thaireg

I applied for a 3BB Premier connection in January. I was told by 3 shops that I would have to pay a year in advance, but I would get the 10% discount, no option of paying a month at a time.

I paid about 29,000 baht and started to use my connection. A week later and my service was disconnected because of the dispute with TT&T over the use of phone lines.

I was told I could apply for a refund of 26,000 baht. I did, and 4 weeks later I'm still waiting to receive it.

What suberb service.

I now have a TOT Air OS system for 590 baht per month, not too bad, but new systems usually are for a month or so.

The pregnant question is, "Why wasn't I told about coming back in the afternoon when I was given 227 at 8:30? and the older than me guy from down south with 228 wasn't told either?"

thaireg: Were you told to come back in the afternoon when he gave you your ticket #229 or was it later and if so when?

I had already been told by friends before I went to the office that tickets 201-220 were for the morning and 221-240 for the afternoon. I tried to get there around 7.30 but couldn't get up in time. I simply asked when I got my ticket if there was any guide to when the number would be called, and I was told that they don't call 221 until the afternoon, so the best time to be on the safe side was 1pm but 1.30 would probably be ok.

There were 2 desks processing retirement extensions.

I must have arrived just after the OP today as I got ticket number 229.

The guy on the ticket machine told me to come back at 1.30 as they process tickets 201-220 in the morning and 221-240 in the afternoon.

I did some shopping and had a meal and returned at 1.20. They were processing 224 at the time and 229 was called at 2pm. I was out by 2.20 and my 90 day report had been completed at the same time.

I asked the officer what happens if you arrive late and there are no more tickets available. He said you have to return on another day unless it's the day the extension expires, then they will fit you in sometime but you must remain in the waiting room because it could be anytime during the day.

I would prefer not to rely on that statement and make sure I apply in plenty of time.

Wow! Somebody up there likes me.

My wife runs a travel company specializing in mini-bus trips from Had Yai to Sadao. About 80% of our customers are farangs on visa exempt entries. Most passengers enjoy the trip and look upon it as a shopping trip once a month. A spot poll so far indicates that nobody objects to making 2 trips a month instead of one, just more money to be spent in Malaysia that would have been spent in Thailand, not just by the trippers but also by their friends on stuff brought back.

Of course, in practise, some trippers will decide that the time has come to visit Penang and get a 'proper' visa, but I'm sure they will be in the minority and the number of trippers making 2 trips per month instead of one will more than cover them.

TAT also gains because each tripper has twice as many visits to Thailand, more visitors to show in their stats.

So its winners all round, apart from the shops in Had Yai who will lose some business, but that's life!

Thank you immigration, now to investigate buying another mini-bus.

by the way any of you remember this one

December 28th 1974: Recently-appointed, Dave Sexton-managed QPR against a recently-having-dismissed-Dave Sexton Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. QPR had the recently-signed Don Masson in midfield and John Beck in his best QPR season. Chelsea I believe were managed by Ron Stuart with Eddie McCreadie as Coach.

Score: Chelsea 0 QPR 3 - Two from Don Givens; one from Gerry Francis.

QPR's team

Parkes

Clement Webb Mclintock Gillard

Francis Beck Masson

Givens Bowles Thomas

Chelsea's Team (one name missing!)

Phillips

Locke XXX Droy Harris

Wilkins Hay Hollins Kember

Hutchinson Garland

Sub: Houseman

Yes, I well remember that match. David Webb trying to kick lumps out of Charlie Cooke (your missing Chelsea player), while Ron Harris was doing the same thing to Stan Bowles.

How about this one, my first visit to Loftus Road 14th September 1968 QPR 0 Chelsea 4.

Scorers: Baldwin (9), Osgood (27 Pen), Baldwin (79), Birchenall (82).

And here's a cutting for your collection. QPR the strongest team in the division, they're holding all the others up.

Yes, it's been a lot drier this year. That will probably mean even more cuts in the water supply than normal in a few months time.

It's easy to see when the rainy season starts and finishes, just look up to the sky. During the rainy season the winds are from the wetter south/south west, during the dry season the winds are from the dry north/north east. Just look to see which way the clouds are moving.

The wind direction changed about 10 days ago, so it's now the dry season.

Experienced expats always check they stamps upon issue to make sure their are correctly issued for their individual situation and to avoid hassles later when an individual immigration officer makes an honest mistake, which can happen with dire consequences for expats.

Even experienced expats can sometimes forget to do this. A few years ago I returned from a holiday in Malaysia and had reached Hat Yai when I checked my entry stamp to find that I had been issued with a 30 day visa despite having a re-entry permit for my 1 year visa. I contemplated continuing my journey to Chiang Mai and reporting to Immigration there as the office that had issued my re-entry permit, but decided that it was easier to return to the border from Hat Yai than maybe being ordered to return from Chiang Mai.

I drove back to the border, the error was rectified in a short time, and I could drive home without worry.

