Phuket to gain 1,000 free Wi-Fi hotspots to cover beaches

[rooster59]

Phuket to gain 1,000 free Wi-Fi hotspots to cover beaches 

Suthicha Sirirat

 

Patong already has 120 free Wi-Fi hotspots up and running. Photo: Sasint
 

PHUKET: The Phuket Smart City policy will see 1,000 free Wi-Fi hotspots available across Phuket, with every major tourist beach covered under a B240 million project that is expected to start rolling out by the end of next month.

 

Patong already has 120 free hotspots up and running, and another 29 are in operation in Phuket Town and Saphan Hin, Chaiyut Rodjanapittayakul, Manager of the CAT Telecom Phuket office, told The Phuket News on Wednesday (Jan 4).

 

The hotspots provide 100/25Mbps connection speeds. “They are active now,” Mr Chaiyut said.

 

In Patong, free hotspots are operating along Thaweewong Rd (beach road), Bangla Rd, Rath-U-Thit 200 Pee Rd and at Patong Police Station and Patong Hospital.

 

“On the beach road, free Wi-Fi extends all the way to Kalim junction,” Mr Chaiyut said.

 

“We also aim to have more free hotspots along Thalang Rd in Phuket Old Town in time for Chinese New Year on Jan 28,” he added.

 

CAT has already secured the B240mn budget to roll out the rest of the 1,000 hotspots, Mr Chaiyut noted.

 

“We are only waiting for official internal approval from the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society to install the rest of the hotspots. We expect to have that approval by the end of February,” he said.

 

“Once complete, Phuket will have free Wi-Fi on every major beach, at every municipal office and tourism attraction on the island by the end of 2017,” Mr Chaiyut said.

 

Full story: http://www.thephuketnews.com/phuket-to-gain-1-000-free-wi-fi-hotspots-to-cover-beaches-60535.php#0KiFM14SZshs29xb.97

 

 

 

-- © Copyright Phuket News 2017-01-07

 

 

 

[williamgeorgeallen]

sounds too good to be true. anyone used them?

 

[The man from udon]

240,000b for each router?  And for the beach.why on earth would you want to go to the beach with a laptop/iPad.as soon as you go for a swim it'll get stolen.sand and keyboards don't mix.i just don't get this one.the money could be better spent on safety and security of tourists.

[DrDave]

1 hour ago, The man from udon said:

240,000b for each router?  And for the beach.why on earth would you want to go to the beach with a laptop/iPad.as soon as you go for a swim it'll get stolen.sand and keyboards don't mix.i just don't get this one.the money could be better spent on safety and security of tourists.

Take a look at all of the tourists on the beaches in Phuket. Nearly every one of them has a smartphone, and is using Facebook, Line, Skype, etc when not taking selfies.

 

[Nurseynutcase]

17 hours ago, The man from udon said:

240,000b for each router?  And for the beach.why on earth would you want to go to the beach with a laptop/iPad.as soon as you go for a swim it'll get stolen.sand and keyboards don't mix.i just don't get this one.the money could be better spent on safety and security of tourists.

 

I live in Kata and take my notebook to the beach most days.  There is a seven hour time difference between here and the UK so I use my computer to skype/e-mail/sms in the afternoon.  therefore I do not wake people up in the middle of the night in the UK.

 

Cannot use a smart phone - I only have a dumb phone, so the free wi-fi hotspots will be much cheaper than the mobile wi-fi I use at the moment.

[The man from udon]

1 hour ago, Nurseynutcase said:

 

I live in Kata and take my notebook to the beach most days.  There is a seven hour time difference between here and the UK so I use my computer to skype/e-mail/sms in the afternoon.  therefore I do not wake people up in the middle of the night in the UK.

 

Cannot use a smart phone - I only have a dumb phone, so the free wi-fi hotspots will be much cheaper than the mobile wi-fi I use at the moment.

One to call 199 baht a month,3-4g unlimited use,not much of a big deal really especially if you can afford to live in kata as I did for many years.240,000 baht for a router that comes free with installation? There's going to be a few new Mercedes running around phuket soon.the money would of been better spent on life guards and maybe some cctv on the death trap shores of Phuket.

[stevenl]

33 minutes ago, The man from udon said:

One to call 199 baht a month,3-4g unlimited use,not much of a big deal really especially if you can afford to live in kata as I did for many years.240,000 baht for a router that comes free with installation? There's going to be a few new Mercedes running around phuket soon.the money would of been better spent on life guards and maybe some cctv on the death trap shores of Phuket.

Maybe the money could be better spend.

 

But looking at the many people on the beaches who want to be connected because they need to let everybody know that the icecream they just bought is delicious is baffling. So you may think differently, but many people like to be connected 24/7 including during beach visits.

[impulse]

1 hour ago, The man from udon said:

One to call 199 baht a month,3-4g unlimited use,not much of a big deal really especially if you can afford to live in kata as I did for many years.240,000 baht for a router that comes free with installation? There's going to be a few new Mercedes running around phuket soon.the money would of been better spent on life guards and maybe some cctv on the death trap shores of Phuket.

