Has anyone had experience using the JG site while traveling overseas? Specifically Thailand. I am hoping not to use a VPN but worry about accessibility.
Why wouldnāt it work? He has users all over the world. I am in Australia.
Thailand prohibits any negative comments regarding the monarchy and to a large degree the political leadership. One of the way they do this is to force all internet traffic through government servers. These servers behave ādifferentlyā than most so expats often will set up a VPN network as a work around. This would cost more than it is worth to me on this particular trip. Any insight from Thailand would be much appreciated.
Ah, didnāt know that. I assume that would be more for targeting news than music, but hopefully someone from Thailand will give you a definitive answer. If you are only going for a short stay some VPNs have a 30 day free trial period.
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Iāve lived here 16 years. Havenāt been out of the country for the last 14.
Regarding the lese-majeste laws in Thailand? Itās simple. Just donāt post anything about the monarchy in Thailand at all on social media. Easy.
Regarding Thailand regulation of the internet. This aināt China. The internet is pretty much wide open. Some things are blocked by like porn sites, and probably sites that criticize the monarchy or Thailand in general.
For average Joe_User (or Somchai_User) here in Thailand. I donāt worry about. The UK and EU are probably more invasive then Thailandās Ministry of Digital Economy and Society. Especially as they actively block Russian telecommunication and the news sites of other countries that they have disagreement with. And I detest censorship, especially from supposedly āfree and liberal bastions of democracy.ā
The MDES targets specific types of communications, like porn, online gambling, and social media from the Thai expat diaspora overseas who have political axes to grind over āThai Democracy.ā I have no problem reaching international news sites that are literally banned in the UK and EU.
Unless youāre an idiot and get involved in Thai politics, there really is nothing worry about. So donāt sweat it.
Thailand has a very robust internet infrastructure. Even out in the middle of the rural rice fields and farming communities we have optical fibre cable strung to the house. Just did a speed-test and Iām getting 92 Mbps up and down both domestically and to Australia.
VPNās are not a problem and I highly recommend having one. Then you bypass the MDES firewall completely. Like I said, this aināt China. This is especially true if you are a digital nomad and plan to āworkā from Thailand. Thailand has some serious foreign labor laws and itās a good way to get kicked out of the country.
On occasion I find Justin Guitar site to be slow to load, but thatās on the the Justin Guitar siteās end. From what I can tell JG servers are located in the UK (or at least registered there). I have found that the problem is in traffic coming from UK ISPs. Itās definitely not a problem on the Thai end.
Regarding the OPās questions:
These servers behave ādifferentlyā than most so expats often will set up a VPN network as a work around.
Iāve never have had any issues accessing any normal, run-of-the-mill sites like JG without a VPN.
This would cost more than it is worth to me on this particular trip.
Really? VPNs are cheap. You can also find free ones as well.
So to sum it up. Stay out of Thai politics, donāt gamble, donāt download porn, and you wonāt have any problems here in Thailand.
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Thank you very much for this comprehensive response.This is going to help me a great deal. Rather than investing in the more expensive hardware Iāll opt for the VPN service which is, of course, much less expensive. It sounds like this is the option you have employed so Iām hoping you donāt mind making me just little smarter. Are you using a Thai VPN provider? Or better yet, do you mind recommending a provider? I am a little concerned about a Thai provider but from the sound of your response you have done your due diligence so I have no problem following your lead. I have no need to be bad mouthing anyone, let alone someone in authority and I sure wonāt have any business on a porn site so I believe Iām safe in that regard. Thanks againā¦I donāt think Iāll trouble you any longer but sure would appreciate getting me this last step to a good provider.
Generally when picking a vpn provider you look into whether they keep any logs, what logs they keep, where they keep the logs and which countryās legal jurisdiction they fall under.
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I use US-based Private Internet Access. Honestly most VPN provide similar services at competitive prices. I started with PIA because they supported Linux. Their support for Linux has only gotten better over time. And they are committed to privacy (they donāt log connections, or so they say).
Things youāll want to check:
Anonymous VPN (log-free)?
Supported operating systems?
Where their servers are located?
How many servers does the provider have?
Speed ratings for the provider?
Cost?
Simplicity of setup?
Other bells and whistles like personal IP addresses, etc?
Take a look here for reviews 
Review of āno-logā providers - click here
After that? As we say in Thailand, āUp to you!ā 
Where are you going to be staying in Thailand if I may ask? Holiday? Work? Retirement?
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I have PIA. The only thing I would say against them is their streaming services are useless, at least they are for the UK.
If you are planning to use a VPN to pretend you are from another country, also check their streaming support (including user reviews).
Cheers,
Keith
Good suggestion for those using streaming. I donāt stream so I donāt worry about.
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I have a condo (past 15 years) over near Centrum Mall. I have not been back in country for the past 4 years because of travel restrictions and other obligations related to COVID. I retired in '13 which gave me time to get into music. I would hate to put it dow for 3 to 6 months while in Thailand and was concerned about accessibility as a result of the media coverage regarding the anticipated routing of all internet activities through government servers. In Thailand, at least it seems, that could open up a number of problematic activities.
My wife is Thai if that answers any unspoken questions. It appears from your logo you have an interest in Buddisim as do we.
Which city? I think every major city in Thailand has a Central Mall. Maybe even two. I believe āCentral Mallā is a corporation.
There is no problem at all. Especially to access a guitar training site.
No. There just is no problem here with the Thai government and the Internet.
Actually, the Aum symbol is Hinduism. The sound associated with it is part and parcel of Eastern religion including some traditions of Buddhism (not Thai) and central so some meditation practices.
Regarding āan interest in Buddhism?ā Sorta. Ya might say that. Been there, done that. 
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Ok - Strumming and Songs. āAck!ā And a poor memory. What to do. 
This is my current approach.
ā Create a folder for links, notes, videos, and mp3s of songs.
ā Include a spreadsheet with the strumming pattern(s) for the song.
ā Also include a video or mp3 of me playing the strumming so I can practice the strumming as part of practicing the song. Quite literally, I become my own strumming machine.
Bottom line. Iām getting tired of trying to find the strumming pattern for songs that Iām practicing. So, the fix for a bad memory? Put everything in one place for each song. 
Not sure why I was having trouble getting this site open yesterday but at any rate I guess whatever was happening is resolved.
Iām also unsure why I said Central Mall, although my wife and I had been speaking of one of the shops there earlier in the day. Iām actually over near Seacon Mall.