martijn12345

One plus 3 has been getting raving reviews all over as best bang for your buck phone. It's not really low end but I find that usually in the end you get what you pay for though Apple is somewhat pushing the limit of that theory hehehe. 

When you don't buy a specific data package you pay per mbyte and that will keep draining your credit. So best guesstimate how much data you use and go to a AIS shop or counter and buy a package for 1 month. Switching to another provider won't change much. It's really a matter of buying the right package they are quite evenly priced throughout companies I personally use TRUE but I don't think they are necessarily better/cheaper it just works out for me. 

I guess I am one of the lucky ones. I have both my mobile account and my home internet here and I hardly ever have any problems. Two months ago I bought a Google Chromecast to play with and I experienced hick-ups in the streaming over the wifi network of the old modem. I called True, admittedly, the lady had no real clue what my issue was and I decided it was best to help her conclude my modem had a problem (it didn't really, it was working according to its technical specifications, it was just outdated). 2 hours a later a mechanic was here who understood my need for faster wifi network and her replaced my old modem with a new one at no cost at all. I think he really just wanted to see what a Chromecast was as he was hanging around for another 15 minutes after he was done just to see how the Chromecast worked hehe. Nice guy.

I have also always found both the call center and the shop in the nearest mall to be very helpfull, friendly and efficient. Sorry for the OP, sounds like a shitty situation. Just want to report its not all shit at True and I am Truely a statisfied True customers hehehe

As to rich people having left. Many thais are used to noise and love the convenient location of suthep road to nimman and the CMU faculties. Rents are higher in this area than in the quieter outskirts of town.

I live right there as well. And I didn't even know there are night time flights hehe. I do have to stop conversations for 15 seconds when planes come over. They fly so straight over my place that around noon I can see the shadow passing as well. I think you either can sleep through it or you can't. Then it's much better to simply move. Chiangmai is still rapidly growing and no chance in hell they will restrict nighttime flights. The airport has all the legal permits for 24 hour traffic I did look that up once. But funny I was still believing there are no flights from 11 till 6 hehehe

It does make browsing, and 'quickly looking something up on the go' a bit faster. From what I have seen many of these 4G plans come with bigger data limits. I spend a lot of time on the road and am a heavy user. I get 5Gb a month and I usually will use between 3 and 5 of them. The moments I love 4g the most. When I am in a hotel room with crappy wifi but i still want to have a skype conversation with the loved ones without blurry cameras or delays in the sound. That already made it worth it for me to upgrade to a 4g phone. But for people who spend most of there time around decent wifi. Who are still happy with their old phone and who really just wonder what the fuzz is about, it might indeed not be worth the upgrade

Sad to hear all this. You can't pick you family. So count your blessings together and enjoy the things in life that you do have. Maybe some day in time there will be a moment where you can start this conversation with a certain family member and explain them how it's been for you and your wife.

It is disgusting that in 2016 hilltribe people are classed as aliens. Why shouldn't they have the right to work like any other Thai person?

Hilltribe or not. you need a license to be an official tourguide. I think the article gives the wrong impression that it has anything to do with their etnic background, but it doesn't. They are talking about people who guide without the official license, this has nothing to do with being allowed to work in general or work permits.

I understand these are different frequencies than the ones currently used. But I still don't understand the way this news is reported. Like Thailand has no 4G at all currently. While many companies do offer it already, just on higher frequencies. These newly auctioned lower frequencies should give better reception in local countryside and inside buildings. Other than that there is not much difference. As for people who said Thailand doesn't even have propper 3G. I am sure you either never come outside of BKK or don't use a proper provider. I have been with True corp for quite some years now and have enjoyed great 3G pretty much anywhere in the country, and 4G coverage is expanding slowly outside of the cities as well. Once these new networks come online this should improve 4G coverage dramatically. So good news all in all.

I experience that problem too. But only in busy areas in BKK, anywhere else in the country I think the quality of both calls and internet speed are very good. (Using True H)

Many airlines don't have this option and the reason for it has something to do with the USA. In the past the USA would not allow anyone to book a ticket without something that's traceable, later on extended for any airlines who have a registration there to comply to even on flights from say Asia to Europe.

Minor note... EVA AIR wants to see the creditcard when you check in, so maybe they use it as another way of verification of your identity. I once booked a flight with my Kasikorn Cyber Webshopping card (virtual creditcard) and they made me log in to my account and print a paper showing my identity connected to that card, otherwise I was not gonna get on that flight.

All topics on this are a few years old and I know procedures can differ from province to province. What's the procedure in Chiangmai to get a new drivers license after you lost the old one?

There must be some kind of mistake. I am sure if you take a better look there will be some Burmese workers who are clearly the real criminals here.

No idea about BKK. I have True Internet (cable not ADSL) in Chiang Mai and have no issues with them at all.

My NTFS driver needed to be re-installed for some reason. But other than that I've had no issues at all. For some reason the 4finger swipe to the right does not get me to my calculator anymore but I haven't looked in to that yet. As for people who said 'if it ain't broken, don't tweak it'. I feel this was true for windows computers but with Apple I never worry much. There are usually good (security/battery/useability) updates in these major releases.

