? Pattaya internet and cable tv companies ?

[Grin Grasser]

I am trying to rent a condo in central Pattaya.  But, real estate agents are telling me various things about internet and cable tv companies.  These agents do not seem to understand English and thus my questions.  I appreciate your help on the following:

 

1.  A foreigner has to pay for a contract (for internet and/or cable tv) in full.  Also, a modem fee.  For rent, purchase, and/or installation?

 

2.  3BB offers internet and no cable tv.  Is this correct?  About two years ago, I rented a condo unit for six months and the unit had both internet and cable tv provided by 3BB, and I paid the real estate office month-to-month to repay the Thai owner who had the subscription in his name.

 

3.  One condo building only had TOT internet and cable tv.  I asked, does TOT have many channels in English?  The real estate agent said most of the channels were in Thai.  I tried to google-search TOT and Telephone of Thailand, the answers did not lead to a TOT web site.  a- condo building limited to only one company?  b- how many channels of TOT are in English?  c- web site for TOT?

 

Trying to read the forum on this topic is difficult.  Which Thai city is the writer having problems in?  Apparently, cable tv companies in Thailand are like the companies in USA regarding repair service, outages, and cancellation.  

 

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

 

[moonseeker]

Cable usually comes with Condo. Sophon and couple others mainly. Internet I would get in separately i. e. 3BB.  Few condos provide both or 2 in 1 from cable provider. 

MS>

[worgeordie]

Just look at the topic about US streaming ,in the Audio and Vision thread,there you will find 2 websites

to stream a lot of channels for free,will be much better than local cable

providers, you don't pay a year up front for internet,its monthly on a 1 year

contract.

regards worgeordie 

[JayBird]

1) 3bb, and I assume others, require foreigners pay 1 year up front, after which it is monthly. Whether or not you get the modem for free depends if there is a deal. But it's pretty cheap, and makes debugging issues later easier.

2) i think 3bb has some TV over IP, but the choice is so small 3bb reps tell me not to bother.

3) ToT website is pretty bad. Not sure it's useful to non thais.

You will most likely want 3bb, but check if AIS is available. For English tv, you will want to stream. Or hope your building has something useful.

TV packages in English from true are quite pricey, so you may want to consider what you really need.

[jacko45k]

Problem with condos is they usually can't get permission to run cables around inside, nor are keen to set one 18 floors up via your balcony, and you are often tied to whatever the building has and distributes around the floors.

 

1) I have always paid monthy and did not have to commit to a years contract. There may well have been some penalty if I cancelled after a short spell under 12 months. I now pay simply a monthly inclusive fee, the modem etc remains their property.

 

2) I did not know 3BB included a TV contract, but of course it is likely.

 

3) I dumped TOT years ago, awful service.

 

4) Not much is like what it is in the USA. It is possibly better service here. Of course most TV channels are in Thai, and certainly the cheaper TV packages are mostly that. They see farang, price goes up. I have True (internet and TV) and Sophon (solely TV). I never watch any True TV, Mrs never stops, great picture. I watch some English on Sophon, some news, 2 movie and odd channels like National Geographic. Mostly I stream UK TV using the internet. 

[Guderian]

Sophon do cable TV and internet IF the condo allows it.

 

Many condos restrict the suppliers, maybe as they have a lucrative deal with their preferred provider, or maybe because they don't want a dozen different companies drilling holes and laying their own cables all over the building.

[madmen]

I use AIS playbox /internet/4g/ pacakage at 700bhat. The playbox is a streaming device so no "cable" and has a good selection of english channels including NETFLIX although a lot of it is premium channels which require extra payment

[johng]

ToT, 3BB, True,AIS all have IPTV options..the English channels are limited and or get expensive.

 

Sophon or Barnglamung cable  would probably be best for just TV  I believe they now send the signal digitally  so you can use the inbuilt tuner in newer tv's or buy a cheap DVB-T2 set top box if your TV doesn't have a digital tuner.

