noise

I would suggest not deciding upon cost alone. Try to find out if you will have a dedicated line or sharing with everyone else in the building. And then ask about H/W outside. You might decide it would be worth getting your own dedicated service, whether ADSL or fiber optics/cable.

My neighbor moved into a new house close to a year after I moved in. I had 2 TOT telephone lines, using 1 for ADSL. TOT gave him a telephone line but said their servers and local hardware could not support another ADSL to his house until they finished their upgrades in 4 months. They finished and he added the ADSL.

So ask lots of questions, be very specific, make sure you know exactly what you will be getting. You may be happier with a dedicated cable at the added expense.

I had a NEXT 90 report date penciled in to match my visa expiration but with the comment it would be changed to be the actual 90 day date when the visa was renewed. I would rather have had them make the 90 day reporting date as 90 days out as renewing the visa also verified my address.

My guess is they have had too many expats not thinking and trying to use the 90 day report date as an excuse for being late on visa extension.

The only good part about the Duty Free Shops is, as one person mentioned, seeing some items not available on the local market (e.g., higher proof spirits).

Goods may be duty free, but the shops are for profit and cater to "convenience" and lack of knowledge of what is available locally. So prices are based on what the market will bear.

One King Power employee tried to tell me that not having the VAT added on made this higher priced item a good deal.

My experiences and watching others says he would have to be physically present when the application is submitted, even if the agent does 90% of the talking. That says to me he would not be at arm's length. And I am confused about what you mean "a need to be at arm's length", unless he thinks having such a visa would prejudice his employer against him in some manner.

Plus, my experiences say he would have to go to immigration to change his tourist on entry to a 90 day visa before he can get that changed over to a retirement visa. So this is not a one time, quick in and out even with an agent. Every one I know has stayed here that 90 days, can he do that?

Barnical Bob may be able clarify all this if I am mistaken. And there may be more specific info in the pinned visa topics/forums.

,they ask for proof of address.

Are you sure about that? I just reviewed my past income statements against my memory and all I did was print my address on the form and show my passport. I have never, ever, had to prove my address was was correct. All the consulate is doing is notarizing your signature, saying you accurately identified yourself to them. They are not verifying anything else on the form, just your signature.

I would look in Sports Mart in the mall and maybe the B2S book stores?

Sometimes this type of occurrance can be corrected by checking your start menu. I had similar problems and found UPDATE FLASH or something like that somehow inserted itself into the start at boot up and/or start on opening browser.

So, when are they going to reinstate it?

You can fly Thai to Taipei, Tokyo, or Seoul and catch EVA, ANA, or Asiana to Seattle. Or any of those 3 out of BKK through their home country to Seattle. Those are your only Star Alliance options based on my analysis of the Star Alliance Map Flight Planner. I just went through that exercise.

You need proof of address to confirm you are living at that address and thus are applying at the right imigraiton office.

Normally a rental contract or utility bill is enough, if she is your wife or girl friend a signed copy of her household book with short note confirming you live with her should do. But maybe check with your immigration office, different offices have different requirements.

Mario

Since the OP said renewing retiree visa, he must have been reporting his 90 day address at this address for a year (or so). So why would he have to provide anything but his TM-7 showing that address? No one I know of in Chiangmai has to provide proof of address for renewal.

Having said that, maybe I should add that they are all long time retirees so maybe they have built up a history? And you did say "different offices have different requirements".

When I was on ADSL and had a similar condition, I found that turning off the modem for a minute or so seemed to make a difference.

Here in Chiangmai, the established places selling koi also will build or bring and install a system like Pianoman describe. Check with them.

There are options on the type. In my case, I got them to build a gravity fed in-ground filter system that pumps the water back into the pond in a manner that aerates it. The pump is in the filter tank (both hidden behind the water fall).

Seismic -- sorry for deviating from your original post here, but...the router Pip linked to looks good. My Belkin N600 has not external pole antenna and I am not happy with the coverage. I might just go look for that one, also.

Pib -- you are probably 100% correct. I was really just guessing based on using two of my own ADSL modem routers vice the one TOT would have provided. And your comments about the True system upgrade and the impact on the Cisco modem may explain a problem I had where, after the honeymoon period when True flooded me, my PC LAN into the Belkin router was only getting 12/1 Mbps to BKK but when I moved the LAN back to the Cisco modem I would get 15+/1.5+ routinely, even to the U.S. The technician that came to the house had no idea why; maybe he didn't know.

