cook

F1 is often boring on TV, and you can only see a small part of the race if you go to the track. Alonso followed one car he couldn't overtake for about half of the last race, what a yawn.

Motobike racing is much more exciting, no pitstops and the lead changes on the track.

Green Day wrote a song about Mark Webber "Nice guys finish last". Sorry Mark but you're much too nice for F1.

F1 might be very interesting for many people, doing high speed. Technology is being used for ordinary cars driving on the streets, it helps to improve our safety. So why not F1?

Aehm, what's a "Motobike"????

My dog likes to eat Brits, my cat loves to bite Americans. Where's the difference? :jap:

1. because it's often boring

2. an acronym

3. one's a dog, the other's a cat

F1 is often boring on TV, and you can only see a small part of the race if you go to the track. Alonso followed one car he couldn't overtake for about half of the last race, what a yawn.

Motobike racing is much more exciting, no pitstops and the lead changes on the track.

Green Day wrote a song about Mark Webber "Nice guys finish last". Sorry Mark but you're much too nice for F1.

Forget education, parents, TV and newspaper campaigns, free helmets, etc. The only way to ensure people do wear helmets is for the police to enforce the law. However, here in Thailand people appear to treat the police with contempt.

Vietnam has many more motorbikes on the road than Thailand, and there was no helmet law. So no-one wore helmets. Then a few years ago a helmet law was introduced, and now everyone wears them. I am guessing that the Vietnamese have a more effective police force than Thailand.

The helmets here do have a compulsory standard (TIS 369-2539 (1996)). The standard is mostly intended for the material used in construction, rather than crash testing. However, if you hit your head it will save your life in most accidents. You can easily buy a helmet with this standard for under 200 baht, which is cheaper than the fine for not wearing a helmet (500 baht at the police station, or 200 baht negotiable at the scene).

I am not sure but ... although the Thai standard appears to be less safe than helmet standards in other countries, you are breaking the law if you wear an expensive imported helmet.

If this hasn't already been posted, it explains why getting an English language commentary in Thailand will be difficult. Blame FIFA.

TrueVisions explains lack of English commentary

In response to Graham Doven's letter of June 9 regarding the lack of English commentary for the upcoming World Cup, TrueVisions would like to outline reasons for this situation. Unfortunately, TrueVisions is not able to provide an English-language commentary because, as the purchaser of the coverage from the local license holder, RS International Broadcasting and Sports Co Ltd, such service is not on offer.

In the past, TrueVisions had never broadcast the World Cup, as it has always been carried on free TV. However, as we have just launched our high definition service, TrueVisions believes it is good timing to be the sub-broadcasting licensee for the HD signal. Football fans can always watch the tournament on free TV but we wish to provide a crystal clear HD signal to our subscribers.

It is not a matter of TrueVisions paying extra for English commentary, but because that service is not available for us to purchase from the licence holder. TrueVisions' is only the sub-broadcasting licensee for the high definition signal.

This is not the fault of RS International Broadcasting but is due to restrictions by the original provider of the World Cup, Fifa, which is not allowing English commentary in Thailand due to the high broadcast piracy problem among neighbouring countries.

However, suggestions will be considered for the improvement of our service in the future.

Chulathai Saligupta

Senior Manager: Sports Programming TrueVisions

This letter sounds like a mixture of corporate spin and untruths.

I don't believe the audio was not available, anything in business has a price and is negotiable.

Why is piracy of an english commentary a problem? The only English-speaking neighbour is Malaysia, and they have English commentary for free. Remember we are only discussing the audio, the pictures are provided - aren't they a bigger concern for piracy?

Can someone explain this to me?

thanks again for your answers.

It sounds like watching the WC on the internet will be risky ... so I will probably go with Astro.

The channels are similar to True Visions, and in addition Astro has Australia Network and Al Jazeera.

I've looked on Astro's website and they mention they have some EPL games. Will they have the EPL next season? Do they show as many EPL games as True Visions?

Does Astro have the MotoGP live (there's no mention of it on the website)?

thanks bangkok blue, vicksajnani, tompa and monty.

I'm looking at a list of Astro channels I downloaded from http://www.jsat.tv/satellite-packages/the-astro-network.html.

In the Family group of channels are RTM1 and RTM2, which I read on

http://www.limsimi.com/leisure-entertainme...ia-rtm-network/ as the channels having all the games. I think these are the regular (free) Malaysian channels mentioned by monty.

I also went to a satellite shop today and yes, we get Astro footprint here in Korat, and I can buy the system for B20,000.

What I don't know is if this is a legal system or not.

