Ubc Verses Sophon

[Wanderer]

A friend of mine recently looked at a condo to purhase, Ubc was already connected and he had the obtion of gold or silver package at about 1,500 / 2,200 per month. I have Sophon TV in my house which I find is fine as there is a reasonble amount of english channels, if I want to watch football I go out anyway and only costs about 500 baht / month. He was told by the condo service management this is the only option available. is there a way of getting a private sophan connection available or even a satilite dish installed , much appriciated for any info, tx

[SEAtramp]

Thailand has the choice between six free television channels. Namely Channels 3, 5, 7, ModerNine TV and ITV. Channel 3 is the only one privately owned. Channel 5 is owned and run by the army. Channel 7 is also owned by the army but it uses independent production companies. Channel 9 (now renamed as ModerNine TV) is a national company and Channel 11 is run by the Ministry of Education.

For expats living in Thailand, there is presently only one (legal) cable operator. That is UBC Television. It is possible to buy yourself a satellite and receive some international programs. However, only the UBC gives you a large number of English language channels. This, of course, comes at a price.

Last week, UBC re-organized their channels and are now offering three packages. These are called Silver, Gold and Platinum. Up to now we have been receiving 32 channels on the Gold Package. This costs us a princely sum of 1,412.97 baht per month (plus a 282.48 baht equipment rental). They have now added 10 new channels which will only be available to Platinum subscribers for an additional 500 baht per month! So,is it worth spending 2000 baht per month on cable t.v. (actually we have a small satellite dish).

In order to promote the new channels, UBC are letting everyone watch these new channels for free. Clever, get you hooked first and then start charging extra. Of the new channels I am interested in are BBC Prime (classic and contemporary programs from the UK), TCM and MGM (two movie channels of classic movies) and maybe some programs on Star World (a collection of soaps and comedies mainly from the US). To be honest, it has been great catching up on some of the classic comedies from the UK that I haven't seen for years (i.e. Blackadder and Fawlty Tower). However, they do seem to repeat them often.

So, what can we watch in Thailand for 2000 baht subscription per month? Here are some of the main ones:

* Six sports channels including ESPN and Star Sports

* Seven movie channels including HBO, Star Movies, Cinemax, Hallmark, UBC Film Asia, TCM and MGM

* Five news channels including CNN, BBC World, CNBC, Bloomberg and UBC News

* Four documentary channels including History Channel, Discovery Channel, National Geographic and Animal Planet

* Four music channels including Channel V (Thailand), MTV, VH1 and STC

* Three cartoon channels including UBC Spark, Cartoon Network and Animax

* Eight entertainment channels including UBC Inside, UBC X-Zyte, AXN, Chic, UBC Series, E!, Star World an A1

* Distance Learning TV - one channel for each grade from Primary to High School. Great for learning Thai though presentation very much on the dull side. But, you can now learn Thai, Social Studies and other subjects along with fellow Primary 1 students!

There are also 30 digital radio stations and in the near future they are talking about pay-per-view t.v. where you can choose what movies you want to watch and when. Not bad, but at 2,000 baht per month, or 64 baht per day, you really need to decide whether it is worth it. Don't forget, teachers at our school only get 6,000-8,000 baht per month. Only rich Thais and some expats can afford this kind of luxury.

At the end of Febuary they scramble the new 10 channels.

(From Thailand blogs.)

Edited March 1, 2005 by SEAtramp

[COBBER]

If he can get the go ahead from the condo management Sophon will run the cable to his condo no problem. The catch is that he will have to pay for the cost of cable and installation from the closest point from where Sophon allready have cables.

[dclaryjr]

* Six sports channels including ESPN and Star Sports

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Is it safe to assume that this is some internation version of ESPN and not what would be broadcast in the US? I gotta have my PTI!!

[eyebee]

For expats living in Thailand, there is presently only one (legal) cable operator. That is UBC Television.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Does this mean that Sophon Cable is illegal? It is owned by the new MP for Pattaya. Surely an MP would not be involved in illegal activities.

[konangrit]

* Six sports channels including ESPN and Star Sports

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Is it safe to assume that this is some internation version of ESPN and not what would be broadcast in the US? I gotta have my PTI!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It's ESPN Asia, not the same ESPN that is broadcast in the States, although I'm sure that they broadcast some of the same programmes.

[Heiniken]

For expats living in Thailand, there is presently only one (legal) cable operator. That is UBC Television.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Does this mean that Sophon Cable is illegal? It is owned by the new MP for Pattaya. Surely an MP would not be involved in illegal activities.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Right on

[COBBER]

* Six sports channels including ESPN and Star Sports

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Is it safe to assume that this is some internation version of ESPN and not what would be broadcast in the US? I gotta have my PTI!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There are at least 10 differant versions of ESPN broadcast around the world

[Humphrey Bear]

Search earlier threads on Pattaya Forum (Mr Kim), other parts of this web-site. The discussions on TV channels, satellites, cable TV and so on is all over this site.