dazdaz

There is a portal too, although not properly converted into English.  Many Thai websites with only partial language conversions.

http://www.adslthailand.com/

I really don't like the metering system they use, you can just imagine the problems involved.

Regards

I found this really good article on the Current Status of Internet Industry in Thailand, which puts events into perspective.

http://www.busakorn.com/thaitcom/overview/current_status.htm

"Currently, of all the operating 18 commercial ISPs, fewer than half have reported profits."

I'd like to know which of those 9 ISP's are making a profit.

"Telecommunications operators in Thailand do not share revenues (e.g., telephone access charges) with ISPs, providing no revenue to recoup costs."

As far as I can figure out, CAT - Communications Authority of Thailand is holding back the market by restrictive legislation.  CAT is scheduled to be privatised soon by being divided into two main companies: Thailand Post, Ltd. and CAT Telecom, Ltd. When this happens the market should really open up.

How recent is this? Is it still going to happen?

With regard to an ISP review, I have a number of ideas, one in particular would be testing their email helpdesk service because i've done this before because I was heavily spammed from a Thai ISP (will name it privately) and received 0% response which I was'nt very pleased about.  If we can make sure people/customers avoid the bad ISP's, go for the best service at the best price, a lot of people would be much better off.  Actually the competition is extremely small, that's something that appeals to me.

Sorry I hav'nt answered your original question.

Regards

Here is my list of all Thai ISP's.  You'll need to search through the webpages for DSL prices though.  I doubt all offer DSL services.

A-Net http://www.anet.net.th/

Asia-Access http://www.asiaaccess.net.th/

AsiaInfoNet http://www.asianet.co.th/

Cs-Coms http://www.cscoms.com/

CWN http://www.cwn.net.th/

Cable and Wireless http://www.cwasia.net.th/

DataLine Thai http://www.linethai.net.th/

Far East http://member.fareast.net.th/

Internet Thailand http://www.inet.co.th/

The Ideal Connection http://www.idn.co.th/

Jasmine Internet http://www.ji-net.com/

KSC http://www.ji-net.com/

Loxinfo http://www.loxinfo.co.th/

Samart http://www.samart.co.th/

Siam Global http://www.sga.net.th/

WorldNet http://www.pacific.net.th/

EZNet http://www.princess1.com/

RoyNet http://www.roynet.co.th/

Anyone want to create a chart relating the prices and services?  That would be really useful, else i'll do it late.

Regards

I think there are 4 categories of death in Thailand for farang.

* Some are killed for no reason other than money.  Wrong place, wrong time, wrong life.

* Some are careless, looking for trouble, get involved with drugs, fights, mafia etc.

* Some goto Thailand to die, cancer, or whatever. Some very touching but sad stories here. Something worth returning to at a later date.

* Some commit suicide.  

The last one is most interesting, because your suposed to be in paradise so why kill yourself? Paradise is different to everyone, and when you reach what you think is paradise, you realise it is not.  That's why I believe people do this.  Society says they have it all, and then realise it's not enough, it does'nt take the pain away.

Regards

How about setting up a hotel?  This is something that appeals a great deal to me, in fact has done so for many years, way before I discovered Thailand.

Lots and lots of hard work.  You probably want to work towards getting into a big name overseas(outside Thailand) chain, else you could rebel and trade independently.  It would be a long term plan, but an honest living and you'd get to meet lots of people.

I've not seen any books on setting up a hotel in Thailand, in fact i've not even researched this topic, however I would think you can learn a lot from the general gist from general books and hands on experience.

Does anyone have any real experience here? I'd be interested in what's involved.

You don't mention any areas of skillset?  I would guess sales? A good salesman is always required.

Regards

I don't know from personal experience, however from watching TV documentaries on this, I would'nt touch a timeshare with a bamboo pole with gloves on whilst blindfolded and standing upside down shouting, scam scam scally scam!

There are as you know a lot of scams in Thailand, it does'nt take a genius to figure out they're all related to timeshare.

To me, it's almost as bad as drug running. The concept to me at least is flawed along with the people involved in it.  I would'nt be at all surprised if there was a relationship between the 2 groups of people.  Worse still is those who try to brain wash you that pyramid schemes and timeshare is safe, when you hear that, you know to leave immediately for your own safety!

Why on earth would you want to get involved with this?  You sound like you have no real estate selling experience, so why go from a semi-respectable industry to timeshare?

What are your goals? To live in Thailand, or to make some money?

