Wi Fi Hot Spots In Bkk

[finn]

Can any one post a link to a a list of the current Wi Fi hot spots in BKK.

Cheers.

[george]

Just bring your laptop around Bangkok in a taxi and you will find plenty of Wi-Fi spots available without any security at all. Silom and Sukhumvit offices for example. Shame on the IT staff!

[GoodHeart]

Sorry, no links. Here's some info. though.

Bangkok Post IT NEWS - Wednesday 14 May 2003

Your guide to the hottest Net spots in town

BANGKOK

Arnoma Hotel

Broadband wireless; Wi-Fi cards provided and CD-ROM with software for guests.

WiFi area: Anywhere on Business Class floors, conference rooms, lobby, restaurants and poolside.

Access provider: Milcom Systems and Far East Internet.

Tel: 02-255-3410

Amari Atrium

Wireless in all meeting areas of the hotel or even at poolside, broadband in the rooms for 300 baht midday to midday.

Information: Sales and marketing department at 02-718-2000 ext. 3101.

Le Royal Meridien Hotel

Wi-Fi area: lobby, Pick-Me-Up Cafe, Business Centre, function rooms, the Royal Club, and Tower Lounge.

Access point equipment: Cisco Systems and NetONE Network Solution.

ISP: Loxinfo.

Charge: Web Kit 450 baht/ 5 hours.

Tel. 02-656-0444

Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit Hotel

Wi-Fi area: lobby and library.

Access point equipment: Cisco Systems.

ISP: Asia Infonet.

Charge: 400 baht/ hour, 1,000 baht/ day.

Tel. 02-653-0333.

Conrad Hotel

Wi-Fi area: lobby.

ISP: Maginet.

Charge: Free of charge for guests.

Tel. 02-690-9999.

Gaysorn Plaza

Wi-Fi area: 1st floor and underground.

Access point equipment: Cisco Systems.

ISP: CS Loxinfo (iPSTAR satellite broadband).

Charge: 180 baht/ hour, 350 baht/ 2 hours.

Contact CS Loxinfo Khun Pratabjai Tel. 02-263-8222.

Starbucks Coffee, Central Ladprao

Access point equipment: Cisco Systems.

ISP: CS Loxinfo.

Charge: 180 baht/ hour, 350 baht/ 2 hours.

Siam Discovery Center

Entire Complex free Wi-Fi

access courtesy of Apple Store

Also: Central Dept Store (in front of Starbucks) in Bang na , Rama II , Rama III and Pinklao.

MacDonald's Ploenchit , other MacDonalds in Bangkok coming soon.

CHIANG MAI

Central Dept Store (in front of Starbucks).

HUA HIN

Springfield Country Club _ Hua Hin: Lobby

SpringField Resort _ Hua Hin: Lobby

Dusit Polo _ Hua Hin Resort: Lobby

SAMUI

There are two public free hotspots in Samui, the largest one (using several repeaters linked) is around the IT Complex (itc.samui.org).

Another one at Chaweng beach near to the beachcam (samuicam.com): this one is currently not free.

All spots are operated by sawadee.com (whose parent company operated the ISP Ji-Net node in Samui, called SamuiNet).

After the soft-opening of the IT Complex in April (which hosts the fibre-backbones), most pupular tourist spots/beach will become ``tourist-hotspots'').

[singa-traz]

Just bring your laptop around Bangkok in a taxi and you will find plenty of Wi-Fi spots available without any security at all. Silom and Sukhumvit offices for example. Shame on the IT staff!

George, you mean place where you could access internet for Free ... where on silom ?

[PlanetMan]

Here are Web pages provided by the ISPs who offer for-fee WiFi HotSpots.

CS Internet (Joint partnership between Shin Corp and Loxinfo.) http://www.shinhotspot.com/coveracearea.html (no extra charge for the URL typo;-) They are found in many of the Starbuck's co-located in Central Department Store malls (eg. Lat Phrao, etc.)

Internet Thailand (This is TOT's ISP partner.) http://www.inet.co.th/services/wirelesszone/coverarea.html. Although not listed on the web page, I've heard they did a deal with the Ban Rie Coffee chain.

M-WEB (partner with KSC Internet) . http://www.mweb.co.th/hotspot/eng.html

These guys are actually pretty good, IMHO best of the ISP lot. They provide useful documentation, the HotSpots usually work, and they seem to be relatively clued in. Not to be said of the others. Can be found at several of the Starbuck's and elsewhere.

You can get a summary of the above at http://wifinder.com/searchresults.php?loc=...ocol=1&x=30&y=8. But I suspect most of those are entered by the same folks who bring you the web pages above.

All these WiFi HotSpot networks use a pay-as-you go business model. Meaning there is no incentive to sit in Starbuck's and surf all day, it's basically x baht/minute, forever and ever. Don't plan to do that unless you have lots of satang in your pocket. More commonly found in other countries is the flat-rate monthly subscription for all-you-can-eat access. This is what siamwifi.com is trying to do. Pardon the shameless plug.

