lomatopo

There's been some mention of some restoration of some channels maybe "this evening", after an original rumor of 4:00 PM came and went.

Currently I'm getting an Army propaganda film/recruitment commercial on all 689 channels of TrueVisions..

I doubt that AIS was hawking a LTE/4G-capable SGS4; maybe the OP thought that the "4" in the model number meant that it supported 4G? AFAIK, AIS continues to sell the i9500 variant which supports 3G, and does not support 4G.

There are several SGS4 variants which support various LTE bands (i9505, i9505G, SGH-i337, etc.); for the U.S. the best option might the i9505G from the Google Play Store?

That said, the OP could use AT&T/MVNO on 3G/850 MHz or T-Mobile which has a lot of re-farmed 3G on 1900 MHz.

Most pre-paid or no-contract mobile data in the U.S. is 3G, but Simple does MVNO T-Mo 4G (but on AWS, so 1700x2100)

StraightTalk and Simple are two of the larger MVNOs.

i9505G specs:

I called True. I was quite cordial and asked if they intended on billing me for the services I am not receiving. I was shocked when they told me they will issue credit for the days service is out.

Did they give any indication when some/all service might be restored?

Champions League, Monaco F1, NBA playoffs, Roland Garos. I have no issues with them blocking news channels - OK I do, but that's a separate issue - but am unclear as to why the Military Junta feels the need to block sports/movie content.

In Bangkok, with TrueVisions cable all channels remain blocked except when ArmyTV (Ch. 5) broadcasts brief snippets of daily life, then every channel, 1 - 689, shows ArmyTV.

International bandwidth seems sluggish, perhaps because many are turning to that to stream content?

There have been some posts on Thai social media re: the curfew times possibly being modified to Midnight to 04:00, has anyone seen or heard anything official?

The POMC is continuing to make new declarations, some of which modify earlier declarations.

Does anyone have a link to updated translated versions of all these declarations?

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=214923170432669428134.000465f03d84d91df360b&t=h&z=6&dg=feature

I think Chaeng Wattana remains blocked by PDRC/Luang Pu Isara, but am not certain.

I think you'll have to go to:

Note that the Express service from Phaya Thai to Suvarnabhumi was curtailed as of 14 April 2014 for one or two years. But the City Line service remains and should suffice.

http://www.srtet.co.th/en/

A taxi around the outer ring road should be fine at that early hour on a Sunday, or even straight into town to Phaya Thai SARL or to join the motorway to the airport.

I've been using the Android mJ app for the last few days, and with the loss of of GrooVeIP and no replacement with Hangouts (unless you have an iPhone, which is nutty) yet, I have to say it is OK. Still a crappy app. re: closing it down, but very handy to have.

Thanks for the heads up on the newer version as the original version was useless.

I think you can "marry" a new mJ device (magicJack Plus) to an existing account/number quite easily, but you couldn't use both an old and new device simultaneously.

A long time ago one hack an mJ adapter and use the details in any SIP app.; but they made the credentials dynamic to thwart this hack, unfortunately.

I recently bought a Google Nexus 5 for US$249 direct from Google and it is worldwide unlocked. Some of the prices I'm reading seem high to me.

Pretty sure the N5/16 GB remains $349, maybe your price was a typo, on the Play Store in the U.S. Plus $13.99 S & H, plus any applicable state sales tax, plus any re-shipping fees.

FWIW, DTAC are selling the D821 variant, arguably better for use here than the U.S. D820 variant (which is better if you live in the U.S.), for 12,900 THB all in, if you subscribe to a discounted plan (3 GB/250 min/499 baht), plus they throw in a 3,000 mAh external battery pack, and an 18 month local LG warranty.

.http://store.dtac.co.th/en/handset/nexus-5-16gb-black

Under domestic law, the United States would be forced to impose sanctions if it determines that a foreign military has carried out a coup.

Hence it can't be referred to as a Military Coup.

The relevant law, Foreign Assistance Act from 1961, has really only been used when deemed to be convenient

The relevant section (508):

U.S. has spotty record on law requiring it to cut aid after coups

The Foreign Assistance Act, a U.S. law first enacted in 1961, is pretty clear: It says, in Section 508, that the United States must cut aid to any country "whose duly elected head of government is deposed by military coup or decree."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/07/05/u-s-has-spotty-record-on-law-requiring-it-to-cut-aid-after-coups/

You can match the IMEI on the box with the one on the phone (under the battery and/or Settings, About phone, Status, IMEI), and also do a look-up on the IMEI, simple enough to scan the bar code.

I think the SGS4 TAC (first six digits of the IMEI) is 357138.

The OP should fully vet the phone as the return grace period is typically seven (7) days max., some shops three (3) days. The replacement product, in the event of a return, might be better, or worse.

The MSRP is 17,500, but that may have changed over the past few weeks to 17,000?

