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

Watch ASEAN TV & MCOT on your iPhone

With the MCOT app you can watch live Thai TV such as Ch.9, MCOT 1 and also the English language ASEAN TV channel. In addition there are 62 MCOT radio stations from around Thailand. As well as TV and radio, there is the latest news from MCOT. The default language is Thai but you can switch to English. During the time that I have been testing this free app, I have found the quality of the ASEAN TV channel to be very good. I think you might find some of their programmes of interest.

Download MCOT for free on iTunes >>>

Watch ASTV and TAN on your iPhone

The วิทยุโทรทัศน์ (Live TV) app for Thai TV channels has been out a couple of weeks and is presently listed at Number 5 in the charts. There are a few other apps out there for Thai television but this one seems to be a little better. You can watch channels like ASTV (presently 24 hours of Yellow Shirt rally), TAN Network (the only English language news channel in Thailand), CH.3, CH.7, CH. 9 and about 20 more. Included in this app are some international news channels such as Al Jazeera, Euronews International, France 24 and Press TV. The quality of the Thai channels are passable but the international channels are often excellent, even on 3G. However, the majority of channels are more reliable if you use WiFi. Judging by the comments in iTunes, some people haven't had much luck while others love it. For myself, I didn't mind spending 99 Cents for this review as I might use it a few times when I am away from home.

Has anyone used any of the other Thai TV apps such as Thai TV and Thai TV & Radio?

Watch Voice TV on Your iPhone

One of the latest Thai satellite channels has just released an app so that you can watch their programmes live on your iPhone. The free Voice TV app brings you a mixture of news and lifestyle which they say is aimed at the new generation. As well as live TV there is also an archive of programmes that you can watch on demand. From what I have seen so far the quality has been very satisfactory. The majority of the programming is in Thai though there are also some English language news segments. Also integrated into their app are social media outlets such as their Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Download for free on iTunes >>>

Watch TrueVisions on your iPhone

It is not often that you get a free app for the iPhone that allows you to watch live television. TrueVisions on Mobile HD does that and more. You have a choice of 15 channels to watch by using 3G, EDGE or WiFi. In addition, some of the channels that are owned by TrueVision give you the option to time shift and watch programs already broadcast. You don't get the full range of TrueVisions channels, just the free ones such as True Sports, True Music, TNN, True Inside and the Thai terrestrial channels. The quality of some channels are better than others. A few of the terrestrial channels were unwatchable for me even when using WiFi. But, it is possible it might be better on a different day. Anyway, it is a free app from True so we cannot really complain.

Download for free at iTunes >>>

Thai News TV apps for your iPhone

NationTV Live

Two of Thailand's 24 hour news stations now have their own dedicated apps for the iPhone. TNN 24 were the first to bring out their live streaming app back in June 2009. As well as live TV, they also have an archive of programmes that you can watch on demand for free. The latest dedicated app for a news channel to come out is NationTV Live which was released today. This one has live streaming and also text of breaking news. They don't have a news archive. Both of them are free to download from iTunes. They work well on both WiFi and 3G though the quality will vary depending on your Internet connection. I find that the quality of the images from NationTV Live is better on average than TNN24. Both of these channels are only in Thai language. Thailand's only English language 24 hour news channel, TAN Network, doesn't have their own dedicated app yet.

TNN 24