next nut to crack. I think you should be able to copy the source code, open a new browsing window, and enter the webpage address and crack into the address bar of the new window to watch the embeded video.

Here is a link to an embedded YouTube in a web page (just one among many!). Scroll down, left. You'll find more right of page.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-rees/h...d_b_103332.html

As soon as you click the play button you get the "Sorry. VDO no longer available" message. How can you crack that? Only way I can see is to search for these clips on YouTube and use the "high quality" setting (either available or cracked).

Thanks again for sharing your crack. It's a sanity saver!

Youtube "higher quality" video crack! I discovered with a proxy on TOT, I can view the videos, if they have a "higher quality" option and I select that option. You can automatically select the "higher quality" option for all videos by adding "&fmt=18" at the end of the web address. It is slower, and you will get significant buffering, but you can get all videos to play on TOT!

Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bF2OPG_G_M&fmt=18

Brillant crack. I tried it with a few clips and it works! TOT is slow for me anyway (1MPS) so I always use Real to download and watch later if the stream is jerky.

There is still a problem with embedded clips which are unavailable but that I can search on YT if I'm really interested.

Wonder what the problem is? In the US Comcast and other ISP have a dim view on high VDO broadband usage and would like to install brakes on big users. Maybe some bright light at TOT has indeed decided that a YT block would clear more pipe flow.

(Venezuela Kiteboarding World Tour).

Sorry, the link should be

There is a way to get some YouTube VDO clips streaming again. Works for me. Hope it'll work for everybody.

Check out these clips

TOT ADSL 1024 in Pattaya. Yesterday I was able to access YouTube for a very short time and downloaded a clip using Real. But YT is out again. Not too long ago I read in the BKK Post that the authorities had found at least thirty "objectionable" clips on YouTube. Didn't say what they were about. Maybe the King? Or Thaksin? Anyway I thought then that trouble was looming again for YouTube in Thailand and hoped that only the "bad" clips would be blocked. No such luck. Maybe this time the authorities do the blocking in a stealthy way to avoid renewed irritating remonstrances from Big Brother USA.

Or I'm just overly suspicious and it's just a cyber problem between TOT and YouTube. In that case my humble apologies to TOT and the "authorities" for imagining a censorship conspiracy!

Anyway I'm glad to have found this thread and be thus assured that my PC has not gone to the dogs!

I think Sophon is, like Tony the Tiger says, GGGGGRRRRREAT!!

I am primarily a news and current affairs junkie and I get a great selection of such channels from around the world for about US$ 10 per month with Sophon. With channels llike BBC, ABC, CNN, Fox (faux news), Bloomberg, Channel News Asia, El Jazerra, Deutsch Wella, China News, NBK (Japanese), and let's not forget Pattaya People News and Pattaya City News channels, I'm a happy camper.

I don't give a squat about their movies or sports. Got my own 700 movie DVD collection (originals too)

Same addiction here. BTW, it's CNN Headline News (with sexy Robin Mead and mad Glenn Beck) we're getting, not CNN International. And add French TV5 to the mix if you speak French. And the Russian channel if you're from Moscow!

I do my Retirement Visa renewal in BKK giving my BKK address (same one as on TM when I return from overseas trip) and do the 90-day reports most often in Pattaya giving my Pattaya address (same as on as Driver's License). Fifteen years like that. No problems.

Have Al Jazeera in Pattaya with Jomtien Cable but not sure about Sopon Cable, my building doesn't allow Sopon nor UBC. Here in BKK I can't get Al Jazeera on UBC but will be interested to know if I can get one on any cable. Please advice. I like the coverage, it's different. Though I wonder for how long they've been featuring English version because for 2 days that I watched Al Jazeera, I saw the same documentaries for 8 times. The documentary was great, very interesting. Anyways, I really hope they do keep up their good work and find more staff so they can do more good stuff more often

My in-house cable TV in BKK (some local distributor I don't know) had replaced the Australia ABC channel with Al Jazeera some time last year for a few glorious days. Unfortunately they have since reverted to the Australian channel (not bad but AJ is five stars). I get AJ in Pattaya with Sophon. Thank God! They do indeed repeat documentaries and specials all along the week at different times.

Al Jazeera is the best news and documentaries TV. Above the BBC and certainly CNN.

I watch a lot of FOX (Faux) News too. To know what bothers the neocon mafia most! Hilarious to surf from Faux's "We're winning the war" to Al Jazeera's "Things not going well".

