Working online from thailand for a month? Need help please.

[thaivisitor1sttime]

Hi everyone.

My life has been extremely <deleted> for some time and I am planning to visit Thailand for a month. It would be wonderful if you could answer my questions.

First and most important question. I work online for some company in US. During my visit, I am planning to work from Thailand. How good is the internet speed (especially ping times) in Thailand? Would I be able to do remote desktop to my office from there?

I literally know nothing about Thailand. Can you please make some suggestions about which parts to visit? I am mostly interested in:

• Going to bars and meeting new ladies at nights (no prostitutes)
• Seeing exotic animals (elephants/tigers/etc) in the weekend.
• Seeing exotic places in the weekend.

How much should I expect to pay for some secure location in Thailand? I am planning to rent a room/house for a month. During that time, I will be working from there every day. I will have some expensive company equipment with me. So security is a must.

Thanks a lot for your help.

[craigt3365]

Internet speeds can be anywhere from fantastic to lousy. Depends on where you are. And if there are any problems with the connections to the US. Not long ago, one of the undersea cables was damaged during a storm and connections were poor, at best, for several days. You just never know...but this was a bit of a rare event. When you pick a place to stay, you'll have to investigate this closely.

You've got a few choices for places to stay. First, I'd highly recommend you get a guide book. Lonely Planet, Rough Guide, whatever. They do a great job of covering the country and describing the highlights...as well as lots of good practical advise about electricity, health, safety, etc. Worth the investment. And good for reading while you are on the incredibly long journey here. LOL

Bangkok is a great city. Especially for bars and night clubs. It's a happening place. And it's centrally located, so easy to explore lots of great places on the weekends. From a personal point of view, avoid riding elephants and petting tigers. These are dodgy operations that abuse these poor creatures. Do some research and make your own judgement. Though there is a great elephant sanctuary up in Chiang Mai, no riding allowed. Easy to fly up to CM for a weekend.

You might help us out with what your budget is. You can get a room anywhere from $500 a month all the up to as much as you want to spend. I'd say for a nice, secure, clean place with good internet, you'd be looking at maybe $800-1000 for a short term, one month rental in a fully furnished place...centrally located. Make sure it's near the BTS!

[mikebike]

"I literally know nothing about Thailand"...

Seeing as you have some very unique requirements I would suggest you use the internet thang you work on to do some in-depth research about Thailand. What you are proposing is totally do-able depending on your level of tolerance, patience and expectation...

[EmptyHead]

Meeting ladies who aren't prostitutes may prove difficult for a first time tourist. If you are in BKK, visit RCA nightclub street (mostly regular Thais go there). All the taxi drivers will know it.

Also, beware of women who aren't (technically) prostitutes, but just want you for your money. This will not end well for you.

[KittenKong]

By definition the ping Thailand/US will be poor, because it's a long way. There's nothing you can do about it. That said, it wont stop remote desktop applications from working fine, albeit with some delay (I use them a lot). If you are thinking of doing something that involves very fast responses (trading?) via remote desktop then you probably should think again and see if you cant cut out the remote desktop part.

[thaivisitor1sttime]

Thanks for your help. I will check the travel guides that you mentioned.

I am planning to spend around 700$ for the rent for a month.

On the other hand, I can go up to 1000$ if it is really worth it. I just want to make sure it is a secure place with a good internet speed.

I heard things about the bars in Bangkok being slow in week days. Is this just a rumour? If you have anyy other suggestion than Bangkok, I am all ears.

Also, lets say I decided that I want to stay in Bangkok. What is the best way to find a room/house in Bangkok without getting scammed?

Thanks again for your help.

[craigt3365]

I think bar/clubs in most cities around the world tend to be quieter during the week vs weekends. But you can always find a lively place in Bangkok. And don't rule out beer bars. I've had some wonderful times in beer bars. Playing pool, having a great time, and going home alone. Thong Lor is a new area for bars...and few working girls. Some bars are worse than others when it comes to this.

For places to rent, you can try here:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/forum/73-thailand-accommodation-finding-forum/

Also, peruse the Bangkok sub forum for topics about this. I'm sure there are plenty.

Other than Bangkok, you've got quite a few options. Phuket, Chiang Mai, Samui, maybe Hua Hin? Each has advantages and disadvantages.

[thaivisitor1sttime]

I thank everyone for their comments. I will do a little bit further research and hopefully find something that suits my needs.

Thanks.

[steve187]

what sort of place are you hoping to find, busy city, smaller city, beach, country side, nightlife, secluded beaches, Thailand has it all, women, ladyboys, what are you hoping to get out of it, are you thinking of travelling 4 different places for a week at a time, or staying in one place as a base and maybe do a small amount of travelling. when are you thinking of coming, think on and ask questions on here, most folk on here are helpful, some are not so nice chaps. i would suggest getting a single entry tourist visa which would be good for a 60 day stay, and cab be extended for another 30 , this would give you the freedom of being able to extend your stay if required, lots of people do this and have to juggle their visas/ permission to stay stamps.all the best and welcome aboard

[dean008]

Sawasdee Smile Inn on Soi Ramabuttri near Kho San Road have an offer at them moment, 9000 baht a month (or 3000 a week) for a room with a/c tv........ and various Thai foods for just 39 baht.

Not sure what their internet is like, but with such a cheap room there are many other options for the internet.

