TV/Internet viewing options

[woodenjake]

I realize every part of the country has different issues and availabilities, but in general, in most of the "ex-pat" areas is there access to cable tv that includes a variety of English-speaking channels or is it primarily satellite?  Lived in Belize for the last 6 years and through our cable provider we had almost all the Direct TV & Dish channels for about $15 month. Had decent internet for Netflix streaming but couldn't use our Amazon Prime except through a VPN. However, there were neighborhoods 5 minutes away that did not have cable or internet options. Will be moving to Thailand in the next few months and will be living in long-term rentals so want to know our TV/internet viewing options in various areas.  Will we have a bunch of US channel options? Do you use Netflix? Can we use an Amazon FireStick or other such adapters? Is the service erratic or does it work most of the time? Thanks for any help!

[soisanuk]

I live in Pattaya's Jomtien area - I use Sophon Cable (300 baht per month) which has numerous channels in Thai, English, French, German, and other languages.  I also have True Vision satellite which has channels in English and Thai -more expensive and prices vary depending on package -  you can check out their different "plans" by visiting their website (just search for True Visions Thailand).  As to Internet, there are several ISPs to choose from, many now have fiber optic connections in many areas - I have CAT fiber optic and usually have no problem streaming video.

[curtklay]

Pulse TV is the best internet option I have found. True Visions truly sucks.

 

https://pulse-tv.net/

[rapom]

43 minutes ago, curtklay said:

Pulse TV is the best internet option I have found. True Visions truly sucks.

 

https://pulse-tv.net/

 

There are better options thaty don't cost 10000 baht a month.

[trd]

There are better options thaty don't cost 10000 baht a month.

10,000 baht a year.

[RandG]

We use Netflix on 3BB in Phuket:  not through VPN. Works extremely well. No issues.

[WorriedNoodle]

Most towns in Thailand now offer 50mbps broadband from 590THB/month. Get that then sign up for IPTV services that are free or minimal charge. No need to use cable or satellite. I haven't watched Thai TV for about 10 years now.

[nickmondo]

1 hour ago, rapom said:

There are better options thaty don't cost 10000 baht a month.

like what?  

there are many available, but Pulse seems to be the best by far.

its 1,000 baht a month not 10k. 

[PeCeDe]

1 hour ago, WorriedNoodle said:

Most towns in Thailand now offer 50mbps broadband from 590THB/month. Get that then sign up for IPTV services that are free or minimal charge. No need to use cable or satellite. I haven't watched Thai TV for about 10 years now.

Hi "worried" I'm interested in what option you used for the free or minimal charge choice on IPTV.

[vogie]

1 hour ago, nickmondo said:

like what?  

there are many available, but Pulse seems to be the best by far.

its 1,000 baht a month not 10k. 

IPTV-CLUB 4,100 baht a year, 7 day catch up.

[rapom]

11 hours ago, nickmondo said:

like what?  

there are many available, but Pulse seems to be the best by far.

its 1,000 baht a month not 10k. 

I apologize for the extra "0". I had a macular tear in my left eye last spring and the surgery was not 100%. I now have the same condition in the right eye. Some letters in words are not visible.  As an example, if stare at the "m" in example the p and l disappear. So I have to scan left to right on each letter to read. I missed the extra zero. 

  I stream my Amazon Prime, free US based tv network shows and music that are regionally blocked. I also stream my Netflix from the US servers that offers more content than the Thai version. I use Smart DNS Proxy. It can unlock blocked access globally through its servers. They offer a 30-day free trial. I have used it for 2 months and it works like advertised. I stream through my laptop to my tv and have had no speed or latency issues. I subscribed for 2 years for a monthly cost of about $1.04. Check out their website. Here is a quick link if anyone is interested.                      

*Direct link edited out*

[IAMHERE]

I have a ROKU stick and it works fine, but same problem with Prime, Hulu, Slick, they won't play and I don't know how to get ROKU stick to go VPN.

[trd]

I apologize for the extra "0". I had a macular tear in my left eye last spring and the surgery was not 100%. I now have the same condition in the right eye. Some letters in words are not visible.  As an example, if stare at the "m" in example the p and l disappear. So I have to scan left to right on each letter to read. I missed the extra zero. 
  I stream my Amazon Prime, free US based tv network shows and music that are regionally blocked. I also stream my Netflix from the US servers that offers more content than the Thai version. I use Smart DNS Proxy. It can unlock blocked access globally through its servers. They offer a 30-day free trial. I have used it for 2 months and it works like advertised. I stream through my laptop to my tv and have had no speed or latency issues. I subscribed for 2 years for a monthly cost of about $1.04. Check out their website. Here is a quick link if anyone is interested.                         https://www.smartdnsproxy.com/?afid=9c06a12a3893

I just signed up for a free trial. The list of servers doesn't include the UK so no good for BBC iPlayer for those who need it.

