Increase in Truevision monthly rental

[Yorkie]

I have just received by monthly bill from Truevision. Not only have they stopped broadcasting the ELP but they've increased my monthly rental by Bht 282.48. (Gold package, two set top boxes). We've rung Truevision BKK who appear to have a standard script answer for enquiries such as these. Does anyone else have an increase?

[EyesWideOpen]

Do what I did four years ago. Disconnect them, and torrent download all your media from movies.

Most sports are available directly off the internet as well. Cut the cable !!!

[isawasnake]

Do what I did four years ago. Disconnect them, and torrent download all your media from movies.

Most sports are available directly off the internet as well. Cut the cable !!!

The beautiful part is there are no commercials. I won't open the whole can of worms, but why do we have to pay for cable, AND watch commercials anyway? People don't even ask themselves that, which is weird I think. And why in the hell do we have to watch them when we pay to go to a movie, that one is really strange. I think the entire torrenting community is jamming the proverbial stick right up the ass of these people who have taken advantage of us for far too long. Then there is the "but where is the money for these shows/movies going to come from if everyone downloads them" argument. I think advertisements in the future will be linked to free downloads of media directly from the studios. That will be the model: free, safe downloads and all you will have to do is put up with a minute or two of commercials. And, what media will be successful? GOOD media, not the stuff that has been advertised the most. The model will be there to spend less on advertising, and more on intriguing, thought provoking media. The best thing that has happened for consumer rights in our lifetime.

Edited August 17, 2013 by isawasnake

[Huayrat]

mine has been cut 100 baht for them losing the football

[h90]

Do what I did four years ago. Disconnect them, and torrent download all your media from movies.

Most sports are available directly off the internet as well. Cut the cable !!!

The beautiful part is there are no commercials. I won't open the whole can of worms, but why do we have to pay for cable, AND watch commercials anyway? People don't even ask themselves that, which is weird I think. And why in the hell do we have to watch them when we pay to go to a movie, that one is really strange. I think the entire torrenting community is jamming the proverbial stick right up the ass of these people who have taken advantage of us for far too long. Then there is the "but where is the money for these shows/movies going to come from if everyone downloads them" argument. I think advertisements in the future will be linked to free downloads of media directly from the studios. That will be the model: free, safe downloads and all you will have to do is put up with a minute or two of commercials. And, what media will be successful? GOOD media, not the stuff that has been advertised the most. The model will be there to spend less on advertising, and more on intriguing, thought provoking media. The best thing that has happened for consumer rights in our lifetime.

You see Thailand has a lot of copied software everywhere. In Europe there isn't much.

they tell us that software is so expensive because of the copied one.

But in fact in Thailand the same software is much cheaper that in Europe.

Competition if you can buy illegal software for 200 Baht at every corner. The Original will be 2000 Baht. If the illegal is banned the legal one will be 10.000 Baht. And the shareholder value increases.

[GAS]

Raspberry Pi.....

[isawasnake]

Do what I did four years ago. Disconnect them, and torrent download all your media from movies.

Most sports are available directly off the internet as well. Cut the cable !!!

The beautiful part is there are no commercials. I won't open the whole can of worms, but why do we have to pay for cable, AND watch commercials anyway? People don't even ask themselves that, which is weird I think. And why in the hell do we have to watch them when we pay to go to a movie, that one is really strange. I think the entire torrenting community is jamming the proverbial stick right up the ass of these people who have taken advantage of us for far too long. Then there is the "but where is the money for these shows/movies going to come from if everyone downloads them" argument. I think advertisements in the future will be linked to free downloads of media directly from the studios. That will be the model: free, safe downloads and all you will have to do is put up with a minute or two of commercials. And, what media will be successful? GOOD media, not the stuff that has been advertised the most. The model will be there to spend less on advertising, and more on intriguing, thought provoking media. The best thing that has happened for consumer rights in our lifetime.

You see Thailand has a lot of copied software everywhere. In Europe there isn't much.

they tell us that software is so expensive because of the copied one.

But in fact in Thailand the same software is much cheaper that in Europe.