[jacko45k]

38 minutes ago, johng said:

Sophon or Barnglamung cable  would probably be best for just TV  I believe they now send the signal digitally  so you can use the inbuilt tuner in newer tv's or buy a cheap DVB-T2 set top box if your TV doesn't have a digital tuner.

I can confirm that my digital capable TV handles the Sophon signal just fine without a decoder box. Of course that is coaxial rather than fiber.

[moonseeker]

7 hours ago, johng said:

ToT, 3BB, True,AIS all have IPTV options..the English channels are limited and or get expensive.

 

Sophon or Barnglamung cable  would probably be best for just TV  I believe they now send the signal digitally  so you can use the inbuilt tuner in newer tv's or buy a cheap DVB-T2 set top box if your TV doesn't have a digital tuner.

Correct... MS>

[Grin Grasser]

I apologized for not getting back to my post.  I posted two days before departure.  Very busy packing the day before departure, trying not to exceed the 20 kg checked baggage maximum.  I got internet two days ago.

 

I arrived at Pattaya staying at a condo on a one-year lease contract.  It took a week to get cable tv installed, namely, TMN.  And, it took over ten days to get internet installed, namely, 3BB.  There was no choice with the cable tv and two choices with internet.

I learned the following lessons with the installation process.  If you want to know the gory details, read below, they follow the lessons.

 

Lessons Learned:

 

  - -  Renting from a Thai owner (instead of a foreign owner) can result in internet and cable tv services already setup for use on arrival the first day.

 

  - -  An experienced real estate agent who speaks good English can be helpful.

 

  - -  To obtain internet service from 3BB, one must pay for the service in advance during the application process and bring your passport to prove your identity for every transaction.

 

  - -  To obtain cable tv service from TMN, one must pay for the service and installation during installation.

 

  - -  The above two lessons to obtain service in your own name as a foreigner means that you have to give your real estate agent or your building's juristic office the payments if you will be away.

 

DETAILS.

 

My real estate agent through whom I rented a condo unit had emailed me that for internet the choices for the condo building were 3BB and TOT, and neither offered a combined internet and cable tv package.

 

I requested that she arranged for 3BB to install internet the week of my arrival.

 

When I arrived in Pattaya, I met with the real estate agent the next day to sign off on the inventory of the condo unit.

 

She had not contacted 3BB.  So, I told her that I would go to 3BB office at Big C Extra, 2nd floor.

 

I spoke to the condo's Juristic office, who said that it had TOT which was frequently slow.

 

INTERNET, 3BB.

 

On Thursday, I went to the 3BB office.  A rep checked on my condo building and said that the building was not wired for fiber.  So, of the four 3BB packages offered for internet service, only the ADSL service was available for THB 590 per month to get 30 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload spped and unlimited data.  An additional THB 1,000 was charged for installation, payable to the tech.  

 

The rep said that as a foreigner I had to pay a year in advance, which amounted to THB 6,970.  I offered the money.  She had me sign papers and asked for my passport.  At the end of 12 months, 3BB would automatically shut off service.  Service could be re-started by coming to the 3BB office and paying the next year's service.  The re-start would begin two hours later.  Basically, it would be 3BB switching on service at its office.

 

The rep said, to end service I had to return the router to 3BB.  In fact, one of the documents that I signed said, loan.  The rest was in Thai.  I asked, loan of what?  She said, the router.  Also, she noted that everytime I came to visit 3BB office that I should bring my passport.

 

She asked me to write an ID and pass.  It was for me to get on the internet through my router.  The next day, I received a text assigning me a wifi ID and password.  The rep said that it was for use when I was at a hotspot wherever 3BB was available.

I asked, how many days for the installation?  She said, 3 days.  I asked the same for

service.  She said, two days.  Since Sunday was the 3rd day, I requested installation in the afternoon of Monday.  She phoned someone.  The reply was that Monday was fully booked. 

 

So, Tuesday afternoon, 1 pm - 5 pm , was the date for internet installation.

