A trip to TOT (Telecom of Thailand) Ladprao
D finally changed our Internet Service Provider (ISP) from TOT to AIS. AIS installation was done few days back, so we had to terminate TOT service.
This warrants a trip to TOT, as termination has to be done at TOT Customer Service Center. Told D there’s a small TOT booth at BigC Ladprao, so he walked all the way there earlier, but no, they do not handle termination service. Like that lah.
TOT is a Thai state-owned telecommunications company. So it’s dealing with government-run operation.
The nearest TOT Customer Service Center is at Soi Ladprao 90. It’s not accessible by the MRT/BTS, so we had to drive. For errands like this, we normally time it close to meal time, so it’s okay for us. Errand plus lunch outing.
Unlike Malaysia, security guards in Thailand are extremely busy. Not only that they need to look after security, they also double as parking attendant. But hey, I think that could be their main duty. And most of them take this duty very seriously you know. Sarcasm-aside, the nice uncle on duty directed us to TOT’s side entrance after we parked our car.
It was a quick process, took us 5-10 minutes with some paperworks plus returning the modem. I thought they might ask for reason of service termination. It’s not easy to retain a customer for 5 years you know .. but no, no questions asked which I thought was a wasted opportunity. Do they know how much it costs to acquire a new customer ah ?
D said normally the ISP in Thailand will tie customers for one year, with free installation and modem thrown in. If you terminate 1-2 years after, you will need to return the modem. 5 years above you don’t even need to return the modem.
TOT served us well in the past few years, just recently we found that the connection is not stable.
With AIS now, it’s not any better as we also face connection problem. Technology-wise, AIS operates on fibre-optic system. Our package is at 750 baht a month for 20 Mbps download speeds and 7 Mbps upload speed. TOT operates on ADSL. ADSL is a “modem-like” technology that transmits data over standard analog telephone lines.
Other ISP options in Thailand are 2BB, TrueOnline and we were also considering CS. For CS, they have a booth at our condo lobby, offering free trial for 30 days and also free router and installation if we sign up.
