Bringing your laptop

[Guest]

Being such a lengthy trip this time around, I have no other option but to bring my laptop with me..
Been told to stay in touch with the real world, which really pisses me off

Now a few questions...from an unfriendly user...

1.. Can I connect to the thai phone lines without any trouble
2.. What costs can I expect?
3.. Do I need to have any sort of Thai adaptors?
4.. Can I access the forum without too much difficulty?
Or just simply plug in and away we go?

BK

[Mai-Kee]

I know what you're talking about Ken. It's actually quite a hassle to carry this bloody thing around and the Thai lines in general are crap. Normally I try to stay at places with wireless LAN, but even that sucks most of the time.....

MK

[Guest]

I have taken my latop with me the last few times and you will need an adapter but not a voltage converter as 220V and 50 Hz is normally fine. I have not tried the phones lines but the wireless access at some of the bigger hotels is not too bad considering.

[Guest]

As far as the forum goes I have had some problems accessing it recently from Patong but could ok in BKK. A while ago I offered to set up a proxy on one of my servers at home but nobody replied so I decided not to bother. If the demand is there I will do it for forum access only?

[Torurot]

That is a pretty generous offer Mr Ozzie. If you do this you will need nice DETAILED instructions so the computer ludites amoungst us can get thru from the Thai internet cafe's etc. "Practice" at home first. :-)

[BAM]

Look at the power pack that you use with your laptop... most will say on them 100 to 250 VAC. this is the voltage range your computer will run on. Thailand is 220 so you can just plug it right in. Don't worry about the 50/60Hz

Big hotels have LAN connections in the rooms. Marriott had great speed for Thailand that I clocked 300k up and down. Price was $16.95US per day (24 hours)

[Tomcat]

Plug into Phone line

The Thai Telephone plug is the same as USA RJ11 or maybe a RJ45 Lan system. Eitherway most laptops have this facility.

You can buy the linecord in most dept stores.Having said that you had better buy it before you come /

Mostgood hotels have a RJ11/RJ45 port

[Stewart]

Omni Towers Ethernet or USB modem 100 baht per week for your room, free wireless in the foyer

[Stewart]

Make that 1,000 Baht per week

[rxpharm]

You can purchase dial-up internet cards from 7-11, Pantip Plaza and pretty much any shop that sells computers.

Cost varies depending on whether you want country wide access or strictly Bangkok. Strictly Bangkok costs as low as 7 Baht/hour, while country wide access costs about 9 Baht/hour. As previously mentioned dial-up connection speeds vary according to the quality of the line. In the hotel I am at, I get 28.8, and they also charge 10 Baht for a local call (but no time limit).

If you want to access Asian TS - it has been discussed quite a bit previously that if you remove the "-" sometimes you can get around the block that the Thai ISPs use. You can also use a proxy site like Chris Semple
http://chrishemple.co.uk/proxy/nph-cookiesandmilk.pl

This can also help to get around the blocks that the Thai ISPs use, but slows down the browsing process. This actually will totally anonymize your browing so no one will know where you've been browsing!

Hope this helps!

[Guest]

Thanks fellas,,
Nothing too drastic by the sounds of things,,if I come to grief, a few baht in the right direction should fix the problem.
One thing I refuse to do is play mind games with computers...

Hopefully will be able to give daily updates..

BK

[Lotusman]

Guys,

Sometimes when I encounter "High Speed" lines that are crappy, I have found that dial-up can sometimes be better. Nana hotels where I've used dial-up include Marriott, Dynasty, Grand President, and President Solitaire. Even have connected using AOL....

Lotusman

[Todd]

Bali_ken,

I always bring my laptop.
Where there is no connection in the Hotel, I simply take it with me to an internet Cafe'
Use one of their cables, and off we go, no problem at all.

/T