Never the less, may I offer this PCWorld article titled "Ditch your ISP's modem..." and these quotes (a friend just sent this reference to me as I was writting the): "you may have to call your ISP and provide the modem’s MAC address to activate your Internet connection. You can usually find your modem’s MAC address printed as a twelve-digit number on the back of the modem itself, usually with a prefix like MAC or CABLE MAC. If you bought a gateway or a modem/router combo, you’ll also have to set up your new wireless network before you can connect your devices and start enjoying your sweet new bandwidth. "

Before you hit the streets to start shopping for a modem, check your ISP’s terms regarding the use of customer-owned modems and see if it supplies a list of recommended or approved models. Many ISPs (like Comcast, Time Warner, Cox, and AT&T) even offer this information on their websites. Some give just a simple list, while others recommend specific models for the different speed packages they offer.

If you have a cable Internet connection, the biggest spec to compare when shopping for a modem is the version of DOCSIS standard it supports. Some cable ISPs currently support DOCSIS 2.0, and are (or will be) upgrading their infrastructure to DOCSIS 3.0 to provide faster speeds and better performance, especially if you subscribe to their higher-speed packages. You can call your ISP to see which DOCSIS version it supports. Even if your ISP is still on 2.0, you probably want to prepare for the future and upgrade to a modem that supports DOCSIS 3.0, like the Motorola SURFboard SB6141 or the Zoom 5341.

I agree with what Pib said but I think you could use a different cable modem router, if you can find a better one. I have only seen one in Chiangmai and that was some time ago. And the spec was not any better than the Cisco, so I did not get it. There is no real demand for them here yet.

True provide me with a Cisco DPC/EPC2325, a friend said they gave him a Buffalo (if I remember correctly). But these are 802.11g standard routers. They may be new, never before used, but they are old "style".

You could buy a good 802.11N dual band wireless router, bridging your Cisco, and get better coverage and dual band (if you have a 5GHz device). If you do not, it may not be worth the extra cost and you could go with a 11N 2.4GHz router.

If you have 8,000 baht, you could get, say, an ASUS RT-AC68U dual band wireless 1900 gigabit router (802.11ac spec, the newest and bestest).

I got a Belkin N600 wireless router, bridged my Cisco cable modem, and get 130Mbps links. It makes me feel good even though all that reflects is my router to device speed. The modem is still only providing the 15+Mbps that I am paying for.

When I travel, I never more than 54Mbps in hotels, for example, showing they are using the 11g routers. But they have boosters/repeater strategically placed so the coverage is usually very good (in the better hotels).

you must have an optic input connection for fiber, so the usual AdSL routers only have phone jack inputs. So far I have not seen any fiber routers at my local computer shops. So I am stuck with 3BBs offering, interestingly it also has annput for standard line I put.

I will say that in my case and for everyone else that I know of that has gotten "fiber", the fiber runs are limited to the poles along the street and they run normal copper cable to the house. But, yes, the ADSL modem with its phone jack input port will not work.

I opted for True's Ulltra Hi-Speed lnternet 15M/1.5M Plan at 899.00 baht. Add in VAT of 62.93, and I pay 961.93/month. It comes with cable modem router and something like 80 channels of free TV and the TV box/remote.

They ran the copper cable to my in-wall wiring. Ran copper coax from the wall connection to their Cisco cable modem router and then did the same to their provided TV box.

I have seen only one cable modem for sale in Chiangmai, but it did not seem to be any better than the Cisco and it was relatively expensive. I have not looked for a long time.

I was not getting my "paid for speed" so I went to the True office in Central Festival and they said they would send out a technician. WORD OF CAUTION -- do not accept the theory that there are too many users on line for you to get what you pay for.

In my case, a English speaking rep called to discuss the problem and arrange the technicians date and time, 3 way conversation with the technician. When I said I was getting 12Mbps vice my paid for 15Mbps, the tech said in Thai that 80% was good, expected. The rep then tried to say that to me but I just interrupted and said no, not what I am paying for. The rep readilly acquiesced and scheduled a rep. He came out, we made the necesssary adjustments to get me back to the 15M/1.5M.

One of the tweaks was the tech going up the pole and checking the fiber to cable ports and connections, trying to see if there might be corrosion or some other problem. Change the connection just to be on the safe side. Then the other tweaks were inside. One of the problems turned out to be that even though I had a LAN connection to my wireless router, I was still getting the 12 Mbps while the tech got 15M connected to the Cisco. I moved my LAN over to the Cisco and got the 15M.

EDITED TO ADD HERE: I will say uncategorically that they can not just tweak it at their servers and say that is all that can be done. If you have a speed problem, get the tech to the house to thoroughly investigate the problem.