Competition if you can buy illegal software for 200 Baht at every corner. The Original will be 2000 Baht. If the illegal is banned the legal one will be 10.000 Baht. And the shareholder value increases.

It is the only viable leverage I can think of in my lifetime where the common man truly can make a difference. You want leverage against greedy monopolies - torrent your heart out. It is our best and only leverage against these machines, who have been running unadulterated for far too long.

[Suradit69]

"I have just received by monthly bill from Truevision. Not only have they stopped broadcasting the ELP but they've increased my monthly rental by Bht 282.48. (Gold package, two set top boxes)."

Are we talking about cable and/or satellite?

I've got the Gold satellite package that I pay for annually, so it's still 6 months 'til I would see an increase, I assume, but lately I've wondered whether renewing next year made sense. Some of the History, Discovery, National Geographic stuff is interesting, but other than that, whenever I do turn on the TV I spend 5 minutes checking what's on ... usually in vain.

My building gives us Sophon cable for Baht 200 a month. It's pretty horrible, but Baht 200 a month for horrible is better than about Baht 1500 a month for horrible. I realize True has little control over content of those channels they offer, but most of the movies and series seem to be little more than soap operas or police over-the-top dramas that hinge to a large extent on vampires or guns or vampires with guns, none of which appeals to me.

Edited August 18, 2013 by Suradit69

[keithkarmann]

Download and save from YouTube, it's a lot faster than torrent downloads. Download iLivid to save YouTube downloads. Copy URL from YouTube and paste to iLivid.

My Truevisions will soon be cut to the minimum package or cut completely.

[keithkarmann]

I forgot to add that there is almost everything on YouTube and if you are English and a sad person like me you can even keep up with Coronation Street

[sprq]

"I have just received by monthly bill from Truevision. Not only have they stopped broadcasting the ELP but they've increased my monthly rental by Bht 282.48. (Gold package, two set top boxes)."

Are we talking about cable and/or satellite?

I've got the Gold satellite package that I pay for annually, so it's still 6 months 'til I would see an increase, I assume, but lately I've wondered whether renewing next year made sense. Some of the History, Discovery, National Geographic stuff is interesting, but other than that, whenever I do turn on the TV I spend 5 minutes checking what's on ... usually in vain.

My building gives us Sophon cable for Baht 200 a month. It's pretty horrible, but Baht 200 a month for horrible is better than about Baht 1500 a month for horrible. I realize True has little control over content of those channels they offer, but most of the movies and series seem to be little more than soap operas or police over-the-top dramas that hinge to a large extent on vampires or guns or vampires with guns, none of which appeals to me.

I agree that the Discovery, History and Nat Geog channels have some interesting programming, but more than half of it is mediocre or worse, and when you are watching the good, intelligent stuff, you get interruptions every six or seven minutes for the most utterly gross trailing of future programmes, an ugly and loud sequence of rapid images aimed at mentally deficient teenagers.

Once I got myself an internet-enabled TV with a specific YouTube facility and discovered the vast number of excellent documentaries -- far better than almost all of what you might get on truevisions -- on it, I dumped the Gold package and switched to a cheap package that gives me TV5Monde, the Sundance channel, TCM, the concerts channel and a few other things worth watching for 590 baht a month. That is OK.

Edited August 18, 2013 by spr&q

[Oink]

Do what I did four years ago. Disconnect them, and torrent download all your media from movies.

Most sports are available directly off the internet as well. Cut the cable !!!

The beautiful part is there are no commercials. I won't open the whole can of worms, but why do we have to pay for cable, AND watch commercials anyway? People don't even ask themselves that, which is weird I think. And why in the hell do we have to watch them when we pay to go to a movie, that one is really strange. I think the entire torrenting community is jamming the proverbial stick right up the ass of these people who have taken advantage of us for far too long. Then there is the "but where is the money for these shows/movies going to come from if everyone downloads them" argument. I think advertisements in the future will be linked to free downloads of media directly from the studios. That will be the model: free, safe downloads and all you will have to do is put up with a minute or two of commercials. And, what media will be successful? GOOD media, not the stuff that has been advertised the most. The model will be there to spend less on advertising, and more on intriguing, thought provoking media. The best thing that has happened for consumer rights in our lifetime.

