Dork

I have it in writing from the Thai Embassy in Athens that if for the purposes of repatriation, the USD100K Covid insurance only needs a validity of one month. The way it is written implies that this applies to Non-Immigrant extensions as well as Permanent residents.

On 8/20/2021 at 7:39 PM, StayinThailand2much said:

So to apply you need a vaccination certificate with a QR code from the hospital where you got your jabs?

Doesn't necessarily need a QR code but they will verify that your vaccination has been registered in the MoPH database.

As far as I know the USD100k insurance required for entry by foreigners also applies to permanent residents. Everything I read says that the policy is supposed to cover the period of intended stay i.e. the duration of a visa or up to the expiry date of a current extension.

Does anyone know how this works in practice for a permanent resident? Since there is no permitted to remain date and obviously you can't buy an insurance policy valid for life.

I have the ZTE660 which does have WiFi, though I now have it in bridge mode so that is disabled.

A couple of comments;

If you want to put the Fibre device into bridge mode so only using it as a GPON and then connecting your own router, only the TOT network centre can do that. Also there is no configuration to do at all to do on the ZTE after doing a factory reset. I spent hours trying to get it into bridge the night after it was installed (in regular routing mode) but couldn't. When the TOT tech came the next day I did a factory reset on the ZTE while he was on the phone to the network centre and a few seconds later my DD-WRT router got a WAN IP address via PPPoE.

With bridge mode, you will need a reasonably powerful router. Initially I just connected with a DD-WRT flashed Linksys that had been bridged to my old ADSL connection. It could only manage about 50Mb/s throughput (the package is 75/10) but after I switched it over to a RT-N16 it now shows about 90Mb/s down and 12Mb/s up.

The login for the ZTE is just the standard admin/admin. The TOT tech didn't seem to mind in the slightest when I wanted to know that so I could change the LAN IP address etc.

If you don't have previous experience with FTTX (like me) and you want to play around with settings in the ZTE, it might pay to back-up the config file through Administration/System Management. Then if you do something wrong you can just do a factory reset and restore the saved config.bin file. That only applies to non-bridged since bridged works out of the box anyway.

For those switching from TOT DSL to TOT fiber, do you get to keep your fixed-line telephone number/service?

It's optional. I had 2 TOT landlines, one with ADSL and one without. I dropped the one with ADSL and kept the other POTS only line .

Deutsche Telekom AG requested and was assigned a block of IP addresses commencing from 80.128.0.0 through and terminating at 80.159.255.255 on 06/08/2001

The Geographic Address recorded at the time of the IP block transfer was that of Deutsche Telekom Technischer Service GmbH; CCS, IT/IP T6; Ammerlaender Heerstrasse 138; D-26129; Oldenburg; GERMANY

Before Google decided to drive a VW Beetle around to snap pictures and slurp WiFi MAC/IP (and email) addresses the location of IP addresses used in traceroutes were always pulled from these outdated block registrant databases.

I'm guessing that Deutsche Telekom installed equipment in Asia and assigned it an address from this previously assigned block.

Thanks, that explains it.

I have 3bb but here is the scoop. If you complain you are not getting the speed you contracted for and keep complaining and get techs to come out 3 or 4 times they get fed up with it and stop throttling But you have to be consistent in your complaints

I've been having erratic performance from 3BB recently and have complained numerous times. They checked things out but claimed the problem must be in my building not with their service. I will say for several years now my 3BB service and the technicians' response to problems have both been excellent.

I did notice that the service seemed to fluctuate the most when Bit Torrent was running. It didn't seem to matter whether or not I was downloading much, but when it was running my overall 3BB download speeds dropped and fluctuated a lot. So I shut down Bit torrent and installed U torrent (the U is supposed to be the greek letter Mu). Just did that awhile ago, but it's downloading some stuff now and my use of the Internet for other things isn't being negatively impacted.

Have no idea whether this is an amazing coincidence or if it really was Bit Torrent that was throwing a spanner in the works, but so far the difference is amazing. Right now the new downloader is chugging away and I am back to the former normal speeds while using the internet for other things.

Those symptoms sound like Bit Torrent was saturating your upstream connection which happens quite easily with ADSL's max 1Mb/s up speed.

By default the Global Upload Rate is set to 0 which means unlimited.

If you throttle it to approx. 50KB/s that still leaves about half of the upload bandwidth available for other applications.

Hoping someone can help me with this. I have quite recently had a TOT FTTX connection installed at home. I am quite satisfied with the bandwidth, even with international downloads. However the latency on web browsing is pretty bad. I have read other posts here commenting on less than optimal routing with TOT and that seems to be right.

I'm currently playing around testing various VPN services and some of those give good results so I want to do further testing to find the best solution. One VPN server in particular based in Malaysia works very well and web browsing is vastly improved. Doing some traceroutes to try better understand gives me results I can't fathom.

The first screenshot here shows a tracroute to from my TOT connection in BKK directly to HKG. As you can see the route looks as expected but ping times are terrible.