As previously said, it does not always pay to depend upon information given by Immigration officers when making an enquiry. I went with my friend to Chiang Mai immigration when he queried whether or not he could show his joint bank account as proof of funds when applying for his retirement extension. Sure, said the officer after examining the bank book, no problem. A week later and we were back applying for the visa with the same officer who then said the account had to be in the applicant's name only, resulting in a journey back to the bank to get things sorted.

You can make all the enquiries you like, but what really matters is what happens at the time you make the application. Any advice you receive beforehand is just that - advice. It doesn't matter where it comes from. It's nice to be able to access forums like this and see the experiences of others but use the information as a guide only, and make your application as early as possible in case of complications.

Move to TOT?

Unfortunately that is not an option for me. I applied to TOT a few months ago for an internet connection and was told that as I have a TT&T phone line so they could not provide a service. I suggested that I could cancel my TT&T phone line and get a TOT phone line, but they say that I am in "a TT&T area" and it can't be done.

As far as an increase in charges at the end of the promotion is concerned, I too have only seen the Thai document and have no definite news of whether the charges will be increased, it was only my supposition, we will all have to wait and see.

I'm in Chiang Mai on Maxnet. Since the recent "upgrade" the service has been terrible. International web sites time out, FTP downloads about 1kb/sec and times out frequently. Video streaming, forget it; and streaming audio (radio stations) the sound is distorted with constant buffering.

Local speedtest is very good (1000/500) ish but international speedtest is usually about 150/400.

Before the "upgrade" it was enjoyable using the internet, now it's so frustrating. I wonder what will happen when the current "promotion" finishes and we all face a hefty increase in charges.

Trying to access this site...........

http://www.cdcovers.cc/

can anybody ?

No problem here, I'm on Maxnet in Chiang Mai.

Over the past week or so, I've had similar problems accessing international sites but it only lasts for a couple of hours and then all is ok. During those times some Thai sites (e.g. Bangkok Post) are also unavailable, but others (e.g. Bangkok Bank) come in load and clear.

I think you must just have been unlucky.

I phoned 1103 a few weeks ago when I couldn't get a Maxnet connection. The young lady said "an engineer" would phone me back, and they did so within an hour. After explaining my problem they decided that they couldn't do anything over the phone and said somebody would call the following day.

Sure enough, two men arrived next morning and checked everything, finally deciding that my modem had stopped working. They left me their router so that I could have a connection, and promised to bring me a new one later. A few hours later they were back with a new router which they installed and all was ok again.

I'm not normally impressed by Thai service, but I must say TT&T were on the ball as far as my problem was concerned. Maybe I just got lucky.

It certainly seems like the luck of the draw if you get bank accounts etc. in this country.

I've been here since 1989 and after getting an annual driving licence for 3 years I was offered a lifetime driving licence. I agreed, paid my 1,005 baht and my licence was issued. The very next day I went with my friend to the same office and he saw the same clerk to renew his licence. He asked for a lifetime licence and they told him he couldn't have one because he's a farang.

Earlier this year I applied for a 3mth savings account at BKK bank where I already have an ordinary savings account in my name. They told me I could have the account but they can't pay me interest because I'm non-resident and it was no good getting a residency certificate. I went to SCB and they said no account, because I have no WP. I already have a savings account there, as well, but decided to keep quiet in case they told me to close it.

I am on a retirement visa.

It's the luck of the draw, does your face fit, and how the clerk feels on the day that seems to decide things.

Over the past few months Maxnet Indy subscribers who have been with Maxnet for 12 months have been upgraded as follows

256/128 Subscribers to 512/256 cost 590 Baht/Mth

512/256 Subscribers to 1024/512 cost 790 Baht/Mth

1024/512 Subscribers to 2048/512 cost 1000 Baht/Mth

As far as I can tell, Maxnet are running a new promotion until 31st December.

It seems that all subscribers have been, or will be, upgraded again as follows

512/256 to 1024/512 cost 590 Baht/ Mth (normal cost 1,000 Baht/Mth)

1024/512 to 1536/512 cost 790 Baht/Mth (normal cost 1,500 Baht/Mth)

2048/512 no change cost 1000 Baht/Mth (normal cost 2,000 Baht/Mth)

Nothing has been published, as far as I know, regarding what happens when the promotion finishes. Do they start charging the normal prices for the services?, Will the speeds be reduced if customers don't want to pay new prices? What about customers that have paid in advance? Who knows?

I just spoke with my friend of 15 years who writes the bank account confirmation letters for a prominent branch of Bangkok Bank in Chiang Mai. He says that he has had no request for a letter confirming that funds were brought into Thailand from overseas, and has never heard of one being needed for CM Immigration. He advised me to keep the copy of the wire transfer (which I do anyway).

the TM7 form asks for date of entry to Thailand. What do you put on there? The same information as on the orginal TM7, or the most recent entry details?