Thailand's government granted monopoly on international bandwidth (CAT) makes it difficult (but not impossible) to offer a flat-rate scheme. It requires the ability to manage bandwidth usage by time of day. Not impossible, but apparently beyond the ken of Thai ISPs.

BTW, for those interested in the topic, http://wifinetnews.com/ offers some of the best real-time news coverage of the industry. I am not affiliated with them at all, simply enjoy their coverage and editorial. They have a good topical forum, too.

Cheers

[Zendesigner]

hi,

In pattaya you can surf wireless in the royal cliff beach hotel on mweb hotspot.

just get a free login from starbucks first. You then can keep on using it over and over again when you login to their xpossible login (radius)

So the surfing is free..... but onfutunatley the drinks cost 90 bath in the lobby... but very good speed connection.

B

[jorn-h]

Have used CS Internet hotspots, but their list of cover area is not always up to date. Starbuck at World Trade does not have hotspot.

Used to sitt at Gay sorn Plaza, they have space to sitt at ground floor, and in the 80's coffe shop (2nd or 3th floor) you also have signal. Then you can enjoy netaccess and a good coffe Thats life.

Price is 180 TBH for one hour, card you buy at information when you enter from sky train.

Speed was 256 KB.

[tchk]

Here is a list of 33 hotspots in Thailand (BKK):

http://www.wi-fihotspotlist.com/browse/intl/2000038/p1.html

Apple Center used to have a free hotspot accessible throughout Siam Discovery Center.

Last November they were very helpful setting up the smtp server for me to send mail.

I never went back because it was too slow, probably used by too many people. Any news on that one?

Not exactly on topic, in Chiang Mai I found a guy, MCC Multitech Co. Ltd. at Nakornping Condominium opposite Central Dept. Store, phone 053404220, [email protected] who services several condo building with an ADSL network from his internet shop. Not very cheap (3000 B/month unlimited, other plans available), but still a LOT cheaper than KSC hotspots, and comparable to other solutions in Thailand.

[Warp]

hi,

In pattaya you can surf  wireless in the royal cliff beach hotel on mweb hotspot.

just get a free login from starbucks first. You then can keep on using it over and over again when you login to their xpossible login (radius)

So the surfing is free..... but onfutunatley the drinks cost 90 bath in the lobby...   but very good speed connection.

B

Hello! I soon will go in Royal Cliff to pattaya.

How must I make to be able to use Internet with the wifi ?

I can surfer free? If not which is the price?

Thank you

[JJDinsay]

The MWeb stuff at the Starbucks near my office is pretty pricey. Go down to Au Bon Pain down the hall and it's free. Speed is pretty decent too. Starbuck's All Season's Place is free as well and I believe Au Bon Pain there is free also.

[md3v]

|| null ||

[camerata]

The MWeb stuff at the Starbucks near my office is pretty pricey. Go down to Au Bon Pain down the hall and it's free. Speed is pretty decent too. Starbuck's All Season's Place is free as well and I believe Au Bon Pain there is free also.

As far as I know, Starbucks at All Seasons Place is covered by KSC/MWEB, which has a deal with Starbucks. The ground floor is also covered by Internet Thailand, which has a deal with the whole building. Internet Thailand offered free access for a couple of months and then switched to charging. But it doesn't charge a flat rate -all its dial-up users can use its hotspots for the hourly rate that applies to their regular service, i.e. down to about 9 baht per hour.

Since it allocates a large amount of bandwidth to serve its MetroLAN service to an entire building, the wireless access (which piggybacks on that bandwidth) can be very fast. I tried it once at Au Bon Pain/Starbucks at the Emporium. Unfortunately, most of INET's hotspots are at office buildings.

[stumonster]

does anyone know of anything similar to free wireless networks in thailand

this is what is going on in australia http://www.wireless.org.au/

the potential of this style of network seems to be extrordinary.

though with the control the telecoms companies have over here in thailand, I can see them not wanting it to happen.

[Duke of Lions]

Within 7 days.....

Club Bamboo, in Patong, Phuket has wireless internet!

[Firefoxx]

I don't know how valid this is since I haven't tried it personally, but TA(aka True) is offering free wifi hotspots for users of its ADSL service (ie. you're using a TA line and Asianet as the ISP) until June 15 of this year. The spots are:

Au Bon Pain

-president park

-Emporium Tower 2nd Fl.

-SCB Park plaza

-U Chu Lian

-Siam Discovery

-M Thai, All season place

-Sun Tower

McDonald

-Silom (CP tower)

-Siam Center

-Ploenchit plaze

Coffee Societ

-Silom

U Chu liang ground fl.

-Information center

-7 Eleven

-Entrance (Fuji)

KFC

-Central RAMA3

-Maboonklong 7 fl.

