ManInSurat

I'm utterly disgusted with Maxnet/TT&T/3BB or which ever permutation they decide to call themselves this week. They are a terrible company offering internet services that do not comapre to their advertisements even slightly. (I understand there are issues in most countries around the world with regards to broadband speeds advertised and received - 3BB takes this to a whole new level.)

I've been a customer of theirs for over 3 years. I started off on 4MB Premier back in 2007, was bumped up to 5MB Premier when the marketing change happened a little while back - i.e. when they rolled out the 3BB idea - an evil creation if there ever was one. Then more recently I plumped for their 16M 3BB regular service, simply because I had a very stong sneaking suspicion that they had lumped every subscriber they had on all premier packages onto that one single premier package they had left and subsequently destroyed the only decent product they ever had.

All I can say is for the last year and a half I have watched their quality of service gradually change from 'only just acceptable' to 'f*cking ridiculously awful' over that time.

A word of advice with regard to DNS (domain name server) to make your 3BB slightly more manageable - I'd strongly recommend you download a piece of software called namebench which was produced by Google Code - you can get that HERE. It clearly shows you how to modify your DNS setting should you choose to do so.

In layman's terms, what it does it checks your browsing history or uses predetermined data to check all DNS providers worldwide and in your area to see if there's another provider in your area that can offer you a better connectivity using their DNS. For my connection, specifically when I use namebench, True's DNS always comes out on top and the performance increase I get is normally about a 70% increase in speed and it drastically improves my page load times. I cannot say this will be the case for all those that try.

On my many pained visits to the local 3BB office in Surat Thani, I always end up speaking to a 20-21 year old Thai girl, straight out of college who is there to look pretty and make sure contract get signed and little else. Their inhouse staff have absolutely no technological knowledge with reference to their own products. Never once have I been in their office at the same time their manager is there. Convenient or what? And GET THIS! My last visit was to their new stall in Tesco Lotus in Surat and their unit they had installed for potential customers to try their service (as is common practice nowadays) did not work for the whole 2 hours I was there. Nice one 3BB. That's how to run an ISP!

Ocassionally I've had their technicians round to the house in a futile attempt to see if there's been an issue with the lines, building work, water damage, etc. At these times I'm told it is my fault - my equipment is bunk. I have a top of the range wired Linksys router instead of their crappy Huawei Mickey Mouse router they sell/giveaway as standard. Of course, it's my equipment.

Visiting the local True offices in Surat Thani was SUCH a breath of fresh air! I tell you. I was placed infront of a very knowledgable 30+ year old female shop manager who knew her products, spoke very good English and had maps and data to show their local coverage and plans etc. I was VERY impressed. Alas their infrastructure has not yet reached my moo baan and is just across the main thanon from me - about 500m. I was told with assurances I actually believe for a change, that they'll be in my moo baan in 5 months time. I will do whatever it takes to change over at that time. (severance pay etc) I'll just have to suffer and put up with this sh*t until then.

Also, in the shop the manager made a fantastic revelation to me which greatly impressed me. She mentioned that the closer you are to your local exchange (your ISP main connection hub to BKK or the outside world) affects your connectivity greatly also. She advised me, if at all possible to look to get an office or rent a house nearer to their exchange in Surat Thani, should constant and flawless internet connection be an absolute necessity. I'm still undecided on this one, but the fact I was even presented with the knowledge and choice really made me very happy. (I know some of you will say this is pretty common knowledge - but it was not to me.)

Just looking at True's website instils me with great confidence, they specifically make a point of advertising the fact they have the best international bandwith in the country on their Premium packages, which are not only cheaper than 3BB, are also in English for you to read. Alright True are no angels (had a few minor billing/mailing issues) and their TV service I have lacks choice, but I've never had a serious service problem with them and they're fully aware of the farang's importance to their customer base instead of actively trying to <deleted> their customers in the ar*e while bleeding them dry - like other ISPs I wont mention. *Ahem...3BB.. cough ..TOT..cough cough*!!

If any of you are in a region where you can get True, and this is from personal experince of visiting friends in BKK and Phuket and playing with their connection, do anything you can to change over. More evidence of True's progressive nature is the fact that they are the first ISP in Thailand to offer ultra high speeds in BKK of upto 50M if you're lucky enough to be within their coverage area.

Listen I am not expecting miracles from True, but I seriously have no doubt that they are easily the best looking ISP in Thailand. My hope is that True will end up with nationwide coverage over the next 5 years and the likes of 3BB and TOT will suffer such a lack of subscribers through exodus that they will ultimately fail and die, which I think they fully deserve.

If any of you are subscribers in southern Thailand I'd love to know you experiences with them, please do tell.

I know I come across as Mr Ranty McRanter from Rantsville about 3BB, but this is off the back of 3 years of continuous hel_l and paying 2-3k for the priviledge. About 100k all in all. I really know what I am talking about.

With regards to the OP here - all day today I have not been able to access Gmail, Paypal and other https connections using my 3BB connection, YET, when I switch my UK VPN on, I can access it fine (I really don't like doing this due to security concers and it was just for a test.)

If they are actively restricting access to some of the most important sites on the planet then there is absolutely no hope for them at all and I sincerely hope their company dies and very soon.

.....getting back in box now....