Good idea but there is a slight problem if you use True internet. I used torrents through VPNUK but True have throttled back to such an extent (13kbs) that VPNUK have given me a refund.

I am sure they will try to throttle all torrents, regardless if they are through a VPN or not before much longer.

[Puyai]

True offer a deal if you have 4 set top boxes. 2800 Baht a month. So if you have 3 friends in the same amphur you can give them the 3 boxes and cut the costs. Works out at 700 Baht a month each for the Platinum package.

[Suradit69]

"I have just received by monthly bill from Truevision. Not only have they stopped broadcasting the ELP but they've increased my monthly rental by Bht 282.48. (Gold package, two set top boxes)."

Are we talking about cable and/or satellite?

I've got the Gold satellite package that I pay for annually, so it's still 6 months 'til I would see an increase, I assume, but lately I've wondered whether renewing next year made sense. Some of the History, Discovery, National Geographic stuff is interesting, but other than that, whenever I do turn on the TV I spend 5 minutes checking what's on ... usually in vain.

My building gives us Sophon cable for Baht 200 a month. It's pretty horrible, but Baht 200 a month for horrible is better than about Baht 1500 a month for horrible. I realize True has little control over content of those channels they offer, but most of the movies and series seem to be little more than soap operas or police over-the-top dramas that hinge to a large extent on vampires or guns or vampires with guns, none of which appeals to me.

I agree that the Discovery, History and Nat Geog channels have some interesting programming, but more than half of it is mediocre or worse, and when you are watching the good, intelligent stuff, you get interruptions every six or seven minutes for the most utterly gross trailing of future programmes, an ugly and loud sequence of rapid images aimed at mentally deficient teenagers.

Once I got myself an internet-enabled TV with a specific YouTube facility and discovered the vast number of excellent documentaries -- far better than almost all of what you might get on truevisions -- on it, I dumped the Gold package and switched to a cheap package that gives me TV5Monde, the Sundance channel, TCM, the concerts channel and a few other things worth watching for 590 baht a month. That is OK.

I just bought a new Samsung TV , but passed on the offer of Internet capability because I assumed it was still a fairly new concept here and anything bought now would quickly be out of date.

Could you explain in the most basic terms what's involved? If you have an Internet connection with wifi, does the TV act like a computer monitor that you can use to view YouTube or whatever? If you have iTunes TV shows & movies or other videos on your PC can those somehow be watched on the TV? Assuming Netflix or Amazon movies can be viewed/subscribed to here will you be able to watch those without more hardware?

Thanks for the info. Dropping or downgrading True and using the money saved to buy a TV with those capabilities might be well worth it.

Edited August 18, 2013 by Suradit69

[uffe123]

Get IPM

Pay one time setup including box-HD. Have several english movies and 3 english news channels.

For the thai wife plenty of movies in thai, and lots of cartoons for the kids.

Also have all local channels. Great buy.

[CMFarang]

Yes, our 18 month Contract came to an end, Programs were cut and Price increased by 30% since we are now paying basic rate..

Lost 75% of the channels that I regularly watch, and the only way to get these (educational Channels ) back is to opt for a more expensive package.

I believe what they are really after is selling us a new Promotional Package with a 12 - 18 month term. AND keeping the educational channels at a higher cost to keep brain function down to a minimum.

Regardless, it will cost more to get the same thing back.

SO WE CANCELLED TRUE and use Local channels, Youtube, Torrents, DVD and anything else we choose for FREE.

TIT

Edited August 18, 2013 by CMFarang

[circusman]

Torrents are pretty much all illegal.

Is less than 2,000 baht a month for true going to kill you?

Do you have to choose between True payments or heart medicine?

[Neeranam]

http://livetv.ru/en/

I use the above to watch live sports - free.

[ezzra]

Get IPM

Pay one time setup including box-HD. Have several english movies and 3 english news channels.

For the thai wife plenty of movies in thai, and lots of cartoons for the kids.

Also have all local channels. Great buy.

What's IPM and how do you get it?

