drysdan

FYI, True have this product/service called NetTalk

http://www.truenetta...ts/nettalk.html

Seems similar, users get a 10 digit phone number 060 nnn nnnn

Yeah, it looks really good. But it seems to only be offered to existing True customers.

Again, I don't seem to be able to sign up and pay the bills online from here.

The IAD is similar to what VoIP providers like Vonage utilize. In fact this is the same Cisco/Linksys IAD used by many VoIP providers in the U.S. The IAD is available fro purchase in the U.S for ~ $50, here ~ 1,900 THB. The IAD is completely portable, so you can plug it in to any ethernet internet connection, then plug a POTS telephone into one of the jacks and answer/receive calls anywhere on your Thai 02 number. As Deke mentions you can use any PC-based softphone or SIP-based client, even on an Android mobile phone (or iPhone I assume?) so the IAD is really only a requirement for POTS/FAX.

Deke, can you detail the call-forwarding bit? Is that something you set up with CAT2CallPlus? If so what is the charge?

It looks like this CAT2Call feature has been around for quite a few years so I'm not sure its fair to disparage the whole country and all the telecomms? I do agree that some things are unique and challenging here, but not so bad IME. Hey, we just got mobile numeber portability, which I would have said would never happen here. As it turns out most people don't want to keep their old number!

Fair enough. With it being software compatible, it's not so bad. Not quite up to the convenience level of a free Google Voice number, or the cheapness and convenience of a Skype Online Number, but it seems workable.

Still gonna have trouble setting it up and paying the bills from overseas, though. Unless I'm misreading their website, the only electronic payment forms are debits from Thai banks. No online transactions with credit cards or paypal?

Thanks for the dialogue, and all your help, guys.

Here is a link to the Cat2Call Plus promotions

http://www.contactce...d_promotion.asp

I assume you get to keep the IAD?

So 3,700 THB for the IAD, 400 days of validity and 2,000 THB of calling credit. PREPAID

Or 200 THB/month for the service, 100 THB/month for the IAD (not required, locally available for ~ 1,900 THB)m with calling charges on top. POSTPAID

It seems like you have to apply for this service in person, so that means you need to be in Thailand or have a local do it for you.

Oh, so Cat2Call actually requires a physical device on the Thai side to route the calls to the PSTN( the phone network)?

That's a no-go for me. The whole point of me wanting a 'Virtual' number is that it's virtual. The service provider deals with all the hardware, so I don't need to.

It's starting to seem like the telephony/information providers in Thailand are stuck in the 90's, technology and mindset-wise.

Check out CAT2Call Plus. It does exactly what you are looking for. You get a Bangkok phone number and can use it with a SIP phone or adapter. You can also set it up with a softphone on your computer (I use eyeBeam).

Cool. If anyone has phone numbers it would be CAT.

Can you share any details re: your experiences? Did you get an 02 number? How much do you pay? Do you use an IAD/ATA? It looks like some application forms require citizenship or a work permit. Was that your experience?

It kind of looks like it is 200 baht/month (post-paid?). In theory you could run a SIP client (SIPDroid, CSIPSIMPLE) on an Android phone and with WiFi or 3G (maybe even 2G) receive/make calls. Definitely interesting, thanks for the lead.

edited to add: it looks like there are pre- and post-paid versions. Validity on the pre-paid version is pretty limiting (1,000 baht for 100 days). The number pool seems to be 0-2402-XXXX .

and...CAT also do international call forwarding on the 009 service, so 6 or 7 baht/min to the U.S., plus 200 baht/month. Truemove do offer international call forwarding on post-paid plans, at the roaming rate of ~ 50 - 200 baht/min.

As I recall, all that I had to do was fill out a form with my address, etc. and give them a copy of my passport. I applied at the CAT head office on Chaengwattana Road.

When I applied (this was several months ago so my memory may be a little faulty) they had some kind of promotion going where I signed up for the 1000 Baht and 100 day prepaid plan for 1900 Baht which also got me an IAD plus an additional 1000 Baht worth of calling credit.

I set it up with Fring on my Nokia N95 (that I use with wifi) as well as set up call forwarding (when I'm not reachable) to my regular mobile number. It all works as expected.

