Telegraph Service Closes After 133 Years.

[Daffy D]

After 133 years, the curtain came down on the telegraph service yesterday in a ceremony which saw several thousand people bid it farewell.

''The last chapter of 133 years of the Thai telegraph will be in the memory of Thais forever,'' was the last message sent by telegraph, by Information and Communications Technology Minister Mun Patanotai from the General Post Office.

On the final day parents, teenagers, the elderly and first-time users packed the headquarters of Thailand Post Plc in Bang Rak district, waiting for hours to send final telegrams to friends, family and loved ones, and to buy souvenirs.

Bangkok Post

That could explain a lot

[naka]

Indeed ! ... Why would anyone care ?

Naka.

[ovenman]

One wonders how much telegraph business they had been doing over the past twenty-five or so years.

[burman]

Must have been useful 133 years ago though, I can understand why people pay their respects to this excellent service.

[astral]

Before the advent of the mobile phone in Thailand, about 10 years ago,

the telegraph system was still extremely useful.

[Daffy D]

The Missis tells me that the service has been losing millions baht per year keeping qualified staff and offices round the country open.

I think It’s good that the government kept it going as a service for so long and encouraging to see the number of people turning up to be part of last page of this little bit of history.

[lopburi3]

1995 was the peak year with 12 million telegrams sent so it has not been that long ago that it was indeed important. The internet, confined to schools, started to came outside about that time.

[lazeeboy]

im sure old people will have a soft spot for this as this was once the quickest form of comunication,but since the internet who really cares..

[The Vulcan]

An old tradition in the UK was a telegram from the Queen upon reaching 100 years of age. Is this still the case (not that I'm anywhere my telegram yet!)

[jayjayjayjay]

RIP

Re The Vulcan, I've heard they moved it to 120 yrs now, apparently there were too many for Regina to keep track of! Only kidding. My granny is 100 in 2012 if she makes it, being Ozzy and all, I think we might still be part of the monarchy then(although granny was born in Boston, UK)!!! I'll let you know, coz it would be a real kick if my granny does get a telegram from HRH.

[PhilHarries]

The demise of the telegraph demonstrates the speed of change in communications. When was the last time anybody on ThaiVisa used a public telephone? How often do we actually mail something to or friends and relatives? When was the last time any of us actually wrote (using a pen) a letter and not just a post card?

The sad thing is that despite this rapid developement in communications people seem to actually talk to each other less and less.

[Payboy]

An old tradition in the UK was a telegram from the Queen upon reaching 100 years of age. Is this still the case (not that I'm anywhere my telegram yet!)

i do think that qe2 is still short of her 100th, but i'll let you know soon as i hear from her....