[HerbalEd]

Do what I did four years ago. Disconnect them, and torrent download all your media from movies.

Most sports are available directly off the internet as well. Cut the cable !!!

The beautiful part is there are no commercials. I won't open the whole can of worms, but why do we have to pay for cable, AND watch commercials anyway? People don't even ask themselves that, which is weird I think. And why in the hell do we have to watch them when we pay to go to a movie, that one is really strange. I think the entire torrenting community is jamming the proverbial stick right up the ass of these people who have taken advantage of us for far too long. Then there is the "but where is the money for these shows/movies going to come from if everyone downloads them" argument. I think advertisements in the future will be linked to free downloads of media directly from the studios. That will be the model: free, safe downloads and all you will have to do is put up with a minute or two of commercials. And, what media will be successful? GOOD media, not the stuff that has been advertised the most. The model will be there to spend less on advertising, and more on intriguing, thought provoking media. The best thing that has happened for consumer rights in our lifetime.

You see Thailand has a lot of copied software everywhere. In Europe there isn't much.

they tell us that software is so expensive because of the copied one.

But in fact in Thailand the same software is much cheaper that in Europe.

Competition if you can buy illegal software for 200 Baht at every corner. The Original will be 2000 Baht. If the illegal is banned the legal one will be 10.000 Baht. And the shareholder value increases.

You must not have noticed that software is much, much cheaper than it was five and ten years ago. Sure there are a few exceptions but I am amazed that I can download a very useful app for my iPhone or iPad and pay as little as zero or $1.00 to $3.00 ... sometimes more. Sometimes I'm disappointed, but what the hell ... it cost me so little that I don't care.

[HerbalEd]

Yes, our 18 month Contract came to an end, Programs were cut and Price increased by 30% since we are now paying basic rate..

Lost 75% of the channels that I regularly watch, and the only way to get these (educational Channels ) back is to opt for a more expensive package.

I believe what they are really after is selling us a new Promotional Package with a 12 - 18 month term. AND keeping the educational channels at a higher cost to keep brain function down to a minimum.

Regardless, it will cost more to get the same thing back.

SO WE CANCELLED TRUE and use Local channels, Youtube, Torrents, DVD and anything else we choose for FREE.

TIT

Unfortunately for me, most of the legal, quality on-line media is blocked here in Thailand. Even most of the stuff that requires payment. Has to do with what the owners of the media have licensed for other countries.

[stoneyboy]

When the Internet in Thailand offers me 50MB and beyond through a fibre optic cable I might consider downloading until then the ridiculously slow speed I get,I'll stick to the satellite TV.

[i claudius]

We have true ,mainly for history ,nat geo and the like ,i also use pirate bay ,no problem ,just baught a new samsung tv ,but didnt bother with the internet one as its not that good ,but when i was in the uk i purchased an apple i tv box ,which is wireless and lets me use you tube on the tv ,pity but its not sold here .

ps ours went down 100 baht as well when the lost football i think ,pity they dont lose all sport and cut the price

Edited August 18, 2013 by i claudius

[thaimat]

I cut my subscription after I realized that the"HD" was, It seemed to me, about 360p, whereas the minimum decent quality for HD, is 780p, IMO. Their HD looked like crap on my HD tv, so I cut them, and have been happy that I did. HD sports and movies found on the Internet at 780 and 1020p are really sharp and beautiful. When they take a 1020p feed, and shrink it down to 240 or 360, it should not be called HD.

[Suradit69]

When the Internet in Thailand offers me 50MB and beyond through a fibre optic cable I might consider downloading until then the ridiculously slow speed I get,I'll stick to the satellite TV.

That's what I was afraid of. The idea of Internet TV sounds good, but in practice it's probably still away off here for any sort of dependable, quality service.

[stoneyboy]

When the Internet in Thailand offers me 50MB and beyond through a fibre optic cable I might consider downloading until then the ridiculously slow speed I get,I'll stick to the satellite TV.

That's what I was afraid of. The idea of Internet TV sounds good, but in practice it's probably still away off here for any sort of dependable, quality service.

