Thai Newbie Seeks Advice On Living In Thailand

[Oasisx]

Hi everyone

I work on the internet, run several websites, which means that as long as I have fast internet access it doesn't matter where I live. I don't have a home as such, and very few possessions, no children or spouse - just me and my laptop I'm staying in London but figure what's the point? It's expensive, why not live somewhere more exotic? So I've been thinking about Thailand, I like the idea of a completely buddhist country, and the travel rules seem quite lax.

Basically I need to know what to do. My priorities are 1. living somewhere with broadband and 2. having as few forms to fill in as possible. I don't mind where I stay, hotel would be preferable, in a nice location by the sea. Is it easy to just go over and live there? Not sure what the next step is.

Any advice much appreciated!

[leftcross]

Sounds like you'd be best off in the south if you want to live in a completely buddhist country.

[Oasisx]

Sounds like you'd be best off in the south if you want to live in a completely buddhist country.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Fair enough

[daleyboy]

Sounds like you'd be best off in the south if you want to live in a completely buddhist country.

Fair enough

Lol hes winding you up, the South is predominantley(spelling)Muslim.

[chownah]

You should first find out if the broadband here is broad enough for you. There is an internet, computer, etc. forum here on ThaiVisa...you might go post over there to find out how good the broadband here isn't.

Also, legally you would require a work permit....but probably you could get by without one so long as noone knew what you were doing. If you like to go around and talk alot about what you are doing on the internet and some people who didn't like you for some reason found out then it could draw some unwanted attention (read this police)...but if you remained low key...then who would even know?

[Oasisx]

Sure, I could do that. I guess I don't need a particularly fast connection, just makes things a lot easier if it's quicker than dial-up.

Any recommendations of where to stay?

[chownah]

Sure, I could do that.  I guess I don't need a particularly fast connection, just makes things a lot easier if it's quicker than dial-up.

Any recommendations of where to stay?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Under a roof?

[think_too_mut]

Is it the same guy who works in porn industry?

[fxm88]

Basically I need to know what to do.  My priorities are 1.  living somewhere with broadband and 2. having as few forms to fill in as possible.  I don't mind where I stay, hotel would be preferable, in a nice location by the sea.  Is it easy to just go over and live there?  Not sure what the next step is.

Forget about Thailand. Electricity, let alone Internet access, can be spotty at best. And the never-ending visa-runs will greatly interfere with your availability (e.g. "You've reached the voicemail of Oasisx. I will be in Cambodia until Tuesday. Please leave a message.").

[Thaipwriter]

Forget about Thailand. Electricity, let alone Internet access, can be spotty at best. And the never-ending visa-runs will greatly interfere with your availability

OP is using laptop, spikes will not affect him. broadband is poor but acceptable on the whole. bad news travels further than good and most folks on here who moan about interent speeds have unrealistic expectations of the infrastructure that Thailand is running with at the moment. time will heal this issue

If OP is in London he can post his passport to Hull and get a 90 day non imm O easily. http://www.thaiconsul-uk.com/

Op is advised to read more of this forum to gain knowledge!

[Oasisx]

Who or what is OP?

No I'm not in the porn business, online poker.

Still laughing from the 'under a roof' gag...

[daleyboy]

The op stands for original poster. In this case it is you

[OxfordWill]

You've got alot of reading to do but on the specific points you raised:

Broadband is not as stable as you might be used to but frankly, if you have ever used NTL in the South you will be pleasantly surprised by any random Thai ISP.

If it fails and you were just about to upload the latest changes to one of your sites, you need only walk down the road in any populated area to find the local internet cafe and spend the equivalent of ten pence on doing it there. Don't worry about security in these places, you already know what to check for and 99% are fine.

Noone will give you problems about your lack of work permit if you stay on a tourist visa and appear to be spending your millions you made in a previous life. This is how you should do things to sample how life will be for you in LOS before making any big decision.

If you stay in an apartment with other foreigners you will find dozens of unencrypted wireless connections and won't necessarily have to pay for your own connection anyway! Hey, it's not stealing if they don't encrypt it, right?

You won't have any forms to fill in except the arrival card at the airport (standard for all) and possibly a visa application for two month visa prior to leaving England (get it by post from Hull Consulate) which will save you from having to make a border crossing at 30 days. You can then make one at 60 days if you aren't homesick by then!

