Real High-speed Internet

[ChiangMaiThai]

When will Thailand have proper high speed internet? They advertise 2mbps, but it's a complete lie. When will I be able to watch live TV and quickly download movies and do video conferencing etc. etc. like I would be able to do in the US, UK, half of Europe, Korea, Japan, Singapore etc? (And not just at 3am when no one is using it).

When will I actually be able to use services like slingblade instead of just reading about them- http://www.slingblade.com?

And what is preventing Thailand from having real high speed internet now??? Why do we have to live with crap Internet? Which poo yai is benefiting?

It's been years since ADSL was introduced here and I don't see any major improvement in the speed. Very disappointing.....

[webfact]

I guess in about 10 years - maybe - ... because Thailand does not have (want?) the technology, infrastructure, nor know-how yet to compete with "the West".

[TheWalkingMan]

They seem to be a long way from getting high speed connections available to the masses and I don't think that there is a real urgency. Somewhere on this site there was a quote by a big shot in the gov't who said something to the effect that the most important priority for the internet was censorship or something like that. So there you have it.

I would have thought that at least in the high priced areas they would shunt some bandwidth to people paying top dollar for their houses/condos.

TheWalkingMan

[livinthailandos]

like I would be able to do in the US, UK, half of Europe, Korea, Japan, Singapore

Are you serious, common now this is thailand what are you seriously expecting, those countries are developed and they have whats called a infrastructure. If you want speeds like that you need to look for alternatives. Its not going to happen here. i've have rarely ever heard about fiber optics here in thailand. But ok on a serious note if you want speeds like that you better be prepared for pay more than 10,000 baht a month. common everywhere in the world they advertise speeds but your not actually going get that speed.

Internet speeds vary due to

Amount of people on a ISP backbone

Website your connecting to ( amount of people trying to connect to a server )

Quality of infrastructure

etc

I'm still waiting for the day when i'm not seeing constant pot holes in the street.

[toptuan]

Your answer: When Pergatory has a significant change in its weather, matching Doi Inthanon at this time of year...

[dekka007]

you better be prepared for pay more than 10,000 baht a month

Even for 20,000THB a month you cannot get the same international bandwidth/stability as the west. Its not a matter of cost its the infrastructure is not there.

[yeti]

Have a look at the phone lines in the streets: for (really) high speed internet through phone lines you'd have to remove all that crap and redo it properly. Not going to happen.

[webfact]

State of the art technology...

Edited January 18, 2009 by webfact

[kennkate]

Tomorrow My dear old Mum god rest her soul Said Tomorrow Never comes

So Tomorrow it is

[baht&sold]

When will Thailand have proper high speed internet?

And what is preventing Thailand from having real high speed internet now???

The simple answer, in a word: NTC (National Telecommunications Commission) whom have been beholden to vested political interests and the 'team players' with their vested old-school technologies all snouting along, wasting years now dividing up an almost dissipated pie.

This 'MAY' stand at least a chance at changing with the new Govt now.

However, the vested interests remain behind the scenes (as they have for years) and will be doing everything possible to ensure 'their' investments are prioritised over 'your' (the actual consumers) needs. Still, there's hope. For example, the new Govt has told the NTC to get 3G licenses prioritised asap (no more 'cutting up the pie' with vested interests in the back room).

Personally, at this stage they may as well forgo 3G altogether as it's much more expensive and much slower than WiMAX or LTE/4G. Unfortunately, the vested interests from major industry WCDMA & HSPA suppliers plus traditional fixed-line providers (TOT, CAT etc) have ZERO interest in allowing the consumer to leap-frog ahead.

I could go on with this rant but it would fill pages (and it's such a beautiful day outside... time to log-off)

[yeti]

This 'MAY' stand at least a chance at changing with the new Govt now.

I forgot, who is the PM's Office minister dealing with economic matters?

:D :D :jerk:

[Crushdepth]

And what is preventing Thailand from having real high speed internet now???

Personally I think its the lack of regulation of ISPs. They blatantly oversubscribe their available bandwidth and then cover their <deleted> with a pathetic 'speed not guaranteed' clause in the contract. It's not in their interests to provide the advertised speed, and until the government imposes some regulation and financial penalties, it's going to stay that way.

[OxfordWill]

I think this is an advert for slingblade media.

new pipes going down the ocean soon, 3 years.

[ChiangMaiThai]

like I would be able to do in the US, UK, half of Europe, Korea, Japan, Singapore

Are you serious, common now this is thailand what are you seriously expecting, those countries are developed and they have whats called a infrastructure.

