Using an iPhone & iPad in Thailand Tips, App Reviews and News for the iPhone and iPad by Richard Barrow

Thai Holidays

Posted on January 17, 2012

Some people might find this simple Thai calendar app useful if you spend any time in Thailand. What it does is basically show all of the holidays that we have here in Thailand. As well as public holidays, there are also details on national days. In this example it tells you about Teacher's Day on 16th January. However, it is not comprehensive as it missed Children's Day a couple of days earlier. One nice feature is that you can be reminded about any of the holidays.  The free app is bilingual and is supported by advertising.

Download for free from iTunes >>>

Filed under: Productivity No Comments

ThaiVisa Forum App for your iPhone & iPad

Posted on January 10, 2012

With the new ThaiVisa Connect app for the iPhone and iPad you can now keep up with the popular expat forum while on the go. You can browse the different forums either by name or category. If you are a member you can also log in to reply or post your own comments. As it is free it is a pretty basic app which is supported by advertising at the bottom of each screen. Would be nice to have a search button. Maybe they will add that in a future update.

Download Thai Visa Connect for free on iTunes >>>

Filed under: Thailand 1 Comment

Be a Citizen Journalist with the Demotix App

Posted on January 6, 2012

If you are a citizen journalist, then you have probably heard of the Demotix website where ordinary people like you and me can send our pictures in and have a good chance of seeing them in print in newspapers around the world. This is what happened to some people during the Red Shirt protests in Bangkok. But, what happens when you are at a news event and you didn't bring your camera? Well, if you have the latest iPhone then you don't need to panic. The quality is good enough to print in any newspaper. Now, with this new Demotix app you can upload the pictures straight away and maybe beat the pros to the punch.

Download for free on iTunes >>>

Filed under: Photography No Comments

Tweeting with Buffer on your iPhone

Posted on December 28, 2011

With Buffer you can add a lot of tweets into your queue of Buffered Tweets, without flooding your followers.

The website for Buffer has been out for a while though until recently I never really paid it much attention. The concept is good as it saves you from spamming the timeline of other people on Twitter. Instead of sending out a dozen or so tweets in a row and then going silent for the rest of the day, Buffer makes it easier for you to spread these tweets out during the day. On the Buffer website, you can set up certain times during the day when you want tweets sent out. Then, as you write tweets, it will go into this queue and will then be automatically sent out at the appointed time.

A few days ago they brought out the iPhone app for Buffer which is when I started to play with it. From what I have seen so far, I do like it a lot. Early in the morning, when I am feeling more inspired, I can enter a series of tweets and these will then be sent out during the day. I like it that you also have the option to change the order of the queue or change a scheduled time to send a tweet out straight away. There is a workaround bookmark that you can set up for your favourite browser. When you choose this bookmark while browsing a website that you want to tweet about, you are sent straight to the Buffer app and the title and link is there waiting for you. One thing that it doesn't seem to have yet is the ability to change the time within the app. You need to go to the website to do that.

Download Buffer for free on iTunes >>>

Filed under: Social Networking No Comments

Why I like my iPhone 4S: Better pics, types my tweets & sets my alarm

Posted on December 20, 2011

Before iPhone 4S was launched, I had decided that I would only upgrade if the camera was significantly improved. I know on the outside everything looks the same which I am sure made quite a few people disappointed. But for me, and more importantly for my work, the camera is the crucial part. I think I would agree with most people that if you have an iPhone 3GS then upgrade to this one. If you have an iPhone 4 then you might want to wait for the iPhone 5. But, for myself, as I use the iPhone for my work and also 24/7, I decided that the changes were enough to make it worthwhile.

Hopefully in these first two pictures you can tell straight away that the top one was taken with my iPhone 4S and that this one was taken by my friend with his iPhone 4. You can see that his picture has a lot more noise. That was always the problem with the iPhone 4 in low light. But now the new one can do a much better job. During the day the colours are much more vibrant and realistic. The second test we did was to see how long it took to open the camera app. Something that really frustrated me before and made me miss some pictures. But, the iPhone 4S is significantly faster.

The reason I bought the iPhone 4S was because of the new camera. But, I have also now been sold on Siri. I didn't think I would use it. But it is so useful. You can ask Siri to call someone for you or even text them. Kind of fun but I am not sure how often I will use that. But, what I will use a lot are things like the alarm clock and reminders. In the left picture, I asked Siri to "wake me up at 5:15 a.m. tomorrow". What you see is the result. She turned the alarm on for me. In the picture on the right, I asked Siri "remind me to go to the post office at 11 a.m. on Wednesday". She then put this in my "To Do" list and she will remind me at that time tomorrow that I should be going to the post office. She does a lot more but I am still exploring.

One final thing that has really made me happy with the upgrade is the microphone which can now be found on the keyboard. It is next to the space bar. Siri cannot open any of the apps for you yet, so you cannot ask her to tweet something. But, this is the next best thing. Just open your favourite Twitter client, click on the mic icon and then dictate your tweet. I found it to be remarkably accurate. What is also interesting is that it seems to be learning as it goes along. So, I can now tweet without typing, upate Facebook status and even type in notes without even touching the keyboard.

Filed under: iPhone4S 5 Comments

CNNGo App for the iPhone

Posted on December 16, 2011

Introducing your ultimate travel companion – CNNGo’s official mobile app for iPhone. Get the latest travel and lifestyle news and views from across Asia.