[TommyTucker]

I have for many years watched my favourite BBC programmes via BBC iPlayer.
All you need is a good VPN, such as VPN Express and off you go.
We have fibre optic and the download speed is good. Download at night when you are sleeping and wake up to a big selection of programmes.
If you peruse the A-Z listings on iPlayer there are many hidden gems to discover.

[rapom]

15 minutes ago, trd said:

I just signed up for a free trial. The list of servers doesn't include the UK so no good for BBC iPlayer for those who need it.

Are you in the UK or Thailand. I just registered on BBC iPlayer and it worked for me. Now watching Dr Who, series 10: 1. The Pilot

[JayBird]

3bb works great with Netflix Thai servers. Plenty of content nowadays. Fast enough for UHD.

 

Amazon works but you need VPN as only Amazon originals are available in Thailand. No local servers I think so speed is slow.

 

BBC iplayer works great through VPN.

 

iflix is great and works without VPN. Get a lot of American shows soon after their season ends. Just got flash 3 and the latest arrow. Big catalog and only 1000thb a year.

 

 

 

Sophon and Tmn have some English channels but nothing great. You will get some news and NHK.

 

Unless you need live or sports the above should be sufficient.

[HHTel]

HDPrime.tv

Over 300 tv channels, the main ones with 'catch-up' and recording

Dozens of movies online

Dozens of box sets with the latest episodes of current series uploaded in 2 days

Even has 'xxx' hardcore if you're into that.

No downloading necessary

Cheaper than the now defunct ExpatTV

Less than 600 baht a month if you want everything.  More limited packages are cheaper of course.

 

I'm mega pleased with it.

[trd]

Are you in the UK or Thailand. I just registered on BBC iPlayer and it worked for me. Now watching Dr Who, series 10: 1. The Pilot

I'm in Thailand. If I was in the UK I wouldn't need a VPN. Anyhow I use Astrill VPN to watch BBC through the iPlayer. Astrill has servers worldwide.

[tlcwaterfall]

12 hours ago, trd said:

I just signed up for a free trial. The list of servers doesn't include the UK so no good for BBC iPlayer for those who need it.

Smart dns proxy.  UK servers are included.

 

BBC Iplayer is listed on their site along with many other UK sites.

[trd]

Smart dns proxy.  UK servers are included.
 
BBC Iplayer is listed on their site along with many other UK sites.

Yes you're right. I was mistakenly looking at the list of DNS server locations and didn't see the UK on it, but it's on the VPN list. Thanks. I'll try it today. My subscription for Astrill is due soon and it's $10 a month so I'll be interested if I get the same bandwidth with this cheaper alternative.

[tlcwaterfall]

11 minutes ago, trd said:

Yes you're right. I was mistakenly looking at the list of DNS server locations and didn't see the UK on it, but it's on the VPN list. Thanks. I'll try it today. My subscription for Astrill is due soon and it's $10 a month so I'll be interested if I get the same bandwidth with this cheaper alternative.

I am using their DNS service on their 14 day free trial.

 

So far the picture quality on all sites is very good. Will sign up for 1 year if the service continues to work well.

[Bangkok Barry]

Several of the IPTV sites have closed down recently as a result of people from one supplier being jailed. So go for monthly payments rather than the long-term cheaper annual fee.

[woodenjake]

Thank you all for some very detailed information... very helpful :)

[trd]

I am using their DNS service on their 14 day free trial.   So far the picture quality on all sites is very good. Will sign up for 1 year if the service continues to work well.

 

 

I've looked at BBC iPlayer through Smart DNS and signed up for the special lifetime deal of $17.90 per year. But it is inferior to Astrill VPN which is what I've been using for a long time. The bandwidth on Astrill is such that it maintains an HD quality stream, but Smart DNS has a lower bandwidth which makes the BBC server bump down the streaming quality. In fact it switches around a bit from SD to HD and back again which suggests the bandwidth isn't stable. On a yearly deal Astrill is $69.90 per year. 

 

I then decided to set up the Smart VPN and compare it with Smart DNS. Unfortunately it hasn't worked despite trying every protocol except OpenVPN. I just get connection error messages on 2 VPN server addresses in the UK. Astrill uses OpenVPN so I'll try that protocol with Smart VPN.

 

I also downloaded something from iPlayer using SmartDNS and it downloaded at 256KBs. I deleted it and downloaded it again via Astrill VPN and it clocked 2.2MBs which is 10 times faster.