I have just received my household effects shipment from the UK and cannot seem to make my telephone and answering machine work. Is the Thai system completely different from the UK so I should throw them away, or is it just a question of making up new leads?

I can use my UK phone here with an adapter to go from the large phone plug to the smaller ones used here

I can dial out ok but for some reason when I call in it doesn't ring

I can use my UK phone here with an adapter to go from the large phone plug to the smaller ones used here

I can dial out ok but for some reason when I call in it doesn't ring

Thailand uses the same standard as most of the world. It's the UK that has a weird additional wire for the ringer.

As I understand it, some phones will work here, generally those where it's an RJ11 plug that connects to the phone, which is the same plug that you connect to the wall in Thailand. - i.e. Throw away (or leave in the UK), the BT to RJ11 lead, and buy an RJ11 to RJ11 lead in Thailand, and that will work most of the time.

There is an additional complication if you're planning on taking a DECT cordless phone from the UK, in that I believe it's using the same frequency range (1880-1900MHz) as the PCT mobile phones (1875-1900MHZ I think). i.e. If you take one, it may work - but I wouldn't expect it to work for very long if you're anywhere near an area where PCT is in use.