One of the more interesting apps to have come out recently is the official app for CNNGo. If you didn't know already, CNNGo is both a show on CNN and a popular website that offers local insights into what is happening in our region. Cities that are covered include Bangkok, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo. Categories include Life, Eat, Drink, Play, Shop and Visit. The app is virtually the same as the website which means you can read all the latest articles and view the galleries while on the go. You can also send links of anything that interests you to your followers on Twitter or on Facebook. This is now one of the first apps that I check when I get up in the morning.

Download CNNGo for free on iTunes >>>

Filed under: Thailand, Travel No Comments

Goodbye Twitter Hello Tweetbot

Posted on December 10, 2011

If, like me, you have been using the official Twitter client on your iPhone, you are probably annoyed with the recent upgrade. I loved the simplicity before. The ease of use. And most importantly, the familiarity. Which is the main reason I never switched to a different client. The upgrade forced me to go looking. Lots of people were recommending Tweetbot. But at $2.99 I didn't really want to pay that much while others were offering the same for free.

However, I woke up this morning to see that they have reduced the price for a limited time to only 99 Cents. This is the first time they have ever done a price reduction. Their aim is to obviously grab the people who are wanting to jump ship. It seems to be working. I downloaded it this morning and judging by the latest stats, downloads for them have gone through the roof.

So far I am liking it a lot. It has everything that I want. It also has a few things that were dropped in the upgrade to Twitter such as translate. I don't normally post "reviews" without testing an app out for a few days, but I am not sure how long they will keep the price at 99 Cents. So, if you are disappointed with the new Twitter upgrade, then consider downloading Tweetbot.

Filed under: Social Networking No Comments

Official Prices for iPhone 4S in Thailand

Posted on December 9, 2011

The official prices for the new iPhone 4S have now been announced on the website of True Move. The other carriers such as DTAC and AIS are expected to sell at the same price. As you can see, the prices are slightly cheaper than iPhone 4. The following prices include VAT:

  • 16GB - phone only: 22,450 baht / with data package: 21,700 Baht
  • 32GB - phone only: 26,350 baht / with data package: 25,400 Baht
  • 64GB - phone only: 30,250 baht / with data package: 29,100 Baht

Source: http://www.truemove-h.com/iphone4s_prebooking/

Filed under: iPhone4S 4 Comments

iPhone 4S will be sold in Thailand on 16 December

Posted on December 1, 2011

It is now official. The iPhone 4S will be released in Thailand on 16 December 2011. It will be officially distributed through AIS, DTAC and TRUE. Contact your provider to register your interest. They will then get back to you soon about how you can pre-order. No news yet on official prices. But you do have a choice between black and white.

Filed under: iPhone4S 13 Comments

Thai Railway Timetable

Posted on November 29, 2011

Two useful iPhone apps for finding the times of trains in Thailand.

This first iPhone app is called Thai Railway and is a handy reference for tourists, both Thai and foreign, to find the times of trains to various destinations. On the first screen you get a choice of each of the rail lines in Thailand. Click on this and you are then taken to a list of trains. It is very nicely presented, however it doesn't seem to be very comprehensive. For example, for the Northern Line, it only lists 26 trains. It is also not very good if you need to get off somewhere that is not a major station. I presume this app is mainly aimed at tourists who are only heading to holiday destinations.  When I first downloaded this app it was free, but it has been 99 Cents for the past eight months.

This second app called ThaiRailWays is my favourite and the one that I use the most often. It is not only very comprehensive, but it takes up-to-date information from the server at railway.co.th. Unfortunately for foreign tourists, it is only in Thai. On the first screen you have to enter the data for the station where you want to begin your journey and then for the end. Click on the button and you will get a very long list of stations. To help find the station name, you can enter first letter or two of the name. Once this is done, you click search and it will then give you a list of available trains. This might take time if you have a slow internet connection. Clicking on the name of the train will give you further information. I do like this one much more, and best of all, it is free.

Filed under: Thailand, Travel No Comments
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On this blog I will be sharing with you tips and methods of using an iPhone and iPad in Thailand. I am not pretending to be an expert, but I hope that from my personal experience of using an iPhone for my work and pleasure you might gain some knowledge. As well as reviewing apps that I use, I will also post about accessories and also the latest news from around the world.

- Richard Barrow


Twitter: @RichardBarrow
Archives: @TwitterArchives
Contact: @Paknamweb.com

Useful Posts & Websites

* Open a US iTunes Account
* Tips for Using an iPhone in Thailand

Amitiae is an excellent website for people interested in Apple, Mac, IT, iOs, Asia and Everywhere else

Over at Women Learning Thai, you will also find some useful blogs about using an iPhone in Thailand.

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Cost of iPhone in Thailand

Here are the prices for the iPhone 4 handset only:
- 16GB Price 22,250 Baht (23,807.50 Baht incl. VAT).
- 32GB Price 26,000 Baht (27,820 Baht incl. VAT).

Prices for the iPhone 4 if you have a data package:
- 16GB Price 20,650 Baht (22,095.50 Baht incl. VAT).
- 32GB Price 23,900 Baht (25,573 Baht incl. VAT).

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Cost of iPad in Thailand

The official prices for the iPad in Thailand are as follows:

iPad (Wi-Fi)

16GB Price 15,900 Baht
32GB Price 18,900 Baht
64GB Price 21,900 Baht

iPad (3G/Wi-Fi)

16GB Price 19,900 Baht
32GB Price 22,900 Baht
64GB Price 25,900 Baht

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