Job Discussion Forums

loniponi · Joined: 09 Apr 2004 Posts: 13

Hey,

I'm considering getting a SIM card and a cell phone or an international calling card.

How common are cell phones versus using street pay phones? Do guest house/hotel phones cost a lot for just local calls? How much do ESL teachers depend on using phones to communicate? Is email just as widely used?

Thanks.
Loni

kenkannif · Joined: 07 Apr 2004 Posts: 550

Get a cheapo mobile phone over here as they're pretty much essential. Also a mobile will probably work out cheaper to use than your apartment phone.

Yes, e-mail is used here (although most of the computers are steam powered....joke it's not that much different here than it is where you're from....it's like a proper country and that!).

oxfordstu · Joined: 28 Aug 2004 Posts: 89 Location: Changchun, China

Get a mobile phone. The pay phones in Thailand don't really work that well, especially if you're calling overseas. But I found that even the regular payphones don't work if you're calling a mobile number. You've got to be quick about putting in your baht coins, otherwise, the phone will hang up on you.

Kent F. Kruhoeffer · Joined: 22 Jan 2003 Posts: 2129 Location: 中国

Sawadee khrap:

kenkannif & oxfordstu are both right. You need a mobile phone in Bangkok.

The good news is: with so much competition, they have become really cheap.

You can buy a brand new Nokia (standard model 3315) for less than 3,000 Baht. ($60 or $70)

No-name phones start at 2,200 Baht.

Here are a couple of links with more info:

http://www.happydprompt.com/en/index.html (Happy Dprompt / popular pre-paid mobile phone service)

http://www.dtac.co.th/ (DTAC / popular mobile phone sales and services provider / in English & Thai)

Sheep-Goats · Joined: 16 Apr 2004 Posts: 527

A mobile phone is a more essential component to landing work than having a degree.

Go to MBK (just say MBK to any Taxi driver, 95% know that, if they don't you can try the Thai "Mahboonkrong") -- parts of the third and fourth floors are nothing but small mobile phone stands. You can get something smallish, used and reliable for 1000 to 1500 B, your Thai sim (get an international one -- eg: one someone from home can call you on) will cost about 300 B (more if you want a lucky number), and you'll likely spend between 300 and 600 B a month your first few months on sending SMSes and making calls.

The Thais have an obsession with Nokia phones -- most farang report that they are the most reliable and easiest to use, but they're also more expensive for what you get. Dprompt phone service ("Happy") is popular right now because the Thais like the song that plays in their commercials -- but GSM is the largest brand and probably offers the most reliable service as far as antennas and english language support goes.

My reccomendation is a 1500 B Motorola with an International 1-2 Call GSM sim.

Pay phones can work if you're god and will them to. Rates vary depeding on if your calling a landline or mobile, in Bangkok or out, etc etc. Plus, they're right next to some of the world's noisest traffic, so often whether they work or not is beside the point. Good shelters for stray dogs, though.

The internet is readily available almost everywhere in Thailand now -- in Bangkok or Chiang Mai you'll pay between .5B and 2B a minute for ADSL connection speeds. Outside of those two centers you'll pay about twice as much for a 56k line. On an island you'll get (slowly) reamed, but you'll still be able to tell mom where you are.