I wonder when is the last time these people took a trip around the country. I travel a lot and it's a hard to find places where True H does not offer 3G coverage. Surely there are certain areas without access, but they aren't often visited or densly populated.

Thailand has one of the highest numbers of % of people who have a smartphone. I know a smartphone doesn't always equal internet access but let's role with this for now. At least they will be used on wifi sometimes to install apps.

There are losts of websites that offer plenty of info in Thai for the ones who can't read english.

I think we need more info on the stats. If they mention % of people who use the internet on a daily basis, they could be true. If they mean % of people who have accessed the internet at some point in the last year I think they are wrong. Either way, while internet speeds are not as fast here as they are in western countries, I have no issues with either my home or 3G internet at all. It's perhaps 3-5 years behind in speed on my home country but it is sufficient for me.

2000 per month... I am really worried what kind of room you can find for that money. Around 4000 there is plenty of stuff for rent that would be torrable for me. The areas mentioned are indeed good areas. But I really hope you have a bit of wiggle room in your budget for a little more rent. And as everybody in Chiangmai, get yourself a motorbike or a bicycle at least

Being a fan of CM myself, I can see your problem. But in Pattaya you indeed need to get away from the tourist area a bit. BTW for me the same goes for Chiang Mai. I love it there, but would not want to live on Nimman, Chanklan or probably anywhere in the old city either. Chiang Mai for me would suck without having my own transport, and the same goes for pretty much anywhere here besides BKK.

There are plenty of nice beach places in Thailand, the question is really what kind of admosphere and stuff you are looking for. There are 1000s of km of beach in this country. There still are unspoiled places with a great beach. But you will have to miss out on the convenience of western food, coffee shops and shopping malls. You will have to go further south though. If Islands are an option Koh Chang is really nice I think. Samui is certainly more expensive than the mainland, but then away from the tourist areas it's really still quite reasonable all considered. If you are not really hung up on a beach, and you liked the vibe in Chiang Mai. I can suggest you Ubon Ratchatani in the east, it's got a nice vibe to it as well. There aren't many foreigners and I have no idea about the nightlife. But it has a mall and a couple of half decent western restaurants. What I loved most is that there are no traffic jams and no hassling.

If she truly loves you for who you are, then there is no way she will be OK and not hurt by you doing that. If you guys being together is some sort of mutualy beneficial arrangment based on rational agreements rather than love, then she is indeed quite likely to be okay with it. As been said before, never openly talk about it. It's still painful, worse even would be to make her lose face. So make sure her friends and co-workers never see you with another girl. But most of all, ask yourself honestly if this is the kind of relation you are really looking for... No judgement here, just make sure what you get yourself in to. Don't expect a woman like this to always be there for you through thick and thin.

It can take up to a month to get all the necessairy paperwork to get the visa. So indeed you are probably better off going in on a tourist visa, sort out the school once you are here. Then go to Lao to get the actual ED-visa. It will be a 3 month visa that you can extend 3 time for a total of 1 year, unless that has changed now.

I almost stopped reading when OP said he enjoys starbucks coffee but that's about it (no offence, taste is personal but as a coffee lover, I NEVER EVER order it at starbucks, if I happen to end up there I'll have a coco).

But then a lot of useful and true info came out. I'll try to summarize and add some. Most big brands indeed mix beans from various origins together and make a blend. This ensures the taste will never truely be the same. So for consistent quality you'd need to source from 1 single place. Even then the beans and thus the taste can be very different one year to another. Temperature, amounts of rainfall very, and so do the beans. Then the next step is roasting the beans. There are various levels as been pointed out, if you were to mix beans before roasting this is a recipy for dissaster. I honestly didn't even thing that would ever happen. I think the beans are roasted before being mixed. Either way, roasting coffee beans is an art. Anybody could do it in a wok at home, just like anybody can paint a painting. It depends on the bean, and which roasting level you prefer. As been said, beans used for a good ice coffee usually have a different roast profile than the ones used for espresso (which is the basis off all, anything else is just an addon to an espresso, if done right). So this roasting is like art, there is a very brief window in which beans are correctly roasted. A bit too short and you can't use them, a bit too long and you have burned them. Then the last step as has been mentioned is where it mostly goes wrong in Thailand. The barista... Thailand is full of fancy coffee cafes with shiny machines that are the price of a second hand car. But hardly any education goes into the staff. They often miss the pallet to judge the extraction and the training and passion to develop one. The grinder needs to be adjusted perfectly to the machine you use. Then in the machine you need EXACTLY the right amount of grinded coffee. 1 gram more or less and its going to be over or under extracted. The different flavours in the beans are released at different stages, and under under or over extraction is going to give either tastess, weak flat results or burned acidic/bitter results.