Please share the link you have for the ZR schedule, I have spent a long time looking without finding it.

I spoke with ZR in Europe about the lack of details on thier web site - their cryptic reply suggested to me that they were aware of Thai TV stealing the feed and were looking to stop it.

http://www.e2.zonereality.tv/TV/Guide/Chan...eReality/Today/

In the roll-down "select country" menu Hong Kong (for Thailand schedules minus one hour) used to be listed. Not any more and I can't relate any country to what I receive in BKK.

So I'm maybe unwittingly receiving a stolen satellite feed! I get it on my apartment building in-house cable TV.

In Pattaya I've Zone Reality from a South Africa satellite on Sophon so, most of the time anyway, I get the schedule right. No such luck in BKK where I used to have their schedule for Hong Kong but it has disappeared and I can't figure out on what country's satellite they're on. I thus miss a lot of good shows. Anybody knows on what country's schedule ZR is in BKK?

I hate Songkran. Over the years I've unfortunately lost my temper every time I was caught in the mayhem when I had to go out. Not good. I'll stay home and watch TV. I've stocked food and beer for the duration.

Thailand introduces portable zip codes

BANGKOK: -- Thailand Post will introduce a national "portable zip codes program" that will allow individuals to take their zip code with them when they move, no matter where they move, whether across the country or across town.

The program is inspired by the recent CAT Telecom ruling that allows people to retain the same phone number wherever they move or whatever service they switch to.

Boonlert Praisannee, head of Thailand Post says "A modern, mobile society like Thailand can no longer afford to remain grounded in locale-specific zip codes. He continues: "A zip code is a badge of honor, an emblem symbolizing a citizen's place in the demographic, rather than geographic, landscape."

Khun Boonlert: "This will also save companies and organizations a lot of money, because they don't need to print new letterheads, forms and business cards when they move or relocate. "I'm pleased to announce this new feature of our on-going "Go Postal" campaign," said Khun Boonlert.

"It's yet another step to modernize our postal system and satisfy our customers."

Earlier in January, CAT Telecom ruled that phone customers would soon be able to keep their telephone numbers with them when they changed carriers. That made it possible for a person to retain a familiar number even when switching, say from AIS to DTAC or True, and even from traditional phone service to cell phone service.

At the time, no one anticipated the cascading effect this would have. Now the concept has spilled over onto another branch of the communication infrastructure, namely Thailand Post.

The Democrat Party Leader Abhisit Vejjajiva says this is typical populist ideas from the Samak government. "Call me old-fashioned, but zip codes were meant to stay put," he said. "They serve a clear, unambiguous purpose: They tell the postal worker on his or her rounds where you live. I'm certain I'll be thinking long and hard of maybe voting against it."

The stationary system of zip codes has been in place for decades, and in that time those five numbers evolved from just a series of digits to a status symbol -- like an expensive watch or a handsome hairpiece.

The new vanity zip code feature is only the latest addition to the Go Postal program, which began last April 1. Thailand Post's officials say Go Postal has already been a success, with millions of baht of new revenue coming from the introduction of pop-up ads on postage stamps.

They are hoping to issue the first portable zip codes by April 30, 2008.

But first the House subcommittee must override an anticipated veto by a two-thirds majority of dissenting members. If that passes, the full Senate will have to take up the three riders attached to the bill by the postal subcommittee. If that fails, then only a 4-5 measure in both houses can pass. Only time will tell where this all stands.

--Agencies 2008-04-01

Related link:

Thailand Post

For more related info on this article check today's Telegraph (UK) startling natural world news at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml...MC-new_01042008

I mentioned earlier in this thread that this is a very REAL scam. It's been done many places in the world. Mostly it's done on escalators because the force of the moving walkway propels you into the sprawled scamster in front, whilst the 2nd bad guy pretends to help you up, but really helps himself to your pocket contents.

I haven't heard of this in Bangkok before though, but it pays to be aware of your surroundings on public walkways.

A few months ago I was holding onto my shopping cart on the moving up ramp at Carrefour Klong Toei when a young man ahead of me on the ramp lost his balance and fell down. At the same time a trio of men closed up behind me. The commotion gave me the impression that both the "falling" guy and I were going backward (of course not). Anyway, I immediately put my hand on my back pocket to protect my wallet as the guys behind me started crowding me (like it was me rolling back against them). Sure enough I brushed against a foreign hand. When we got to the top (parking level) these three plus one gang didn't go for their cars (if they had any!) but went down to the store level again using the lift. They had no carts or shopping bags. Though a bit shook up I didn't complain to Carrefour but other shoppers victim of this clever trick must have because shortly thereafter Carrefour placed a permanent guard at the top of that ramp. These four guys didn't look very Thai to me, maybe Philipinos.