As you say, I received a 02-402-xxxx number.

CAT2Call Plus does sound like it's about what I'm looking for. Doesn't look as convenient as Skype, but if it gets me a Thai number, and isn't expensive, it will do.

But how do I sign up for it and get a Thai number when I'm not in Thailand?

didww does not seem to offer numbers in Thailand. virtualphoneline does seem to have numbers in Chiang Mai. Am interested to hear from the OP re: budget. $30/mo. is a bit more than, say Google Voice $0/mo.).

FWIW, its not just the number, but the services and fees which are important. Since the OP seems disinclined to share any requirements I'll let him find the best solution.

Yeah, that's far above any budget I had in mind. I don't need a high traffic business line. It's really just a convenience thing.

Sorry if I didn't make my requirements clear. I want a Thai phone number that rings me in the US, preferably using VOIP, to avoid international calling charges.

The ideal thing would be a Skype Online Number, but they don't offer them in Thailand, so I'm looking for alternatives. They offer them in 40ish countries around the world, for around $10/month each (half that with a calling subscription package).

So nobody does DID in Thailand?

I didn't say that, or mean to imply it. I specifically said voip.ms do not. I suspect someone may but I could not find anyone in a 2 min. search.

Oh, Ok. Thanks. Here's hoping somebody can share some experience. I tried googling it for 20 minutes or so, but was thoroughly confused by most of the options presented, and none of them seemed to be able to give me a Thai local number.

Do you already have a Thai number? Is it a fixed line or mobile? What is the call volume? What is your budget? What is the duration, of your time in the U.S.? Do you expect to answer the calls given the time difference?

Off the top of my head, for low-volume, non-business sensitive applications, I would suggest a pre-paid SIM from One-2-Call with voice-mail and international roaming enabled. I would top it up to ~ 1,000 baht. I would use a GSM1900-capable handset in the U.S. and roam onto T-Mobile or AT&T(Cingular). Then I would monitor calls and SMSes, returning calls on my U.S. phone/Skype, and returning SMSes on either phone, understanding that SMSes via One-2-Call would be ~ 10+ baht.

A service like voip.ms would be ideal but they do not have DID in Thailand.

Thanks.

So nobody does DID in Thailand? Seriously? That's lame.

I don't have a Thai number anymore. This kind of application is exactly why they invented things like DID/Virtual numbers.

When I am in Thailand, my Skype account has a US based phone number that people can call, and it will ring to my Skype account no matter where I am. They don't even know it's a Skype number.

I want to do the same thing for when I'm not in Thailand, so my Thai contacts can call a Thai phone number, and have it ring me in the US. I don't care if it rings an online service (e.g. Skype, SIP), or if it forwards to my actual US number.

Is it possible to get a Thai phone number that will do this? It would be better still if it was capable of receiving/sending SMS, but not required.

Anybody know of a solution?

I'm selling my old motorcycle now, and I'm trying to get together the paperwork I need to give the buyer. As I recall, I need:

- a Bill of Sale, signed by seller and buyer (hand-written works, right?)

- signed copies of my passport and visa page

- the green book for the bike

And I seem to remember reading on some forum about needing some other form to sign and give to the buyer. If so, what is it, and where do I get it?

And I've forgotten already, since I registered the bike several years ago, does the buyer have to go to the DMV on Hang-Dong road, or the Land Transport office on CM-Lamphun Rd, to change the ownership?

Thanks all!

Nawarat bridge is re-opened, and free of any rabble rousers. (Or at least, it was at 12:25)

Just poor supply chain management. I bought 15 litres from Makro yesterday, was some of that yours?

I suppose it could just be poor supply chain, unless Makro is just running on a larger backstock.

It just struck me as quite odd that three separate places all ran out of 1.25L's at the same time, and none has resupplied in over a week, at least.

notice that Guinness have left town too

Well, the Guinness is due to some kind of distributor conflict. But Pepsi Max is made here in Thailand by Pepsi's Thai company, so.... Probably not related.

I've noticed over the last week or so that Pepsi Max seems to be disappearing.

The Pizza Co. told me twice in the last couple weeks that they don't have any, and 1.25L bottles have disappeared from my nearest 7-11 and Rimping.