Best of luck with your ISP woes wherever you may be! :jap:

Unfortunately this still does not address the complete lack of a World Cup schedule from True!

Mate, in last months True Visions Premier magazine that should be sent to your door every month, they had a pull-out which had all the games and all the times.

Failing that, previous competitions i have picked up a copy of the Bangkok Post shortly before it starts. They have a full page spread. I'm sure this year will be no different.

P.S. With you on Mr Pleat. Worst commentator i think i've ever heard.

The missus throws out the True Magazine as soon as it comes like clockwork! I'm not overly bothered about the specific channel schedule for True. I was making a mountain out of a molehill. As long as I know on what day and time England and playing and any other interesting matches, I'll find the channel!

Thanks for the heads-up never-the-less.

Live in Surat and you can't get the Bangkok Post anywhere here, which I would never voluntarily pick-up anyway!

I think what I meant to say was it would be nice for True to have a schedule on their website.

The true visions website is available in English. Just scroll down do the bottom of the home page and click on the icon which says English, you don't even need to read Thai to be able to do this.

I stand corrected and have honestly never noticed that. You are quite right. My apologies.

Unfortunately this still does not address the complete lack of a World Cup schedule from True!

For those of you interested in the BBC's Radio commentary schedule for the World Cup here's a link: World Cup Radio Commentary

Is it possible to listen to BBC radio in Thailand? Besides World Service, I didn't think so.

Even if you can, you can guarantee that there will be some sort of delay between images and sound that renders it useless.

Sorry to be negative.

Nah, you're not being negative. You're quite right.

Good question and for all my BBC Iplayer/Radio needs I have always used a VPN service so I can download TV programs and listen to radio feeds live as they really don't take up too much bandwidth. With the VPN service I use I get upto 1MB which is more than enough for live radio streaming (not TV though). I use my-private-network.co.uk at 5 quid a month. Though there are a hundreds of alternative service providers.

As I said in my initial post I'll be spending the group games against the likes of Solvenia, Algeria and the Yanks (hopefully the very first game) to get the synch issue sorted out. I hope there's no delay. I'll only be able to find out in real time though.

I don't envy those that can get the South African TV coverage for it and I'd rather see these at home than in a bar. I do like listening to the commentary, but that's just me.

I probably should have mentioned this in my earlier quote so thanks for picking me up on that one.

Also, the BBC are funny with regards to their radio copyright laws. I've listened to 5 Live on occasions without there being any copyright problems. Then at other times or for other programs, particularly live Premier League games, there are out of country restrictions like you mention. It's not only the World Service you can get out of the UK. I'm pretty sure there are other stations/services you can listen to. Although you may know better than I.

I think I'll do a bit of research now and see if there's going to be any issue you with this and will post back what I find.

In the case that there is going to be a restriction I have my VPN to fall back on. It has to be the BBC for me as I've grown up with all these commentators. They're very much part of the culture now. Save for Robbie Earle & David Pleat who should both just give up commentating now. Athough some of Pleat's quotes/name pronunciations are hilarious: Shimbomba for Pascal Chimbonda. Another piece of gold from Mr Pleat: "There's Thierry Henry, exploding like the French train that he is." What!??

Cheers.

I can also confirm what the OP has written.

I went into central Surat Thani yesterday with the intention of getting the HD box and a temporary package for the duration of the World Cup and was told that there is definitely no English commentary and there is also no option to buy or pay for it as an extra. That's the only reason why I would have plumped for it. I find it pretty laughable that they are currently advertising for the World Cup in HD - IN ENGLISH - it's a screen pop-up in the bottom right hand corner that says World Cup in HD, blah blah blah ring 027-2525-2525 or something. Then there's no English commentary. Nice one True.

As has already been said in other threads True as a broadcaster would be charged a rather large extra fee for English commentary - whereas they do not for the Premier League as it comes as part of their arrangement with the FA. True spending extra money to keep its non-Thai customers satisfied? I think we all know the answer to that one. Ok they could offset or recoup this charge by subsequently charging us for it, but the debate about that is boring me already so I'll stop.

As a gold package member I would have to pay 2000 baht for the rental of the HD receiver and a further 290 baht per billing month after the period they have set aside for the World Cup has ended (11th July) I believe.

I decided to go against it and here are my reasons:

1. The games are already going to be shown on True's non-HD sports channels 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106 & 122. Though I have yet to see a clear schedule for the games themselves anywhere.

If any of you need a decent daily games schedule the BBC one is pretty decent. You can highlight any country to follow through the tournament.

Click here for the schedule: BBC World Cup Schedule

As you can see from the schedule, on any given World Cup day there is never any more than 4 games being played, which are played at different times - no 2 games ever overlap - this would lead me to believe they're only going to be shown on 1 True Channel.

I tried to find a True World Cup schedule but unsurprisingly and bizarrely the truevisionstv.com website does not have a game by game one. They also don't have a English language version of their site which I find very bizarre in 2010. I read and speak Thai relatively well and their site is easy to navigate and the schedule they have there just shows True Sports 6 as having a World Cup program starting at 18:00. The earliest kick-off time there is in the World Cup is 18:30 so this could be their World Cup channel. We'll have to wait and see I guess.

