Palace

great. thanks for the links guys.

nope, couldn't find one. i'm actually looking for those stand alone devices like the Magellan Triton series or anything simpler than that. no funky maps, not phone accessory, just plain NSEW coordinates.

thanks.

first of all, is it legal to buy handheld or portable GPS device in thailand? i heard in some countries, this is regulated by government intel guys.

i'm not referring to those gadgets with map navigation, just a simple portable device which gives you Latitude and Longitude coordinates.

i've been trying to look for one in panthip or fortune but can't find what i'm looking for.

thanks for the help.

i got quoted 3,500. lol

if you had read my OP, then you would know that my box is from the US, not Thailand. the warranty is only good if you bought it in the US or Canada.

actually, the warranty extension applies globally. since you haven't made any modifications to your unit, it's theoretically eligible for warranty.

trouble is, i don't know if they have an office in thailand (so you don't have to ship it all the way back to the us). you would need to get in touch with them. dunno if anybody here has actually done it.

the initial quote for labor only was THB2,800.

warranty is void because the units you buy here in Thailand have been modified already (to play copied dvd games).

Have a US box that got the red rings of death the other day. went by panthip today and was told it would take 3500 baht and 1 week to get it fixed!!!!! 1 week?? the soldering takes an hour, no? its called they want to switch my genuine parts for cheap copies...

So where is the best place nowadays? Saphan Lek? MBK?

And how much?

How long should it take?

Oh, and has anyone had this successfully done here?

i was at mbk last saturday. brought my xbox there with the same problem.

there's a shop in the 6th floor called "Panda mafia services" (sounds dubious?) and they offer repairs for 3rrod-afflicted xbox.

the usual service period is 2-3 days. the guy there said bad xbox units are coming in dozens everyday so sometimes it takes longer. (while i was there, 3 other luckless xbox owners came in with their hapless consoles for repair).

sadly, after 2 days, they wrote off my unit with a motherboard problem. it's now a 5 kilo paperweight. microsoft sucks.

Hi everybody. I'm new to this forum. I'm a Filipino expat in Thailand for almost 2 years now.

I have to say I have to agree with most of the comments here about living conditions in the Philippines, even if some of them are not favourable. I love my country but I know where we lag behind our neighbor nations.

Peace & order situation is really one of the main concerns in the PI. I can honestly say I felt safer in Bangkok (though not as safe now that I'm in Pattaya) than in Manila especially after dark. Graft & corruption is also one of the blackest spots in PI society. These two are the most compelling issues why we struggle to revive our economy as fast as we would have wished.

On the other hand, as some forumers who have actually experienced living in PI claimed, Filipinos are extremely friendly while natural wonders are in abundance. It's a pity our own tourism agencies haven't got the funds or the wits to advertise the beauty of the seven thousand islands or so.

Answering the question, if you're looking for a place to stay in PI for 4-6 months, it would depend what will be your main activity during this period. If you intend to do some business, stay close to the capital. Ayala Alabang is a nice place especially for expats. This is where most expat executives reside. It's pricey but still not as expensive as Sukhumvit in BKK. If on the other hand you're likely to spend most of your time on leisure, then I would agree with the other forumers' suggestion of Cebu City. It's at the heart of the Visayas where most of the breathtaking islands are. I have been there only once but I know it's a place I would always consider to stay for an extended period.

Hope this helps and I hope you enjoy your stay in the PI. Stay safe though.

i was a TRUE subscriber when i was in Bangkok, until end of 2007. i was on the 2mbps package for about a year and a half. i have to say in more than 18 mos of my subscription, i only recall two instances when my internet speed bogged down. im a heavy torrent user (i usually d/l about 10GB worth of media per week) and almost always on the web every night so i would instantly notice any dip in speed. i used to live in soi 2 sukhumvit. it might not be relevant to recent developments in the submarine cable problems but as recent as late january, i have access to my friend's True 2mbps line (they live in soi 10) and everything seems normal.

on the contrary, now that i've moved to pattaya (nongprue municipality), i'm stuck with ToT. i have a 1mbps line and after a week of wrangling with their customer service to fix my initial connection (no incoming adsl signal), i was finally online BUT speedtests have never given me more than one quarter of my published speed.

i can only say i miss my true service.

The engine is the same, they sell in Europe, in fact it is manufactured at Ford´s Dagenham Plant in London. There are more than 36 for sale as far as I know.

I meant petrol engines are smaller and less powerful than in Europe. Diesel is a trial run only, you can find exect number of cars on offer somewhere in this forum, around early December.

There are 3 engine options of Ford Focus in Thailand;

1. 1.8L Petrol/Ethanol20 (available in 4-Door sedan model only)

2. 2.0L Petrol/Ethanol20 (available in sedan and 5-Door hatchback models)

3. 2.0L Diesel TDCi (available in hatchback model only)

All models are assembled in the Philippines. Petrol engines are also assembled in the Phils.

Diesel engines, for now, are imported from Europe.

Hi everyone.

I'm new to this forum. I just moved to Pattaya after a year and a half assignment in BKK. One of the few inconveniences I experienced in moving here is in terms of internet service.

First of all, I used to have true internet's 2mbps package when i was in BKK, and i have to say i'm pretty pleased with their service. i recall only about a couple instances of downtimes in my 1.5 years there, and throughput speed is usually about 90% of the advertised package speed. plus, when once i had a problem with my windows xp firewall system, their customer service operators were very helpful and speaks and understands english.

Fast forward to two weeks ago when i moved to Pattaya Nongprue area. First, I found out that the internet service in that area is pretty much limited only to ToT and TT&T, and capped at the 1mbps package. I applied for ToT's 1mbps line two weeks ago, and was informed that i could be online by feb 6. Unfortunately, come feb 6, for some reason i could not connect to their server (no adsl signal on modem at all). i called their hotline but the operator seemed clueless what to do about my situation, so just told me that he's going to make a report and inform their technicians. the following day, still no signal, so i call them again. again, the same clueless response that a report will be made and technicians will call me. this cycle of unfortunate events went on for a couple more days and by friday i was starting to get pis sed. they finally said someone's coming to my house saturday to look at the problem. i woke up early saturday to follow up on this but the operator only told me to wait. i called them up every hour and by 2 pm they finally said, i should probably wait for monday. i finally snapped and couldn't help verbally abusing the call center guys.

to cut the story short, i finally got a connection last night. but my misery is not yet finished. the line was agonizingly slow, i can barely keep my voip call to my folks in the philippines. i tested my line using speekeasy.net, voila my line is only rated at around 60kbps downstream/46kbps upstream. i had another conversation with the call center people (though this time i took an effort to be nice) and they said their international gateways are currently experiencing some problems so i should probably check again some other day.

today i had some time to check on the internet and i came across this forum. looks like i'm in a rut with many reports about ToT's relative speed.

the icing on the cake is, when i called the call center yesterday inquiring about my initial billing, they said my service's effective date is as of 2 weeks ago. so even before i got a decent connection, they've already screwed 2 weeks worth of my money.

sigh. the only comfort i have is knowing i'm not alone in this agony.