stbkk

12 minutes ago, AlfHuy said:

Seems a bit strange.

Just in time of next public holiday week, a new cluster found and closing venues.

 

I was told that a few international schools also have covid cases. Haven't read this in the news.

St. Andrews International primary school campus on Sukhumvit 71 is closed as a precaution as 2 parents (not children) have tested positive. Direct information from the school (my son goes to the high school campus at Ekamai, which is still open until Friday when the current term ends).

My girlfriend told me she saw it on the Thai news yesterday also.

You also might want to wander around Fortune Town a bit. There are quite a few camera and photography shops there.

Not sure if any of them do trade ins etc., but it might be worth a try as its very convenient to the MRT.

7 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

 

In this case my first option would be a secondary router on the same floor as your kids rooms, down-linked from the ISP router in your office. Fishing the cable is the trickiest part. Even the most inexpensive budget routers support 2.4 and 5 GHz, just make sure the devices do as some just support 2.4.

 

You can watch reviews of these mesh set-ups on Youtube. Seem generally positive but do remember that many western home constrution techniques are more conducive to WiFi than those used here. Your're still pushing radio waves through concrete, and still subject to local interference.

 

What kind of speeds are your sons getting?

 

Which ISP? What router model?

 

Can you test at the router with a wired connection to see if your service is properly provisioned?

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the thoughts, but as you can see a little earlier in the thread I have actually installed a mesh system now. The main reason for that as opposed to any hard-wired versions was to avoid a number of practical cabling issues, down to the lower machine, which is two floors below the main router in my office. I live in a 4 floor town house, and navigating cable through various walls and floors etc. would not have been easy. The performance of the installed system is fine for what I need, and for 3,750 Baht and a couple of hours for me to set it up, I'm happy with the cost and effort involved as well.

I bought my last set of Irons at AllStar golf complex. It shows up on Google maps.

Its a really good set up, with a number of shops attached to a big driving range. They have (had, at least pre-covid - can't confirm what its like now) shops for many of the major brands such as Titleist, Ping, Callaway, Taylor Made etc. and they all allowed me to try clubs on the range. I must have spent 2 or 3 afternoons there hitting various options before I finally chose the set I wanted. The shops all looked bona-fide to me, although I'm no expert. My set of Callaways have been fine, about 7 years old now with no problems. 

The only downside is that (depending on where you live of course) it was a real pain to get to for me. Major traffic.

On 3/5/2021 at 7:46 AM, mtls2005 said:

Do you have internet banking, and mobile app banking?

 

If so, you can add an account (account number and a reference number), then pay the exact amount each month. You simply press "Confirm amount", the app checks the current amount due, and then confirm payment. You can pay accounts in someone else's name. 

 

https://www.bangkokbank.com/-/media/files/international-banking/japanese/Bill-Payment-iBanking

 

https://www.bangkokbank.com/en/Personal/Digital-Banking/Bualuang-mBanking/How-to-Use/Payment

 

I agree. I use the Bangkok Bank internet I-banking to pay the exact amount monthly.

I prefer that to DD as I understand that the process for correction of erroneous DD payments is less, shall we say 'customer protective', in Thailand than what I am used to.

18 hours ago, CharlieH said:

You will hear shouts for and against equally strong. There are MANY topic on this item.

 

Personally, it was easily obtained, better to have than not have, convenient for some things as you dont need your passport etc. 

BUT  as with so many things in Thailand its use and acceptance will vary from province to province and even by who you are dealing with.

Some cant even get one for all the red tape, others its a breeze.

Many will have a different story relative to their location and use.

 

Might help if the OP states where he is for more local comment to his area.

Very good advice.

The absolute key is how easy/difficult it is to get at your local district office.

I was lucky because I have permanent residence and it took all of 15 minutes to get my pink id card at my local office (Wattana district in Bangkok).

I have since experimented a lot with using the card, and (surprise, surprise) find huge variations as to knowledge and acceptance, even within central Bangkok. Some banks and my local post office accept it without a second glance instead of my passport, but some other places have never even seen one before, and look at it with deep suspicion! When I renewed my driving license last year it actually helped a lot, because as a PR I don't have a valid 'visa' in my passport, and none of the junior staff had ever seen a PR book before, and didn't know what to do. Luckily the manage recognised it, and asked if I had a pink id card which she said helped a lot because it has my 'local' id number on it.

If its easy enough to get go for it, it doesn't do any harm having one, and only cost about 100 baht if I remember rightly.

On 2/22/2021 at 4:52 PM, jackdd said:

Are you using the 2.4 or 5Ghz wifi?

2.4Ghz.

Does it make a significant difference?

Thanks for the replies gents, I am certainly a bit more knowledgeable now.

I'm only interested in getting decent wifi coverage in the house for the kids, so the more advanced restrictions that are mentioned above shouldn't be an issue for me.