This screenshot shows the same thing but via the Malaysian VPN. Note the ping times are much more respectable.

However, look at the 6th & 7th hops (IP starting with 80). They are apparently servers owned by Deutsche Telekom located in Germany!! Manual pings and lookups confirm the same thing.

wthef? What's going on?

Nothing wrong with Windows 8.1 apart from that ghastly interface, easily removed with a simple freeware download.

Otherwise it's streets ahead of Windows 7.

And you need to remember that it's only the latest iteration of Windows anyway, it wasn't a complete rewrite.

Completely agree. 7 was released 5 years ago so most of the coding is 6 or more years old which is a long, long time in the computing world.

If I have understood correctly your LAN is on the 192.168.1.x subnet and the Zyxel modem has a fixed IP address of 192.168.0.1. The Zyxel is connected by patch cable from a LAN port to the WAN port on the Tomato router.

If you want to be able to reach the web gui of the Zyxel through the WAN port on the Tomato, because it is on a different subnet,, you can add the following scripts to Administration/Scripts on the Tomato:

In Firewall add this command:

ifconfig `nvram get wan_ifname`:0 192.168.0.2 netmask 255.255.255.0

In Init add this command:

iptables -t nat -I POSTROUTING -o `nvram get wan_ifname` -j MASQUERADE

Save and reboot the Tomato. Now you should be able to access the Zyxel (192.168.0.1) from anywhere on the 192.168.1.x LAN.

ok, tried this and it is still bringing me to the asus page (i had seen this but thought it was an alternative to the routing option). i wonder 2 things, shouldn't the firewall script be 192.168.0.1? (why 192.168.0.2?). secong, should i remove the routing entry and use ONLY these scripts?

thanks for all the help with this.

If it is taking you to the ASUS (192.168.1.1) then there must be an erroneous entry in the routing tables. Routing entries alone could never work because the modem is connected via the WAN port and therefore needs to pass through the firewall.

If it was me I would do a factory reset to be sure to be sure everything is clean. There isn't much configuration for PPPoE anyway.

The firewall script doesn't necessarily have to be x.x.x.2 but it shouldn't be x.x.x.1. Using 2 just seems logical.

I don't have a working Tomato otherwise I would send you a screenshot. I use DD-WRT nowadays but I have made this work on Tomato before. They are very similar anyway.

Cheers & good luck!

There is a law that says you need to have ID on you at all times. This applies to everybody including Thai's.

This I agree with. All Thai's seems to understand that.

By other laws such as the immigration act the only acceptable ID is a passport for a foreigner.

By this I presume you are referring to your earlier quote of Section 13 of the Immigration Act. However this argument is problematic if you consider the case of Permanent Residents.

I have recently renewed my passport and as it is now it is completely blank. No stamps or marks at all and no TM6 attached. If I never travel, it will remain this way forever. So obviously it is completely useless as proof of my immigration status.

Section 13 mentions 3 specific circumstances under which an alien is not required to have a passport but it doesn't mention Permanent Residents whereas many other sections do specifically refer to PR.

Therefore I don't believe Section 13 can be construed as meaning a Passport is the only acceptable ID for a foreigner.

What exactly is wrong with the old laptop? Does it have identifying details, such as a brand name and model number?

It's a 13" ASUS w/4GB RAM. The problem is not apparent to me. It will not boot and the incident happened after I used the SD Card slot the first time. I removed the HD for security reasons. I will get it repaired and a new HD, but it will only be a backup.

Perhaps the boot device order got rearranged in the BIOS. You could check that and if necessary try Startup Repair.

I all the "excitement" my post seems to have got lost"

Here is a repeat

"You may be right !

That will not prevent the police from detaining someone until proof of legal stay is provided in the form of a passport !"

edit

s+pellng

Yes, in most cases the law is what the guy in the brown uniform believes it to be. You might, at a later date, dispute his interpretation in a court of law, but even if you win, it'll be a Pyrrhic victory if you've already spent time in a police lock up.

And, in recent times and in various parts of the country a state of emergency has been in effect. Pretty sure if a state of emergency exists the police would have the legal authority to demand your passport as proof that you are in the country legally.

Whether or not you want to worry about it is up to you. I've never been asked by the police (aside from at Immigrations) to see my passport, but that doesn't mean it won't happen sometime. I drove a car for about 50 years and never had an accident, but I still paid for insurance every year.

50 years and no accident? That's pretty impressive! I've driven for about 30 and couldn't count them.

This argument comes up frequently here and It always provokes very strong opinions one way or the other.

In my almost 24 years of living and working in Bangkok, the only people I know of that routinely carry their passports are members of Thaivisa. In real life I can't think of a single foreign friend or associate that does that.

I don't know what that means, if anything, but it's a fact.

Windows 8.1 for me though I've heard that Windows 3.11 is quite stable now that they've ironed all the bugs out.

One more time and to be perfectly clear :

The ticket is booked through a travel agent.

