How to Watch BBC and ITV in Thailand on your iPad, Android and Mac

For those British expats in Thailand who want to continue with their daily dosage of Coronation Street and Eastenders, there is a way for you watch all of the English channels here in Thailand. There is a company called Expat TV who provide a service of streaming 11 British channels to your TV via the Internet. I tried their free trial offer earlier in the year but wasn’t 100% convinced. For this one you had to pay a monthly subscription so that you could watch on your computer. If you wanted to watch on your big TV then you needed to buy a box as well. I don’t like watching on the computer so I didn’t do anything when my trial ended. But then, the other day I received another email about a new 5 day free trial. This time for a web player for Mac, iOs and Android devices. It sounded interesting so I signed up. Nothing to lose as it was free.

For this trial I used my iPad. As I have an Apple TV as well, I was able to send every channel to my big screen TV with little effort. On the first screen you see a button for each of the channels. I noticed that there was a new one for kids called CBBC which wasn’t on the earlier trial. Just click any of the buttons and after a short buffering time, you start to see almost live TV from the UK. The quality of the picture was great, even on the big screen. I hardly had any drop outs, but of course that depends on how good your Internet connection is. But, this wasn’t enough alone to convince me to sign up for a subscription. The clincher for me was a new feature for the web player package. If you click on TV Guide and then choose a channel, you then get a programme list like the above. This is basically the past 24 hours. As the UK is in a different time zone, this allows you to timeshift and watch whatever you like within a 24 hour period.

The price for this service is 600 Baht per month or 500B if you pay for a year in advance. You also need a good internet package that can handle a speed of at least 3MB. Of course, there is no guarantee that your Internet will be good enough. So, if you are interested in testing it out, then contact Expat TV and ask them for a free 5 day trial of the web player package. I am certainly tempted this time. I dropped satellite TV a couple of years ago and so at the moment I don’t pay for any monthly subscriptions. It might actually be nice to have British TV back. However, the question is, what is there to watch? I haven’t seen Eastenders in more than 20 years. Is it worth 500 Baht? It’s certainly less than any package by True Visions. Also less than the BBC License Fee. I will let you know if I decide to go ahead. If you already subscribe to  Expat TV then let me know your experience in the comments below.

14 thoughts on “How to Watch BBC and ITV in Thailand on your iPad, Android and Mac

  • October 20, 2013 at 11:15 am
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    Just moved out of a condo and lost my Setanta Sports. I want to watch the Rugby League World Cup on the BBC starting at the end of this month, so this is well worth a look.

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  • September 24, 2013 at 7:02 pm
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    Cananyone confirm if this site has cilosed down?Tried to get the free trial offer and got a reply back from a totally unrelated site.
    Called them twice on the phone. Phone rang both times but no one answered it.
    I see in onel of the posts theyk had problems in August. Are they finished.
    Nick

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    • September 24, 2013 at 7:03 pm
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      Are you talking about ThaiExpatTV? Looks fine to me. I watch it every day.

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  • February 16, 2013 at 11:30 am
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    This is now available in most countries across Asia and also in Australia. The mobile player has also been updated with a 7 day on demand TV guide.

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  • December 10, 2012 at 2:02 pm
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    Unfortunately this will not work in the USA to get UK channels/shows.

    Apparently it is a service that is only available in Thailand. So no current Doctor Who for me (at least not legally).

    When I finally do the big move to Thailand, I’ll have something to look forward to.

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  • December 9, 2012 at 3:01 pm
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    You’ll love it! It’s great to finally have decent tv at home. I had the best Olympics ever watching Thaiexpat TV in Bkk, everyone else watched Ping Pong and Badminton!

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  • December 9, 2012 at 2:36 pm
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    Is this a legit service or are they pirating English TV channels?

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    • December 9, 2012 at 2:47 pm
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      To be honest I don’t know for sure. However I first heard about them after a review in the Bangkok Post. That newspaper doesn’t normally promote pirated goods & services. Obviously this needs to be considered before you take out a subscription. Indeed, if it is illegal then you might not want to pay for one year subscription.

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  • December 9, 2012 at 12:08 pm
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    Thanks very much for all your recommendations. I was still undecided but then got an email from Thai Expat TV with a promo code for the 3-month package. This discount works out at only 399 Baht per month. The code expires on 20 December. Check out my latest blog for details.

    Reply
  • December 4, 2012 at 4:49 am
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    Hi Richard, excellent info as always. I wonder if this would work to stream Doctor Who to USA as well. I’ll check it out!

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  • December 4, 2012 at 3:20 am
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    Using it on my Macs, enjoying it while working glued to my online job. I heard there will be a special version coming for the Mac. but the version as it is now works fine on my new MacMini and even on an older MacBook Pro, and the most astonishing is that it works although I’m in a tiny village the deepest Isaan, almost in Laos.

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  • December 3, 2012 at 10:43 pm
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    This service is just great!

    I signed up back in June and have been using the windows player. Now they have got the new Android player I have been using it on my TV with a cheap Android TV box that I bought from Pantip (3-4,000 baht).

    Love the new guide, it certainly beats any VPN or proxy service I have used previously.

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  • December 3, 2012 at 8:46 pm
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    Fantastic service…have had the set top box for the past 6 months…just like being in the UK.
    Jason.

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    • December 3, 2012 at 8:48 pm
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      Thanks. That was just the kind of feedback that I wanted to hear.

      Reply

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