English Television In Thailand

[voyager36]

Hello. This is my first post, so be gentle!

My wife & I have been researching possible locations to relocate to from not so warm & sunny Ireland. Thailand featured in a recent television show here and got us thinking. The problem is my wife is addicted to her English "soaps" and has made it a condition of moving that she will be able to continue to receive them.

Is there any way of receiving the English stations BBC and ITV in Thaliand? If so, I would greatly appreciate any suggestions or advice as well as an idea of what kind of costs are involved.

Thanks in advance.

Graham

[terdsak_12]

Not what I know of!

[Digger]

You can as of about 2 weeks ago receive BBC Prime through UBC which is their international entertainment channel - so I guess Eastenders is shown but have not seen it so am not 100% sure. BBC Prime has only just come here as they are now carrying it on satelittes that cover Asia. European satelittes do not reach this far.

ABC Asia Pacific, (Australian equivalent of the BBC) also shows many BBC and ITV drama's but its not carried on UBC (the main Thai satelittle channel.) but is shown on Sophon, which is Pattaya's cable network. The only soap I have seen on ABC is Home & Away.

Probably in time, ITV will start showing some of their channels as the numbers of British expats living in Asia is going up all the time but I have no idea when this would be done or even if it will be done.

[Khun Jean]

When relocating to Thailand you have to keep in mind to stay away of the girly bars. Many man have great trouble to resist the thai ladies of the night. Don't think lightly about this because these girls can be very convincing and are ruthless. I know a few couples who had that problem and are now divorced, after bing married for more than 20 years!

Better to visit here a few times on extended holidays. If you two like it here your wife probably get addicted to the sun and beaches and the culture and forget about those silly soaps.

[Crazy Dave]

When relocating to Thailand you have to keep in mind to keep your wife away from the girly bars, make sure she stays away from the girly bars otherwise you will soon be sussed. every man has great trouble to resist the thai ladies of the night. Don't think lightly about this because these girls can be very convincing and are ruthless. I know a few couples who had that problem and are now divorced, after being married for more than 20 years!

Better to visit here a few times on extended holidays and just get friends to send soap videos out to you so she can have nights in while your out enjoying yourself. If you two like it here your wife probably get addicted to the sun and beaches and the culture and forget about those silly soaps, then while she is down the beach you can nip down to Soi Yodsak.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[Doctor John]

When relocating to Thailand you have to keep in mind to stay away of the girly bars. Many man have great trouble to resist the thai ladies of the night. Don't think lightly about this because these girls can be very convincing and are ruthless.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I have never known girls go round to houses and order men to go to the bars at gunpoint.

[_Echinochloa_]

When relocating to Thailand you have to keep in mind to stay away of the girly bars. Many man have great trouble to resist the thai ladies of the night. Don't think lightly about this because these girls can be very convincing and are ruthless. I know a few couples who had that problem and are now divorced, after bing married for more than 20 years!

Better to visit here a few times on extended holidays. If you two like it here your wife probably get addicted to the sun and beaches and the culture and forget about those silly soaps.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Go for it Graham and you'll have a ball.I'm here now 8 years so Up The Rebel County!!!

[sajal]

in case the channels you mention are free to air, you can get a simple dish antenna + decoder for like 10,000 baht or something.

get in touch with the channels to check out their pricing.

there are also some dealers who deal in such connections where you have to install a dish antenna and decoder, then have to pay monthly/anually for the smart card to view the non-free channels.

Some national channels are even available for live viewing using broadband.

so youve gotta contact the company running the channels for more info.

[bkk_mike]

If she is truly addicted to the soaps, and you're just after someplace warmer to live, you're probably better off in Spain / Cyprus / Canaries / etc.

In those places, you can pick up Sky (admittedly in Cyprus I think it's more than 4 metre dish to get BBC.) - Take your existing sky box, and sky digital card, and continue to let it be paid for from your current address, and it's just a matter of getting a dish that's big enough pointed at the Sky satellite. (not a possibility for Thailand).

http://www.skycards.net/sky-tv-cyprus.php

http://www.skycards.net/SPAIN_COVERAGE.php

http://www.satcure.co.uk/tech/bbcitv.htm (look at answer 7)

About the only way she'd get the soaps in Thailand is if she gets someone to record them and send them to her. BBC Prime isn't showing anything remotely current...

Low-tech way would be get someone to record the programs on video, or, these days, DVD-R, and mail them to you.

Alternatively, if you're fairly computer literate - it might be feasible to set up a PC to record the programmes automatically in Ireland, convert the programs to fairly heavily compressed (but watchable) format such as MPEG4 (DivX, Xvid, etc), and transfer the files to a PC in Thailand for watching, although you'd need fast internet in both places for that to be even vaguely workable (which will set you back a bit, given it means PCs in both with BIG hard drives, ADSL in both, etc.), and even then, the transfer times would probably restrict you to something like an hour of TV programmes transferred in a day.

Also, it's the sort of thing you'd want a computer-literate friend for back in Ireland so that they can cope with any PC issues.

