My ISP or URL says I am Thai

[lifeline]

I don't understand exactly but, because I live in Thailand all sorts of annoying stuff happens. For example, if I go to www.google.com it is changed to www.google.co.th and until I got google to switch to English, my responses were in Thai language. I am not particularly interested in advertisements but, on internet pages (or whatever pages are called), ads and other stuff show up in Thai language.

 

Anyway, I am wondering if there is anything I can do to minimize the assumption that because I live in Thailand, I am a Thai person (or a non-Thai who reads Thai language).

 

Thanks for any thoughts.

[Flashermac]

I think it is automatic. If I go to my email I find the page filled with Thai adverts and political news. You can set it back to www.google.com, but it seems to revert ratherly quickly back to the Thai page.

 

Once in a while I get something like yahoo.co.au. They must think expats are all Strine folks.

 

 

[eyebee]

The same happens with Blogger. All the controls are in Thai, and there seems to be no way to reset them to English. I wish the fuckwits that control these sites would realise that just because we live in a certain country, doesn't mean we are of that nationality.

[khunsanuk]

Hi,

 

It's all done automatically by the website you visit. They use your IP to determine where you are. Fairly accurate, but of course not everyone in a certain country wants to use that country's language settings.

 

Sanuk!

 

[Nervous God]

If you use the same PC go once to google.com and choose Engilsh under the area you write what your looking for,

 

I hate this too though, as a gmail user and NOT a google user, my email is all in Thai until I set the default to english!

 

I've complained to Google but they haven't replied yet.

[lifeline]

Thanks for the replies.

 

I use Yahoo mail and they asked me if they could move my mail from a US server to Oz. Thinking I would get faster response time, I said yes. But, now I get news stories from Oz instead of US before entering mail (and all the adverts are from Oz as well). Another annoyance.

[waerth]

The companies never reply. I have paypal in HK and everytime I login it is completely in Chinese!!! I cannot change it to English. Same with all of the emails they send me it is in Chinese.

 

I explained in English and I get an answer in .... Chinese ...... after having it translated it said that because I attached it to a Hong Kong bank account I can only use it in Chinese!!!

 

The fuckwits at Microsoft etc etc etc have never heard of expats obviously!

[Flashermac]

Write to them in Dutch and make them have to translate your emails.

 

 

[waerth]

Thats is a good one. But the thing that pisses me off more is that because of this idiocy it is impossible for me to use paypal!

[lifeline]

This is only somewhat related but, I think a "funny" story.

 

UBS has an off-shore "International Account". All sorts of bullshit about the Global expertise....

 

When I tried to open an account they wanted 3 sources of financial identification - such as your London utilities bill, your England cable TV, internet access bill

 

How fcuking International, Global is that, your London utilities bill.

 

I explained that anyone working in their Thailand office would know that in Thailand, Serviced Apartments lump all that into your total bill (in order to charge ripoff elec rates, etc). I eventually got an account but I will spare you the details - what a bunch or morons.

 

Here is another "funny", - we are International story. BKK Bank announced a new type of account that allowed you to have your funds in 10 different currencies. I didn't have aspirations to be a currency trader but, I thought if something bad happened that would affect one currency, I could switch to another currency. But, the only way to go from currency A to currency B was to move from currency A to your Thai account (pay a fee), then go from your Thai account to currency B (and pay a fee). Again, fcuking useless.