Why was I losing 3Mbps in the PC LAN to ROUTER and ROUTER LAN to MODEM then CABLE TO TRUE? Have not figured that out yet, but PC LAN to MODEM works. Forgot to have the tech connect LAN to router to see if he got only 12M also. Next time?

Now I have had TOT fiber for a year so they may have "advanced" this year, but I doubt it. And I will hypothesize that 3BB is the same.

The cable modem router provided is built to the old, old international spec 802.11g and may or may not give you the coverage you want. An option would be to bridge the provider's mdem router and buy a spec 802.11n wireless router for a better signal. And if you have dual channel devices, you can get a dual channel (2.4GHz and 5.0GHz ) router. Which ever one you opt for, check the spec for the signal strength, do not go strictly by cost.

ASIDE; I thought I did a good job in selecting the "strongest" router I could find, but everyone now tells me I probably didn't because it has no external pole antennas and that maybe even the TOT provided modem router might give me better coverage than I seem to have achieved. Occassionally the dual channel capability of the router makes a difference, but not often.

Below are the front and back of the TOT Cisco cable modem router and the Belking N600 wireless router I added.

For cushions, we have found that shops that do curtains are better qualified or more skilled (or both). They are used to handling heavy fabrics and they and their support base have the sewing machines for that.

Why don't you approach your colleagues to teach you Thai if they are fluent in both Thai and English?

Maybe a good way of saying this would be to simply ask everyone to only speak Thai with you. That would give you the continuous exposure to the technical/business vocabulary you need to be able to participate in meeting conducted in Thai and talk with clients who do not speak English.

You might still get a formal teacher for after hours but they may not know to teach you your business's vocabulary; they probably do not even know what it is. And every business has its acronyms, business specific terms, etc.

I have found that the stores tend to want to sell you what they have. But if you can find it on line at, say, Invade IT Products, the stores can and will order it for you.

When I was selecting components for my computer over a fairly long period of time, I was perplexed when one shop would recommend motherboard X today and then some time later it would be motherboard Y. After several iterations of this for all components and doing a lot of on line Bangkok IT store research, I figured it out. Since I told them time was not a limiting criteria, they agreed they could get me anything I wanted.

I should have read CharleyH's recommended article first and then agreed with him. The AC routers seem like the best option for the best coverage today.

Pricey but I would recommend looking at a 802.11a/c standard one. There are a few around in Thailand.

My experience has been the American Embassy will give you a letter asking Immigration to transfer your visa after they issue a new passport for what ever reason. I am guessing your record will be in the Immigration computer and can be found. And, hopefully, you have made copies of all the pages (from, say, 90 day reporting) that you can take with you to show Immigration. It should not be too hard to get all the appropriate stamps, specially here in Chiangmai. You are not the first one to have this happen to, so they will know how to take care of you.

Concur with kkerry. And changing batteries (I got 2 UPS and 2 replacement batteries at Pantip) is just a matter of pulling off 2 leads, removing old, inserting new, and clipping leads back on. And turning a screw or 2 to open the case.

Rimping does some super-duper ones.

I think the OP wants to insert a new cork into a bottle and Rim Ping has super-duper cork pullers.

Go to InvadeIT web site, see what they have, and order it from Pantip or Computer City type stores if they do not have it on hand. I have found the stores try to sell you what they already have while InvadeIT seems to be like Amazon and will sell you what is available in Thailand. But the stores are usually happy enough to order it for you.

I went through this process building my new computer a few months ago, doing some thorough research, and found that the H/W I selected could only utilize a maximum of 32GB of RAM. So that is what I got.

I'm getting ready to order an i7 3770K and motherboard from http://www.invadeit.co.th/, but can't vouch for them.

I've ordered all my computer components from them and can vouch for them. I just don't have time or patience to go foot shopping at several different shops to try and find what I want so it is a great convenience for me to use them.

Goodspeed is reliable. The best branch to visit is at Compluter Plaza (the middle of the three at the north west corner of the moat) but they have two in Panthip as well.

I researched for months deciding exactly what I wanted in the way of components and used Invadeit as a resource for both what is available in Thailand and what the specs are for each item. I would have ordered directly from them but ended up using Good Speed Pantip to assemble the N/W. I have had them build two previous computers and was pleased with their work and I was not sure of my own ability to do it myself. I also had them load the OS and do a 3 day burn in. By having them do that, I knew I would not have to deal with any random failures and guarantees with associated shipping problems back and forth to Invadeit. Maybe I was overly cautious?