GreenSnapper

25 years ago.... never took a taxi then, too expensive.

Bus 59 (red, no aircon, still running) from Don Muang to Khao San road. 2 hours when there was not much traffic.

Khao San road wasn't as crappy as it is now. One of the poorer neighbourhoods and one wonders why suddenly the guesthouses sprung up there.

Travellers sitting on the footpath, having breakfast at noon, which normally consisted of cheap toast, sticky margarine instead of butter and a Nescafe. The luxury version included a few pieces of papayas or pineapple - all for 20 Baht or so.

Everybody talked about his travel experiences - how he went by smuggler boat from Southern Palawan to Borneo, or overland travel from China to India.

The good old times, when having a fan was luxury and a/c was only for the tourists at Sukhumvit.....

Everything was mom and pop shops. Far less commercial and modern. Just about impossible to get change for 1000 baht note in a restaurant or small market. 500 baht notes could even be a problem,to use.

It WAS impossibe. There was no 1,000 baht note back then.

You are right Ulysses. 500B was the biggest, but for me even 100B was a lot of cash.

But may be he got some 1000B notes from a money changer and was surprised he couldn't use them...

I agree, the N8 has probably been the most successful Nokia Smartphone here recently, maybe selling through to a few hundred end-users (fewer than 1,000).

You pull that figure out of your bum lad?

First 800 customers that pre-ordered the N8 got some free goodies. I tried to pre-order it and they had sold out of the freebies.

Never let facts disturb a good discussion....

But i agree with others, it's becoming a troll thread....

Connected to TRUE BKK.

Connection is stable, speedtest to BKK server 7Mbs/Sec.

Therefore no water damage to my lines.

But international connection is crappy again. Packet losses.

They never get it right here....

Up or down.. Mai pen rai!

For qualified bankers go to Singapore! :jap:

1. Yes, Symbian will be supported until 2016, but not by Nokia.

Who cares. It is just a company restructuring, mostly the same engineers. Happens all the time.

Android is also not by Samsung, just to remind you.

And finally, technology moves on. The current Symbian phones are some of the best value phones on the market. In about 2 years, you buy another phone anyway. For current customers it is sufficient to know that Symbian is not dead and is supported until 2016.

And you are wrong again: Nokia WP7 phones will be out before Christmas.

My prediction: in the next two years, high end smartphones will come mostly from Nokia and Apple. Samsung, LG, HTC will serve the mid market. Low end will come from Chinese (Huawei).

One of the good things about Nokia smartphone handsets in recent years has been their broad, multi-band compatibility for 3G services, which is especially significant in a fragmented, scattered 3G marketplace like Thailand.

When I buy a smartphone for a princely sum, I'd prefer not to find myself locked into only one or two 3G carriers in the ever-changing future, because the phone (other than Nokia) only supports 900 and 2100 Mhz 3G, or only 2100 Mhz 3G, or only 850 and 2100 Mhz... but not 900 Mhz...

Who knows whether the future Windows Phone versions of Nokia smartphones will continue that past broad compatibility... I hope so... Because most of the other major handset manufacturers do a pretty poor job of covering the different 3G bases with their handsets, probably because their larger country markets for 3G aren't nearly so fragmented as Thailand.

Correct.

When you live in Thailand, you want to be prepared to have all necessary 3G frequencies available and not being attached to a certain provider. Everything changes here constantly, or you may just move to a different area where yo need another provider.

So the basic rule is: Only buy a smartphone which supports all of 850, 900 and 2100 MHz. This will limit your choice to Blackberry, iPhone, Nokia and the Samsung SGS2.

Some more points about anti Nokia drivels I read here:

First: Symbian is not dead. Actually it will be supported with updates until 2016. This is from an official statement. The latest updates (called "Anna" and "Belle") are actually quite nice. There is more to follow.

Second: Nokia is not dead. Actually they build some of the best quality hardware available. You will rarely find a better RF-system, better sound system (only iPhone can compete in this field), better battery life and so on. And you get all this for almost half the price of an iPhone or an upper Samsung.

Third: Windows Phone will soon be the next major platform for high-end Nokia smartphones. This may shock some people who worry that it will be of the same low quality as previous Microsoft software. I'm not fond of Windows either, but from what I heard from qualified sources, "WP7 is the first time Microsoft got something right".