2. I have a Sony Bravia 32" 1080p HD ready LCD TV and the difference in quality between HD and non-HD programming is not so much that it would ruin my World Cup experience. I cannot speak for others.

3. I have also thought about getting UK TV, BBC & ITV, through an internet service, like Slingbox or similar services, the only problem with this is that I have had a 5 Megabit Premier TT&T package for 3 years and it can go out without warning and slow down without warning. Picture yourself ensconced in an enthralling QF. It's penalties and the last kick taker for your country is stepping up to the spot with the possibility of sending a whole country through and into ecstasy - and there's suddenly a problem with the bandwidth or any of the other plethora of potential problems that affects the Thai internet infrastructure on a regular basis. I would go absolutely mental. I don't have a "Jai Yen" yet and I probably never will!

Have you also stopped to consider that the World and it's mother will want to also use that service and get British TV over Slingbox, VPN or any other of the internet alternatives? You wouldn't have to worry so much about bandwidth on the UK side, whilst the UK internet infrastructure as a whole could be much much better (it's not even in the top 10 in the world) - it'd be more the Thai side I would worry about. Everyone knows there's a huge bottle neck as there's poor connections to the outside world. My 5MB never means 5MB when using websites extraneous to Thailand. I would consider the period surrounding the World Cup to be the very busiest for internet traffic and thus huge blockages and a massive reduction in speeds. I'm not saying this will definitely happen, but it's very likely.

4. I am currently thinking about watching the games on True's standard sports channels with a live BBC Radio commentary feed coming over the internet. No disrespect to the Thai commentators, they are incredibly enthusiastic, but have no depth in knowledge about the game (like John Motson/Clive Tildesley for example) or sense of occasion or context. They also find it hard to keep up with any non-stellar team's player's names in the EPL, which I find annoying. The English commentators thoroughly know their jobs - although I do sometimes crave a British commentator that will scream GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL for a full 7 minutes upon the team scoring a vital goal.

For those of you interested in the BBC's Radio commentary schedule for the World Cup here's a link: World Cup Radio Commentary

Joking aside, the only potential problem I can see with this setup is that one of either the satellite feed or the internet feed will be slower in reaching me than the other. If the commentary is not in time with play that will be really annoying. Especially if the sound comes first and you know you've scored a goal before you've seen it. I just wouldn't like that. I'll be using the group stage games (which England should easily win) to find the best audio commentary that is in synch with the True satellite feed.

That'll also be the time for others using the internet to get their feed to see whether it will be a viable stable option.

Anyway, that's my tuppence worth.

Hope you all enjoy it wherever and however you end up watching/listening to it and the best of luck to your respective countries.

Come on England!

Hmmm .... this guy is not a Canadian! He does not look like a canadian, he does not act like a canadian, he does not live or work in canada. At best he is an example of what is wrong with the canadian immigration system and probably what is wrong with many other countries immigration systems.

My guess is that he might have gotten a canadian passport because he had family immigrate to canada and he told the government that he wanted to stay in canada and wanted to make it his home. Then when the government was not looking he jumps to some cheap country to work and live but keeping his healthcare options open for when he is older and needs cheap and good health care. If the government phones him in Canada then some relative or friend will pretent to be him. It would not surprise me if he were collecting unemployment insurance and welfare payments while teaching abroad.

The same situation happened to me but from the bus station to the hotel for 100b .... and the hotel was almost directly across the street. So literally the tuk-tuk crossed a small street. I looked at him ... and laughed. I had talked him down from 150b to 100b .... so funny. That is how canadians react. The way the story reads these actions were not canadian.

And the story has a huge gap in it between the 100b offer and the beating. Although i do not support violence, i must agree with the ideas expressed .... he made a deal and he should have been aware of the distance, and live up to his agreement. Hmmm ... i would have looked at a map or asked at the hotel that i was leaving from ... or asked the hotel that i was going to. If he had a bad back and luggage then 150b ($4.50) is acceptable. There seems to be a lot missing in this story. But a canadian would have tried to get the driver to agree that the amount was too much and finish the transaction with a friendly smile. I get the impression that the customer jumped out of the tuktuk, probably speaking in a raised voice, tossed some money at the driver and started to move away.

We after all are guests in thailand. Advantage driver!

He teaches English in Japan. You reckon Japan is a cheap country... how ever I smell something here.....

Has no one fed you yet or is getting lonely under the bridge?

Try and

Really think before you

Offend someone with this

Libelous and

Lacking-in-common sense rubbish!

I did some digging on Mr Anwar and it turns out he's a part-time Ninja and Amateur World Belly Kicking Champion!

Those Canucks really surprise me sometimes.

Kicked in the chest. Bruised in the belly. The plot thickens ...

BTW, the driver's story is basically impossible to believe.

If this Canadian tourist ends up in Thai prison over this, oh, that makes me sick to even think about it.

It's all quite ridiculous. I couldn't imagine anyone initiating an attack by kicking (except maybe a Thai kickboxer). If he did kick it was most likely a defensive kick to ward off more punches to the head.

@dttk0009

Yeah that is a good point about his small fine.

Such a shame another person who obviously likes the country - as he inferred he would visit Krabi next time (not sure this would be case now) - leaves with such a negative impression of what I consider a beautiful and amazing country. It's not like he isn't going to warn off all his friends, family and business acquaintances from travelling to Phuket and/or Thailand.

