Frans Amsterdam in Pattaya: 'The BVN torment'
Frans Amsterdam has settled down again in Pattaya and entertains us, until there are no more 'like' ratings, with his experiences in a follow-up story.
Frans may not have a goldfish in his hotel room, but there is an aquarium or bottle bank. That is a Samsung television set with traditional picture tube, screen ratio 4:3, but already equipped with a flat screen. No wonder of inventive ingenuity, but just a solid thing, which cannot be faulted.
I no longer need the latest of the latest and they don't drive me crazy with advertising nonsense either. I do remember advertisements for televisions that were advertised with terms such as 'now even flatter screen' or even an 'ultra-flat screen'. There is no greater nonsense. Something is flat or something is not flat. There's nothing in between. You can't ask, "How flat do you want it?" Okay, okay, before any whiners start responding, I'll nuance it: You can ask, but that's pointless.
And when everyone finally has a flat screen, they come up with something new, the ultimate of the ultimate: A curved screen! Come and see! Get rid of those flat TVs! Hurry to the store and don't forget your PIN code…
The Samsung is usually on, on preset channel 152. BVN is on it. BVN stands for the “Best of Flanders and the Netherlands”. Probably also made up by a creative advertising boy, because once again you are sheer nonsense. I don't know who selects the programs, I bet Paul the Octopus would do better. The newscasts are at least 24 hours behind reality, it seems that the Ampex tapes have yet to be flown in. Every other self-respecting country brings the news, also by satellite, 'as it happens', but the low countries don't even seem aware of that possibility. Furthermore, one channel for a compilation of all Dutch and Flemish public programs is already a bit scanty, and if almost everything, up to and including extremely important matters such as 'Met het knife on the table' and 'Blokken' are repeated twice, the rinse becomes very thin. A cooking show with a kitchen full of ingredients that are not or hardly available here must be meant as Tantalus torment.
When Sesame Street starts, it's almost three in the morning. That satellite really only broadcasts for this side of the world, it has long been the highest children's bedtime here everywhere.
The nocturnal climax is sometimes reached while in the background a harmony song can be heard from a St. Bavo in the south of the country. God better it. The only nice thing is the weather forecast, with all the codes yellow, orange and red issued by the KNMI, which are almost impossible to follow. That continues to be fun. Furthermore, it is a shabby display that in no way meets the requirements of our time.
“Then why are you looking?” you may ask. Well, you can't really call it looking. It is mainly about hearing some Dutch, apart from the content. Maybe today, Saturday, we will get to see something of the Great Television Action for Sint Maarten. Then I turn it off. I'm not good at that. Then there are all those well-known Dutch people who are allowed to put their heads on TV 'completely selflessly' or – even worse – come to sing a song. Or they make something completely selflessly available. A footballer who renounces a worn-out shirt that he never had to buy anyway. Look, those are people after my own heart. They do something for their less fortunate fellow human beings. Or Patricia Paay, who brought a pair of panties that she pissed on for charity. It rarely happens that such a celebrity does something himself that leads to a change in the bank account. The presenter also allows himself to be paid fat, after all it is his profession and otherwise he will die of hunger. And then there are always municipalities that like to get a white foot and throw their residents' tax money completely selflessly over the bar. As if the citizens themselves cannot decide how much they want to give. Or a minister who announces to loud cheers that he will double the amount collected with tax money.
No, I think it's bad, such a natural disaster, but the aftermath really annoys me. I turn off the TV in advance and go outside to see if anyone wants an alms.
– Relocated in memory of Frans Amsterdam (Frans Goedhart ) † April 2018 –
Sublime piece, Frans! Just a little while and Nico Dijkshoorn can apply for a job at broadcaster MAX.
If you want to hear Dutch, then that doesn't seem like a problem in Pattaya. However, the question is whether the content that comes out of the mouths of the average bartender is of a higher level than BVN.
You don't miss much in the campaign for Sint Maarten. 13 million has been collected, not a large amount. I think it's sad for the people who have lost everything. But if you hear in advance that the money will probably end up in the wrong hands comes then I think I don't care for that. And more people have thought that way. Because you know that I think it was always good. .
Usually watch BVN on Friday evening when all TH channels broadcast the same thing.
Almost never otherwise.
I don't know if Frans Amsterdam is a real Amsterdammer, but his complaining and nagging about BVN seriously suggest that. As usual, however, he does hit the nail on the head on some points. I don't live in Pattaya myself, but in the provincial town of Phitsanulok where you certainly don't trip over the Dutch and Dutch sounds like music to my ears when I encounter a stray Dutchman. So I like to watch Dutch on TV from time to time. to belong. In favor of BVN I would like to mention that every day they neatly show which programs are on the menu that day. So the choice is entirely up to you. It is of course very easy to piss off all those programs. After all, Thai TV is much more fascinating?!
BVN via cable in Thailand (3BB) is just bad, all Dutch TV sites work slowly and poorly. No, that is not due to 3BB, after all YouTube works perfectly and so do the radio stations. It's just rubbish what the NPO delivers. And whether Frans is an Amsterdammer or not is not important, the man is simply right!