I guess this kind of sums up my point. Nothing works and the masses say, "well what do you expect, this is Thailand", and they are relatively satisfied with that answer. Anyway, some good responses from some of the other posters here. It's such a shame that the Thai govt. doesn't seem to grasp the notion that proper Internet is a benefit to all of society.

[ChiangMaiThai]

I think this is an advert for slingblade media.

new pipes going down the ocean soon, 3 years.

Not exactly, but I've been reading about it for 18 months now and think it would be very cool to be able to plug in a box at my sister's house in the US and watch all her channels. But alas, this is Thailand........................Anyway, I don't know about you, but I would pay about 3,500 a month for Internet that actually worked, which would of course include uninterrupted streaming video at any time day or night. Maybe some Thai poo yai can develop a premium service for those of us willing to pay. Surely I am not the only one?

[freitag1]

I believe it will get better in about 5 - 8 years, when all neighbor countries are so advanced that Thai's feel ashamed of their old and rotten network infrastructure. There is no doubt that Thailand will be always a step or two behind other western countries when it comes to technology and I believe it will stay like this for the next 20 years.

I managed to accept the unreliable and oversold bandwidth for my home connection but what annoys me is that there are not even plans for 3G yet. That just s#cks.

[stumonster]

even these countries you mention - unless it is wired tech to the last (or fast second last ) point it will not be "real"

all of these wireless techs ,which introduce delays to start with which unless you just want to watch "television", make a mockery of "teh tinternet"

real will not happen until bandwidth via fibre ( or at least to the node ) to the home is sorted

[marcus]

I think this is an advert for slingblade media.

new pipes going down the ocean soon, 3 years.

Not exactly, but I've been reading about it for 18 months now and think it would be very cool to be able to plug in a box at my sister's house in the US and watch all her channels. But alas, this is Thailand........................Anyway, I don't know about you, but I would pay about 3,500 a month for Internet that actually worked, which would of course include uninterrupted streaming video at any time day or night. Maybe some Thai poo yai can develop a premium service for those of us willing to pay. Surely I am not the only one?

Assuming you are talking about a Slingbox (from Slingmedia.com, not Slingblade.com) : I have one and it works (most of the time) fine

If there are problems, it is mostly not with the Thai internet, but with the lousy performance on the Western side. As you stream from your home country, you need a good upload over there, which is mostly a problem. A down speed of 10 Mbit/s is normal these days, but that's completely irrelevant if we are talking about streaming. What matters is the upload, which is mostly 0.5-1 Mbit/sec. On the Thai side, the download speed should be at least the same as the upload at home, which is mostly the case - even with the cheapest "home packages". Only if you have a very fast upload at home, Thai internet might be to slow to receive HDTV (what the latest model of Slingbox is capable to do, they say an up speed at home of 1.5-2.0 Mbit/sec should be enough)

Edited January 18, 2009 by marcus

[dekka007]

It is interesting that my AppleTV's on Tot 2mb - stream fantastically well compared to streaming on my laptops/desktops I can rent a movie on AppleTV and it will play within 3 minutes all the way through without a stutter/pause. Never had a problem with rentals/purchases etc. on Apple TV at high quality.

However my laptops/desktops struggle with a youtube videos! - Not sure how Apple are doing it or have they made some deal with CAT to provide higher bandwidth cocnnections to the Apple Servers (Perhaps to do with the launch of itunes (Restricted) in Thailand and indeed the apple store).

Anyway as a side note recommend apple TV for those sick of UBC crapness...movies to rent from $0.99.

[thaibkk53]

It is interesting that my AppleTV's on Tot 2mb - stream fantastically well compared to streaming on my laptops/desktops I can rent a movie on AppleTV and it will play within 3 minutes all the way through without a stutter/pause. Never had a problem with rentals/purchases etc. on Apple TV at high quality.

However my laptops/desktops struggle with a youtube videos! - Not sure how Apple are doing it or have they made some deal with CAT to provide higher bandwidth cocnnections to the Apple Servers (Perhaps to do with the launch of itunes (Restricted) in Thailand and indeed the apple store).

Anyway as a side note recommend apple TV for those sick of UBC crapness...movies to rent from $0.99.

Try to use your Iphone or Ipod Touch with Thailand Iternet. You will have problem most times look at youtube.

[dekka007]

Try to use your Iphone or Ipod Touch with Thailand Iternet. You will have problem most times look at youtube.

Thats just EDGE / GPRS connection - same everywhere in the world using an iphone with that data method.

Edited January 19, 2009 by dekka007

[think_too_mut]

I guess in about 10 years - maybe - ... because Thailand does not have (want?) the technology, infrastructure, nor know-how yet to compete with "the West".