The travel agent is responsible for the payment of the ticket to the airline NOT the passenger.

So airline will NOT ask for the credit card since they have been paid by the travel agent (who has not paid the airline with passengers credit card).

Hope it is clear now for all.

Yermanee

Not sure why you think this is not clear to everyone.

Probably it's because most people know that using a credit card with a travel agent in Thailand invariably incurs a 3% surcharge so few people would do that.

You can qualify for either one if you are the legal father of your children by way of marriage or legitimization and have been on extension of stay for 3 years, have been working and paying taxes.

For PR you would need to meet the 80K baht salary requirement to get it.

For citizenship 40k baht salary minimum,

The 80K figure is often quoted here on Thaivisa as the minimum for a PR application. In fact 80K is the minimum for an application under the "Employment" category and even then there are exceptions made.

The PR section of immigration will tell you that the minimum tax paid monthly income for an application under the "Family" category is 50K.

OI believe the actual mentioned minimum income is 30,000 not 50,000. But 50,000 would be advisable.

The figure of 50K is not something that I read on the internet or heard mentioned by someone.

An actual officer at the actual PR section of Immigration told me face to face that they can and they do accept applications under the family category with a monthly income of 50K.

Are you sure this is not a SCAM as well???? Thai customs clearence agents are all claiming VAT towards foreign customers with a address outside Thailand....I got a strong feeling that this money is quickly down the pockets of these agents...

Glegolo

I guess you are referring to imports whereas the op is asking about exports.

Foreign customers pay their invoices directly to the exporter. Thai customs and customs agents have nothing to do with the payments.

If you book Thai air flight with a credit card you have to present the credit card at the check in. The credit card holder must be the passenger. If I book a flight for my son and I pay with my credit card (online) I have to go to a Thai Airways office

with my passsport and cc present it and sign a document. Thats it and my son can fly without showing the card.

Emirates, Etihad, Air Asia, Bangkok Air, Air Berlin do not ask for a credit card at the check in.

At least in the case of Bangkok Airways, this is not correct. I've had a direct experience where they absolutely insisted on seeing the credit card. It was that or no boarding pass.

Many years ago I was in the watch business and often had those button cell batteries going bad in my sample collection.

A quick and dirty test is to "taste" them. Put it on your tongue and if there is no taste it's dead, if it has a metallic taste there is still some current left.

Not very scientific, I know. But as a quick test it works.

I guess in the OP I am not clear about where this PC came from. You bought this barebones PC and then took to a local tech to install the software? Or the tech is the guy selling the PC also? Not clear for me. Any way, the tech that was loading the software did not see this problem during the software loading? I would think that the PC had to be re-booted several times in the loading process for Win 7 and the drivers. He never mentioned this? Sounds like a jumper issue as stated

AS long as leave it plugged in it will reboot no problem,unplug it and reverts to default date and time,

Sorry the model is a Aopen DE 70000

What I would really like to know if flashing with an up to date BIOS will fix ?

thanks regards Worgeordie

Then it's something to do with the battery. Either the replacement battery is a dud too or perhaps the connection between the battery and the mainboard is faulty.

In any case, if an updated bios exists, there is a reason and you should flash it. I haven't seen anything bricked that way for years.

You can qualify for either one if you are the legal father of your children by way of marriage or legitimization and have been on extension of stay for 3 years, have been working and paying taxes.

For PR you would need to meet the 80K baht salary requirement to get it.

For citizenship 40k baht salary minimum,

The 80K figure is often quoted here on Thaivisa as the minimum for a PR application. In fact 80K is the minimum for an application under the "Employment" category and even then there are exceptions made.

The PR section of immigration will tell you that the minimum tax paid monthly income for an application under the "Family" category is 50K.

Another solution, at least for THAI Airways domestic, is to use their "counter service"

In that case you make the reservation by phoning THAI and you will be given a reference number and a time limit after which you can pay by cash at any 7-11 shop.

As a rule of thumb, IATA Airlines may demand presentation of the card whereas Low-Cost's won't. Why that is I don't know but I suspect that it has to do with whether or not the online purchase was completed via a 3-D Secure process e.g. "verified by visa" whereby the cardholder is redirected to their own banks website for verification using (usually) a OTP sent by SMS. In this case the merchant or Airline is indemnified against fraudulent use of the card.

Certainly in the case of domestic travel in Thailand, THAI & Bangkok Airways don't use 3-D Secure and will (almost certainly) ask for the card. Air Asia and NOK do use 3-D Secure and so never ask. I often book for others on AA & NOK and always use a VISA web-card where no actual card exists.

Having said the above, I have only ever used Thai and HK bank issued credit cards for online purchasing so it could be that using cards from other countries is different.

No, it's not true. Export of goods and services are zero rated for VAT.

The problem for an exporter is that all local purchases still attract VAT so need to claim refunds from the Revenue Department each month. Getting refunds in full and in a timely manner is a constant battle.