I also have cable and indeed 1 bvn which is very bad. But via the same cable also BVN that comes in digitally and that reception is excellent. Maybe check the channel setting.
“I don't know if Frans Amsterdam is a real Amsterdammer,..”
That was French. Like me, born and raised in Amsterdam and no import or he knew how to hide it very well. I've spoken to him a few times in Pattaya. He had humor and was direct, the heart on the tongue. Like me. Mi BVN has deteriorated over the years, but this is mainly due to the programs. Our state broadcaster, the NPO in other words, only makes programs for people… well, never mind. People who love the talk shows and the Staatsjournaal will always stay there lol.
The NPO makes the same dredging material as RTL and SBS. I don't watch television anymore. But then I am “only 45”. Television is for the elderly, the younger generations are called the Internet (YouTube, etc.). TVs are sold because of the screens so that you can connect them to a PC, laptop or operate them with your smartphone via Chromecast. Watching Linear TV is out of the question, TV guides are the same: who still looks at the Mikro Guide? 🙂
I find it striking that Sint Maarten never actually wanted to be part of the Netherlands, and now that there is shit going on, he still likes to keep his hands open.
And the Netherlands keeps saying that it is a part of the Netherlands, amehoela, they don't even want that, oh yes, now they do
You hit the nail on the head! Both with regard to BVN, when does that channel take the programming seriously and up to date, as well as the public disguise at fundraising campaigns.
Oh Frans, it's a big bag filler.
Think back to Tahiti, how much money was collected then!!
And there are still those who live in tents…
I'm surprised that with this new disaster they didn't pluck Mies Bouman from the retirement home so that they could say: “dear, dear people”.
Beautiful piece of writing again .... The nail on the head and not a word of it has been lied to.
Hallo,
don't know if Frans (from) Amsterdam realizes it; in terms of time we are at least 5 and at most 6 hours ahead of Europe, so eg DWDD starts at say 24.00 Thai time. Even in Spain this program starts approximately half an hour later than in the Netherlands. The Belgian news also needs to be switched. I sometimes get tired of the repetitions!
If there are important football matches, cycling rounds or Grandprix, I look for the current and latest news on the Internet.
Greeting.
I refuse to realize anything.
Nice piece of French again, just such a shame about your last name
I'm from Rotterdam hahaha
Dear Frans, this BVN program is also not intended for Thailand, but because the Thai-sat2/5 is used as a support satellite, we can receive it with a fairly large dish. Looking at it costs you nothing. Of course you are not obliged to look at it, so take it or leave it, but stop whining about everything. With this you only confirm that the Dutchman always has something to say.
The following is known to me:
*
Via the Thaicom satellite you can watch BVN and listen to VRT Radio 1 in Central Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia.
Professional signal
The current BVN signal via Thaicom at 78,5 degrees east is not actually intended for consumers, but is a professional signal for supplying BVN to a satellite station in Australia and New Zealand.
In order to still offer BVN to you as a viewer in Asia, BVN makes the Thaicom signal freely available. However, you cannot derive any rights from this. You should take into account that you need a large satellite dish and that the signal strength can be subject to change. Frequency fluctuations can also occur, although we do our best to keep this to a minimum. It is also possible that BVN temporarily moves to another satellite. ”
Source: http://www.bvn.nl
*
In fact, it means that Central Asia, South Asia and South-East Asia are not served at all, and BVN can only be received here by chance.
That only adds to the disgrace.
What is also important is that these programs are paid for by the taxpayer. A large number of people think that NPO and BVN come on their screens for free, people would be shaken up if the listening and viewing fees were reintroduced.
The fact that the money now comes from the general tax pot has been a masterful political move by our government.
Dear Frans Amsterdam (from Almere).
You are talking about BVN. Next time are you going to talk about the invention of the wheel or about the computer.
We live in 2017 and almost all have internet. Via that same internet there is IP Internet Protocol TeleVisie…..IPTV.
There are now thousands of providers of packages with channels and this allows you to include. receive 45 Dutch channels via me ( Fred Repko from the heart of Amsterdam ) and so if you are still dependent on BVN then it might be time, after the mentioned inventions, to have you informed about this technical tour de force.
Best regards.
Fred Repko
Well, tell me how I can get it here in my hotel room for 30 days, and what it costs.
Hello French,
please send me your email address [email protected] and then I activate you for 30 days FREE.
You have to do THREE things.
a. Double-click http://app.iptveheaven.com
b. The username is always your email address
c. Is the code you get from me and you can change it afterwards to your own code!
If the REMEMBER ME also clicks, logging in next time is a piece of cake.
You can install this service on up to two devices and play it on one at a time anywhere in the world!!!!!
Please note that it works best via Apple's SAFARI and CHROME. On Windows 10, looking back in particular often causes problems.
Good luck......just send me an email please. (may be empty)
Best regards.
Fred Repko
095 835 8272
Must be http://app.iptvheaven.com
Sorry.