I'm never sure what to enter in this section either. I entered Thailand in 1989 and have been extending my visa every year since. I have had holidays abroad since then (with a re-entry visa). Should I enter 1989 or the date I last returned from holiday?

I have always entered the latest date that I returned from holiday as that would be the date of my arrival/departure card and I have never had a problem, but I've never been sure that I've entered the correct date. Anybody know for certain which date I should use?

I see that none of Football Focus, Football Crazy, or Football Forecast are showing any clips whatsoever of EPL matches this season, not even the goal of the week.

Football Crazy is filling the gap by showing highlights of the Championship, which is a nice idea, but obviously the new contracts do not allow replays of EPL action except in the specific replay shows that we are not allowed to see in Thailand.

It was a bit silly in Football Focus to see discussions of the ref's (and Lehmann's) mistakes last week and all they could do was to show still photos. I can get that from a newspaper.

Friday nights have gone from a 1 hr preview show followed by a half hour review of the English press, to a half hour forecast show which only has time to talk about 3 matches.

I liked the remark made by the Bolton Chairman after the first match of the season when he said "under Allardyce we had become boring and we were getting nowhere".

Well they're still boring but they have at least got somewhere, bottom of the EPL.

I've been having exactly the same problems with my Maxnet 1024/512 connection for the past couple of weeks. New torrents will start fast and then quickly drop speed until they settle around 3-5 kBs per sec. I'm using Azureus and the upload speeds are still very good.

Non-torrent download speeds vary considerably but, again, upload speeds are usually good.

Normal surfing is usually good but there are times when I get timeouts.

Listening to radio stations is now out of the question with distortion and buffering, but I am able to listen to radio on my dial-up connection with good quality.

Running speedtests to Thai servers returns readings of over 800 with a ping of around 50, but repeating the test to Singapore will result in readings of about 150-200 with a ping of 600-700. Tests to Europe and USA return similar readings to that of Singapore.

Maxnet have certainly changed something recently.

First impressions

pros No ads, English Commentary.

cons Terrible quality picture, big banner at bottom of screen, 2 logos for True

There was no coverage on channel 68, although it was advertised. Must check to see if Boro match is on in a few minutes.

These are the matches scheduled for Channel 68, TrueSports 5 for the next few days,

11th Aug 18.45 Sunderland v Spurs 21.00 Middlesbro v Blackburn

12th Aug 18.00 Arsenal v Fulham

14th Aug 02.00 Spurs v Everton

15th Aug 02.00 Reading v Chelsea

These are not in the UBC schedule on their website, but are being listed on the Channel 68 promo currently being shown on Channel 68.

Interesting that the Spurs v Everton match is actually being played at 2am on 15th August and the Reading Chelsea match is 2am on 16th Aug. If True want to show them 24 hrs earlier then so be it.

Matbe I'm wrong on this but I dont think True say every ELP match will be shown LIVE. meaning 'Live' as we think of it.I expect some to be live ie UK kick off time ..the others shown later. Before their shedules said abc v xyz ..Live,when they obviously were recorded and shown later.

I can record matches but not 10 at the same time.

Yes, you are correct. Re-reading their press releases they don't specify live coverage of every match. So there is no difference between their new coverage and the coverage previously offered by ESPN/STAR Sports where every EPL match was eventually shown over a period of days.

I do wish that they would list the matches due to be broadcast on the special channels. Their schedules carry details of matches on channels 61-64, but not the other ones.

Even after reading the latest press release concerning TrueVisions forthcoming coverage of the EPL I'm still confused. Obviously it will become clearer after the coming weekend. Won't it? Another thing that puzzles me is the statement that Platinum Package subscribers will be able to get live coverage of all 380 matches in the season. They appear to have channels 61-64, and 68-69 allocated to the EPL. That's 6 channels. So what happens on the final day of the season when all 10 matches kick off at the same time?

Check out the ESPN/Star Sports TV Lisings page at

http://www.espnstar.com/tvtimes/tvtimes_index.jsp

Enter country as Thailand and you will find that there is no live premiership matches scheduled. Enter country as Malaysia and there they all are, the same as they were last season.

My understanding is that ESPN on TrueVisions in Thailand will be showing the Football Focus/Football Forecast/Football Crazy programmes, but not the live matches. TrueVisions is stating that these are exclusive to their own channels.

Of course we all have to wait till Saturday to see what really happens, not least what screen format are we going to get, normal sized people, or stick-men because the wide screen format has been squeezed into a 4:3 format for Thai viewers.

If the first Premier League preview programmes like Premier League World are anything to go by, it looks as if we will be watching stick men playing this season with the wide screen picture being compressed.

Watching the recent tournament in Hong Kong it gave me a headache, not just because Portsmouth won.

I wonder if it will view ok on a widescreen TV?

1. Chelsea

2. Man U

3. Liverpool

4. Spurs

18. Bolton

19. Fulham or Wigan

20. Derby