Is True The Worst Isp In Thailand

[JonnieB]

Well, True's "HI-SPEED " WiFi service via their refill cards must be the biggest con in Thailand. Some background first, I live in Pattaya and have had decent luck with the KSC internet wifi service cards. They usually work and speeds are decent for Thailand. However, I did notice a few places in Pattaya that have True WiFi networks. In order to have more complete coverage, I decided to get a few of these cards so if I was in such a place and wanted to connect I could do so. Silly me...first for even thinking I could buy such a card in Pattaya. None of the shops that had the poster boards up announcing that the area had a True WiFi network had any of the cards for sale (most of the clerks didn't know what I was talking about). Okay, my next step was to inquire at several of the 7-11 around town is they had any of these elusive True WiFi cards...as they sell many types of re-fill cards for mobile phones and the like. They too had no idea what I was talking about...it was like being back in time 10 years when no one ever hear of such a thing as a wifi internet connection. The mention of the words "internet" "wifi" and "refill card" produced a box full of dial-up cards from Loxinfo and the like. Hey, I really was in a 10 year time-warp after all.

So next its off to the official True shop at Tesco Lotus (the Royal Garden branch has been closed for some months). Even there, I don't think the clerks had any idea what I was talking about. In any event, they certainly didn't have anything as exotic as a card one could buy that would allow one to magically connect to the internet from a notebook computer (The clerk suggested to get something that magical and powerful to happen, I would need to run down to the nearest wat (or better yet, hop the next flight down to Nakon Si Thamarat) and purchase a super powerful and all knowing "Super WiFi Network Big Money Coming" Jatukarm Ramathep amulet )

Okay, so know we have established the fact that there are several True wifi locations in Pattaya but apparently no place where one can give money to the company that established the network so that one can use the network and that the company may earn a return on their investment. TIT [Tip to True Managing Director...Fire your marketing manager for failing every grade since Pratom 1 and turning out to be a complete idiot. Then go out and hire KCS's marketing director who has made the fundamental leap in logic in determining that when one puts in a wifi network someplace it is also a capitol idea to enable people to pay money to your company to access the network, ala KSC installing wifi networks at Starbuck locations AND then actually selling access cards at those same shops. ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT DEDUCTION...

But I digress, I was absolutely determined get onto this elusive True wifi network. I had an upcoming trip to Bangkok and made the audacious assumption that the allusive True wifi card might be found somewhere in that hustling and bustling capitol city of over 10 million people. Well, I was right. On a trip to Siam Paragon to observe the empty luxury clothing and jewelery boutiques and to stuff myself with cakes and ice cream from all the restos and cafes on calorie row on the lower level, I did make time to stop-off at the True shop and low and behold the clerk there actually new what I was talking about and actually had some of these elusive cards for sale. B600 for 300 minutes. Wow, I might now actually be able to buy a couple and then be able to hook-up to True's Pattaya network when I needed to. Well, snap my suspenders I said, I'll take 2 of them!!! With those safely in my wallet I continued my stay in the Big Mango for a few days and then returned to Pattaya.

Some time later, I was at a True network area (Au Bon Pain - "Royan" Garden) and decided to try out my new cards. Well, what a revelation that was and continues to be!!! I mean, this has to be the most @#$%@#-up wifi network in existence. First off, about half the time logging on is impossible. It just doesn't happen...you connect to the network okay through windows but once the browser is fired-up and login-in page for the true network never appears. If, by chance it finally does come up, then you can login-in. On the occasions I have actually gotten on the network, I have never had a speed faster than 2 mbps. I KID YOU NOT ! ! ! And most of the time it "hi-speed" along at 1 MBPS!!!! This also probably accounts for half the time never being able to get on the network at all...the login page just never appears at these speeds. And I use to think that the 5-10 minutes one had to wait in the bad old dial-up days for your Hotmail mail homepage to load was bad

But it gets better...now that one is cruising True's "hi-speed" [at least that's what is says on the cards...jing jing] network at 1-2 mbps, one has the joy of waiting for 5-10 minutes for Thai Visa to load. Of course, about half the time there is some lost connection or time-out or something so you hardly ever get onto TV or any other site Oh, and for further laughs, being a security conscious internet user, I have my pop-up blocker activated. Unbeknown to me, when you login to True's network, a pop-up window is used to give you your usage time AND TO LOG-OFF the network. Of course my trusty blocker blocked this window so that when a little while later I disabled the network connection and shut-off the computer, I WAS STILL CONNECTED TO TRUE'S NETWORK AND BURNING UP TIME...WITH MY COMPUTER OFF!!! Now even Khun Toxin and his gang could not top that one for stealing money could they??? How did I find this out, because the next time I used the card later the same day, I wanted to know how time I had left and checked at True website. To my shock and horror, it said I had something like an hour or so left. How could that be I wondered as I had it on for no more than maybe half and hour or so. I finally figured it didn't logout when I closed the network connection. I noticed that the pop-up that was being blocked when using the True network so disabled it so as to see the pop-up. To my horror, I saw that it was a time usage AND network log-out box. I figured that earlier, since I had blocked this box when I shut-down my computer (and not used the pop-up window to log-off first) I must still have been on True's network using time all during the interim (when my computer was off remember)!!

Finally, for True's final act in crapacity, we come to a Truly fitting conclusion. If you remember, I said I bought 2 card up in Bangkok. So, I used-up the remaining few minutes on the old card and now a few weeks later, I opened the new one. This is another of their B600 300 minute cards. So what happens on my very FIRST login (of course, by this time I knew to add True to my pop-blocker ignore list) so the Time Remaining and Log-off window comes up. IT SHOWS ME THAT THIS NEVER USED 300 minute CARD HAS 1HR AND 24 MINUTES REMAINING!!! Yes, by the magic of True's network, my 300 minute card became an 84 minute card for B600. Not a bad business I guess...maybe I should buy True stock...let me check the latest price on the SET. Must be up big-time if they are ripping me and many other's off like this. #$%^, at 1 mbps, I can't bring up the SET site

In conclusion, the saddest part about this whole sage is that I probably won't even bother to call up and complain to True about it. Why? For one thing, I have been living in LOS for almost 10 years and have become too Thai. It like so much mai pen rai, jai yen yen, that' the way of the world...why even bother to get hot under the collar for $20 bucks. I know it's bad but that' the way I feel. If I was back in the USA you can bet your life that I would be cursing-out the customer service rep on the phone but not here. Sad isn't it. In addition, the True network is such a piece of crap that I don't really care to have them give me back my stolen time... just to get more frustrated trying to use their crappy network.

One last point, of course this message was brought to you on KSC's wifi network. You see, after I logged-in to True's network and discovered by missing 200+ minutes, the 2 mbps speed was so frustrating I switched over to Ksc's network. (Starbucks Royan Food Wave court has both networks.)

Bottom line, at least in Pattaya, stay away from True's wifi network.

[wpcoe]

When you say 1mbps and 2mbps, do you mean 1kbps and 2kbps?

[quiksilva]

Yeah I'd be very happy with 2mbps, and in answer to your quetion, no True i not the worse. I think that honour goes to TOT.

[DamianMavis]

Ya true wifi is bad, VERY hard to log on and VERY hard to stay connected, keeps disconnecting me and then having trouble logging on again over and over...... BUT, the speed was good for me, at Emporium and MBK.

Damian

[SamuiJens]

Can we say the answer is TRUE, then?

Edited August 22, 2007 by SamuiJens

[quiksilva]

No way. I pay for 1meg download speed with TOT and was getting just 400kbps last night. Then it took over 4 months to even get a telephone line and ADSL into my house.