"Having a good customer service experience and the average customer tells 10 people. Having a BAD customer service experience and the average customer tells 100 people." - my old boss.

It really disappoints me that Thailand continually does this to itself. At a time when the revenue is much needed.

Though as you've already pointed out it's not an isolated incident and there's little we can do about it.

Sorry for calling you apathetic, I wasn't trying to be rude

@dttk0009

"Science may have found a cure for most evils; but it has found no remedy for the worst of them all -- the apathy of human beings." - Helen Keller.

It's not that I'm apathetic, but if you're going to enrage yourself every time you find out this kind of thing goes on you're going to have a hel_l of a time in this country unless you turn a blind eye or decide to not let it bother you.

If these things really are to change then the respective countries need to intervene and say 'this can't go on'. As long as they don't you are game here with no repercussion and it can happen to anyone.

Regarding this case, it is so obvious that it is no longer about about actual charges, but saving face for the Thais involved. To turn it around now they're forcing him to confess to assault charges to victimize that tuk-tuk driver. This makes the Police look like heroes to the locals and the tuk-tuk driver like a brave survivor.

I'm not enraged. Just I find it hard to be apathetic in the face of things like this happening. I've been here for a while and understand the cultural need for the Thais to not lose face, but in doing so they project such a bad image of themselves and their country to the hands that feed them. This does bother me.

Yes, I know its endemic and inherent and will never change. It's just sad that this is the case.

I'm not good a turning a blind eye, but I've never been personally presented with an incident like this in 5 years or so, I guess I'm lucky.

CONFESSES!? Really? Silly word to put in the headline. Not like the man had much of an option from where I see it.

This is what happens when you stand up for yourself in the face of the rip-off merchants in LOS. You get fined for the trouble.

I despair sometimes, I really do.

I have a sneaking suspicion that the people who condoned the driver's actions are now going to be saying "well he paid his fine - that says everything". I'm just preempting this. He had a flight to catch and the fees incurred by fighting this fine and extending his trip would have been ridiculous. As much as I would have hated being in the same situation I would have to admit I would have paid it too.

An expensive and painful lesson to learn for the man all in all.

UPDATE

Canadian confesses, pays fine at Phuket Court

PHUKET: Canadian tourist Ivan Bob Anwar, who was involved in a punch-up with a Patong tuk-tuk driver earlier in the week, has been ordered to pay a 1,000 baht fine after confessing to assault charges.

Mr Anwar, 51, paid the fine at Phuket Provincial Court earlier today after pleading guilty to charges of assault against tuk-tuk driver Tassanarit Damthong, 30.

The charges against Mr Anwar followed similar charges filed by the Canadian against Mr Tassanarit on Tuesday, the day the altercation took place.

Mr Tassanarit's preliminary hearing took place yesterday at Phuket Provincial Court, where he was granted bail.

He will have to appear in court at a later date to face his assault charges.

As for Mr Anwar, he paid his fine and got his passport back from police this morning.

His case was fast-tracked through the court so he could return home and not have to extend his trip.

At the time of writing, he was expected to fly out of Phuket this evening bound for Bangkok, intending to catch his connecting flight to Tokyo.

Mr Anwar has for years worked in Japan as an English teacher.

-- Phuket Gazette 2010-01-07

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@dttk0009

"Science may have found a cure for most evils; but it has found no remedy for the worst of them all -- the apathy of human beings." - Helen Keller.

To learn that the passenger is now being further victimized by the driver with the help of the cowardly BiB is really making my blood boil, not that I can do anything about it.

How I'd love to be in an alternate reality where in court the judge throws the book at this mustachioed thug and makes him liable for all Mr Anwar's bills and loss of earnings, slap a hefty fine on him for wasting court time by filing false charges and add a month or two on his sentence for the same thing - putting him out of business for the foreseeable future. I better stop, I'm even making me self laugh thinking this could ever happen.

If you lot think there's going to be any kind of justice meted out here don't hold your breath. This is Thailand. This place is my home, but it's quite mental and regularly unjust with cases like this. I can't change anything about it and my love for my better half and this beautiful country make me have to swallow it. Though it is a bitter pill sometimes.

As some people have already stated Mr Anwar has absolutely no reason to kick the driver whatsoever - why would anyone do that? Especially a tourist on an R&R break. I am positive he did not kick the driver and if he did.....

Is Mr Anwar some kind of ninja? Have any of you lot tried getting your leg high enough to kick someone in the abdomen!? Have a go yourself, not actually kicking someone mind. It's pretty hard considering he managed to leave some "bruising". As already proposed I don't think the driver got those injuries from a kicking at the hands of Mr Anwar.

I'll say this again - given the fact this is the second story within a very short time-frame makes me believe the problem lies with the organized thuggery in Phuket and NOT the inability of unwitting tourists to play by their disgusting rules. It needs to be eradicated by the local government in conjunction with the BiB.... I better stop, I'm making myself laugh again. This is a serious issue.

Never going to Phuket.

Never taking a tuk-tuk.

Peeing in the wind with my movement.

I'm seriously, seriously concerned by the plethora of people on this thread who are condoning the violence exhibited by the driver, in this instance, towards his passenger.