Regards

For ease of reference I guess you mean this URL.

http://www.ponlogistics.com/ponlogistics/s...ight_management

The contact us page does'nt have a Thailand office number/location on it.

Regards

Couple more links for you to research.

http://www.egat.or.th/english/

This looks very promising.

http://www.egco.com/

Regards

A quick web search has thrown up this company. Independent Power Thailand.

http://www.ipt.co.th/profile/profile.html

I would probably turn up in person and see if you can ask for an appointment with a manager, and then see how that goes.  As has been discussed here many times before, forget an email application.

http://www.ipt.co.th/jobs/jobs.html

Regards

Why not try contacting the Stock Exchange of Thailand, i'm sure they'd be all too happy to help and re-direct.

http://www.set.or.th/

I'd like to learn more about this myself.

Regards

Hi, I wanted to re-visit this article.

Fast visas and work permits for IT experts

http://www.thaivisa.com/index.php?514&back...514&tt_news=391

It makes me feel good.  What do others think?  Is there serious investment going on?  Where do they advertise jobs? My money is that if they did exist it would be a word of mouth, recruiting your best man for a special directorship/ specialised position.

The more I think about it, the more sceptical I am, because why would they recruit expensive farang's away from the capital?  It does'nt quite make sense.  I wonder if it's a publicity stunt, I hope it is not, as i'm genuinely interested!

If anyone can make sense, and direct me to somewhere with a good business plan / running stable business, then that's different.  I read it as laying groundwork for the future, and bring in some extra income to the area, but nothing immediately of interest.

Regards

When you say self-sufferage, I read that to mean renunciation, which does not mean giving up things, it's often misinterpreted.  It simply means dropping desire and attachment.

There is a very good reason that the Buddha gave up sex, I don't recall the story.  The tradition has inherited this.  If anyone is upto date, i'd really like to re-learn this.

Why do bar girls pray to Buddha for forgiveness before starting work? Firstly he never intended to be worshipped, but also the words hippocritical come to mind.  Bar girls says, "please forgive me, but I must do this".  The word Buddha, often used to mean Buddha nature is often misunderstood, it actually means a "higher reality or state of consciousness".

I don't mean to offend anyone, but I don't understand why people Bar girls would ask for this, except for extremely desperate measures.  Why not ask Buddha for a different way out, an alternative, a different direction, an escape, a career, luck etc.

>"Thai people are human just like the rest of us"

I have the highest respect for some Thai people.  When they call BKK the city of Angels, that some are.

Some things should remain an enigma, the microscope is too Westernly obtrusive.

Regards

Are there any public lavatories in Thailand apart from a hole in the ground?

Regards  

I think Thaivisa forum does a great job in capturing the flavour of Thailand, but flavour without scent and the food does'nt taste right.  So how about a forum on Buddhism, the scent of Thailand.

Regards

Interesting.  I was going to say "Buddhism is not a religion", which many people must of heard, but after a web search, I came across this article.

http://members.aol.com/turkseven/religion.html

Then I read here.

http://www.zhongnanshan.net/english/buddhism7.htm

I think you can decide for yourself which one it is.  Of course you can't really decide from a couple of webpages, only pre-judge it into a slot.

Regards

PS sorry to be offtopic.

Hi John, thanks for your writeup.

So crime and greed is a large part of the Thai psyche.  This makes them sounds more American, but with a more old fashioned outlook, much like the cowboys and indians era.

Perhaps the problem is that we drop our guard a little too low, and believe that if a culture has a poor economy, produces pretty women, and has fasntastic scenery, then we judge them to be stupid.  So in a way, it's out mistake by thinking we can take advantage.

Are there crime statistics?  What about what's not reported.

This is a little too vague.

http://www.police.go.th/stat43.htm

Interesting to note people are caught for pornography, which followed a previous discussion on the board and prostitution, all 10,000 of them.

You did'nt mention what type of business you ran?  Was there a lot of competition?

Regards

Thank you, your absolutely correct, I was looking for a revelation.

Does this make the Thai's very fake though, like the many fake watches they sell, because that to me is a revelation.  I don't view the people as fake, in fact my perception is one of the most genuine cultures i've ever experienced.  Are you saying this is the trap that everyone falls into?  Can we explore this some more, i'd like to know more.  I would like to know reasons.  It's whats behind the smile that interests me. So when a farang knows too much, it's because he know's what's behind the mask!

LOS Should then be LOFS - land of false smiles.  