More questions :

Can anyone recommend the best online internet service to watch the WC? There are quite a few advertised when you google.

Has anyone had experience watching football online? Which service?

Are there buffering or picture quality problems?

Do you need the fastest broadband connection?

When you connect to the TV (mine is a 42 inch LCD) does the picture deteriorate?

thanks again

I asked a few days ago but got no reply - what is Astro?

Do you need an Astro satellite dish?

What does Astro cost?

Do you need an internet connection?

I'm in Korat - is it available here?

We're running out of time to prepare for kick-off - is Astro the only option for English?

I seem to remember a satellite shop trying to sell me a Sky dish/system - would Sky have the WC in English?

Looks like it's gonna be radio/internet for those outside Bangkok that can't pick up the Astro feed!

Do you mean you can watch the games on the internet? Which website? If so, won't the commentary be in English? I suspect that listening on the radio will be annoying because it will probably be out-of-sync with the TV.

What is the Astro feed?

thanks in advance

Today I phoned the RS company in Bangkok and RS said they are giving the signal to all the Thai channels and True Visions in Thai only. No English.

I then called a couple of the channels and had my local True office call Bangkok and find out for sure if HD is in English. Everyone is now saying Thai only.

The promises and guarantees of English I was given last month and the months before are now forgotten.

I really hope I am wrong, because many farang have bought HD from True purely for the English commentary.

Here's a link to the match schedule for the Thai channels ... http://www.rs.co.th/FIFA2010/fifa_program.html

I still don't want to buy a new satellite dish and system just for the World Cup, so I'm now thinking of going over to the Philippines to watch it. But the time difference is worse ...

Does anyone have any better ideas to watch it here or somewhere close to Thailand in English?

Or can anyone get a different story from RS?

So,according to the World Cup Guide in this months True mag,from the 22/6-25/6, there will be 2 games kicking off @ 21.00 hours,and 2 games [email protected] and the starred games will be in HD,so no HD for Slovenia v England,but HD for USA v Algeria?.Also,unless you have 2 UBC boxes,you will only be able to watch one game per time for these 4 days.Her's hoping the other games are on Thai tv.

PST.

There's a footnote in Thai that I think says "one game at the same time in the same group will be shown later (delayed?)".

The True Visions office assured me all the World Cup games on HD channel 111 will be in English and Thai.

If you have the gold package now, you must pay an additional B2,000 deposit and an additional B290 a month to get the HD box (your TV must be HD compatible), and you must sign up for at least 6 months.

For that you get 2 extra channels - 111 is sport and 112 is movies.

massively edited highlights with cruel refereeing decisions mocked up and inserted in.

"see how Supreme-sub Kim Jong-il comes on in extra time of the final and scores the Great winning goal with a Divine bicycle kick !!!"

... and a link ... http://www.truevisionstv.com/minipage.aspx...e=50&mode=3

i spoke to the thai tv channels by phone again today and asked them in what language will the world cup be transmitted ...

channel 3 guy said it will only be in Thai, but you can listen to English commentary on radio FM105.5

channel 5 girl said she doesn't know, they haven't signed a contract yet, and they have never had football before

channel 7 guy said it will be in Thai and English (100% sure!)

channel 9 guy said it will be in Thai and English (because they speak English in South Africa)

these are different answers I got last month and the month before, but it does sound a little more promising.

whatever the language, i am hoping the coverage will be better than the recent Champions League and EPL games. I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but they seem to slowly replay every incident, such as fouls and shots at goal, while the game is going on ... so they are missing some of the live action. they often replay a player swearing at the officials, and what really annoys me are replays of managers' reactions and behaviour on the sideline. i remember one arsenal game where they missed a really good fabregas goal because they were still replaying an earlier goal.

anyway, if at least half of the games are in english i will stick with my current setup and watch the games on Thai TV through True

will update again next month

UBC have ESPN who are showing all of the games if helps...

can you confirm? where did you get the information?

I can see on the internet that ESPN will show all games live in HD, but in the US, not here.

i spoke to the thai tv channels by phone again today and asked them in what language will the world cup be transmitted ...

channel 3 guy said it will only be in Thai, but you can listen to English commentary on radio FM105.5

channel 5 girl said she doesn't know, they haven't signed a contract yet, and they have never had football before

channel 7 guy said it will be in Thai and English (100% sure!)

channel 9 guy said it will be in Thai and English (because they speak English in South Africa)

these are different answers I got last month and the month before, but it does sound a little more promising.

whatever the language, i am hoping the coverage will be better than the recent Champions League and EPL games. I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but they seem to slowly replay every incident, such as fouls and shots at goal, while the game is going on ... so they are missing some of the live action. they often replay a player swearing at the officials, and what really annoys me are replays of managers' reactions and behaviour on the sideline. i remember one arsenal game where they missed a really good fabregas goal because they were still replaying an earlier goal.

anyway, if at least half of the games are in english i will stick with my current setup and watch the games on Thai TV through True

will update again next month

After a move overseas, a CPU crash and a windows reinstall I have lost Pimsleur Thai lessons 20, 21 and 22. Can anyone help me get copies? Thanks in advance.

