Thai TV hardly covered the Olympics - what else will we miss?

[webfact]

Money talks these days so unless you pay, you don’t get seems to be the norm.

In the good old days, all the big events were available free on terrestrial TV including the Winter Olympics and the World Cup.

Apart from catching a few disciplines like curling on my TV box, I might as well have not even known they were competing in Beijing.

 

The Canadian hockey team at the very first Winter Olympics*

Surely sponsors who pay huge sums, would want the product seen by the widest audience possible.

With the World Cup taking place this year from Monday, November 18th to December 21st let’s at least hope one of the Thai stations will be covering all the games live for us to enjoy for free.

For once the time difference is not too bad, as games will start in Doha at 1 pm, 4 pm, 7 pm, and possibly a kick-off as late as 10 pm as well.

Not bad for us wanting to watch most of the action LIVE in Asia.

It was hard to catch the Ashes, rugby, or even Wimbledon last year, and now with Fox Sports only available through Disney Plus, it will be harder this year.

Fox also showed The Masters from Augusta live so maybe we will not be able to enjoy that event too.

OK, we now live in a world of pay for TV however as most services rely on the internet connection, looks like we are in for a season of buffering or no connection at all.

Maybe some of you have managed to solve this issue and can share how to enjoy live sports in clear HD?

*Footnote: It is ironic that we can only post very old images of the Winter Olympics, as Getty Images charge high fees, as they have the exclusive rights to all Olympic photos.

 

 

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[OneMoreFarang]

Who cares about the Olympics? 

[Damrongsak]

24 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Who cares about the Olympics? 

Did anyone win? 

 

 

[Jingthing]

1 hour ago, Damrongsak said:

Did anyone win? 

 

 

Norway.

Xi.

Doping minors.

[ikke1959]

I use VPN to watch TV. Better than the offer of Thai TV stations with nothing than screaming people in soaps, childish game shows or people who can't sing contests. 

Edited February 23, 2022 by ikke1959

[scubascuba3]

Olympics were free to watch on AIS Play app

[OneMoreFarang]

22 minutes ago, ikke1959 said:

I use VPN to watch TV. Better than the offer of Thai TV stations with nothing than screaming people in soaps, childish game shows or people who can't sing contests. 

Of all the Thai TV I am most surprised/annoyed by the people who can't sing contests.

And it seems my gf loves them. After many years I learned to understand a lot of things about Thais. But that one is still a mystery to me.

[IAMHERE]

F1 Gran Prix auto racing.  Popular internationally not just UK or America. F1 and the bike race in France are the only two sports events I think are international. Is there a football tournament this year?

[Skeptic7]

Paid $5USD for a month of PeacockTV (NBC) to watch Superbowl and Olympics. 

 

Summer Olympics were covered extensively on Astro Super Sports. Winter games hardly at all. With the Peacock app able to watch what I wanted when I wanted...live or replay. Even allows real time rewind. 

[hotchilli]

56 minutes ago, ikke1959 said:

I use VPN to watch TV. Better than the offer of Thai TV stations with nothing than screaming people in soaps, childish game shows or people who can't sing contests. 

The quality of TV programmes usually reflects the intellect of a country... the above has Thailand summed up to perfection.

[DezLez]

3 hours ago, Damrongsak said:

Did anyone win? 

Do you mean the doping honours?

[Muhendis]

16 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

The quality of TV programmes usually reflects the intellect of a country... the above has Thailand summed up to perfection.

Not so much the intellect of the country as the perception of the TV program producers who decide what the masses should watch. There is very little choice when it comes to the type of program you can see on the free channels. For example David Attenborough's Blue Planet and The X Factor. Two completely diverse programs which might very well attract a reasonable audience but, because of the perception of what the masses want, are unlikely to be aired in this country. 

[CrunchWrapSupreme]

50 minutes ago, ikke1959 said:

screaming people in soaps

They're certainly bizarre. A lot of screaming, slapping, crying. I suppose it's the Thais' daily venting of frustrations. Their usually subdued and indirect society can't do it in real life, so they live it out on TV.

 

Yeah, it's surprising to see the Chinese Olympics blown off like this. I thought they loved the Chinese. The Chinese New Year was a big deal, but now nothing.

 

I miss the '84 Olympics back in the States. Now that was a big deal. Everyone had it on. You walked down the street and could hear the events out of everyone's houses and people were cheering. It was like the Super Bowl everyday. There were many proud corporate sponsorships, I particularly remember these Levi's ads and their great use of early computer graphics.

[CrunchWrapSupreme]

1 hour ago, Skeptic7 said:

Paid $5USD for a month of PeacockTV (NBC) to watch Superbowl and Olympics.

Does it come in without a VPN? Does it include the Premier League?

[JayBird]

Countries that do not have much if any participation in the Olympics typically do not offer much coverage of it.

 

Thailand had a bigger presence in the summer Olympics, so they covered it better.

[Bert got kinky]

 

Thai TV hardly covered the Olympics - what else will we miss?

 

Hopefully the Summer Olympics.

 

[TigerandDog]

I was able to watch them live for FREE online. I also watch online, for FREE & live, golf, football, cycling, NRL and other sports that I'm interested in on vipleague. Initially youget bombarded with advertising pop-ups, but once your past those streaming is very good. can't watch on the 65" smart tv though without buffering, so watch on my pc.  Alaso NO VPN needed

Edited February 24, 2022 by TigerandDog
additional information

[mtls2005]

AIS had a 10-channel Winter Olympics  stream for free on AIS Play. Similar to what they did for the Tokyo Summer Games.