If this is the case then they have a bright future, combining a competitive new OS and their long expertise in hardware.

We will see. The smartphone market is moving very fast, and the hype of yesterday will not be the hype of tomorrow.

Otherwise it would be a pint!

Thai Banks are quite save, I would not worry about them going bankrupt.

More to worry are dishonest employees, the mai pen rai attitude and the general lack of any legal protection for the "alien".

Therefore the advice above to hold up to around 800K in Thailand is very good. Do not bring more into the country. It is also a hassle to bring money out, if you ever wish so.

Then don't buy a condo for rent/income here. Huge numbers of condos in BKK are empty for a long time, and talking Pattaya, while they build new condos at every corner, the agents are desperate to find a renter. Building quality is also quite low and maintenance often neglected.

If you want to hedge against falling Western currencies, bring your money to Singapore. This is a save place and no nonsense people as so common in Thailand. The Thai Baht and SGD do not fluctuate from each other so much. Thus if Western currencies go further down, SGD and Baht will go up. On the other hand, if there is a major crash in Thailand SGD will hold its value and get stronger vs. Thai Baht

Short term bond funds in Singapore may give you a moderate return of 3-5% per year.

The SGS2 is a true "Thaiphone" with all 3g frequencies in Thailand. Nice device for 19k.

Last days I drove the whole BTS up to Bearing. Had excellent 3G connection with DTAC all the way out. To be recommended.

What for?

For most smartphone users upload speed is not a huge priority, except perhaps when uploading photos or videos to social media apps., or forwarding emails with large attachments?

This is a common mistake: upload speeds do matter, even if you just browse the internet and don't upload anything.

The reason: IP traffic is not a one way road. Slow upload speeds often combined with long ping rates make the browsing experience much worse.

I agree. These smart"phone" devices are amazing and I am generally not into the latest tech and am definitely a late adopter of such things. I usually like to wait a few generations until the kinks are worked out and prices come down.

So, after waiting 2-3 years after the first truly multi-function phones came out I bought the HTC Desire which is based on the Android OS. With this device, I can do everything and more than my stand alone computer (desktop or motebook); this is especially so in terms of connectivity due to having access to both Wi-Fi and high-speed cellular data networks. The GPS chip also provides mapping and navigational functionality not found in computers.

While the HTC Desire is quite cheap nowadays with good specs (but lousy battery I believe?), it does not support 3G 850MHZ and thus cannot be used with DTAC or TRUE 3G. This must be considered when living in Thailand with their fragmented 3G "infrastructure".

In other countries you are normally fine with the standard 900/2100.

Otherwise I agree with you. smartphones are very nice travel devices. I used to travel with a Nokia N800 tablet (4 inch) in the past, but it is a bit slow after 4 years and now I carry an iPad together with my Smartphone. I just like the big screen and the more flexible handling.

But the iPad is for hotel, while the phone is everywhere. The iPad tethers to the phone, so no extra SIM card needed.

BTW, when you travel with a phone only, it is very useful to bring a small, light Bluetooth keyboard for writing emails and longer texts. Then you almost have the "computer experience".

Careful Dags. You say anything remotely positive about Thais and Thailand and the Thai-hating brigade may just launch their standard tirade of namecalling,

Some people hate Thais, some people hate TV-members.

I hope the people who are recommending Vietnam actually lived there. If not, let me be the one to say it: VIETNAM SUCKS. Beautiful place to visit (more interesting than Thailand), horrible place to live in. Three times more expensive and 100 times more primitive than Thailand. DONT DO IT.

I lived in Thailand for five years and have now been in Vietnam for six years. It has everything I could ever want from a country. Salary is higher than Thailand and cost of living is lower. They also understand that they can benefit from learning from westerners which is something that Thais don't seem to understand.

Not even Cambodia is 100 times more primitive than Thailand. What a stupid thing to write!

Correct! Vietnamese are clever people, quite refreshing compared to Thailand.

Even Malaysia is cheaper than Thailand in many areas these days. And they give you easily a 3 month hasslefree tourist stamp at the border. The OP may consider splitting his time between those countries if he can afford it.