 

She gave me a bag, containing a router, an AC-DC power adapter, and two LAN cables.

Tuesday came and no 3BB contact.  Not even a text message, saying no installation.

 

Wednesday, I went to the 3BB office.  I explained, no installation.  The rep  became defensive.  She said, you overheard me phone another 3BB department for your installation.  I explained that I was there to get another installation date.  We agreed on Friday at 1 pm.

 

Friday, 1:30 pm.  A telephone call.  He said, 3BB and something in Thai.  I went down to the condo's lobby.  No 3BB technician.  I explained to the reception desk.

 

2 pm.  A knock on my unit door.  It was one technician.  He looked around the unit for an internet line outlet.  The previous renter had one installed, because the wire went halfway around the living room.  The tech tested the line with a meter.  Then he went outside the building.  He checked the building's main junction box.  Next he went down the street to check on a 3BB feed.  After about 45 minutes, he returned to my condo unit.  Checked his meter reading.  Plugged in the router and its power adapter, a LAN cable from the condo unit's internet wiring to the router, and another LAN cable from the router to his laptop.

 

Meanwhile I turned on my laptop and checked for wifi signals.  My ID appeared and I connected to it.  No problem.  

 

I asked the technician for a LAN connection to my laptop.  He inserted the second LAN cable into the router and gave the other end to insert into my laptop.  I guessed it worked, because I was already on the internet wirelessly.

 

Paid the technician THB 1,000 and he exited.  Installation took about an hour.  Application to installation took 8 days.  

 

CABLE TV, TMN.

 

The condo's Juristic office said that only one cable tv company was available.  TMN.

She provided a brochure that listed about 60 analog channels and about 100 digital channels.

 

I asked, the cost?

 

She said that there were 3-month, 6-month, and 1-year packages and may be additional costs for which group of channels chosen.  The digital channels were grouped by free, sports, international, etc.

 

It took about five days for her to provide the cost information.  

 

She had me wait, while she phoned TMN.  She wrote on a piece of paper that 3-month cost THB 1,000 plus THB 1,500 for installation, 6-month cost THB 1800 plus THB 1,500
for installation and free 1-month, and 12-month cost THB 3,500 plus THB 1,500 for installation and free 3-month.  Then, she told me to go away and think about it.  She said that each package was for all the channels listed, no extra cot for any specific group of channels.

 

Saturday.  Juristic office staff were gone for most of the day, and in the late afternoon were too busy.

 

Monday.  I requested contacting TMN for installation and 12-month service.  Juristic phoned TMN and made an appointment for installation the next day at 2 pm.  My request of 4 pm was too late in the day.

 

Tuesday, 2 pm.  A knock on my condo unit door.  Two TMN technicians arrived.  One connected a cable from a wall outlet to the flat-screen tv (owner's furnishings).  The other technican went to a locked hallway panel, opened it, and checked the connection.

 

In 15 minutes, cable television was on the tv.  I showed the brochure list of channels and asked, how many channels.  A tech said about 60 channels and the list had changed.  Also, he explained that the flat-screen tv was analog, not digital; so, only the analog channels would come through.  He said that I needed to buy a digital box to attach to the tv in order to get the digital channels.  He said that Big C sold such digital boxes.

 

The technicians asked for payment of THB 3,800.  I asked if the total cost was THB 5,000? 

 

They explained, THB 3,500 for 12-month and THB 300 for installation.

 

I guess that the installation cost was lower, due to the simplicity of installation and the mere 15 minutes involved.

 

TMN installation service was excellent.  Also, no need to find a TMN office to apply and make arrangements.  

 

The tv's picture resolution was fuzzy.  I guess a digital box is in the future.

 

For clarification, a digital box in USA means a box connected to a digital antenna, which picks up digital signals broadcasted through the airways, and connected to an analog (or old) television set.  Apparently, in Pattaya, a digital box converts a cable tv's wired digital signals for an analog television set.

 

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Thanks all for your responses.