What "West"?

Another ridiculous place, Australia and similar crap US are somewhere where Thailand is.

In the US they still have dial up service, unbelivable!

Aus PM Kevin Rudd, laid the plans to connect entire Australia at "lightening speed" of 20Mbps.

So, in 5 years (15 years late) , they might reach 20% of what Japan, Hong Kong, Korea & Singapore have been enjoying for almost 10 year now.

Even worse: Singapore plans are to make the entire city state wireless and that every home has 1 GBps Internet plug by 2013.

So, miserable Australia, if it ever gets there, will be at that same time (5 years from now) at 2% of that.

What's left for Thailand then?

Edited January 19, 2009 by think_too_mut

[niller74]

It is funny how some wise group of semi official people last year stated that Thailand should be pioneers in two areas.

1. Hydro power

2. HPC (High-performance computing)

I can understand and see some potential in #1. Not that they would ever be able to even achieve remotely what they are doing in Norway, but they still have a shot at it.

Number two just seems like they want to build the biggest trucks in the world with no roads to drive on. These people really need to learn about priorities. They could build the biggest HPC center, but I doubt they could keep a stable SSH connection to it running.

I have only lived here for just over 3 years and I have to admit that Internet stability and performance has actually improved over this period of time, so who knows. Maybe in 10 years from now we will be able to do simple Skype calls or play online games without losing the connection every 10 minutes.

[yeti]

I believe it will get better in about 5 - 8 years, when all neighbor countries are so advanced that Thai's feel ashamed of their old and rotten network infrastructure. There is no doubt that Thailand will be always a step or two behind other western countries when it comes to technology and I believe it will stay like this for the next 20 years.

I managed to accept the unreliable and oversold bandwidth for my home connection but what annoys me is that there are not even plans for 3G yet. That just s#cks.

They are not ashamed that Laos one of the poorest country in the world already has 3G service, so...

[LivinLOS]

While I agree we dont get real high speed internet I would class that as 20Mbit not 2Mbit..

I get 2Mbit most of the day.. I never really drop below 1.5Mbit day or night (to west coast USA) and its been months since I have had a line outage.. My electric has been down more then my internet over the last few months. This is with just the cheap 1090 baht 2mbit line.. More money buys 3 or 4 Mbit.

So if thats all you want you just need to get into the right catchment and sign up.. I have moved house over simple things like phone lines..

[wpcoe]

To look from another perspective, ADSL has improved quite a bit in the past few years. Not too long ago, I willingly paid B1,000/mo for 1MB/512k service, and now I pay the same B1,000/mo for 4MB/512k. Five years ago or so, I don't think a 4MB home connection was even available.

Also, several ISPs now have their own IIGs so that there is no longer a monopoly/restriction of a single CAT-owned gateway.

I think one of Thailand's best hopes for faster connections is if another country, e.g. Singapore, lays new high capacity, wide-bandwith trans-ocean cables and then the Thai ISPs tap into it through their own IIG. I realize this will only help those of us who already have decent connections, and does not address outlying areas that are currently to far from a DSLAM, or who don't even have telephone service. But, it's all about me, isn't it?

[Langsuan Man]

When you talk of high speed reliable internet connectivity here in Thailand those posters that blamed those vested interests that run this country hit the nail on the head.

The IT Ministry is a joke and is just a political plum to be doled out by whoever is in power. The newest incumbent said that her first priority was insuring that web site censorship continued and was even expanded, despite the recently passed law that requires judicial oversight. TIT

The only thing that has increased "broadband" here has been the increased competition. I remember the old days when you could only get ADSL from LENSO, who provided the technology, TT&T who provided the copper, and Loxinfo who was the ISP. You actually had to dial into the node to get your ADSL connection.

Now you have TOT, TRUE, CAT, TT&T, and a bunch of ISPs that are in the market.

What we need now is some competition in the Direct Satellite market to light a fire under True / UBC.

[OxfordWill]

I would pay 5000 a month. Heck, I'd pay 7000. I once almost did- I asked the tech in my apartment to put a single line for me, he tried to charge 3500 but eventually once I told him I had checked the actual price, forgot to ever charge me.

Edited January 19, 2009 by OxfordWill

[Crushdepth]

The IT Ministry is a joke and is just a political plum to be doled out by whoever is in power. The newest incumbent said that her first priority was insuring that web site censorship continued and was even expanded, despite the recently passed law that requires judicial oversight. TIT

There's something about being an IT Minister that addles the mind. The current twit in Australia is trying to do exactly the same thing.