 

The just-finished Winter Olympics were a bit of a bust: the host's human rights record, country-jumpers, PEDs, abusing 15 YOs, not a great look overall.

 

Thailand had on O-fer, on medals obviously. Until sepak takraw gets played on ice, thai results will remain zero. 

 

Trust me, the World Cup will be shown here, but that decision will be taken at the last minute. And not all group matches will be shown.

 

The loss of Fox Sports has been a big blow: golf majors, tennis majors, F1 - had hoped an option would present (Via Disney), but none so far.

[Bangkok Barry]

2 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Of all the Thai TV I am most surprised/annoyed by the people who can't sing contests.

And it seems my gf loves them. After many years I learned to understand a lot of things about Thais. But that one is still a mystery to me.

Amazing that with Thai being a tonal language, when they sing they are tone-deaf. Bizarre. Why anyone would want to go on tv and demonstrate to a national audience that they can't sing is beyond understanding. As is much in Thailand, I suppose.

[KhunBENQ]

Are there really people who expect that free  Thai TV stations do cover Winter Olympics?? ????

Stations that depend on commercials?

I will ask German public TV to cover Takraw championships.

It's easier to sell heaters in Dubai than interesting Thais in bobsledge.

Ridiculous.

[KhunBENQ]

6 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Who cares about the Olympics? 

I tried to hide the circumstances and enjoy the downhill events.

But it's difficult to overlook that this was a very depressing darkened event.

This corrupt a..kisser Thomas Bach makes me sick.

For him it's always been great if just the money machine runs.

[Paulaew]

My wife says that the Thais are not interested in the Winter Olympics because they don't have any sports the Thais are good at.

 

So I asked her, "What are the Thais good at?"

 

She answered, "Len torasap and duu tv."

 

Paul Laew

[mtls2005]

8 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

Are there really people who expect that free  Thai TV stations do cover Winter Olympics?

AIS provided FREE coverage for both Summer (Tokyo) and Winter (Beijing) games.

 

They offered ten (10) simultaneous channels.

 

Yes, you needed to have an AIS SIM (50 baht) if you're not one of their ~ 43 million customers.

 

I assume they purchased the streaming rights for thailand, then provided access for free as a marketing play?

 

 

 

 

 

[mtls2005]

4 minutes ago, Paulaew said:

My wife says

https://www.lifestyleasia.com/bk/living/people/beijing-2022-winter-olympics-4-thai-athletes-were-rooting-for/

 

 

And let's not get started on Vanessa-Mae (Vonakorn), who with the help of some lube, "slid" in,

 

 

The thai bobsled team probably would have run over a few spectators, brake failure.

 

 

[ikke1959]

2 hours ago, JayBird said:

Countries that do not have much if any participation in the Olympics typically do not offer much coverage of it.

 

Thailand had a bigger presence in the summer Olympics, so they covered it better.

They mostly show only, badminton, weightlifting and boxing and sometimes there is space for another sport..How can children choose a sport if they never see it or know about it...? Olympic champions are often kids who saw something on TV and want to do it too...

[jumbo]

2 hours ago, TigerandDog said:

I was able to watch them live for FREE online. I also watch online, for FREE & live, golf, football, cycling, NRL and other sports that I'm interested in on vipleague. Initially youget bombarded with advertising pop-ups, but once your past those streaming is very good. can't watch on the 65" smart tv though without buffering, so watch on my pc.  Alaso NO VPN needed

You could try an hdmi cable

[mtls2005]

23 minutes ago, ikke1959 said:

Olympic champions are often kids who saw something on TV and want to do it too...

Kinda tough to ski in thailand? And yes, there are a few rinks here.

 

There's always Youtube.

 

Various quasi-government supported organizations often under Royal Patronage, like the Badminton Association of Thailand, manage participation from youth programs to Olympics.

 

Sailing and equestrian get some focus, for obvious reasons.

 

Volleyball is quite popular here, but the thai teams don't always qualify.

[clivebaxter]

4 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Of all the Thai TV I am most surprised/annoyed by the people who can't sing contests.

And it seems my gf loves them. After many years I learned to understand a lot of things about Thais. But that one is still a mystery to me.

Singing contests are the best thing about Thai Tv, apart from the backstory sentimental settings they like, along the lines of poor family living in a shack, dads got cancer mum working 100 hours a week selling noodles etc. It does help if you know the songs, who sang them originally and who the judges are. Thais have an enormous talent for song and dance and many famous stars owe their success to talent shows. Today they still throw up some remarkable talents, even kids. This girl nong guitar is one of them, singing a famous Pumpuang song-

 

 

[ikke1959]

22 minutes ago, clivebaxter said:

Singing contests are the best thing about Thai Tv, apart from the backstory sentimental settings they like, along the lines of poor family living in a shack, dads got cancer mum working 100 hours a week selling noodles etc. It does help if you know the songs, who sang them originally and who the judges are. Thais have an enormous talent for song and dance and many famous stars owe their success to talent shows. Today they still throw up some remarkable talents, even kids. This girl nong guitar is one of them, singing a famous Pumpuang song-

 

 

I thought already why are there so many international famous singers from Thailand?? Even Lisa is only born in Thailand, but got her singing career elsewhere.

 

[clivebaxter]

2 minutes ago, ikke1959 said:

I thought already why are there so many international famous singers from Thailand?? Even Lisa is only born in Thailand, but got her singing career elsewhere.

 

Why would they want to be famous internationally? I once asked a famous singer if she was interested in being promoted on the BBC world music spot, she said no.