Anybody know what's going on?

Maybe I missed it in the 8 or 9 news articles I read about this, but I'm a bit confused as to why the court is doing this at night...? Don't courts usually meet during the day?

Anybody know someplace that might have some New Years Day college football bowl games on tv?

Ok, so for clarification, is Fabrique the place on the left side of the President, as you are facing it? Or is it the club on the inside, where you have to go through the hotel lobby to get to it?

Wow. So bike lanes then. For real? And on Loi Kroh, of all the streets? This lovely town just gets curiouser and curiouser...

Seriously though? A bike lane? On a 2 meter wide street that always has cars and motobikes parked on one side? Do they really think drivers will stay out of it? No wait. Stop asking questions. I know....

Does anyone know the story with the new yellow lines that have been painted on Loi Kroh road? They just went down in the last couple days... They're just off-center on the road... Surely they're not going to make that narrow little street a two way? That would be insanity... Anybody got the inside scoop on what's going on?

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but it seemed better than starting a new one.

On massage etiquette (and yes, I only mean massage):

Is it acceptable when you go into a massage place to ask for a specific masseuse? I get the impression that they work on some kind of rotational thing, but at the couple places I typically go, there's a fair number of different people, and frankly, some of them are not very talented. If I find a masseuse who is good, can I ask for her by name when I go in next time, so as to avoid some of the other girls who were not very good? Or is that a big no no? I don't want to insult them but I also don't want to be gambling on whether my 2 hour massage is going to be endured or enjoyed.

I went, I saw, I got lost. I know Huay Kaew Road. I used to walk to the CMU entrance. I saw no Joe, no Jets, not even Benny and the Jets At the precise location described, two doors before the last 7-11 before the lavender barred fence of CMU, is a California burger place.

Indeed. It's not that your directions are bad, rrose, they're just wrong. Joe Jets is no where near the 7-11. The place you're describing is the place PeaceBlondie found, the California Grill, which is a little hole in the wall with decent food. Joe Jets is at least 250 meters before that situated about halfway between Mo'C Mo'L and the Boat, and the best landmark is indeed the Ozone Net, which is directly across the street. Just nextdoor is a place called "Milk Zone" with it's name written large in christmas lights.

As for Joe Jet's itself, I tried it tonight, and it's pretty good. I had a bacon cheeseburger, and it was great. The patty was quite large, and the beef quality is good. The fries are also good, but not included with the burger.

The atmosphere is rather like an American old style burger cafe type place, with lots of red. The floors are concrete and the walls are concrete painted grey, which, at night anyway, gives it a bit of a cold atmosphere, and the A/C was set pretty cold, so the cold air contributed further to that effect. The layout and furnishings are cute, and they have little tiny black and white TV's on the tables, that actually work! All in all, a great place to try out...

Rimping carries flavored syrups from a French company called Monin, which, as one who worked in the coffee industry for several years, I think is probably the best on the market, or close to it, anywhere.

And now I feel like a dope for somehow seeing the threads about afterparties but missing the two about watching coverage. Still, are the pubs (saloon or un irish) going to be open by around 9am?

Does anybody know of a pub or some other place that will be open in the morning on Wednesday Nov 5 and will be showing the CNN coverage of the election as it's finishing up? I figure by noon in CM it will be pretty much done, but I don't know what time places open, or if they'll be showing CNN. I see in the forums that there will be a couple afterparties in the evening, and a thing at Payap, but I'd rather watch the coverage from a pub, or somewhere, closer to town.

Thanks.

t

nope, I just want to make a couple funny t-shirts for a friends birthday.

Then transfer is probably the way to go unless it's a single colour job and you want the best.

If you mean the inkjet iron on transfers, I've thought of those, but they don't do well with plain text, like white words on a black shirt, because you have to have the shape of the cutout around the words, not just the letters themselves... What are your thoughts on how to get just words printed? In the style of the ubiquitous "same same...but different" shirts, but with different words, of course...

Another member of the ebay copied-football-shirt faction ?

Not sure abt the scene in CM, but the guys from Pratunam send the requested numbers via the night bus...

nope, I just want to make a couple funny t-shirts for a friends birthday.