Simply saying "Well I don't agree with the beating he gave the man, BUT he agreed to the fare and did not pay the full amount..." or whichever variation you choose, does not alter the fact that YOU ARE condoning violence.

It's like when someone says "No offense, but..." then they offend you! The word BUT is not a get-out clause. Your perception of said situation is very obvious.

The man has a RIGHT to query his fare.

The driver in question has been refused bail which given the crime committed and who he works for - is extremely surprising. That speaks volumes. I find it hard to believe, knowing this, that the passenger even raised his voice in anger, let alone kicked him. I bet the source of this information was reliable.

Considering the fact that this is the second incident to come to light in a very short time-frame, the first being a unprovoked attack on elderly people in front of their family, is enough to convince me that anyone is at potential risk when taking a tuk-tuk ride in Phuket should they not play by the organized thuggery rules. No one should have to be subject to that.

I'm amazed by the support for the driver in this case (read between your lines some of you!) If you were subject to a beating at the hands of a Thai thug similarly to this, I'm sure you'd be singing a very different song.

As far as finding a solution is concerned for the problem, there isn't one. This is Thailand, but I won't go into that now. I'm sure you know what I mean.

I've lived in Thailand for a LONG time and have never found the want to go to HKT. These episodes simply help vindicate my decision. There are so many places that you can visit here that do not have this kind of organized thuggery that offer exactly the same things as HKT does and are less crowded, less gaudy and definitely cheaper. Inform yourselves.

Totally agree djk.

To those decrying the whole having to pay for a proxy, fair dos, that's your prerogative, but I think you're missing out.

I never have to do any searching for that elusive proxy that might work. I know the VPN service I use is not a scam as I have been using them for 2 years. And MOST importantly it's fast, very fast and extremely reliable. It works every time I use it.

The BBC are known for throttling speeds, whether it be at peak or off-peak times, making streaming highly unpredictable - and that's just from within the UK where the broadband infrastructure is not that bad, well comparatively speaking. That's the streaming real-time side of things though. Downloading from their servers, if you can manage to do it - which I've outline above - is excellent and a real revelation since I worked out how to do it. Hence, I prefer to DL what I want and watch it at my own leisure. Most of the time I set up 5-10 shows I've missed to DL while I'm off doing other things. Also the BBC release all their shows for DL about 1-2 hours after they air in the UK, which is nice of them.

I find it hard to believe that from LOS through the bottleneck to the outside world that the stream is perfect and uninterrupted every time. I like to watch a programme in full without the stream freezing and the dreaded spinning circle of death goading me. Jonathan Ross is annoying at the best of times, let alone when he frozen's mid weally wubbish weekly wound-up.

Using my VPN to connect to BBC's servers and then disconnecting, giving me the full benefit of my Maxnet Premier 4Mbs connection, I get DL speeds of up to 550kbps (using FDM*) which equates to 10 mins per half-hour programme. Some of you might say that 10 mins could be used looking for a free proxy. Sorry, but 95% of the free proxies I've used in the past have been utterly useless and as has been alluded here, they still are.

It's 5 quid a month, which means 10 cans taken out of my monthly Chang budget, which can only be a good thing for my oft abused liver. Yeah I know - "peeing the wind" - I hear you cry. It helps! I digress.

Back on topic... to each their own, but if you're looking for fast, reliable and always available service; a paid exclusive proxy or a paid VPN is the way to go, but that's just my opinion, which like bum-holes, everyone has.

* Free Download Manager - It's FREE! If you're not using this you've seriously been missing out. IE/FF/Chrome left to their own devices will give me DL speeds from all servers in the region of 150-300 kbps. Using FDM simply increases the efficiency of how the information is downloaded from the server it is hosted on to your unit. It's the BEST program I have ever used - without a doubt - for DLing purposes. No bundled crap, no toolbars and nonsense. Freebie plug over.

Night all.

M.I.S.

Ok, a quick update to this thread.

I ended up buying with Jedi Cool (jedicool.com) and got my SSD today, I ordered and paid for it on 24th Dec and received the EMS paper slip to my house yesterday and picked it up from the regional Surat Post Office today!

Total cost for SSD was ฿8,900 with an extra ฿100 for EMS/P&P.

A quick note on Jedi Cool, they are very Jedi like, in the respect that I ordered from their price list, emailed them with the order, paid by ATM transfer K-bank to their BBL. They gave me no notification of receiving the money, nor that the order had been processed. I just got the item without any notice that I would be getting it. Which was a bit strange!

Anyway it's much smaller than I anticipated it being and luckily enough for me it was the Gen 2! So there's a result.

Here's an image of the new toy I am just about to try out.

Unfortunately they don't specify whether it's G1 or G2 and I've put in a request to them for an answer as their price list doesn't indicate at present.

No reply as yet.

Will update asap.

Nice to know G1 or G2 will rock, thanks for that!

Hi guys and thanks for the replies and stolid I'm definitely feeling your frustration there!

I ended up on Jedi's (jedicool.com) website as someone here has already mentioned and they have one Intel 80GB X25-M SSD on offer for 8,900 so I decided to get that in the face of no real alternatives.