Best coffee is made from freshly roasted beans, anything over 2 weeks will significantly lack flavour and body as natural oils have eveporated etc etc. This is, next to the coffee being a blend, and the staff missing decent training, the main reason all big brand names go wrong. Starbucks is simply too big to get beans from roaster to you cup of coffee within those 2 weeks. And no freezing beans, packing them in a vacuum bag with release valve does not make them last longer. It's better than keeping them in the open air, but there is nothing you can do about the coffee getting older and less tasty.

So you need good beans, that have been roasted by a skilled roaster, a skilled and educated barista who understand he/she will need to constantly make small changes to machine settings to adept to the new batch of beans, or the age of them. He/she has to work in a place that makes sure coffee comes in in small batches and are always fresh. This is hard, so to avoid that, some places opt to buy fresh beans and roast them themselves. This ideally is your best option whether you want to order a coffee there or take the beans home. Provided the roaster knows what he is doing. I've found that usually, people who know what they are doing, are truly passioned and I am sure you can work something out to buy some beans off them. Then of course there is cleaning and maintanance of the machines, this needs to be done pretty much on a daily basis... but again most people here miss the essential knowledge to do so correctly. Then there is the quality and PH level of the water, the temperature the machine has been set to, the pressure the machine uses, the brand and taste of the milk if you want a cappu or latte, the cup in which you serve it and a never ending streak of smaller things that effect the end product.

My advise, try many different places, if you think the coffee is somewhat okay, have a chat with the staff if you can see if they are passionate about the coffee or just doing their job. Once you found somebody who is really in to coffee, give them your feedback and help them to enhance their skills and knowledge.

While you're story is correct, you are missing the bigger picture. The exchange rates are not fixed but decided on in an open market where bid meets ask. The biggest influences here are the central banks who print X amount of money and set the interest rate. Then investors are looking for a return on investement. Which is either done by the interest rate or by a growing economy (rise in GDP). Next to the returns, there is also a risk element. Sure in Thailand you could get a higher return on your invested money, but there is also a bigger risk it all goes down the drain. So in times of uncertainty you will see money leaving the develloping nations and going into more safe assets. Usually Japan (yen) and the US (USD) and when the crisis is not Greece, the Euro zone, specifically Germany/Swiss/Holland/Scandinavia.

working on a Temporary (non work) visa , ok, YES,, this is breaking the law.

BUT: why on earth should she need a license to be a tour guide for showing chinese tourists around phuket ? !!!!

why should she have to study for 1 to 4 years about all of thailand so that she can show native chinese around Phuket (a town that she is already familiar with).

the tourist license thing is good for thai students,, but stupid for the above particular case.

surely "Licenses" would be better within the Electrical and Plumbing trades!!!

basically: an unqualified electrician can wire a whole house or building and cause death from low skill level.

and a chinese woman needs to be "licensed" to show native chinese around a city.

seems a bit silly.

It's a 3 month course after you have completed any bachelor degree if I'm not wrong. Thai police takes guiding without this licence even more serious than working without a permit. It's a protected profession, main reason is they hope this will ensure Thailands image as 'Land of Smile' the country where everybody is happy as can be no matter how poor they are, the country where people are never too pre-occupied to help eachother, the country where everybody loves and respects the Royal Family unconditionally, stays in tact. While I might take it a bit far, I do understand that autorities don't want just anybody without at least a basic knowledge of culture, religion and rituals to take people around the country. Whether this than must always be a Thai born person, I will leave in the middle.

And my god, she surely looks happy to be arrested. Maybe somebody just wispered in her ear that a fair donation to the police pension fund will make this all go away about 5 minutes after this press photo hehe

Ive been with TRUE for years and never had any problem 1 visit to the shop wouldn't fix. Im now on auto payment via creditcard but before that I would pay using their iservice app. I've found the helpdesk to speak pretty reasonable english and be helpful most of the time, same for staff in the shops but both have annoyingly long queues sometimes. Their network is great unless you live in/around BKK where it seems overloaded and internet becomes slow and calls drop all the time.

It all totally depends on what you want to do with the bike.Haven't drive the cb300 but I've driven both the 250 and the 500. Super easy reliable and fuelefficient bikes. The 500 i rented for a roadtrip. The 250 I borrowed from a friend who was out of town for a while. And while I had that parked at my house, after 2, 3 days I switched back to use my 110cc wave for driving around town. Cant beat the agility and I am actually faster on it than on the bigger yet still small CBR250, let alone on a 500. Besides that I never think twice about where I park my old wave, if its save, if it will get scratched etc etc. I would with a bigger more expensive bike. I once did the math on buying one, knowing I would only use it on 4 maybe 5 roadtrips, for a total of not more that 20 days a year. Add in the occasional daytrip out of town and I might use it 30 days a year. I could easily argue that it isn't worth buying it for me. I'm better of renting one whenever I feel like it. It gives me less risk and resposibility and more freedom to switch. I saw the new R3 last week in the malll and it looks damn sexy, definately gonna rent that for the next roadtrip. Makes me feel glad I didn't buy anything before.

Besides all that, if the 300 drives like a 250 with slightly more power, it will be a super easy and reliable, but indeed not super exciting bike to drive.