[bkk_mike]

Actually - You may get by with just the PC in Thailand and a fast link. It seems there's already people recording the soaps and publishing them for download...

http://www.eeworldwide.com/ee/index2.htm

http://www.britishsoaponline.com/phpBB/

http://www.couchtracker.com/

However, since it's copyright material, not sure how long it will last... (and not sure if your wife is willing to watch on a computer monitor..)

Edited February 16, 2005 by bkk_mike

[voyager36]

Thanks to everybody who took the time to reply so far. We both enjoy various televiosion programmes, but my wife would particularly miss Eastenders, Coronation Street and Emmerdale. She has made it a condition of moving. We are aware of other countries like Spain and Cyprus etc, but we are attracted to Thailand.

I was amazed at the responses relating to the "girly bars" etc when my question was about television channel reception!

Anyway, my research continues and maybe I'll find a way to make the move happen.

Thanks again.

Graham

[bkk_mike]

Here's a link to a similar thread on a US site for british expats...

getting Corrie and Eastenders via the internet...

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=280231

[grahamb]

You can as of about 2 weeks ago receive BBC Prime through UBC which is their international entertainment channel - so I guess Eastenders is shown but have not seen it so am not 100% sure.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

BBC Prime Europe used to show Eastenders 2 days after it was shown in the UK but I don't think it is on BBC Prime Asia. It is on a free trial with UBC now so maybe they are not showing the regular programmes and Eastenders will come on later.

As an aside, why does BBC Prime Asia have twice as many ad breaks as BBC Prime Europe?!

[Thetyim]

"She has made it a condition of moving."

Someone has to say this , so it might as well be me.

Which is more important to her, you or eastenders.

Tell her to get real or get packing

[chez]

bbc news click on line had something called a slingbox which enabled you to get all your tv ie cable/sat anywhere in the world.

i am looking at this possibility.

maybe worth the expense or waiting a while till it comes down in price the company were asking for beta testers last week so maybe wait till any problems are solved

[jackr]

Not what I know of!

Well why answer then?

[bkk_mike]

bbc news click on line had something called a slingbox which enabled you to get all your tv ie cable/sat anywhere in the world.

i am looking at this possibility.

maybe worth the expense or waiting a while till it comes down in price the company were asking for beta testers last week so maybe wait till any problems are solved

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

http://www.slingmedia.com

That looks very interesting, even though it's not out yet (and the beta test program is closed now...).

The suggested price on their website is $249, so doesn't seem too bad to me, given the alternative is to use a PC to do the same job. (Admittedly that's for the 110v NTSC one, and they don't say how much a PAL one would be, although they do say they will produce one (sort of). But it's definitely an interesting option for those of us who have relatives in the UK with Sky... - i.e. Pay for their switch to Sky plus, and I could watch whatever I tell it to record, whenever I want...)

I would still have to keep UBC (I don't think the kids would let me get rid of the cartoon channel), but it would let me watch things that aren't broadcast here...

I know someone in NY who'd also be interested, primarily to let him watch the Premiership on Sky Sports.

Looking around though - they'd better be quick, or Sony will beat them to it with their "LocationFree TV"... - although that will probably cost more given that it's an LCD tablet that you watch the TV on (that you take with you) which can talk over the Internet to the Satellite box at home...

Edited February 19, 2005 by bkk_mike

[sajal]

why dont you get a tivo?

they have the same features discussed above.

http://www.tivo.com/4.9.19.asp

it can recort the programs as per your choice and then those programs can be downloaded to your PC anywhere in the world...

prices starting from $99.99....

with this slingmedia thingy, you would get to see your favourate shows at off hours(during peak hours at your hometown)

or in bangkok in the evening when u turn on this slingmedia stuff all you get would be some crappy infomercials.....

what you really need is a box that can record your favourite programs and you can see them as you please..

all you need would be a decent net connection....a reliable router and some configuration(which is needed with both the boxes).

now u can download programs at night(when bandwidth is freely available at thailand) then u can see them the next day....

you would require some sort of subscription to tivo service....im not sure abt the fee, but im sure thats not a problem for you...

[night_rider]

http://www.videora.com

This is what I would use. This is client software that integrates RSS feeds from tracker sites of torrent links. You essentially type in the television show you want to download and as soon as a new episode posts to the tracker sites it will download automatically. You'll need a high speed internet connection in LOS but can try before you move to see how you like it.

Like the suggestions above it will use the torrent community like a video recorder. No need for additional service fees. No need for additional equipment. No need to worry about special satellite access.

[bkk_mike]

why dont you get a tivo?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

UK - not US - no Tivo service...

[bkk_mike]

why dont you get a tivo?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

UK - not US - no Tivo service...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Regardless of what their website says. (They did launch in the UK, but since Sky plus does all the same stuff for free if you're already paying for the top Sky satellite subscription, they didn't get much of a market - so pulled out of the UK).

As for TivoToGo - it doesn't transfer across the internet... (it lets you take a TV program with you - it doesn't let you send the program across the internet...)

Edited February 22, 2005 by bkk_mike

[wilson steer]

If someone back in England DVD's them, then sends them to you don't hold your breath...I often have delayed postal delivery because TIT.

By the way, I don't bother with soaps, I prefer UK comedy like phoenix nights etc, if you live in Pattaya, I am sure that some enterprising person in the Pattaya Mail classified could supply UK soaps, on DVD for a price.