Thailand To Use 10-digit Mobile Telephone System On September 1

[Jai Dee]

Thailand will use 10-digit mobile telephone system on September 1

Thailand will change from 9-digit to 10-digit mobile telephone system on September 1.

Setthaporn Khusripithak (เศรษฐพร คูศรีพิทักษ์), a member of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) said the change, approved by the telecom regulator yesterday, was in response to the rapid expansion of the use of mobile telephones.

With the 10-digit system, the country will have enough mobile telephone numbers for the next 30 years, Mr. Setthaporn said.

Beginning September 1, users of all mobile telephone systems will have to dial the prefix 08, he said. For examples, the number 01-123-4567 will be changed to 08-112-345-67 and the new number of 09-123-4567 will be 08-912-345-67.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 27 May 2006

[AsiaWolfie]

oh my god..... this means printing millions and millions of namecards again..... and as for me, telling more than 100 people in other South-East-Asian countries about the change.... nasty

[astral]

There are still many questions to be answered.

Will there be a switchover period when both versions will work

or will it all happen in one day.

Will there be recorded messages in English and Thai to help confused callers.

[jcicero]

oh my god..... this means printing millions and millions of namecards again..... and as for me, telling more than 100 people in other South-East-Asian countries about the change.... nasty

No, there will mostly be recorded messages in Thai to really confuse all callers

[VanZam]

oh my god..... this means printing millions and millions of namecards again..... and as for me, telling more than 100 people in other South-East-Asian countries about the change.... nasty

No, there will mostly be recorded messages in Thai to really confuse all callers

Great move.. just after I get namecards printed... not to mention telling the hundreds of people.. couldn't they figure out a diff system whereby only new numbers were 10 digit, or is that far too intelligent?

[mai_reuh]

No, there will mostly be recorded messages in Thai to really confuse all callers

After all, why change now ? It's a tradition.

or is that far too intelligent?

No comment required !

Thailand: hub of 10 digit phone numbers.

[grtaylor]

Something I've never understood - if its necessary to dial "0" at the beginning of EVERY number, then what function does it serve? Why not just get rid of it? One less digit to dial.

Graham

[francois]

hi'

always something to complain about ...

add or change by hand the phone number or you customer will do it!

what are you afraid of, loosing customers?

seems to me to hear westerners in their home country!

never satisfied!

always something to complain about!

give Thailand a break, would you ...

francois

[Sunny10]

hi'

always something to complain about ...

add or change by hand the phone number or you customer will do it!

what are you afraid of, loosing customers?

seems to me to hear westerners in their home country!

never satisfied!

always something to complain about!

give Thailand a break, would you ...

francois

Don't you see the point? having to notify people outside of Thailand and printing new cards will cost money and time for something that could have been avoided if commom sense was used.

[meemiathai]

oh my god..... this means printing millions and millions of namecards again..... and as for me, telling more than 100 people in other South-East-Asian countries about the change.... nasty

No, there will mostly be recorded messages in Thai to really confuse all callers

Great move.. just after I get namecards printed... not to mention telling the hundreds of people.. couldn't they figure out a diff system whereby only new numbers were 10 digit, or is that far too intelligent?

Try to call a 10 digit no. without having to pass through a 9 digit no. first using a paid phone. Can you?

[meemiathai]

hi'

always something to complain about ...

add or change by hand the phone number or you customer will do it!

what are you afraid of, loosing customers?

seems to me to hear westerners in their home country!

never satisfied!

always something to complain about!

give Thailand a break, would you ...

francois

Don't you see the point? having to notify people outside of Thailand and printing new cards will cost money and time for something that could have been avoided if commom sense was used.

Can you enlighten me how this matter can be done better?

[Guest endure]

You ought to think yourselves lucky. We've had 3 number range changes in the UK in the past 10 years

Edited May 27, 2006 by endure

[backflip]

Shanghai mobile phones have 11-digit phone numbers...

[howerski]

seems to me to hear westerners in their home country!

never satisfied!

always something to complain about!

give Thailand a break, would you ...

francois

Quite right. Here in the UK we've been through all this many times with mobiles and landlines. Of course some people are making big money out of it. My only concern is that they are underestimating future mobile use and will have to change again. UK - 55M people with good landline infrastructure is 11 digits. Thailand 63M people with poor landline infrastructure = 10 digits.