Good luck..sounds like you've got a fantastic setup income wise, hope to emulate you one day!

[fxm88]

No I'm not in the porn business, online poker.

Another excellent reason to stay out of Thailand: gambling is a big no-no. The police bust any kind of gambling including, most commonly, the 5 & 10 baht card games amongst friends. I'd hate to imagine what they'd do if they think you're gambling online much less running an online cardroom.

[OxfordWill]

No I'm not in the porn business, online poker.

Another excellent reason to stay out of Thailand: gambling is a big no-no. The police bust any kind of gambling including, most commonly, the 5 & 10 baht card games amongst friends. I'd hate to imagine what they'd do if they think you're gambling online much less running an online cardroom.

It's sensible advice but there are plenty of online gambling kings living over here. For example, the guy who started 888. He has been here more than 7 years now.

edit: forgot he doesnt have anything to do with it now..but still, there is no realistiv way for anyone to know that you run gambling sites. Its a very different thing to running a gambling house or gambling evenings at your house etc. However, Thai ISPs may very well ban the sites you need to access, or indeed related 'bad neighbourhoods'. Something to consider.

Edited November 13, 2005 by OxfordWill

[Sublimebreeze]

Basically I need to know what to do.  My priorities are 1.  living somewhere with broadband and 2. having as few forms to fill in as possible.  I don't mind where I stay, hotel would be preferable, in a nice location by the sea.  Is it easy to just go over and live there?  Not sure what the next step is.

Forget about Thailand. Electricity, let alone Internet access, can be spotty at best. And the never-ending visa-runs will greatly interfere with your availability (e.g. "You've reached the voicemail of Oasisx. I will be in Cambodia until Tuesday. Please leave a message.").

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I disagree, I have had pretty good service with True, I have had the occasional outages, but for the most part the service held strong for the duration. I was able to conduct business and do everything I needed too. I was also getting around 150k downloads nearly all the time. If your really worried about network outages which I doubt you are, just get two lines, a dsl and cable. (not expensive)I would say head to Chiang Mai get an apartment near Central. The place I stayed was pretty nice although there are tons around the area. Checkout Boonyamas mansion on nimarnhemin soi 15 its around 85 dollars(3450 baht) for a corner room, pretty big two balconies and everything you need, internet is ok in the building. They just build some new ones right next to Central too that is worth checking out. Chiang Mai is close enough to Burma so the run isn't too* much of a hassle, it will take about half a day once a month. GET THE 1st class GREEN BUS! its much quicker more room and comfortable for about 3 bucks more. Plus its always interesting shopping at the border anyways.

If you have any questions send me a pm

Sean

Edited November 13, 2005 by Sublimebreeze

[greedisgood]

Have a good friend that has done a similar thing living in BKK. A MP3 writer that use to work for Digital in the US. Tried living in BKK for 3 months, set up all his broadband connections, got himself an apt, and it was smooth enough he moved lock, stock, and barrel immedietly thereafter. Writes from home, pkg's it in bundles, then sends the programs to a partner in the US that sells it for him. Judging by his new 7 mil bhat condo on Sukh. he is doing VERY well.

[bendix]

I can't understand why some posters are trying to deter this guy. Jealousy perhaps?

The broadband is more than adequate for what he needs, and the visa situation is easy to deal with.

The best advice to the OP would be to get a bit more focused about where he wants to be, and that will take a couple of weeks of trawling on this site and places like it to get a sense of what Thailand is really about.

Of course there are petty frustrations living in Thailand, but I for one feel privileged to be able to do so. In the last 15 years I've lived in London, Manchester, Auckland (twice), Melbourne, Sydney and Thailand. Living here is paradise compared to London.

Go for it mate. What do you have to lose?

[fxm88]

Jealousy feh! Look, I know living in Thailand we sorta get used to the local privations. Yes, the Internet in Thailand is fine for wasting time on Thaivisa.com or downloading porn. Heck, you might even trade stocks on-line -- comforted, no doubt, by the fact you can call them on the phone if need be. But this guy is running a 24x7 online business and for that Thailand is wholly unsuitable. On this there can be no argument. Where are the co-location facilities? The only raised floors you'll find here are for staying dry in a flood. Six-Sigma? Um, you want sticky rice with that?