If I can ask you one more thing though please? What sort of house/distances are the M9 units covering? I have the router in my office, and son 1's room is approx 10m from that, down 1 floor/2 walls away. Son 2's room is about another 10m from that, again down 1 floor/2 walls away. The distances I imagine are not an issue, but will the concrete floors and walls have a significant impact do you think? I would anticipate putting 1 unit in my office close to the router, and 1 unit in each of the kids rooms.

I'll also have a check around for some other models and brands as well, bearing in mind what you said about the age of the M4. Although as I am only interested in the wifi coverage, it probably won't be a big thing for me, as I'm not going to be using any more modern/advanced features.

Thanks again to both of you for your help.

Steve

Hi everybody,

I have a 3bb fibre connection to my 4 story town house, and my 2 kids do not get very good wifi connections from the supplied router. They are both in separate rooms, one 1 floor below my office (where the router is), and the other 2 floors below.

While I was in Fortune Town last week a guy was trying to sell me a Deco M4 mesh wifi system, which he said would solve the problem (of course!).

I've done some research and it seems these things work ok, but I've never heard about them before. All the local feedback and reviews I've found are in Thai, which I don't read.

Does anybody have any first hand experience, comments or advice?

I'm computer literate, but all software development related and not networking, so please be gentle!

Thanks,

Steve

My son goes to Bangkok University (international campus out at Rangsit) and has been doing most of his lectures and work on-line. He goes to the campus maybe once a fortnight.

I've also received the 8 week email about my sons renewal. We applied on 3rd of August and the money has been taken from my bank account. Will let you know when we get it.

2 hours ago, bluesofa said:

Regarding the online video & test:

My experience was turn up - just to ask how to register for an appointment - be told watch the video on my mobile there and then (along with loads of others), and do the online test (my wife did it for me!)

Someone else posted that as they don't expect ferangs to be able to do it, they were given a pass without even logging on to watch the video.

 

Will you be posting option three after your August appointment? We'll wait and see!

P.S. Make sure your phone battery is fully charged just in case - the video is an hour long.

 

Will do. It might be a good idea to 'forget' that I can speak reasonable Thai at that point! Roll on August!

Hi all,

My experience at the Land and Transport office (near Bang Chak bts) in Bangkok on Friday, 26/06/20.

I went in to book an appointment to renew my 5 year D/L, which had expired in early June when the office was closed.

1. Queued up at information and when I reached the front and asked for an appointment was sent to another 'side' queue.

2. Queued up again, and showed the lady my expired license, passport and work permit. This cause much confusion because I have permanent residence and don't have a 'valid' visa in my passport. Showing the lady my PR book caused even more confusion as she had never seen one before. Off she went to her supervisor and they spent a couple of minutes discussing this (I could see them from where I was standing). They then went up another level and the manager (I assume) knew what to do and came and dealt with me personally. She needed my pink Id card and told me to bring my tabian baan also (blue house residency book) when i came back.

3. I was given an appointment for 13th August 2020. When I asked why so long, she waver her hand at the (very crowded) office, and said they were very busy. Hard to argue with that!

No mention of on-line tutorials, and she said I didn't need a medical certificate either (although I think I'll get a cheap one at the local clinic before I go, anyway). Looking at the DLT website (I know its not necessarily a particularly reliable resource, but I thought I'd check anyway) there is also no mention of the on-line thing for 5 year license renewals.

Hope the above helps.

Steve

I was able to open a standard savings account for my sons at age of 15, at both Bangkok Bank and Krungsri. They needed to have their Thai Id cards updated from master to Mister before they could get an ATM card though.

I wonder what all those anti money laundering bots are making of this thread....

2 hours ago, rasmus5150 said:

If I have to listen to Kenny G when i die - I'm gonna live forever........

I hope I go stone deaf before I go.

2 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

that's normal at my house but i understand what you are getting at.

Sounds like your getting back to normal. Great. Love your posts, keep it up as they say, ????.

PS. I voted for you last year, so it wasn't my fault you didn't win.

Even before the virus stuff my stepson was having great difficulty getting a gap year job before he went to uni. International school educated, completely bi-lingual. <deleted> IGCSE grades admittedly, but not even an interview at Starbucks etc. TIT.

I did read somewhere that the heat and humidity makes it more difficult for the airborne droplets that contain the virus to stay airborne, and consequently (in theory) they would infect fewer people.

Seems to make some sense, and would explain the slightly lower infection rates in hotter countries. Although I have no confidence in the government figures from Thailand, at least.

I'd also leave things as they are, unless you absolutely have to do it for some reason. As we all know, trying to do things that are 'unusual', even if technically possible/legal in Thailand, is often a recipe for disaster!

Thanks to all for the replies. My son has a tutor now, and seems to be doing better.

The other advantage of living 'closer in' (e.g. On-Nut, Phrakhanong) is that as you mention, you are doing  a reverse commute so the sky train journey would be much more bearable.