How to watch Euro 2012 in Thailand

UPDATE 6:45pm: In a last minute deal between TrueVisions and Grammy, True subscribers will now be able to watch the Euro 2012 football matches on the free channels. The first match due to start in less than four hours.

UPDATE 7:20pm: Apparently someone in the social media camp of TrueVisions jumped the gun when they tweeted that True subscribers could watch Euro2012. This tweet has now been deleted and we are back to square one. The negotiations are still on.

UPDATE 8pm: Negotiations have broken down and for at least the next three days, TrueVisons subscribers will have a blank screen during football matches.

Euro 2012 is about to kick-off and we’ve just been told that TrueVisions subscribers probably won’t be able to watch any of the matches. This is despite the fact that they will be shown on free TV channels 3, 5 and 9. In the old days, people had antennas on their roof to pick up these channels. These days, many of us get the free channels via satellite dishes or cable TV. The problem here is that the rights to broadcast Euro 2012 have been bought by Grammy. They will be showing it to users of their own satellite box GMM-Z and also to people watching the free channels 3, 5 and 9. However, if you watch these free channels using a satellite box for TrueVisions you will most likely find that the matches will be blacked out.

So, to watch the Euro 2012 matches you have a number of alternatives. Buy an indoor antenna like the one below (pic via @tukky_nt). These cost 490-520 Baht from Power Buy depending on if you have an old TV or a LCD TV. You should also be able to buy indoor antennas at places like Big C. The next option is to buy the GMM-Z box which is obviously what they want you to do. For this you can pop down to your local 7-Eleven where you can buy for 1,590 Baht. If you are an AIS Serenade customer, you can get the same box for 1,100 Baht from Jaymart. They say in their advertising that it will work with any satellite dish. I can confirm that you can plug it into your TrueVisions dish. In fact, you can plug both of them in at the same time if you have a splitter. It needs to be pointed out that if you receive your TrueVisions picture via cable then this GMM-Z box won’t work for you. The final way to watch the match is to watch online. I have an app for Thai TV on my iPad so I will probably use that method.

16 thoughts on “How to watch Euro 2012 in Thailand

  • June 9, 2012 at 3:18 pm
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    hello
    since the euro started, all my hd channels on true show a “this service is blocked”
    sign… does it have something to do with this Euro thing?

    Reply
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  • June 8, 2012 at 8:51 pm
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    How abot Sophon cable, canI watch Euro 2012 with them?

    Reply
    • June 8, 2012 at 9:26 pm
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      I know local cable operators have done a separate deal with Grammy and so the answer is probably yes.

      Reply
  • June 8, 2012 at 2:31 pm
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    There is also an option to watch it in HD but you have to buy the DTV box (They have a contract with GMM) I never had a dish (Hate thai tv) so I bought it all incl installation, dish for 6500 bath. Might be a little expensive but its worth it for me as a big fan just for the Euro’s (Even tho you get 200 crap thai channels and 4-5 HD channels for a year.)

    ( Just the box is 4500 I believe, not sure)

    Reply
  • June 8, 2012 at 1:34 pm
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    Following the Euro’s is there any advantage to having the GMM box over True. More Movie or sports channels for example.

    Reply
    • June 8, 2012 at 1:52 pm
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      True is always going to be the better option as they have more sports channels. I am told that GMM-Z pictures are not as clear as True’s. Also, True as HD channels.

      Reply
      • June 8, 2012 at 2:24 pm
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        Then I will stick with true and watch the Footy on the free channels on the spare TV. Thanks for your input.

        Reply
  • June 8, 2012 at 1:30 pm
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    Presumably if you’ve kept your old rooftop aerial you can switch back to that?

    Reply
    • June 8, 2012 at 1:50 pm
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      That is correct, but a few years back CH.3 changed their system and I lost the picture. I never bought a new antenna as I could watch on TrueVisions.

      Reply
  • June 8, 2012 at 1:22 pm
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    Hi Richard

    Can you give more information about your app you are using?

    Thanks!

    Vince

    Reply
    • June 8, 2012 at 1:51 pm
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      I have replied to the other person already with a link. Is there anything specific you wanted to know?

      Reply
      • June 9, 2012 at 6:06 pm
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        Everything was Ffffffing blocked last night.Pissed off with this.

        Reply
  • June 8, 2012 at 1:10 pm
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    What is the iPad app you are referring to in your blog??

    Reply
    • June 8, 2012 at 1:13 pm
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      I have three or four different apps for watching Thai TV on my iPad, but the one that I seem to use more often is this one called “TV Thai for iPad”. If you do a search you might find a free option.

      Reply

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