[Crossy]

OK

You will want to be in the Greater Bangkok, Pattaya or Phuket areas for the best broadband availability.

If you can cope with a 256k link thats up > 95% of the time you will have no problems, particularly if you go for one of the business packages (cost more, more reliable).

I'm with KSC Business Internet, unlimited 512/256 for B1900 per month. It's never been down longer than the call to support (10 mins), in the last year its been off half a dozen times.

Standard P2P ports are blocked, but they don't appear to do much packet sniffing as the alternatives work (on eMule and Bittorrent anyway). No probs with FTP etc. and I get about half my link speed to my server in London (256k ish).

You will be fine.

Apply to Hull for a multi-entry non-immigrant O visa on the grounds of 'visiting friends and family'. You will need a letter from someone (parents are a good bet) guaranteeing to fly you home if you run out of cash. That visa will get you 15 months in Thailand doing visa runs to the border every 90 days.

Keep your head down about what you're doing and no one will bother you.

Above all, enjoy Thailand, it is a wonderful place, honest

[udon]

Good advice except "'visiting friends and family' is wearing a bit thin, I'd put "to learn about Thai culture and Budhism" (sp)

[Crossy]

Good advice except "'visiting friends and family' is wearing a bit thin, I'd put "to learn about Thai culture and Budhism" (sp)

Dashed good point old chap

You'll still need the guarantee letter though.

Edited November 14, 2005 by Crossy

[OxfordWill]

But this guy is running a 24x7 online business and for that Thailand is wholly unsuitable. On this there can be no argument. Where are the co-location facilities? The only raised floors you'll find here are for staying dry in a flood. Six-Sigma? Um, you want sticky rice with that?

I beg to differ - you have no evidence to assume he requires in house colo nor to assume he has ever seen a server. Running a gambling site can be done from your living room with never having to touch any hardware. There is an argument for the stability but if he is successful at his game he probably doesn't have to monitor things 24/7 (even super heroes have to sleep!).

[chownah]

I think I'll let the OP decide what he needs in the way of internet connection....but I do think he needs to find a place with a roof.

[seonai]

OasisX, don't let the cynics put you off. Come to the Phuket area as someone else suggested and check it out. Plenty sea view locations, beach front apartments and I am sure the broadband thing is way on the way to being sorted. I live on a very small island and we just got ADSL and fibre optic connections as well as WIFI. S'cuse my lack of techno knowledge but we have them!!!!!

Cheers mate, say hello to London from me,

Seonai

[llewynx]

...and then we have all the babble about the govt blocking certain websites that are deemed "unsuitable", guess gambling sites could fall into that category. Guess it could be solved by proxys etc but you never know what will happen in the future considering the way censoring seems to be going here. Read this forum, try to ignore the bashing and you'll get a pretty good picture of what's going on in LOS. And not being cynic, just realistic...

[jrincon17]

Hi everyone 

I work on the internet, run several websites, which means that as long as I have fast internet access it doesn't matter where I live.  I don't have a home as such, and very few possessions, no children or spouse - just me and my laptop    I'm staying in London but figure what's the point?  It's expensive, why not live somewhere more exotic?  So I've been thinking about Thailand, I like the idea of a completely buddhist country, and the travel rules seem quite lax.

Basically I need to know what to do.  My priorities are 1.  living somewhere with broadband and 2. having as few forms to fill in as possible.  I don't mind where I stay, hotel would be preferable, in a nice location by the sea.  Is it easy to just go over and live there?  Not sure what the next step is.

Any advice much appreciated!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sounds like a great chance of a lifetime . If you want the beach are with better internet service Phuket would be the place . Might be a little more expensive than other areas but worth it .Pattya has a alot of crime . Do not tell people what you do , they will extort money from you if you have a disagreement if not they will report you . This goes for some of thr farangs as well (farang is you me and any foriegner ) . You will be able to afford Phuket with no problem , I am envious of you and good luck

[udon]

You'll still need the guarantee letter though.

Not if you use an "understanding" RTC.

We have at least 2 in Aus, and I know of 2 in the UK.

My RTC laughed when asked about the letter........