As far as 1TB+ HDs are concerned I'd take a look at Jedi too stolid they do stock them - 4,470 for a Seagate 1.5TB SATA II and there are cheaper alternatives.

From what I have heard they're a reputable company well vouched for in a sticky here somewhere and by other members and they also converse in English relatively well. Which sounds good.

Anyway putting my order through today, will return to this thread when I've seen how well they get everything done. Thank God the postal service in Thailand is actually very good!

Thanks againt to the rest of you for your useful replies.

Throw my hat into the ring here.

If you really want to have the fastest way of getting all your BBC programs to watch I'd advise you to do the following - using my decent 4MB Maxnet connection I downloaded Top Gear (700MB file) in 21 mins last night and was happy as the proverbial pig in "khee" watching it. 30 min programs take about 10 mins to download.

1. Get a fast and reliable VPN. It's a tunnel that allows you to connect to a server in the UK and have a UK IP address. Also they tend to be really fast, services like your-freedom and other free providers are severly throttled.

A good VPN provider I can recommend is my-private-network.co.uk, they're a British company that charge 5GBP per month for their services and are Paypal friendly.

2. Get FreeDownloadManager (FDM). It really is an excellent program. It accelerates your D/Ls anywhere up to about 20% from what I've seen. It's free, comes with no bundled crap or toolbars. It works great with Firefox.

3. Connect your VPN (full instructions of how to do that are very clearly explained on the website for even the most ardent technophobes!). Make sure you're connected.

4. Go to bbc.co.uk/iplayer

5. Choose the show you want to watch on their site and click on it.

6. On that page you will see, under the main video stream section, a drop-down called "More Downloads" click it and choose Windows Media Player.

7. FDM will automatically take over the downloading of your selected show.

8. Disconnect from the VPN, so you get the full advantage of your download speed in Thailand.

9. When it's done, reconnect your VPN, then find your downloaded show, right click on it and choose to Open File With... Windows Media Player. The reason you need to reconnect your VPN as Windows Media Player will try and get a license from the BBC for that program and you need a UK IP to make that happen.

10. Your program will play!

It all sounds very long winded I know, but I've been fine tuning this method for 4 years approx and it works excellently as the Windows Media Player files are much smaller than the main videos available for streaming and the BBC is notorious for severly throttling bandwith at peak times of the day.

One you get the hang of this, you'll never look back.

On Sun, I set up 8 different shows to DL, Jonathan Ross, Eastenders, Russell Howard's Good News and some other stuff, went out fishing for 2-3 hours or so, came back and it was all there waiting for me, and I had myself a lovely night's viewing all at the expense of those poor TV license payers back in Arctic Blighty.

God I love the internet.

Hope this helps and please feel free to ask any Q's if you need any clarification on any of the points.

N.B. I do not work for, nor am I related to the site above in anyway.

N.B.II This method will work for shows that have been up on the iplayer site for 7 days and under, once they surpass this the Windows Media Player option is no longer available.

Have been doing lots of searching for a SSD hard disk retailer anywhere in Thailand and have not been having much luck.

If anyone knows of a retailer with a website that have them in stock or could get them relatively quickly I would be most grateful.

Cheers.

Good Lord, how did this thread turn into the battle of the intellectual midgets? It's like my high school English teacher after a major stroke! This is a good time to remind everyone: Do not post when you are drunk and or high. (Actually do, it's very entertaining!)

Your both a couple of knobs.

And BTW:

pro·spec·tive (pr-spktv)adj.

1. Likely or expected to happen.

2. Likely to become or be

I'll put my hands up to being p*ssed as a fart Scuba - ever tried Chiang Chun? If not get yourself a bottle.

Having said that..... I love the fact you spent all of (insert time looking up PROSPECTIVE in an online dictionary) trying to make fun of me.

I fully deserve it.

I did say from the start all of my "knob"-like "midget" (I'm actually 5'10") outrages were meant to be cathartic.

Knowing you spent x-amount of your precious 'scuba-time' reading what I wrote makes me feel even more.... well frankly my dear, I don't give a dam_n.

Something tells me this has gone way way way way way way off topic.

Personally I blame the hippy. That'll be you scuba(steve-brian-nigel-norman-dave-cedric-boris).

Completely and utterly stolen, how I wish I had written this myself.

Please all of you bear in mind that the ultimate benefactor and patriarch of this proud nation has been on the throne for close to 64 years!!

Get well soon Khun Pra Chao Yuu Hua!! Rao rak khun mak mak!

---------------------------------------------

Kelly Newton

(24/10/2007)