Bangkok Hospital

-ground fl.

-4th fl.

Bangkok Nursing Home1, 2 and 3

B2S

-Central Pinklao, Lardprao, Chidlom

-Robinson Ratchada, Bangna

Configuration:

Set your SSID to tawifi

Change your login from yourlogin@truewhatever to yourlogin@truewifi

[Crushdepth]

I put together a list of Bangkok hotspots on Crushdepth.net. The number of hotspots available is growing at an amazing rate - 6 months ago there were virtually none, now there are quite a lot. Get yourself a sniffer programme and just turn it on.

There are a few pay-for-use networks turning up in the major shopping centres etc - I think TA offers one and ShinHotSpot for example. Its hard to find information on how to subscribe in English at this stage.

Crushdepth.

[sabaijai]

Good on ya mate, cheers for that, Crushdepth. Just wondering, do the hotel staff seem to mind if you just saunter in with a laptop and hang out in the lobby for a couple hours?

[Phil Conners]

Thailand's government granted monopoly on international bandwidth (CAT) makes it difficult (but not impossible) to offer a flat-rate scheme. It requires the ability to manage bandwidth usage by time of day. Not impossible, but apparently beyond the ken of Thai ISPs.

I've heard rumors since sometime mid last year that they were going to privatize CAT and with it break the monopoly. That would be one major step for Thailand out of the 3rd world status. Any news about that?

[sabaijai]

Thailand's government granted monopoly on international bandwidth (CAT) makes it difficult (but not impossible) to offer a flat-rate scheme. It requires the ability to manage bandwidth usage by time of day. Not impossible, but apparently beyond the ken of Thai ISPs.

I've heard rumors since sometime mid last year that they were going to privatize CAT and with it break the monopoly. That would be one major step for Thailand out of the 3rd world status. Any news about that?

According to the Thai press, this is supposed to happen. There's even a deadline by which time it's supposed to be accomplished -- I'm sure it's been discussed elsewhere on this forum.

I agree, it would be a major boon for IT in Thailand if CAT were privatised. The trouble with privatisation under Thaksin is that it's never open and transparent. In other words monopolies will simply be transferred from the government to gov't cronies, so the competitive advantage offered by privatisation doesn't apply.

Flash back to 1992, when Mexican Pres Carlos Salinas had to flee Mexico as it became obvious to the public that TelMex, the former gov't phone monopoly, had been handed over lock, stock and barrel to Salinas crony Carlos Slim, who is now the richest man in Mexico. Salinas took the millions he earned on that deal and went into exile in Ireland. Meanwhile the peso crashed through the floor ...

[stumonster]

anyone using netgear access points might wish to check to see if they can login via their browser using login super password 5777364 , as recent reports have said that some of netgears units manufactured in taiwan have this backdoor. the patch that netgear came up with was a new firmware to be flashed onto the rom but the fix has been found to be changing the login to superman password (search google).

I do not think this method can be used to exploit the access point from a remote location.

[camerata]

I've heard rumors since sometime mid last year that they were going to privatize CAT and with it break the monopoly. That would be one major step for Thailand out of the 3rd world status. Any news about that?

This has been going on for years. Both TOT and CAT registered themselves as separate public companies last year but both have resisted an IPO up to now. So they remain 100% owned by the state. The government's latest idea is to form a holding company, owned by the Finance Ministry, and let them operate beneath it.

Unfortunately, the government's idea is not to break the monopoly but to increase the market capitalization of the stock exchange and give TOT/CAT a better chance of survival after telecoms liberalization in 2006. Even if TOT/CAT have an IPO, the state will retain a majority shareholding.

A related development which is holding everything up is the 5-year delay in setting up the National Telecommunications Commission. This will take over CAT's role as regulator of the Internet but irregularities in the nomination of members (i.e. some of them were stooges of the big telecom operators) has stalled it. The successful set-up of the NTC will take away some of CAT's privileges. But it will still own a third of the stock of all but one or two ISPs.

It has been noted that the birth of the NTC will not be advantageous to AIS.

[Phil Conners]

With the current ISP prices beign many times that of any country with open competition foreign ISP's will be queuing up on the doorstep long before the gates open, with prices way below the present level. CAT and the national ISP's won't stand a snowball's chance here for staying in business.

[camerata]

With the current ISP prices beign many times that of any country with open competition foreign ISP's will be queuing up on the doorstep long before the gates open, with prices way below the present level. CAT and the national ISP's won't stand a snowball's chance here for staying in business.

Once CAT's monopoly on providing international bandwidth (at a very high cost) is gone, all ISPs operating in Thailand should be able to offer much cheaper prices. There won't be any particular advantage for foreign ISPs unless they have so much cash they can afford to sell at cost price for a couple of years and force everyone else out of the market.

But I think the market will have to get much bigger here to attract foreign ISPs. So far, the Internet access business has proved spectacularly unprofitable here.