I am trying joikuspot but my phone has extra problems atm. it is in the shop getting a new display

anyway telewiz said it would work as a usb modem

AIS tried to set it up as a bluetooth connection but could not ,said there's a problem with my laptops bluetooth

I forgot to take the usb cable in to them, so will try again with them to set it up monday.

Joikuspot sounds good, but I'd like the USB cable for battery life, and also as OVIsuite is supposed to work,

I would like find out why it does not

I also have a desktop PC to set up the same way, so want to understand the processes involved

I have done USB-Tethering to a Nokia only with a Linux-Box, so cannot give you instructions for Ovi-Suite.

Bluetooth tethering is very easy, but as you will most probably have BT 2.0 or so, speed is a concern when using fast 3G.

Joikuspot is indeed heavy on battery. While they did a lot of optimizations to keep battery use low, it still cannot be neglected. If at home, keep your charger connected.

One more hint: if you use the free version of Joikuspot, be prepared that this works without encryption. Everybody has access to your "hot spot".

I tried it the first time in a hotel when a few minutes later another hotel guest found "oh, there is free wifi here, that's fine... " Fortunately you can easily see who is connected to your phone.

Therefore try it out with the free version, but buy the proper one when everything works as you expect.

It is Thai Culture!

So everybody who payed Sin Sod, because it is "Thai Culture", is entitled to have a Mia Noi.

You do realize that your multiple posts denigrating Android and Apple, while repeatedly proselytizing the benefits of a phone which you've had for 30 days is the very definition of a fanboi. I'm guessing not.

I don't see "multiple posts denigrating Android and Apple".

Owning Macs for many years, owning an iPad 2 and owning a Nokia since 4 months, I can't see how you come to those absurd conclusions.

Before buying an iPad, I was almost sold for a Galaxy Tab. Didn't buy it for technical reasons and happy about that decision.

The problems with fanboiz is that they don't want to see technical facts, they see what they have and how much better it is than what others have. They pretend to know that a "a Toyota is better than Mazda - Period!"

I buy anything which suits my needs. I may certainly buy an Android when it is mature enough. At the moment the only Android which I would seriously consider, is the Galaxy SII. The others cannot compete with Nokias in the 10KB range - and I have given my various reasons for my opinion.

Your miles will obviously vary. No reason to start a flame war on that.

You can NOT use 3G in this USB/dial-up application.

Is that true,really?

No. You can USB-tether to 3G networks the same way as to GPRS/Edge.

But the question is: do you want it? Having a cable connection is clumsy. Wireless is the way to go, you can place your phone near a window and get (probably) better reception.

The only problem is that it is now general "knowledge" that Android is cool, while Symbian is yuck.

Don't you just hate it when those pesky customers choose the "cool" products.

Doesn't bother me very much, I'm not a fanboi

When I went shopping for a new smartphone a while ago, priced around 10-15KB, all friends suggested the cool LGs, HTCs or Samsungs. OK, I thought, let's check them out.

And then I found, that they all cannot do what I need and the outdated, dying Nokia is much better value.

And no regret so far.

Your miles will vary.

Check the Nokia thread here and cosider to buy the C7 for 9900 Baht. Can do more than your iPhone, just not as slick.

I just bought the Nokia C7 and it's the best phone that I have ever had. It is equal in spec of the I phone and only half the price. Nokia are far from Dying.

Check it out

The C7 and N8 are very fine phones and IMHO superior to iPhones and most Androids.

They are basically the same (HW and SW), but N8 is equipped with a much better camera and some gimmicks like HDMI connection.

The C7 is a bargain in Thailand for ~10000 Baht. It supports all 3G frequencies necessary here, unlike most Androids. Take this into account if you want to use DTAC or TRUE.

The only problem is that it is now general "knowledge" that Android is cool, while Symbian is yuck.

In reality is a bit more complicated. I attach a text I copied from Nokia forum, which is quite on the spot.

I am using both Symbian and Android so I guess I can answer these well enough.

