I could only find one post where someone mentioned bringing his laptop. I have a laptop which I can't live without. Can I leave it in my room, safely? What precautions should I take? And do any hotels in BKK, Pattaya and Phuket offer broadband? Can I plug in at the Internet cafes, or do I have to use their computers? Thx.

I just found the following on sexwork.com in the report about the Omni hotel:

If you have a laptop I suggest you bring with you (for any hotel) a Y adopter phone plug so you don’t have to keep plugging and unplugging hotel phone and a long 25’ or 10 meter phone extension cable. Before I got the extension cable to reach the living room I had to use the laptop from my bed which was the cause of some of my neck tension from being in such a poor position. I made two trips to I Mart on 3rd floor of very modern Ploenchit Center to get these supplies. I Mart is a very nice computer store that has most everything. This is also where I got my loxinfo Thai ISP connection.

Any road warrior would give you a bunch of URLs
for accessories for travelling worldwide. Depending on how valuable your laptop is the accessories should be 1st grade too. Here is one
URL to begin with http://port.com/

I just picked up a lot of extra accessories @ the night Temple Market in Kowloon/HKG.

Rastaman,

I brought my laptop with me on my last trip to Thailand and didn't have a problem. I stayed at the Majestic Suites in Bangkok and the Penthouse Hotel in Pattaya. I left it out and plugged in all the time. As far as connecting to the Internet - I might suggest you put anything you want to send on a floppy and go to an Internet Cafe - You may find it's a lot cheaper doing email and surfing the web from a cafe... (prog)

... Also, as far as plug adapters: I can only assume since you have a laptop the AC adapter is International (110/220). If this is the case then all you need is the plug adapter which you can get at any Radio Shack. You will also find them in the shops at the airport (in the USA and BKK)... (prog)

Rasta-

I took a laptop with me last trip in July. Left in the hotel with no problem. This included places in Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand and never had any problem. I usually put it away in a dufflebag when not in the room though.

I personally found it easy enough to just use the Internet cafes for emailing, surfing, and even having to log in through terminal emulation to work. In thailand they are plentiful and can easily find ones in Phuket, and Bangkok with high speed access. Bangkok there is one conviently directly across the street from Nana Plaza.

K

Part of the clause for me going on my trip to Thailand was an agreement to get some work done while I was there, so I had my notebook with me this past November.

In Bangkok: Both Grand President and Majestic Suites had Internet connections in the room, DSL I believe. I am not familiar with connecting via DSL and the front desk staff of MS didn't seem very familiar with a couple questions I asked, so I didn't pursue it. Both Bob and Aman, management at MS, are fluent in English and can probably provide better assistance should you need it. The Grand President advertised the Internet service in the elevator along with support, so I imagine the staff there is better equipped to get you online from your hotel room. Xen stayed there, though, I didn't so I didn't look into it. Internet cafe's are everywhere, most connected by DSL, but few advertised laptop connection as a service. Fortunately, the one I found that did offers an Ethernet connection and is right next to Nana Plaza. I believe it's called the Nana Internet Cafe, and is directly behind AM/PM, not the one directly across the street from Nana. Rate is 30 baht ($.75) connection then 3 baht/minute ($5/hour) Best time of day seemed to be early morning for connection speed.

In Pattaya, there was a nice place in terms of speed located on Soi 8 a bit down from the Eastiny Inn. I have to go through my pictures to find the name of the place, I'll post it later. None of the places I saw in Pattaya advertised the ability to connect your laptop and I didn't ask.

If you find places with good service for laptop connections in Thailand, please post.

As far as safety, I went 15 days without the laptop getting stolen. I kept it relatively hidden. For a couple days, it was in Xen's safe at Grand President. The Majestic Suites safes were too small. None of the hotel we inquired on Soi 8 in Pattaya had room safes, only lockboxes at the front desk.

One word of advice, if you use a power converter, make sure you use one with the correct power rating. I ended up frying one that was too weak to handle my laptop. The laptop hard drive wasn't spinning fast enough and made funny noises. I was really worried the drive was going to crash, fortunately, it's fine.

I'll need to take a look at the power adaptor to see if it's international. It probably is and I probably didn't need to even use power converter.

I always bring my laptop with me. Depending on your ISP (Earthlink, AOL), you might be able to get a local connection number in Thailand. Otherwise, you can also get prepaid dialup service in Thailand. Finally, the cheapest way is to go to one of the many popular internet cafes- bring your floppy drive if its external in your lap top- useful for saving things that you want to send at the internet cafe.

Finally, Ploenchit Center is a must visit- not for those accessories, but for all the bootleg software...

Friendly

Personally, I use my laptop as my survival tool for the long flights to and from Asia. CDs, DVDs, MP-3s and video games make the trips much more livable.

As was mentioned, there is an abundance of 'trial' software available in some of the shopping centers in the LoS. Additionally, there are DVDs available as well, but you want to take your system with you to make sure that the DVD in question will work with your system. Most stores will let you check it out. Just carry your laptop in a backpack on the SkyTrain.

As for leaving it in the room, I just stash it somewhere. Though I do have one of those cable alarms, too. Just the volume of that damn thing will keep most people from messing with your system.

For Internet access, I'd agree that the cafe's are the way to go, so make sure to take your floppy drive so you can move files around for mailing etc.


StrikeEagle

Thanks for the help. I'll do just that. B-T-W: Is there any problem bringing that s/w you mentioned back in through Customs?

Hey Rasta,

I brought back I think 10 or 12 last time. I just got one of those handy CD cases that zip up and put them all in there. I stashed the trial CDs jackets in a book if I needed them at all.

Just mail them!

Just a cautionary tale on laptops and their ac adaptors. I took my brand spankin new fujitsu to thailand. 3 seconds after i plugged it into the outlet there was a gentle hiss and a puff of smoke. i quickly unplugged it and felt an oily residue on it.

When i got back to the states, i called fujitsu and thankfully, they will replace it for free. when i asked about the 240v rating on my adapter, he said that the autosensing may not work in some countries. he recommended always using an adapter and step down transformer...just in case.

as of right now I'm using a targus adapter until my replacement arrives. just my 2 cents.

Ptom:

Good idea, the outlets in Thailand dont seem to be grounded and you are taking a chance plugging in anything.

I got " zapped" on the touch pad on my mac. for just this reason. ( a lot more careful now)


also, noted a lot of ac hum feedback into the modem, making the connection speed very slow.

best to bring your own grounded adapter and take the time to connect it properly.

On a related note, how easy it to find an AC plug adaptor for my 240 V laptop power supply that will work in Thailand? Or, for that matter, an Internet cafe that I can simply plug my laptop into and download via broadband?