Laptops, how many BM's take them to patts

[Glynrhedyn]

If you are staying in a secure hotel, I would say take it!

Get yourself a Kensington lock so you can secure it. I know some hotels have anchorage for this purpose, however, if you have a small netbook type, theres always the room safe.

 

I found my L/top invaluable, as I was able to keep in touch with friends, and access PA for the latest info etc. Also good for contacting the insurance company, by email, if you are unfortunate enough to be unwell etc.

 

So many Hotels & Bars are now offering Wi Fi.

 

If the speed of the connection is a little slow, remember this is Thailand!

Same, same. I bought an Esus 7 inch laptop just for holidays and keeping in touch. Much easier to deal with e-mails in loom before going out and wasting time in an internet cafe. The Esus is so small it easily fits in any in-loom safe.

GR.

[richmondfun]

I'm a little curious about the privacy issues. How competent are those looking at your laptop? Will they check to see if the logon information you gave them was Admin or just a regular account that couldn't see the hidden folders containing your data?

 

I realize that they might take issue if they managed to find those hidden folders to which the account had no access, but what are the odds...and what would they do about it?

[Catamaran]

It's must have for me. Remote sysadmin would otherwise not be possible.

Then there are the benefits of accessing this site and staying in touch with members.

It could be a lifeline for the time when a girl gets under your skin and you want to marry her!

A quick post on PA, and all's well again, lol.

 

I think it would also make for a decent alternate activity, as in posting a trip report

while there. There are lots of reasons to have one.

 

I was thinking of showing the girls some sites where they could do a virtual

makeover, like "hairstyles", etc., just to get into their heads and do girly things with them.

"Oooh hansum, take picture please, I want you show me how make makeover".

You know, the little things in life....

Edited October 30, 2009 by Catamaran

[Daniel36]

I always bring my laptop for pics and to look up information about places to travel and for forums like this. I've never had a customs agent ask me to turn on the computer and I've been through many times.

[spore]

If you have information on you computer that you dont want to show to customs or you have any personal files that you might be reluctant to share you can always use truecrypt with hidden volumes easy, fast and almost 100% secure..

[jbones13]

I don't travel with mine, what's the point? Some hotels / condos have laptops in their rooms. I can go online with my phone if need be, not to mention the little Internet stores where you can go online for cheap. Just not worth the hassel or the worry for me. Not to mention the possibility of customs rummaging through your crap, wasting your time.

[farang1]

I always travel with my MacBook Air. I stay in the Sandy Spring and use their WiFi which has presented a few frustrations including the fact they charge for it. But it works and it is reasonably fast.

 

/quote]

 

I always stay at Sandy Springs, but the next time I go will be the first time I take my computer with me. I promised a girl I see regularly there I would show her how to use the internet on my next visit. But you are right, their price of 120 per hour is exorbitant. In the past I have gone away from the hotel for my internet needs. However, I make it a point to keep any commitment made to the girls I meet, and this one is special.

[Bakwan]

I always take my laptop with me. I want to be able to access Pattaya-Addicts (as well as a number of other sites).

 

A good WiFi connection is important. It doesn't have to be extremely High Speed, as long as it's fast enough for Skype (and video calls require greater bandwidth although I can do without the video if I have to).

 

So, when I'm looking for a hotel, I always try to make sure they have WiFi and I have a strong preference for those that specifically say they have FREE WiFi.

 

And, regarding U.S. Customs (actually, it's: U.S. Customs and Border Protection), I was required to let them inspect my laptop once (out of about a dozen trips). They did ask for my password (my operating system is set to require a password during boot-up) and they wouldn't let me watch while they spent about 5 minutes looking through my files (I tried to watch but they said "Go stand over there" where I couldn't see the screen). I strongly object and think this is a gross invasion of privacy, but what can you do? (They also asked me where I went in Thailand and when I said Pattaya, they wanted to know WHY I went to Pattaya, WHAT I DID in Pattaya, etc. - Highly irritating! I told them I like the beach.)

 

I don't think I have anything on my computer that they would find illegal. But for anything that might be borderline (X-rated pictures of Bar Girls, etc.) I think spore's suggestion, in post no. 80, above, is a good one. They're not supposed to even be able to prove that a hidden volume exists.

 

Bakwan

[Condor]

I enjoy taking my eee netbook with me (Asus) because I can put a few movies on SD and watch them on the plane if I don't like the choices they offer. Once in LOS I can email home or update for friends on Facebook. I've used it to map out plans for wandering or how to get to temples, etc on the rentabike, but this time I've found this forum so I'll be able to contact members and check out ideas for where to spend the evening and who to spend it with!!! Great invention. I'll also take my phone and try to get a sim installed this time.

[englishman]

I take a little HP net book with me , it's great for keeping in touch and doing a little work if need be and also for doing up a day by day trip report for the forum.

Reading about US customs going through people files it was the same for me upon my return to Canada.

Question " where did you come from

Answer "Thailand"

Question " do you have a laptop with you"

Answer "Yes"

"Come with me"....Same thing wanted to look through everything with out me seeing what they were doing, wanted to know why I had encrypted files, I keep my account numbers/ passwords etc in these files as I can't remember all this stuff.

