Isp Connection Cost / Phone Bill..?

[okey kokey]

As A new commer to the computer and internet can some one offer some advice or comments on the following...

I purchased my first ISP pre paid internet connection card .. 200 Bhat for 20 hours from Asianet , with a 3 month expirey use and a dial up connection number of 038-727282. this can only be used in the Chonburi area . My house line is with TT&T, and is within the 038 area.

My computer had no problem with dialing up the 038 connection number and it connects to Asianet with out a problem where I started to surf the web. Now to what seem's a down side to my first venture into the world of the internet, when I received my phone bill it was showing 500 Bhat more than normal , then I noticed on the bill that none of the 038 internet dial up connection numbers were itemised or shown . looking back at some old phone bills there I also noticed that no local 038 call I had made were shown , ( before I had purchased my computer ) the only itemised calls shown on the bill were for calls made to mobiles or out of the 038 area.

I was under the impression that the cost of connecting to ISP vis a land line was around 3 Bhat per connection...?, when I contacted my local TT&T office where I pay the phone bills, I aked why the 038 connection numbers were not shown on my telephone bill...?, ( including the 038 ISP connection ) the answer from the man at the desk was we do not show any local calls made on your phone bill, I also asked if it was possible to check my my 038 calls , so I can check just how much the cost of connecting to the internet is costing me..the answer was no I can't tell you that. ... so does that mean I have to just accept what the phone bill shows, for 038 internet connections or 038 private calls...? and don't make a fuss if I think it seem's a bit too high...?

My next port of call was to contact the Asianet office, and ask them if they could tell me just how much it should cost to connect to them via a TT&T phone line, I got some sort of answer , ...around 3 Bhat per connection, The person who I was talking to ask , what type of Asianet card do you have, When I said the Asianet 20 hour internet package etc , he said Oh this card is only for surfing web sites in Thailand !!, so I had a good look at the Asianet card and no where on it dose it say for use only in Thailand. I also asked at the shop where I got the card from and they said ,,yes the card can be used to surf the web out side of Thailand. so heres my confusion could it be that the card ive got is infact only for use with web sites in Thailand, and some how ive been connectin to web sites all over the world, hence some how ive been charged a higher connection rate by TT&T..? I accessed the Asianet web site and checked my number of connections, which were 20, this means it should be 3 Baht X 20 = 60 Bhat total connection cost...?, so what wheres the extra 440 Bhat charge come from...?

your comments and advice would be most welcome, ....thanks

[bkk_mike]

You might be getting charged extra on the 038 call (not all 038 numbers are local - for instance Rayong isn't local from Bang Saen, but both are 038).

As far as the internet card giving you access to sites outside of Thailand - if it works - don't complain (the guy is probably talking rubbish, and getting it mixed up with one of the ADSL offers). But your phone bill will only have the cost of the calls to the number, nothing for the ISP.

If it is a local call - it should only be 3 baht each connection - but if your line is being dropped occasionally and you reconnect, and you're logging in each day, you could easily run up a couple of hundred baht in a month.

[monty]

The telephone bill should show how many local calls (at 3 Baht) are made. It is down there where they total up all the amounts to be paid. The items are : the 100 Baht line rental,amount of local calls, the total of the itemized long distance/mobile calls and the added 7% vat.