>On top this we have aids, gays, trannies, dykes.

>Start publishing that lot and the tourist industry would be in trouble.

This is common knowledge, I still don't get it.  Everyone knows about this.

P.S. why do you say falang and not farang?

Regards

Hi John,

I've been giving this some thought.  I don't agree with the viewpoint that if your ignorant, you should remain ignorant and what you don't know won't hurt you.  To hint about something and then not tell somebody kinda annoys me.  Friend, what are you talking about?  No holds barred, bare all, we want the full exposure.  What on earth are you hinting at?

Either you know a lot about Thailand in which case why would you not want to share it, or you don't.

You say you have seen enough, but you don't say why.  Come on friend, explain what you mean, else why are you on the Thaivisa forum?

I don't bite, honest [add rude comments right about here], I just want to understand your perspective.

Regards

Please go into lots of juicy detail about rotten, I need the education.  Do you mean the corruption is even worse than people imagine?

Regards  

What's the Thai expression for a farang who knows too much?  I've been thinking of this lately and find it highly  amusing.

To me, that's great.  To know more than a native Thai, but they don't seem to like it, is my understanding.

So why? Intimidation?  It's unusual to them, and anything unusual is uncomfortable?

Regards

It's interesting you mention that Phuket is expensive speaking relatively of course for Thailand.  I spent a small fortune in being driven around by those tuk tuk drivers.  If you don't have transportation, it's does indeed seem costly as you have to be driven quite a distance.  I recommend Karong beach any day over Patong beach. Patong has way too many people and is commercialised, whereas Karong is much more laid back and natural.  I have many years of exploring to do though.  I know there are other beaches off the beaten track so to speak and of course private beaches there.

I even went into Phuket town, but did'nt like it.  What do others think of P.T.? I thought it was ramshackled but perhaps truer to Thailand?

I will one day visit Koh Samui.

Any other places worth checking out?

I guess most people have either retired there or are TEFL people.

What I always dislike is the drunken louts you seem to find increasingly in more and more exotic locations like Thailand.  I go away to escape from those people, and yet find them on the same plane the further afield I go.  I suppose this will increase as air fares continue to tumble.

There are few places where you can go, in which you can really escape.  I know someone who has been to Laos and Belarus, both a little off the beaten track.

Regards

Following on from my post about quality of life for an expat, I wanted to go into the fantasy and reality of living on an island.  I quite like the idea, but not everyone will.  I think it will become trying after several months.  I know Phuket has expats, but I don't know how many.

I was surprised to see a Tesco's Lotus store on Phuket along with a Starbucks.  Seems there is really no escaping Americanisation (globalisation) these days.

What jobs could bring in a sustainable working on an island.  This must surely be harder than anywhere else.

* Remote internet related job with work permit

* Hotel owner

* Writer, with a company setup for work permit, perhaps selling to an international publishers (America/Europe) etc.

* Software company

umm i'm running out of ideas quickly here.  Can you think of any others that are legal?

It's possible, but probably not the greatest of ideas.

Regards

That's funny, great story, thanks for the link.

Of course this could only happen in Thailand, that's what makes it so funny and Thailand so great.

Regards

Well from my observation, i've noticed that although Buddhism is a fantastic thing (it's not a religion btw), many Thai's suffer greatly from what Lord Buddha says is the cause of suffering,  desire and attachment.  The strange thing is that the Thai's have a huge amount of desire and attachment.

It's a known fact, although some here may be offended by the truth, that some of the monks don't follow the strict teachings, i.e. they smoke, drink, gamble and have sex.  I'm not going to judge what's right and wrong but was very shocked when I first learnt this.  I had always thought they were holier than thou and all genuine.  Thai society from what I have seen treats them as special, but not all are entirely what they seem.

Everyone has the same flesh, it's just society's interpretation over thousands of years in how to interpret that flesh that has caused problems.  By banning something, you create a rebellion, and I would'nt be surprised if the law changed sometime.

Regards

Ah thanks D80 that's an extremely interesting point.

Although of course mastering desire does not happen by taking away a subject, that's not mastering, that's avoiding.

To master you have to be able to view pornography and then still to have no desire.  No desire, then no attachment, then your well on the way to Englightenment  

I'm just highlighting the common mistakes made by society here from which of course the legal system follows.

The issue of Thailand being third world, seems an extremely politically charged and sensitive one, and those who may take advantage of this.  I suspect the authority's would make an example of you, like they have done many times previously with farang.  Be warned.

Regards