Indeed it works flawlessly in the UK where Virgin Broadband are rolling out mind boggling speeds of 100 Mb through a fibre optic network,it's fact that copper wires and Internet just don't cut the mustard,like most things when relocating to Thailand we have to sacrifice these luxuries and go with what we've got,that's why so many on here myself included are always moaning,because the service and quality we experienced at home is not available here.

People are always trying to find the next best way to watch TV and have what they left behind because naturally they miss what they have always known.

[chrisinth]

"I have just received by monthly bill from Truevision. Not only have they stopped broadcasting the ELP but they've increased my monthly rental by Bht 282.48. (Gold package, two set top boxes)."

Are we talking about cable and/or satellite?

I've got the Gold satellite package that I pay for annually, so it's still 6 months 'til I would see an increase, I assume, but lately I've wondered whether renewing next year made sense. Some of the History, Discovery, National Geographic stuff is interesting, but other than that, whenever I do turn on the TV I spend 5 minutes checking what's on ... usually in vain.

My building gives us Sophon cable for Baht 200 a month. It's pretty horrible, but Baht 200 a month for horrible is better than about Baht 1500 a month for horrible. I realize True has little control over content of those channels they offer, but most of the movies and series seem to be little more than soap operas or police over-the-top dramas that hinge to a large extent on vampires or guns or vampires with guns, none of which appeals to me.

I agree that the Discovery, History and Nat Geog channels have some interesting programming, but more than half of it is mediocre or worse, and when you are watching the good, intelligent stuff, you get interruptions every six or seven minutes for the most utterly gross trailing of future programmes, an ugly and loud sequence of rapid images aimed at mentally deficient teenagers.

Once I got myself an internet-enabled TV with a specific YouTube facility and discovered the vast number of excellent documentaries -- far better than almost all of what you might get on truevisions -- on it, I dumped the Gold package and switched to a cheap package that gives me TV5Monde, the Sundance channel, TCM, the concerts channel and a few other things worth watching for 590 baht a month. That is OK.

I just bought a new Samsung TV , but passed on the offer of Internet capability because I assumed it was still a fairly new concept here and anything bought now would quickly be out of date.

Could you explain in the most basic terms what's involved? If you have an Internet connection with wifi, does the TV act like a computer monitor that you can use to view YouTube or whatever? If you have iTunes TV shows & movies or other videos on your PC can those somehow be watched on the TV? Assuming Netflix or Amazon movies can be viewed/subscribed to here will you be able to watch those without more hardware?

Thanks for the info. Dropping or downgrading True and using the money saved to buy a TV with those capabilities might be well worth it.

As your new TV does not have Internet capability, an easy way around it is to connect either a notebook or PC through an HDMI cable and what you see on your computer will be what you see on your TV screen. So, if you are streaming on the PC, that's what you will get on your TV. If you are playing a movie on the PC, that's what you get on the TV. A little dated approach, but still works well...........

There are also android apps (require some additional hardware) which will 'convert' your TV to showing internet content.

[peterdk]

Get IPM

Pay one time setup including box-HD. Have several english movies and 3 english news channels.

For the thai wife plenty of movies in thai, and lots of cartoons for the kids.

Also have all local channels. Great buy.

What's IPM and how do you get it?

http://www.ipmtv.tv

[EyesWideOpen]

"I have just received by monthly bill from Truevision. Not only have they stopped broadcasting the ELP but they've increased my monthly rental by Bht 282.48. (Gold package, two set top boxes)."

Are we talking about cable and/or satellite?

I've got the Gold satellite package that I pay for annually, so it's still 6 months 'til I would see an increase, I assume, but lately I've wondered whether renewing next year made sense. Some of the History, Discovery, National Geographic stuff is interesting, but other than that, whenever I do turn on the TV I spend 5 minutes checking what's on ... usually in vain.

My building gives us Sophon cable for Baht 200 a month. It's pretty horrible, but Baht 200 a month for horrible is better than about Baht 1500 a month for horrible. I realize True has little control over content of those channels they offer, but most of the movies and series seem to be little more than soap operas or police over-the-top dramas that hinge to a large extent on vampires or guns or vampires with guns, none of which appeals to me.