The noisy A** (Thai or Farang) next door can indeed be a serious problem in LOS apt houses. I've heard many such horror stories from Farang buddies. But it all depends on the management enforcing or not strict good-tenant conduct policies. The only remedy when you're living next to high-decibel lover idiots is to move until you find a well-run place. Retaliating, especially against a local, can bring nasty blowbacks. I remember a Farang who complained about a Thai neighbor's loud boombox and then found human feces smeared over his door. He moved out immediately. In Pattaya I have an apt in a small Soi off Pattaya 3. This type of obnoxious A** would be warned once and kicked out the second time. The same goes for my main apt in Soi 22 in BKK.

Sign me up!

can any one help with this question any help would be appreciated.If funds are withdrawn from a bank account in uk as travellers cheques then brought to thailand and deposited in a thai bank account does that count as money coming from abroad,as we would have documentory proof that it had come from outsid of thailand.

Last October I exchanged AMEX TC $6,000 (bought in Jakarta) at my bank, Krung Thai. I kept the receipt but a month later they refused to include that amount as funds from abroad in my yearly 800K baht visa renewal letter.

I went to the Thai Embassy in Athens, Greece in order to apply for a double entry tourist visa today. The Greek employee in the visa section there asked me if I was a resident of Greece. I am not (I am Swiss, living partly in Thailand, currently visiting friends in Greece, travelling BKK-ATH-BKK), therefore I honestly said "no" and this was already the end of my visa application, before even getting a form...:

The employee told me that there was a regulation for Europe that Thai visas could only be issued for residents of the respective country by Thai Embassies and consulates in Europe, therefore I couldn't get any visa in Athens. Only the countries surrounding Thailand would issues visas to non-residents of these countries.

I have never heard or read anything like that.

Does anyone know if this is a special Athens thing or if it is a general, rather new Thai regulation? I am quite sure that the practice isn't (or at least wasn't) the same all over Europe.

Bad luck. An American I know got a one-year non-immigrant visa at the Thai Embassy in Budapest last June while vacationing in Europe. No problem but he could show a BKK bank savings account passbook.

The tech who answered did not know about youtube.

He asked me to spell it for him.

He said it is blocked by the Royal Thai police.

My wife reads the same text that appears on the screen and says there is no mention of the Royal Thai police on there but some vague explanation that it contains videos that may offend Thai people's feelings.

I'd send the minister an email but he admitted to never reading it.

"Unforgiving Thailand"

Six weeks ago, right after the launch of the EU info channel on YouTube, I emailed ict.cyberclean.org to advise them that they shouldn't block this EU channel because it is not pornographic or constitutes a menace for Thailand's security. No reply, of course! I would like to see a local child protection NGO ask the powers-that-be why the just-launched YouTube ICMC DontYouForgetMe channel calling attention to missing children worlwide is blocked. That channel was immediately and publicly endorsed by Laura Bush but here in Thailand it is blocked. Unbelievable!

I also think that the lèse-majesté clips should be removed because they're certainly of no interest anyway. They're just crude and offensive (I had them described to me by a friend in the US). They were obviously uploaded by a creep who was looking for YouTube to be blocked in Thailand and he succeeded! The best would have been to just block those clips right away and be done with it. The less said about them the better. Instead they have made plenty people aware of them who would otherwise have not paid any attention to such useless trash.

Today YouTube launched its "Don't You Forget About Me" channel. This channel, developed in conjunction with the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC) and the Find Madeleine Campaign features clips of more than 25 missing children from around the world.

http://www.youtube.com/DontYouForgetAboutMe

Sorry! the web site you are accessing has been blocked by ministry of information and communication technology

Why is this particular YouTube channel considered a threat to Thailand and blocked? What have those missing children got to do with banned offensive lèse-majesté clips?

And this is JUST the IP address from youtube, there is nothing illegal in accessing websites from their IP's or I missed something?

Yes, you missed the junta's new rules concerning Internet use. It's really now against the law to access web sites that have been officially banned. It doesn't matter what IT technique you use. No loopholes allowed. Proxies are even mentioned. This is no hearsay. Google around and you'll find that particular law (in its English translation, or in Thai if your GF is IT savvy).