Google is your friend.

in google i can see torrent downloads, download sites i have to register for, and pay sites (but I don't want to pay for the full set again).

Which is the simplest way to download the 3 missing lessons? Can you be more specific? thanks again

After a move overseas, a CPU crash and a windows reinstall I have lost Pimsleur Thai lessons 20, 21 and 22. Can anyone help me get copies? Thanks in advance.

yes it's that simple. if you pay for the laos visa in US$ it's cheaper than baht. you need a photo.

it's safe to leave your motor on the thai side - there are a couple of secured parking lots within 200 metres of the bridge. I've left my motorcycle there a number of times for a few days each time. a car is about 100 baht per day.

i walked across the bridge once with no problems, but there is a sign which blocks the path half-way in thai which i think says "no entry".

the bus leaves every 10 minutes or so from immigration to immigration, costs about 20 baht one-way.

depending on where you are in issan, there are 2 other border crossings - Mukdahan and Surin. The best of all 3 is Surin.

good luck!

It's on Thai TV, with Thai commentary; Ch3 and 7. If you have WETV then they will have English commentary on the supersport channels. App UBC had the English audio available if you watched the Thai channels via their platform for 2006. I don't trust them to do the same again. but all games will def be on!

True told me you cannot change languages on the free channels via the True menu.

I spoke to Channel 3 today, they said the games will be broadcast in both languages, and you can change languages on the TV menu. But when I asked them if I could test it on any other program they transmit in 2 languages, they said they don't have any ... I haven't asked the other free channels yet.

Thing is whatever your point of view on Taksin he was the last democratically elected PM, on at least 2 times.

/.../ and the only way to restore the democracy is to have an election.

Uh, what? Samak et al wasn't democratically elected? Wow, are we reaching consensus that election fraud is bad?

the going rate for voting for thaksin's parties up here in issan was 300 baht per vote. so it's hard to say that winning an election by vote buying is real democracy.

i've talked to 3 or 4 university educated ladies here about pregnancy. none of them knows basic stuff like the most likely time of their menstrual cycle they can get pregnant. so i have concluded (based on that small sample) that many other schoolgirls and university girls aren't taught sex education at home or at school.

i would guess that many boys don't get sex education either.

is it taboo because thailand is buddhist?

why doesn't the leader of the govt., or someone with a lot more influence with thai people, suggest that parents and educators teach it to the kids?

in the mean time i will enjoy riding my bike (defensively) here without the over-regulated system in the west, and without the road rage in the west.

Enjoy riding your bicycle, except for about 10 days per year when people are throwing buckets full of water at bicyclists and everyone else.

my bike is a motorbike. songkran is great, i've had tons of fun joining in, on my bike.

the notion that the un will aim to halve road deaths by 2020 is laughable. are they going to reduce population growth or reduce the increase in vehicles in developing or developed countries? no. the un cannot even set a realistic agenda for a meeting (copenhagen) that they had 12 years to prepare for. the un is a complete waste of time and money. if anyone can enlighten me and describe one thing the un has done which has benefited mankind, i will remove the word 'complete' from my previous sentence.

thailand will not seriously try to reduce road deaths until the bigger problems are solved, such as political instability, corruption, unrest in the south, social welfare, education, etc. so i guess that means a very long time.

in the mean time i will enjoy riding my bike (defensively) here without the over-regulated system in the west, and without the road rage in the west.

from my experience and understanding, the patella is kept in the middle of the knee joint by ... muscles, a tendon, ligaments on either side, and the way your foot rolls on the ground when walking. it is better to get advice from doctors, not physiotherapists. you may need surgery. physiotherapists tried taping my knee, didn't work. good luck

thanks guys, still waiting.

just for interest, i was paid in the past US$ to a K Bank account , amazingly it arrived within 4 hours.

How can there be such a difference of : from 10 minutes - up to 5 days or longer

I did a Swift transfer last week from overseas to my Thai bank. Next day I got a call on my mobile from another Thai bank who said they had my money but I had to complete a form before they would release it to my bank, because it was over US$20,000.

Is there a chance your money has arrived but it's at an intermediate bank who can't contact you?