 

First, there's the outdoor weatherproof and vandal resistant routers that have to be much stouter with longer range, better coverage and more capacity than anything that comes free.  Then you have to get power to those routers, then you need to get a signal to those routers.  That's a lot of wire, and a lot of fiber cable, and a lot of labor.  And I'd imagine, quite a few poles to keep it all out of the reach of thieves and vandals.  Even more labor $$$ if they do it right and bury everything instead of adding to the rat's nests already overhead.

 

Then you have the service itself, which stands to deprive one or more of the local ISP's of a lot of business as Thai's and expats and tourists alike figure out they don't need to pay for it since they can get it for free.  (And don't need to buy an $8 coffee just for the "free" wifi)  

 

240K sounds like a lot, but that's what industrial grade stuff like this costs.  Especially with 30-40% taken off the top for "incidentals".

 

BTW, I paid 799 baht in BKK for 12Gb (12GB? I don't remember) of 4G since I wasn't willing to sign up for a year.  Those "unlimited" plans include a very limited amount at full 3G or 4G speed, then it slows down to a crawl when you reach your plan's Gb.   In fairness, you do get unlimited aggravation for the rest of the month.

Edited January 8, 2017 by impulse

[AhFarangJa]

Sorry, but I must be getting old......People sat on the beach sending pics and messages.....I go to enjoy the sun, sea, sand, and yes, the scenery...Speechless....

[LivinginKata]

2 minutes ago, AhFarangJa said:

Sorry, but I must be getting old......People sat on the beach sending pics and messages.....I go to enjoy the sun, sea, sand, and yes, the scenery...Speechless....

 

It's the brave new connected world. Tourists don't send postcards by snail mail any more .... and talk using low cost/ even free mobile application like Skype and Line.

[Felt 35]

hmm...yeah... have we already forgot the tourist sim card so everyone could be tracked......now that would be difficult to explain in International circles...but free Wifi..free, never mind privacy and tracking then......

[Psimbo]

9 hours ago, AhFarangJa said:

Sorry, but I must be getting old......People sat on the beach sending pics and messages.....I go to enjoy the sun, sea, sand, and yes, the scenery...Speechless....

There are people where i live sat around the pool all day- they haven't even made it to the beach and its within earshot. Don't know why they bothered!

[Psimbo]

On 1/7/2017 at 4:25 PM, The man from udon said:

240,000b for each router?  And for the beach.why on earth would you want to go to the beach with a laptop/iPad.as soon as you go for a swim it'll get stolen.sand and keyboards don't mix.i just don't get this one.the money could be better spent on safety and security of tourists.

You really are a little ray of sunshine, aren't you? Maybe Udon would suit you better! 

[The man from udon]

On 07/01/2017 at 5:43 PM, DrDave said:

Take a look at all of the tourists on the beaches in Phuket. Nearly every one of them has a smartphone, and is using Facebook, Line, Skype, etc when not taking selfies.

 

Yes they are using Internet already with their devices on the beaches.so why spend 240 million baht on wifi? If you need Internet in a country that bad the thing to do is get a sim deal.199 baht a month or a few euros in the med.its a sad addiction spending your life glued to a computer or phone.

[The man from udon]

3 hours ago, Psimbo said:

There are people where i live sat around the pool all day- they haven't even made it to the beach and its within earshot. Don't know why they bothered!

Well matey.to tell you the facts.some people want to sit around a pool as it's more convenient,safer,private,there's many reasons why some don't go to the beach.as for you saying 'don't know why they bothered' I presume you mean don't know why they bothered coming on holiday because they sat around the pool instead of sitting on a beach.i think your idea of a holiday is all tourist must go to the beach.now go and sit in a dark corner and think.

[The man from udon]

3 hours ago, Psimbo said:

You really are a little ray of sunshine, aren't you? Maybe Udon would suit you better! 

Can't knock udon thani matey,cheap,clean and good people.do me a favour if your coming up this way...stay on the bus until you make it to Laos and I'm not a little ray of sunshine..I'm more of a wet fart in your face.

[sebastion]

Can't knock udon thani matey,cheap,clean and good people.do me a favour if your coming up this way...stay on the bus until you make it to Laos and I'm not a little ray of sunshine..I'm more of a wet fart in your face.

Your post just solidifies the stereotype of the issan expat. Please stay there.

Sent from my EVA-L19 using Tapatalk

[NamKangMan]

I have asked the question several times before, and yet to receive an answer.

 

"Name on positive thing that has been implemented on Phuket, in recent times, for the benefit of tourists, locals, and expats?" 

 

Well, IF this free WiFi materializes, this very well could be the first positive for Phuket in quite a while.  

[Reigntax]

Is that a picture of one of Patongs new routers or just a hotspot?

Edited January 9, 2017 by Reigntax
Typo

[LivinginKata]

39 minutes ago, Reigntax said:

Is that a picture of one of Patongs new routers or just a hotspot?

 

I would say - a hotspot :)