WiFi in rural areas of Thailand.

I'm surprised by the amount of places in Thailand where free WiFi is available, but it's confined to city areas. Last trip I took my Mini HP Netbook which is set out exactly as my normal 15" HP laptop but less than half the size and weight. I don't have a tablet or iphone because for now my basic mobile & Thai SIM does all I need when in Thailand for communication and I like a compact phone for taking around evenings/nights.

I have the Mini Netbook for use in my room and maybe at the beach if I am catching up with emails etc... all my various hotel/apartment rooms have WiFi as do the beach concessions so no problem Pattaya or Bkk. The problem is when travelling around Thailand and when spending a few days in Issan at bfs village/town.
There is no public access WiFi. Sure there are internet cafes around but it's a hassle finding them and restricted opening times. My last visit I was advised that WiFi/internet connection out and about can only really be picked up through a dongle type of plug-in where you buy the small device and load it with a data allowance.

Anyone used this when in Thailand? I was advised it's about Bt1200-Bt1500 to buy the device then load at the prevailing data usage cost with whatever provider you choose. Anyone have any experience with this for how you go about getting one and maybe what the best provider might be? Any other ideas for alternatives would be appreciated. I wont be travelling with anything other than my basic Thai phone/SIM and HP Mini Netbook, so I wont be considering getting a phone/device with apps etc..

I don't have any experience with the "dongle" but probably works the same as 3G service shared by a cellphone to a laptop.
This is the way BF access wifi in the village (small place between Udon Thani and SakhonNakhon).

Works pretty good. True move is what he uses and we can use Skype video web chat without too many dropouts. Rain does seem to lower the connectivity.

Not sure if you are staying at BFs house when in Isan, but the "resort" where we stay when I visit has wifi included in the room rate. 500 baht a night for air conditioned bungalow. If you are taking a room during your visit, might be able to find someplace with wifi.

Good luck. Report back on what you decide to do and a review of the dongle, if possible.

This is probably not helpful at all. so I apologize in advance, but when BF was in his village I asked him how he managed to access the internet-- "Do you have wifi?" "No. No have. School have wifi. I go to (the) school." Is there a school nearby whose wifi you can--um--"borrow"?

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Originally Posted by Captain Swing

This is probably not helpful at all.

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On the contrary it is helpful as I have not yet explored the whole village for possibilities, never considered the school. Up to my last Thailand trip I either just used Internet Cafes or if I knew I would have to have a reliable internet device on a specific trip I would take a cumbersome 15" Laptop for use in hotels with WiFi, Bkk/Pattaya/larger thai cities. When visiting bfs village I just used the internet cafes as and when. I am finding so many aspects of life now where Internet access is 'normal' and there are some things I just cannot sort out/plan for things to be taken care of when away for a month or so.

I am not really 'tied' to the Internet, but one of the things the internet has moved forward is control of investments and others aspects of daily life. I have started to take more responsibility with my own investments, I have had an investment manager for 30 years who I used for personal and company investments, pensions etc.. and still do, but a couple years ago many of my investments were loaded onto a 'platform' where moving/buying/selling of equities etc.. is so much easier and extremely inexpensive compared to previous times. It is not a daily obsession or anything like it, but now if a major investment house offers a limited take-up I can act quickly.

It is difficult to do lots of stuff in internet caf├йs especially where a decent level of security is needed, also if I have any paperwork or anything it's impossible. My last visit to Thailand we were only at the bfs for 4 days and not having internet wasn't a problem, but this trip we are staying there for about a week for a change and I will want wifi access. Last trip was so short I didn't really explore outwith the immediate houses if wifi was available. I'm fairly well known in the village now and I hang out at a few different houses even without the bf having to be there so setting up the netbook for and hour or two on my own will be no probs.

If I cant find easily accessible wifi, such as Captain Swings suggestion, I want a back up and there may be times where a window will open up during daily life where I might want to access the internet at that moment. I have one or two unavoidable reasons for internet access which could come up at any time during my trip. Anyway as time goes on and I relinquish some more of my business interests at home (as I have been doing gradually for last 3-4 years) I will probably spend more time in Thailand so now is a good time to explore the WiFi possibilities.

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Originally Posted by anonone

Not sure if you are staying at BFs house when in Issan, but the "resort" where we stay when I visit has wifi included in the room rate. 500 baht a night for air conditioned bungalow.

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We usually stay first night at the resort as we can arrive at the most ungodly hour and the village is asleep by 10pm latest, it's only 1/2 mile from bfs home and maybe the last night we also spend there for a bit of peace to sort out stuff. We have a room in the bfs house as the bfs family have gradually improved their house over the years bit by bit, long before I was involved with my bf, so it's a very reasonable state. My bfs room I added a shower and western toilet about 3 years ago at about Bt1800 for hot shower and not much more for the toilet, some new tiles and sink so it is comfortable, but although we are given good privacy during our stay........during the day there are all kinds of comings and goings and as I now know the family well it is more familiar now. Anyway the resort has yet to acquire WiFi unfortunately. They are still at the ridiculously low Bt350 a night for good size bungalow with hot shower, western toilet, air con, tv with satellite, table for eating etc..

Anyone used internet access through a 'dongle' device in Thailand?

Another option is the purchase of an "Air Card". Although we have WiFi in the condo, my boyfriend prefers the use of Air Card as many places we visit in town don't offer free WiFi. It seems to operate every bit as fast as our WiFi connection. He pays, I think, 295 baht a month for unlimited service and so far he has never experienced any problems connecting. I'm not quite sure how it works, but I think it hooks up to the same satellites which provide GPS service (this is just a guess).

yes-that of schools should be right. In fact any govt. building should have it-but I really do not know if that theory holds in rural isany faraway parts. In fact its not illegal or whatever- you can often see people sitting after shcool hours in their yards just for having that freebee. Also in BKk all cityparks have it.
I myself am often surprid about how fussy or incomprehensible farang visitors can be when they are told so and dont believe it and go to expensive Starbucks etc. -their coffee cost more as a 10 hr pass in a local shop.

Would that public park access etc not be quite heavily censored i.e no access to gay romeo etc ?? And surely wifi in schools and Govt buildings etc is password protected otherwise everyone and anyone would be using it, which apart from killing their pipe speed would open up a host of security questions about who was logging on and what they were and could be down / uploading etc too I would think - no ??

I've not used it yet, but the Thai Government is rolling out a free public wifi network which is intended to cover much of the country. The base stations are located in public buildings (including police stations). No idea at all if there is any exceptional surveillance or control on them. A quick Google for "Free wifi Thaland" returned this:
http://www.techinasia.com/thailand-free-wifi/

My data SIM card for my mobile expired, and there was a gap in topping up (still haven't topped up). To my surprise, I found there is free wifi almost all over Bangkok (because apps that need a data connection still work, albeit slower than with a data SIM). No censorship.

[quote="newalaan2"]

Anyone used internet access through a 'dongle' device in Thailand?[/quote

Yes. I do believe a dongle is the same as an air card. Basically it looks same as a flash/thumb drive; just plug it into a USB port on your computer. The one I used was from True and cost about 1000 TB/month, post paid. In Pattaya it worked ok but not sure how well in a more rural area. Good for emails and surfing but not fast enough for videos. The bf uses it on his desk top when there is no cable available.