I asked them what they were looking for and they said illegal stuff like hate literature Etc , yeah right !

I guess the priest that returned from Thailand with kiddie porn on a laptop had nothing to do with them checking for this stuff!.

I don't have anything on mine that's even remotely risky so I have nothing to fear but as was said it is a gross invasion of privacy and very time consuming and a pain in the ass after a 20+ hour flight.

OH and BTW even though something is deleted it is still on your hard drive until it's over written and fairly easy to recover with the right know how and the right soft wear so be careful if you are uploading any pornographic stuff to a sever or your email, it just may be recoverable !

[joppy]

I took a laptop with me and used it with my mobile phone (12call Thai) using PC Suite program. Connection was quite slow, but enough for email and newspapers. It costs 1 Baht a minute. No problems whatsoever with using that.

[maggies run]

i never use to take my laptop to patts ..

but my regular girl brought hers along and i found it so convenient ..

 

connection at galaxy suites is pretty fast ...

 

well definately bring my vaio next time

[richmondfun]

Has anyone ever run a speedcheck while staying in Pattaya? How fast is the Internet service in Pattaya's hotels? I'm addicted to MMORPGs and Torrent downloads. I'd like to know if they're likely to work in Pattaya.

[PepeLePew]

Has anyone ever run a speedcheck while staying in Pattaya? How fast is the Internet service in Pattaya's hotels? I'm addicted to MMORPGs and Torrent downloads. I'd like to know if they're likely to work in Pattaya.

 

I think you'll be addicted to other things whilst in Pats!

[Mike Asia]

Has anyone ever run a speedcheck while staying in Pattaya? How fast is the Internet service in Pattaya's hotels? I'm addicted to MMORPGs and Torrent downloads. I'd like to know if they're likely to work in Pattaya.

 

the hotels and their wireless are very slow, if you can get 1Mbps you will get a hard on.

[phoenix2jack]

Does anyone know how fast the upload speeds are at the internet cafes?

 

I uploaded a 288mg video to youtube from home the other day and it took me three hours on ADSL 2! WTF!

[soundblaster]

I always bring it with me. As long as the internet connection is good enough for surfing, it's good enough.

[riki]

Got my 10 inch net book with me on this trip, just fits into the rooms safety deposit like the size of the netbook was designed with the size of the safe in mind.

 

Good to pass a few hours from time to time and thai girls are happy to play solitaire and other games on it when otherwise not preoccupied!

[Dr Mindbender Jr]

Wi-fi is a must have not only for connecting back home but for email and checking up on work related things. Plus its my favorite way of askign questions and getting answers ina hurry being that I just don't give my mobile number to just anybody.

[BMOC]

Since my company picks up my tab for company trips to Thailand, I bring my laptop whereever I go. Of course my company trips should only be 2~3 days a week in Bangkok but I just happen to stop by Pattaya for 3 days before returning back to home base. I've stayed at LK Renaissance many times and the hotel safe is big enough for my Lenovo T60p. The connection is good for streaming from my slingbox in the US so I can watch my favorite teams and important ballgames like the World Series (woot Yankees!... and football of course... oh well the Jets lost). I've also stayed at Marriot and while the connection was ok, I had to pay a steep price for it. I also stayed at the Tim Boutique hotel and had to pay for wifi which did not work well at all.

[Boatman]

I always bring my 15" laptop. I hide it the best I can so it isn't in plain sight.

I have NEVER had an in-room safe big enough to hold it, which sure would be nice....I think I'll get a little netbook for next trip.

[Jordan2210]

I didn't take my laptop with me when I went this last summer, but I am looking to downsize from a 15" down to a 10" netbook. I figure it is pretty cheap and convenient. You can get one for about 300-400 so it costs about as much as a few nights out anyways if it gets stolen; not a terrible loss.

 

Luckily I was traveling with a guy that had an Asus eee1000 so I could check email and facebook on there. It is really helpful if you are travelling around Thailand instead of just staying in Pattaya because it really helps to be able to check out hostels and hotels in different cities before you leave.

 

So that is what I plan to use it for: finding accomodations, email, skype, storing pictures, keeping up with PA, and facebook. I'd love to find some kind of work that I could do through the internet too though.

[knifepoint]

It's a question of infrastructure and priorities. If you look at Japan, then most of Europe (and I suspect Australia too) are stuck in the dark Ages when it comes to internet speed.

 

Japan is the fastest provider of internet access in the world. Not to mention 95% of EU countries.

 

Australia on the other hand sucks cocks.

[jayboat]

For my next trip, i'll be renting a condo and i'll deffo be bringing my lappy with me. Will save me a bunch of time sitting in internet shops. Using the computers in your hotel is ok till its out of order are someone sits on it all day.

[Audiofool]

I voted even though I haven't been to Pattaya, Yet. I am however planning on bringing my Asus EeePc 1000 netbook (2 gig memory and 40 GB SSD)

 

I'll use it for checking email and uploading any pictures or videos to an on-line storage account. There will be nothing on my computer or memory cards for customs to find. I'll even scrub the drive and memory cards before heading home, not that I'm planning on taking any questionable photos or videos

 

I'd prefer a faster connection, but it's not a deal breaker. reliability is much more important.