Ever since I saw the face of this man

หลังจากที่ฉันได้เห็นหน้าผู้ชายคนนั้น

The king of Thailand, The king of Siam

กษัตริย์ของประเทศไทย กษัตริย์ของประเทศสยาม

I felt in love with his soul loves this land

ฉันก็หลงรักในความรักที่ท่านมีให้แก่แผ่นดินของท่าน

It's in his eye, it's in his heart, it's in his hand

มันเห็นได้จากสายตาของท่าน จากหัวใจของท่าน และจากมือของท่าน

He is the husband, the father and the king

ท่านเป็นสามี เป็นพ่อ และเป็นกษัตริย์

A great photographer , musician so many things

เป็นช่างภาพผู้ยิ่งใหญ่ เป็นนักดนตรี และอีกหลายๆอย่าง

The way he lives his life is something to be hold

การดำเนินชีวิตของท่านมันเป็นสิ่งที่น่าถนุถนอมไว้

His grace, his wisdom , an example to the world

สติปัญญาและความสามารถของท่านเป็นตัวอย่างที่ดีแก่โลกนี้

Long live the king of Thailand

Long live the king of Siam

And in the time when the rain came flooding down

และเมื่อถึงเวลาที่ฝนตกน้ำท่วม

He saved the city with a building of the dam

ท่านก็ช่วยเหลือจังหวัดนั้นไว้ด้วยการสร้างเขื่อน

In time of conflicts, he has always been there

เวลาเกิดความขัดแย้งกัน ท่านก็อยู่ตรงนั้นเสมอ

To stop the fighting just like the father who really cares

เพื่อช่วยหยุดการต่อสู้เหมือนกับพ่อที่ห่วงใยสนใจลูก

Long live the king of Thailand

Long live the king of Siam

I'm watching wonder at the things he understands

ฉันเฝ้ามองท่านและพิสวงสงสัยในหลายๆอย่างที่ท่านทำ

His love for his people, his love for this land

ความรักของท่านต่อประชาชนของท่าน และต่อแผ่นดินของท่าน

His working a great culture, he is one of a kind

ท่านสร้างวัฒนธรรมประเพณีที่สวยงาม ท่านเป็นหนึ่งในล้านจริงๆ

His vision for the future way ahead of their time

ท่านมองเห็นการณ์ไกลมาก

Long live the king of Thailand

Long live the king of Siam

I sincerely apologize for the unnecessary length of this next post.... having read it all, you will understand why.

TODAY - User "Oops " wrote:

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Today there was another headline in the paper something to do with 6 people I believe they said they were Brit's. They were defrauding and robing innocent people of they're money....I honestly think this is as low as one can get. Ok Rob a bank or a store....but to go after people who have worked all their lives is lower than scum itself.....As I mentioned before I think equally sad that people could actually stereotype others that are from the same country as the most recent idiots in the news.

However lets put this into prospective:

There was one American doing an innocent bank job and well he was caught. There was 6 Brits doing a Scam on people robbing them of over US 1 million. Now based on current events over the last couple of days one could assume with our minute study which clearly shows that your more likely to be a criminal if your a Brit than an American. Because the ratio of Brits verses Americans stealing between these two crimes shows an overwhelming amount of evidence that there is a higher percentage of thieves from Britain than America which well reinforces the theory of probability if your a Brit your more likely to be a criminal than if your an American... Our evidence also shows that neither parties are any good at it and should give it up for something more productive. However our study just to be fare shows that the American was to stupid to rob people. The Brit's on the other hand thought they were smarter than the average Bear so they decided to rob they're fellow countrymen and anyone else they could BS. For a copy of our findings or a duplicate of the transcripts please write to

The British CIA AGents located at 1101 first washington st

Washington DC USA

Make sure it is addressed ATTN DICK CHANEY and Tony Blair

I would say Bush but nobody wants to talk about him anymore.

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Sorry "Oops" but you brought this upon yourself.

Your personal feelings, to be honest, I could not care less for, but I find this piss-taking extremely cathartic.

Please understand that I did this out of necessity. I have several close Thai friends who manage to write English much better than you can. They put you to absolute shame.

1. In your post in the first line, you said: "I believe they said they were Brit's".

In this instance "Brit's" cannot, in any way, shape, manner or form be possessive of anything. Tell me now, exactly what is the Brit possessing? My assumption that this explanation of basic English language flying over your head, will not facilitate an answer from you.

2. Basic literacy. "Robbing", not "robing" as you put it. My 5 year old son is up to speed with this linguistic conundrum, so why aren't you? According to your sentence in your post above, these people were defrauding and clothing (re: robing) people at the same time. That's quite impressive. I challenge you to "robe" me, using a cellphone as a means to do this.

4. We're still on your opening line "Oops". "people of they're money" should read; "people of their money". Amoeba in the primordial soup 3 BILLION years ago are more likely to have managed to have gotten this correct.

5. You said: "Ok Rob a bank or a store" in line 2. I like your use of some "Rob" in this phrase. In my mind you are turning to your friend Robert at this juncture and saying to him "Right ..... Ok Rob a bank or a store, where shall we go?" and then Robert thinks the store is easier as he gets rewards points for being a loyal customer.

6. Then you have the cheeky audacity to put the following sentence (if you can call it that), in BOLD: "However lets put this into prospective". Now this is absolute gold my friend. For all the wrong reasons. "lets" has never existed in English language. "let us" contracted to "let's" exists and I am quite comfortable and acquainted with its use. However here is where you get your proverbial "i-don't-give-a-monkeys-about-speaking-reading-writing-or-even-pretending-to-know-what-english-is" award .....

FOR THE LOVE OF CHRIST MAN - PROSPECTIVE is not a word, nor has it been ever. You just made it up. The word you are looking for is PERSPECTIVE. What on Earth do you think PROSPECTIVE even means?