1. Most people are simply preferring Android because it looks good. (It does). However, when we go down to basics, Nokia phones have better hardware components (GPS chips, radios, music chips, durability, etc). Also, people have the impression that Nokia OS sucks and Android does not. Actually, the only problem I see why Android has become more preferable because in its current situation, Symbian is more micromanaging and less "idiot friendly" (if you'd forgive the term) than Android. The learning curve for Symbian is pretty steep.

2. Nokia will be releasing WP7 phones as their flagships starting next year.

3. Pros and Cons:

Android Pros:

-lots of apps and widgets. Very highly customizable to look and feel the way you want it to.

-The UI is fluid and quite obvious.

-the OS is basically a platform with each application sandboxed from each other. When an app crashes, the phone does not necessarily crash unless you are using a very resource intensive app like a PSX emulator. You can force close the crashed app (like the end task option in Windows Task Manager).

Android Cons:

-No proper task switching or managing. It only keeps a certain number of apps running and closes apps automatically when you are reaching full RAM usage. This may be nice in theory since you dont get the memory full message, but you have no control about which app it closes. Sometimes its very annoying when it closes the app you actually need to be running at the time. It does cache the app to start again from where it last was, but it doesnt happen to all apps and sometimes having to go through loading processes again is annoying. Symbian allows more control on what apps get closed and what are left running.

-Its more prone to malware and spyware due to its high level of being open source. Unlike Symbian which has certificate management, Android does not, so its best to have an Antivirus on it. Malware even found their way into Android Market

-Fragmentation. There are so many different droids with differing chipsets and hardware that not all apps would work the same way on one droid as on another. For example, Falling Fred for Android works well on a Galaxy S, but on an HTC Evo, there are some lags, despite the Evo having way better hardware than the SGS.

-Has practically no advantages to Symbian when you will be using it offline apart from games. Yes the apps you will use are different and may feel better on Android, but in terms of practicality, almost anything you can do on Android you can do on Symbian if both are offline. Android only wins big if you have a data plan to make use of its full potential (or maybe wifi everywhere you go?)

- Connectivity limitations. Android cannot create or connect to adhoc networks (unless you root it). Also their PC connectivity solutions/software are absolutely awful (or if they work good, they are worse in terms of functionality and capability than Ovi Suite, let alone PC Suite).

Symbian Pros:

- Proper multitasking control. As said before, you control what gets closed and what stays open

- Proper PC integration. We all know how bad Ovi Suite is compared to PC Suite, but nothing Android has can even compare to Ovi Suite in terms of functionality.

- Symbian phones generally have better hardware components. Speaking for Nokia vs Samsung alone, the GPS antenna, AGPS computations, 2g/3g radios, wifi receivers and transmitters, audio quality, durability feel and quality, of Nokia phones are superb compared to almost any Android phone in the market today.

- Ovi Maps - still better than anything Android can throw. I cant use Google Navigation in my country, but the rest all fail in comparison. Android doesnt even natively support the use of bluetooth GPS devices, you need to buy/download a Mapping System that does. Also, my 5800 running on Integrated GPS alone can get a more accurate fix than my SGSL on integrated GPS. It takes the same time for both to get a full fix too. If I use AGPS on the Nokia, it gets fix in 2seconds. Samsung Fail yes (bad GPS antenna), but partly Android too due to bad AGPS data calculation scripting.

Symbian Cons:

- App developers are leaving, so you have less apps and games to choose from. These is what is now starting to give Android more functionality than symbian. There's usually an app for whatever you may want to do.

- When an app crashes, the whole OS can crash, depending on the app, especially if its an integrated app.

- While many people customize Symbian (regional devs, operator devs), Symbian editing often causes problems, while Android is made to be customizable, reducing probable software errors which may ruin the phone up by devs and operators.

There are a few other things I cant think of right now, but as I said, I currently use 2 phones for 2 networks, and one is a Droid and the other Symbian, allowing me to enjoy the advantages of both OS and the ability to ignore the deficiencies of one by using the other for that purpose.

Ask them to microwave it. When you hear a 'bang' you know it's done. Unfortunately it's now scrambled egg.

Sentarn has a cheap device for boiling eggs in a microwave. I use it all the time, but takes 6 minutes.

Get Joikuspot app for your Nokia. It makes it Wifi-hotspot and works very well.

Then connect your PC wireless.

About 23000