Localized (official, Thai, Samsung/THL warranty agent) product can be found for 14,490.

Grey-market for 13,600.

Just apply for an extension during the last 30 days of your 90 day entry.

With a one-year, multiple-entry Non-Immigrant B visa (for the purposes of investment - no work permit/employment history), can you convert to an Extension to Stay on the basis of Retirement, during that extra period of ~ 90 days, which you might have been stamped in for if entering just before the current 12 month visa period expired (months 13 - 15)? Or do you have to convert anytime prior to 12 month ("Enter before") visa "expiration" date?

Old news. I think was about a year ago that the embassy gave a directive that the honorary consulates can no longer accept mail in applications.

So are you saying that this is still valid? Or that some/all consulates are now accepting applications by mail? Or that only the Embassy in Washington, DC accepts applications by mail? And that you may apply in person at the Embassy or a Consul?

You can apply in Houston.

There is no assigned areas for the honorary consulates.

FYI, saw this notice on the Thai Consulate Houston website:

Section 188. The King has the prerogative to declare and lift the martial law in accordance with the conditions and manner under the Martial Law. In the case where it is necessary to declare the martial law in a certain locality as a matter of urgency, the military authority may do so under the Martial Law.

Obviously this is a translation, so not sure what the intent here is re: "(the) military authority", and if a "certain locality" can encompass the entire Kingdom?

When I told her which one she quickly arranged for it to be applied to my number within a few minutes.

I assume that you understand that you will have to pay a one-time fee, and a recurring fee each month to use this song as your "calling melody"?

What legal/constitutional authority does the Thai Army have to declare Martial Law?

4G/LTE is more of a benefit for operators, than it is for customers, as it gives them a lot more density (more efficient use of limited spectrum).

Agree that 3G is probably good enough for many of today's mobile apps. And I am still getting much better performance (download speed anyway) with DTAC/3G than many of the DTAC/LTE Speedtest results I've seen posted in the past week or so.

In addition to DTAC's 850 MHz 3G deployments, they expect to have 10,800 3G/2100 MHz base-stations covering 85% of the population (not geography). So coverage should be pretty decent. TrueMove H probably have better geographical coverage with their 850 MHz deal with CAT. And AIS is said to be covering ~ 95 + % of the population today with their 15 MHz slice of 2100 MHz.

Again, this is just a trial, much like TrueMove H's while we wait for the 1800 MHz spectrum auction.

There are a limited number of LTE-capable devices in the hands of consumers today, and a large percentage of those are in metro-Bangkok

You can invest in the local real estate market, without purchasing property, by investing in SET-listed residential property developers:

http://kinvestmentportal.kasikornsecurities.com/fileadmin/pdf/English/1/8/21/2014/140422_Sector_Report_Thai_residential_property_E96561.pdf

If you plan to buy to rent and/or sell, there may be local income/capital gains tax implications.

The dilemma with AIS is that they have the most customers: ~ 40 million in total and ~ 26 million of those are on the same 15 MHz slice of 2100 MHz spectrum - and most of these are using mobile data. Meanwhile TrueMove H has the same 15 MHz of 2100 MHz, along with another 15 MHz of 850 MHz (via their deal with CAT), and very few customers. DTAC has the most spectrum (850, 1800, 2100) albeit spread out over a lot of customers (28.2 million).

So, as a result of AIS's success, you are sharing a fixed amount of spectrum with a lot of other users, and as a result your actual performance may suffer.

DTAC's 4G, based on the speedtest results posted on Thai social/tech forums, seems to be currently optimized for more synchronous upload/download?

DTAC/2100/3G (2100 MHz)/Bangkok

Ookla and testmy.net (SG):

You should take precautions not to continue to be liable for state income taxes after returning to Thailand.

Assuming you want to avoid paying any state taxes, this is very important advice, especially if there are any partial year residency issues. Document your move, and become familiar with your State's change of residency requirements

(Not related to taxes, but make sure you are removed from any jury duty lists. I also recommend verifying no outstanding traffic issues: unknown parking tickets, etc. which can lead to issues down the road - chat with your local police department.)

I would recommend continuing to file a 1040 each year, even if you are not required to pay any tax because you can take advantage of the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion, which allows you to exclude up to ~ $ 99,000 in income earned outside the U.S., assuming you meet the non-residency requirement. (Review the definitions for "Physical Presence Test" and "Part Year Exclusion".)

Unless you have significant un-earned/investment income, or earn more than $ 99,200 in 2014 working in Thailand, your Federal tax liability will probably be zero, after the Standard Deduction. You can use a free program like TaxAct, and it will take you ~ 30 minutes to complete.

The MJ app you just downloaded...

The Android version looks much improved over the earlier versions.

Does this app. still drain the battery rapidly?

Is there any way to close the application? ("Quit" only seems to log you out.)