Tigers, elephants are approx a 3 hour trip from BKK and the hotel have a very decent honest travel agent. There are a few Sawasdee hotels, not sure if you are interested, but this is one is Sawasdee Smile Inn.

Some friends stayed there, the room they wasn,t great but I believe the monthly rental ones are better

Thanks for your help. I will check the travel guides that you mentioned.

I am planning to spend around 700$ for the rent for a month.

On the other hand, I can go up to 1000$ if it is really worth it. I just want to make sure it is a secure place with a good internet speed.

I heard things about the bars in Bangkok being slow in week days. Is this just a rumour? If you have anyy other suggestion than Bangkok, I am all ears.

Also, lets say I decided that I want to stay in Bangkok. What is the best way to find a room/house in Bangkok without getting scammed?

Thanks again for your help.

[craigt3365]

I don't know their rates now, but stayed here many years ago...

http://www.patumwanhouse.com/

[Godfree2]

Read this datasheet: http://www.rooshvforum.com/thread-32193.html

[dddave]

If your livelihood depends on your continuing to do your professional online work while you are staying in Thailand, you should certainly make sure all websites and webtools you need for your work will be accessible to you here, especially if you are dealing in finance. You may need to link to your US based computer to complete some operations or set up a US based proxy.

If you plan on using debit/credit cards while in Thailand, you should notify your bank that you will be spending time here as Thailand is considered a security risk by many banks and they might deny transactions and suspend your account if not informed. BTW, ATM skimming happens a lot here so best to use only ATM's located in bank lobbies.

You can be sure that almost any Thai girl you meet casually; whether in a bar, coffee shop or some place of business, will have some sort of financial payment agenda in mind, be it short term...like just before she leaves your room or long term...taking care of her and her family for an extended, though probably finite period of time. Terms like "prostitute", "whore" or "hooker" are rarely heard here. Girls see themselves as looking after their families. Though there are certainly hard core girls around, most you will encounter, even in the bars, will be disarmingly sweet and accommodating...thus setting a sugar trap in which many first time visitors such as yourself find themselves irresistibly mired.

[fstarbkk]

The best you can hope for is ping times in the 300+ ms range.

[Torrens54]

You are not likely to meet any decent Thai Girls at ANY Bars, Pubs, Clubs etc., I'd suggest you make friends with some Ex-pats from your own country who LIVE here and if they think you are yourself a Decent Person, they may through their own work contacts or extended family, introduce you to a girl who you'd be proud to take back home with you.

Don't be in too much of a hurry to meet a girl. If you simply "must have" a girl in the first few days you are here, then, take your chances in the Bars but if you're looking for a proper relationship, it is worth taking a bit of time.

When you do find someone, BEFORE you "get in too deeply" make sure you MEET her Parents, Brothers/ Sisters at their HOME. See how they live and see if they are the kind of people you might consider as In-Laws in the future.

Best of luck!

[NCC1701A]

google will automatically restrict access to your email if they see Thailand as your location . make sure you have all the alternate emails, passwords and other requirements to regain access to your email accounts. This will also be true for other providers.

also you should know, "the internet" will go out very frequently, like when it rains. I use a AIS 3G Pocket Wifi 21.6 Mbps hot spot as backup. Cost for hardware is $50 US, and 10 gigs of data is 1600 baht per month.

[RandomSand]

I suggest you try to rent a condo from an expat who already has a dsl or cable internet line installed, working 100%, and not sharing wi-fi with anyone else.

Is your company equipment insured for your journey ?

Do you have a lockable pelican storm case? You know zippers on suitcases can be broken really easily... and laptops sometimes don't fit into room safes.

Personally if I was renting a room for a month I'd want to fit a padlocked security cupping device over the door handle. Make another thread like "how to secure room" if it's not obvious.

[IMA_FARANG]

I know you don't mean anything by it, and you are very likely to get any problems doing it, but there are two things I want you to understand:

• First, any "work" you do on-line is technically called "working" in Thailand and is not legal without a work permit. You will not be able to get a work permit on tourist visa or a visa exempt entry (30 day you get at the airport when you arrive). You will find that probably no one will bother you, but I just want to let you know that, at least officially you can NOT work "on-line" in Thailand without that work permit, and on a tourist visa. So, keep quiet about that, silence here is very golden
• Secondly, if you intend to arrive without a visa (the 30 day thing again), you may be questioned by the airline at check-in and possibly told to purchase a ticket out of Thailand. If you already have purchased a return ticket, or a ticket outside of Thailand, the airline probably won't bother you. But if you don't have a ticket outside of Thailand at the end of that 30 day stay, the airline MAY insist on you purchasing a ticket before they let you board your flight to Thailand.
• And thirdly, please understand, you are NOT likely to find a nice girl for the month in Thailand, but you may find a "friendly" one. Expect to pay for that friendship. Condoms of course are required. For one thing, Thailand has a high HIV rate.

But the you probably already knew that last one.

Enjoy your time in Thailand, but don't be a fool.

[fey]

make sure your getting your work done. that means coming home and getting online at night if your doing us daylight hours.

hard to work if your drunk or rushing back from a bar when everyone else is partying the night away. also hard to work on the phone with company sleeping over. especially with that party agenda access how much you know yourself and what discipline you have.

internet speed and access is a non-issue get a data plan.