7. After all of this grammar-f*ckery/literacy-f*ckery, you then proceed to go on some bizarre diatribe about these "Brit's" (who are still owning something that we are not told about), being outright criminals on a higher like-for-like ratio than their counterparts in the U.S.A. without any basis for evidence. I like your "i-am-going-to-say-words-as-they-come-in-my-mouth-and-not-in-my-brain" way of putting a balanced argument across as to why either side is more criminal than the other. Well. Done. You.

8. Line 5 says "However our study just to be fare shows"... which if you take your spelling of the word fair now means .... "However our study just to be FOOD shows". This is much more mirthful than I'm sure you ever intended. I have to confess I did LOL.

9. The "deal-breaker" of "deal-breakers" for me.... Assuming you are of US origin. I would like to point our the fact that your ex-Vice-President of the United Stated of America's name was actually Richard Bruce CHENEY... aka Dick CHENEY. ... NOT Mariah CHENAY or Rhianna CHANEY or whatever your mal-adjusted brain decided was right to put forth at the time.

I'm pretty sure evolutionary single-celled organisms would have accurately managed to articulate this salient piece of information.

10. Finally, you have the literary poise and expertise of Dubya if he was blind, armless, deaf and dead.

WELL. DONE. YOU.

P.S. I encourage you to stop laying into the BRIT'S. This thing that you don't identify them possessing might be a big club to smack you around the head with.

You give 'Merica a bad name, just by living up to a standard. W E L L. D O N E. Y O U.

You "Oops" my friend are a PENI'S! (Possessive intended.)

This is possibly the most amazingly stupid thing seen or done by anyone ever!

How did the man think that this was going to end well?

1. He was alone.

2. He's in a country where the police are not averse to shooting people if they deem the situation to warrant it and sometimes when it doesn't. Taksin DEA era anyone?

3. He's not going to be that hard to spot.

Such an excellent display of the utmost stupidity deserves to be rewarded with a lengthy Thai prison sentence, provided that he is found guilty, which is pretty much a given.

Maybe overseas they should introduce penalties of a nice 20 years in Bang Kwang as a deterrent for bank robbers!

I know I'd think twice, but then again I'd never be this completely and utterly deluded.... well maybe, after a few shots of Lao Khao, I might be persuaded to

"bai plon tanakan", actually I'm sure that's what it was - some Kratom leaves, a bottle of Lao Khao - wake up with the mother of all hangovers and a 20 year prison sentence (or whatever) - that is entirely plausible.

I actually feel sorry for him now.

Still, news story of the year by miles. Gotta love this place we call home sometimes. It brings out the mental in people.

ManInSurat Out.

Interesting, but in response to your last statement, the deceased captain had just under 20 years experience with the airline and I find it hard to believe he would have entrusted the aircraft to a more junior officer in the interest of pilot training.

Mate, Senior Pilots have to train new Pilots under ALL conditions - otherwise how do they learn ? A Pilot of 20 years would be considered very much as Senior, and as such, could have possibly been training a new Pilot.

I am NOT saying that is definitely the case here, but, a possibility.

I do see where you're coming from and yeah you're right, we can only offer conjecture with very limited facts and will never know the truth no doubt. I'm just astonished that in similar circumstances around the world when things would appear to be going out of control that the master controls would be left in the hands of someone so inexperienced. As you said though, all conditions. I see where you're coming from.

One thing all the TV reports do appear to be showing in their reconstructions of the accident is that the plane veered off the runway after landing. Surely this would be an issue with water on the tarmac no?

Can a wind shear affect a craft after is has landed? Only going on what I have seen on Thai TV.

Looks very very reminiscent of the Phuket crash this.

I would suspect Pilot Error has some blame in this - along with the obvious cause - severe wind sheer... I am former Air Traffic Controller ... That storm cell went thru Lamai just before the attempted landing - was a ripper - wind gusts must have been around 25~30kts at the time from the SWest... Pilots land based on the actual weather at the time - you can't tell me the Pilot did not see that storm cell approaching - thats what they always look for - he would've known where it was, by just looking out the window - they are highly visible and from that height.

The Pilot should of had 'missed approach - go around' in the back of his mind given the actual conditions. But, the airlines are under a lot of pressure these days in regards costs and missed approaches do cost money. They definitely try to get 'in' as quickly as possible. I feel it was probably a similar story to the crashes at Phuket and Suratthani. Pilots pushed the 'envelope' too far and were just reluctant to do a missed approach procedure (which aren't the nicest for passengers on board).

I've had one of the worst landings of my life at Samui from Utapao - actual wind fairly calm. But have suspected many times due to the rough landings on flights from Utapao (and probably Krabi) that they use these flights for pilot training. So that could possibly be a factor as well.

Interesting, but in response to your last statement, the deceased captain had just under 20 years experience with the airline and I find it hard to believe he would have entrusted the aircraft to a more junior officer in the interest of pilot training.

I do however agree that the airlines may be "pushing the envelope" as you say, to meet targets. It's incredibly sad that passengers and the families of victims need to suffer such traumas under these circumstances, if this is indeed the case. Is the cost of life so cheap? If aborting a landing may save lives, surely that must be the call to be made, irrespective of the effect it may have on the passengers and any costs incurred to the airline.

gburns:

Do these investigations consistently bring to light what actually happened? People have cited the Surat crash as an investigation that appears to have been masked somewhat preventing the identification of the true cause of the accident.