If you purchase an android box and install nl.eurotv.asia on it, you can now watch all Dutch channels anywhere in the world and look back at the last 2 weeks. 600 baht per month. Simple and works perfectly. The shop is next to TUKCOM. Would like to go to that store. tel 084 868 7688.
Thank you for these lavish praise.
When reading it, I especially found the question 'How flat do you want it?' liked it.
I then try to imagine a situation where someone asks another, and for some reason I have to laugh no matter what I think about. The only realistic thing that came to mind was a butcher selling a steak. But I've never even heard them ask it that way. Googling this question in quotes didn't yield any results, so it had to be original to some degree. Yes, then I'm satisfied. But just throwing it out of the sleeve is not an option for me either.
I am now in Pattaya, but I just have all Ziggo channels in HD. Kodi + IPTV 🙂
Using a VPN I assume?
http://www.npo1.nl
http://www.rtlxl.nl
Dear Pete,
Simple is different. I've been busy for an hour now, for example, to see Frank and Vrij by Frank Masmeijer.
Not really recommended.
Gr. max.
That's all rubbish and when you finally have a good connection there is a rights restriction and you have to go to youtube!
Absolute nonsense. Just pay for the most expensive (fiber optic) connection, and if there is a rights restriction, turn off your VPN. Is perfectly legal and everyone is doing it.
I have better and faster internet here than in the Netherlands!
I don't even watch TV here in the Netherlands, let alone in Thailand. My wife only uses the flat thing, which she bought at a much too expensive price, for soaps. I don't even watch the news anymore! Internet now, right? TV=retro. Hopelessly old-fashioned! Something for retirees! I look at those soaps with a glassy look after another one too many beers. There's a lot happening on screen! Understand 50 percent. Guess the rest. Not difficult. The bad guys are easy to identify, right? My wife thinks it's fun! Until I fall asleep......
The site of the NPO comes through crystal clear in Thailand on the computer. Why not just watch catch-up TV, or the news, or watch Ned live. 1,2, and 3.?
At least no hassle with commercials on the computer, and for the rest you can download everything at breakneck speed here.
And completely agree with De Slagerij: Who needs television when you have internet?
This is a piece I can relate to. Especially the fact that it is old news that is shown is not of the present. Lots of programs that I don't like. That there are of course many other ways of obtaining information is not the subject here. It is about the critical view on eg. In my opinion Frans made a good point there.
When I was still living in the Netherlands and my TV broke, I never bought a new one.
Why should I seen the programs?
Usually that TV was on for some background noise, because otherwise it would be so quiet in the house and listening to music all day will also get boring.
Now I live in Thailand and I don't see why I would watch Dutch programs now.
So no TV in my house.
Out of sight is out of mind. Once you leave the "glorious unified language/culture zone" of the low countries, you belong to an inferior minority in terms of "audio-visual popular upliftment".
Depending on the place in the world where you land you will be 2nd, 3rd, 4th ... class. Accidents who end up in the wrong place with a saucer that is slightly too small fall completely out of AV's linguistic-cultural grace.
Traitors abroad were never held in high esteem in the low homelands, rather suspected. Cutting back on the national budget has already forced the search for cross-border synergies in order to achieve wonderful economies of scale. Read to cut spending. Viewers abroad also notice this in the quality of the cultural product served. Hence Frans' complaints about his home made moving wallpaper in Pats.
It is a miracle that BVN has not yet been completely rejected. After all, there are now numerous digital alternatives, whether paid or not.
Then I wonder how it is possible that smart guys manage to make money out of those digital things and the budgetary distressed governments miss that opportunity. Aren't our elected people always there like the chickens when a penny can be grabbed from the citizen's pocket ... and this time they let the smart guys take precedence? Bizarre, unless…
The weather forecast is also very nice for us, Europe and the Western Hemisphere are completely exploited, including Argentina and Peru….
Towards Asia it suddenly stops, much to my chagrin, as if no one lives there who would be interested in the weather forecast, or is the weather always fine here ????
Wonderful late French,
And that I can enjoy this just before the Sintniklaas entrance in Harlingen, Delftzijn, Rotterdam or even in the Piushaven in Tilburg, which will soon be converted into a “red light district” to complete the Sinterklaas story, hahaaa.
For Thai people, a TV seemed to be one of the first necessities of life (after a mobile these days), so when the flat screen broke down my Stepdaughter came in no time with a replacement twice the size. But what turned out? It was a smart TV and now great-grandmother (my wife) and her great-granddaughters take turns watching youtube on a big screen instead of mom's or dad's PC or smartphone. So actually the antenna cable has probably become superfluous! Wifi is the new lifeline, so adapt! The natives do too.
I'm surprised no one has yet reported the unexpected daily failure of BVN, usually around 19.30:19.30 PM. There will then be the message “play missed” and below that “again” It is not Phuket cable's fault because they do not report anything in Dutch. In the course of the evening I usually get a picture back, but what comes after XNUMX pm?????