Chang Mai Help Requested

[rob1599]

Hello all. I am currently back home in the US after living the past couple of years on and off in Bangkok. I am lucky enough to run my business via the internet with a trip back to the US every 6 months or so. Anyway when I return to Thailand after Songkran I was hoping to stay somewhere other than Bangkok. I had thought about staying near a beach somewhere down south and probably will eventually but I have been thinking that I might like to give Chang Mai a try.

I have never been there so I have a couple of questions. Is it possible to get a nice clean apartment there for a couple of months for less than 8000 a month? I do have a requirement of having internet so I was wondering if the apartments there have DSL available?

Any help would be greatly appreciated,

Rob

[CM451]

Yes, I think you will be able to find something short term for that price. High speed phone service is now going in-one area at a time (I just went to sign up yesterday and my area is on a 2 month wait) , so you will have access to high speed internet but chances are not "in" your short term rental, but at one of the internet cafes around.

[rob1599]

I figured that would be the situation. How much do the cafes that have high speed connections charge up there? Are they open 24 hours?

Thanks,

Rob

[Zendesigner]

most of them are open 24 hours and they charge between 30 and 60 bath an hour so quite cheap compared to pattaya and bangkok.

Also chiangmai has some open wireless spots as mentioned in another thread.

B

[MinutePigglet]

Rob,

No beach in Chiangmai.

Pattaya has all you need, but, well, it's Pattaya. Lots of infrastructure there.

Chiangmai has very limited xDSL coverage. Rents at 8000 are easily doable.

Finding both is the trick. If you want xDSL you need to be practically IN the city.

You'll need to check with TT&T to confirm doability, which is a trick if your Thai is not up to snuff.

I've been learning to live on less. Much less. < 56kbps.

Then again if your business depends on it... try Pattaya.

[meadish_sweetball]

You will easily find decent accomodation for under 8000, unless your demands are extremely high.

As far as I know, no apartment building has xDSL included in the bargain - but it's bound to be here within two years.

The problem at present is that owners of apartment buildings/condos are reluctant to let you install a direct line. In my experience, 95 % of the places have a telephone exchange downstairs through which calles are routed. You will be cut off after a certain amount of time.

After five weeks of looking around I managed to negotiate a deal with the owner of a decent (but by no means special) condo. They would give me a direct line if I paid them 300 baht per month for loss of the profit they might gain from the telephone exchange. Suits me perfectly as that's a very small fee, and I can use my telephone line to be virtually permanently connected (only it's 56 Kbps max, and no broadband connection). I buy 63-hour packs of internet hours (Loxinfo) for one of which I pay 600 baht.

For me, it works out fine. No Thai phone company or ISP has been able to present me with a DSL alternative which makes more sense economically.

As far as I know, the DSL "unlimited Internet access" deals they boast about are still for Thai sites (.th) only, and as soon as you surf out on .com or anything more international, they charge by the hour. To me, that is rude.

I don't use the Net for audio and video purposes, and so I have no actual need for a quicker connection - but I will upgrade to DSL when the prices become reasonable (not exceeding 150% of what I am currently paying).

[Lordfoul]

meadish_sweetball sounds like you were very unlucky... When I moved here 2 years ago I checked out 10 different condo/apartments all but one said a direct line was fine, no charge. It may be because I was only looking at inexpensive places .. It's possible that the more expensive places really try to screw you.

Anyway I believe that Nakorn Ping Condos are sub 8000bt and the rooms are wired with dsl (shared) but there is an extra charge to use it, My memory on the price might be wrong though.

[meadish_sweetball]

Lordfoul:

Sounds like you got yourself a sweet deal... your info admittedly makes me a little irritated that I did not find these places you talk about.

2 questions about Nakorn Ping Condos - 1. Shared DSL - how many rooms per line? Is the connection speed actually better than a 56 K modem - I am no expert, but it seems to me that if you share the same connection with others, the speed is bound to suffer, right?

2. Do you know their address/phone no? I might contact them to find out and will then be able to report the info here.

[rob1599]

Thanks for all the advice. Pattaya is out, I stayed there for 1 month before and that is not the life for me. I just want to try Chiang Mai for a month or so before I go to probably Krabi or some other place in the south. I guess I will try to find a nice apartment near a cafe with good high speed connections. If anyone has a particular internet place they can recommend I would like to hear about it.

Thanks,

Rob