I agree that the Discovery, History and Nat Geog channels have some interesting programming, but more than half of it is mediocre or worse, and when you are watching the good, intelligent stuff, you get interruptions every six or seven minutes for the most utterly gross trailing of future programmes, an ugly and loud sequence of rapid images aimed at mentally deficient teenagers.

Once I got myself an internet-enabled TV with a specific YouTube facility and discovered the vast number of excellent documentaries -- far better than almost all of what you might get on truevisions -- on it, I dumped the Gold package and switched to a cheap package that gives me TV5Monde, the Sundance channel, TCM, the concerts channel and a few other things worth watching for 590 baht a month. That is OK.

I just bought a new Samsung TV , but passed on the offer of Internet capability because I assumed it was still a fairly new concept here and anything bought now would quickly be out of date.

Could you explain in the most basic terms what's involved? If you have an Internet connection with wifi, does the TV act like a computer monitor that you can use to view YouTube or whatever? If you have iTunes TV shows & movies or other videos on your PC can those somehow be watched on the TV? Assuming Netflix or Amazon movies can be viewed/subscribed to here will you be able to watch those without more hardware?

Thanks for the info. Dropping or downgrading True and using the money saved to buy a TV with those capabilities might be well worth it.

You do not need an internet capable TV. Any TV with HDMI cable connections works fine. If you want to watch youtube programs, after your TV is hooked to your computer, just play you tube on your computer and it will then be playing on your TV set.

Download Utorrent onto your computer. Then download VLC movie player onto your computer. Both programs are free. Then connect your computer to your TV set , which acts as a external monitor. So set the display option on your computer as duplicate displays. On your TV select the HDMI jack for the cable you plugged in from your computer. Then go to Pirate Bay site on the internet, which has endless movies, TV series, documentaries, Thai movies, etc. You name it, and it is there.

Click on a movie you like, which will start downloading. Once it is downloaded to your computer, right click on it and play it with VLC movie player. VLC will play any format of movie, so that is why everybody uses it. And voila, the movie will now be playing on your TV screen.

This system makes watching cable TV look like something out of the 80s. The concept of sitting down at your TV at 9 at night, turning on HBO and praying that a movie will be on you have not seen before is absurd. I have a collection of about 1000 movies I have not seen before. So I sit down when I want, and watch the movie I want. Also the selection of movies is boggling. If you missed some great movie from the 90s, no problem. Just click and download it.

A few of my favorites

1. Finest documentary ever made is Human Planet by BBC.

2. Breaking Bad is a fantastic American TV series

I used to have UBC satellite . They were under the illustration I was a captive audience, and would keep jacking up their rates. They found out they were wrong when I canceled the service. If your girlfriend/wife loves lakorn, no worries as that is freely available on the internet as well.

The process is simple. With cable TV, a programmer somewhere is deciding what you watch, and when you can watch it. With internet based media, you decide what you watch and when you watch it......

There are a lot of Thai movies on Pirate Bay that also have English subtitles, so you can watch together with your wife......

Edited August 18, 2013 by EyesWideOpen

[peterdk]

When the Internet in Thailand offers me 50MB and beyond through a fibre optic cable I might consider downloading until then the ridiculously slow speed I get,I'll stick to the satellite TV.

That's what I was afraid of. The idea of Internet TV sounds good, but in practice it's probably still away off here for any sort of dependable, quality service.

Indeed it works flawlessly in the UK where Virgin Broadband are rolling out mind boggling speeds of 100 Mb through a fibre optic network,it's fact that copper wires and Internet just don't cut the mustard,like most things when relocating to Thailand we have to sacrifice these luxuries and go with what we've got,that's why so many on here myself included are always moaning,because the service and quality we experienced at home is not available here.

People are always trying to find the next best way to watch TV and have what they left behind because naturally they miss what they have always known.

In Northern EU at least, they implemented Vdsl2 standard on the regular copper lines. Basically 40 Mbit internet on the same old copper cables that used to support 33,3 kbit dial up.

So with a 40 Mbit you can stream HD easily. So the copper does cut the mustard. ;-)