[pschef]

Beginning September 1, users of all mobile telephone systems will have to dial the prefix 08, he said. For examples, the number 01-123-4567 will be changed to 08-112-345-67 and the new number of 09-123-4567 will be 08-912-345-67.

wouldnt it be easier to understand if you say the number 01-123-4567 will be changed to

08-1-12345-67 or number of 09-123-4567 will be 08-9 -12345-67. so in other words you add the prefix follow it by previous prefix, simple. Just a different way to explain

[Pikey]

Does Toxin/AIS also have biz interests in one or more of the copy shop chains where most of us get our namecards printed?

[AsiaWolfie]

hi'

always something to complain about ...

add or change by hand the phone number or you customer will do it!

what are you afraid of, loosing customers?

seems to me to hear westerners in their home country!

never satisfied!

always something to complain about!

give Thailand a break, would you ...

francois

OH YA, THE FLAMERS ARE BACK, FINALLY..... WHY DONT U GIVE URSELF A BREAK, AT LEAST FROM THAIVISA, AND TRY TO GET RID OF UR HATE AND NEGATIVE VIBRATIONS....

[Mabus]

seems to me to hear westerners in their home country!

never satisfied!

always something to complain about!

give Thailand a break, would you ...

francois

We had similar change with landlines in Belgium a few years back.

Changes like that are bound to happen....probably unavoidable.

So yeah give Thailand a break

Edited May 27, 2006 by Mabus

[brahmburgers]

When will Thailand begin to address the problem with street addresses? Currently, Thai addresses are so long, I get Carpal's syndrome (hand cramps) every time I have to write one. Lots of unecessary words and redundancies.

[maxpower]

Great move.. just after I get namecards printed... not to mention telling the hundreds of people.. couldn't they figure out a diff system whereby only new numbers were 10 digit, or is that far too intelligent?

Adding the 08 allows for future expansion using the first 2 digits. You cannot allow existing 9 digit numbers to continue because eventually new numbers will collide with old. This is why initially all existing numbers are merged into the 08 prefix.

Existing 9 digit # 071234567

A future 10 digit # 0712345678

Something I've never understood - if its necessary to dial "0" at the beginning of EVERY number, then what function does it serve? Why not just get rid of it? One less digit to dial.

Graham

Your emergency service number is 911 for example.

The mobile number 0911234567 would call emergency service if you dropped the zero.

[gadg]

If I'm not mistaken, there is no set prefix for Thai mobile numbers at the moment. A quick check in my address book reveals 01, 05, 06 and 07 numbers. When I first started visiting Thailand, I was also informed of the fact that a number does not reveal what you are calling.

I guess by prefixing it with 08, you combine all the mobile phone numbers in one range and in doing so also allow all other numbers now in the 01, 05, etc. ranges to be replaced by mobile phone numbers. It actually seems like a smart move. I don't know if calling mobiles is more expensive than landlines, if it's not - this move could usher in the era of it being the case because now it's easier to figure out if or not it's a mobile.

As for the question "what is the use of the leading 0" ... at least in my homecountry, the leading 0 makes for an 'interlocal call'. Adding 00 (which has been replaced by '+' in the mobile phone era) makes for an international call. This used to be for the phone system operators, interlocal and international calls would be switched to other systems. Ofcourse, with digital technology this has become less important.

For me personally, it comes just in time. I'll be printing cards early september. But I understand the case for many, many of you out there having to get new cards. I personally wouldn't bet on the two systems working for an overlap period ... but who knows :-)

(and while we're on the subject, please check if you can answer my DTAC questions)

Edited May 27, 2006 by gadg

[hardy1943]

hi'

always something to complain about ...

add or change by hand the phone number or you customer will do it!

what are you afraid of, loosing customers?

seems to me to hear westerners in their home country!

never satisfied!

always something to complain about!

give Thailand a break, would you ...

francois

OH YA, THE FLAMERS ARE BACK, FINALLY..... WHY DONT U GIVE URSELF A BREAK, AT LEAST FROM THAIVISA, AND TRY TO GET RID OF UR HATE AND NEGATIVE VIBRATIONS....

[Two Roads]

hi'

always something to complain about ...

add or change by hand the phone number or you customer will do it!

what are you afraid of, loosing customers?

seems to me to hear westerners in their home country!

never satisfied!

always something to complain about!

give Thailand a break, would you ...

francois

To many people with to much time on their hands and not enough intelligence to use it.

Interesting how so many people that claim to love Thailand so much do nothing but bash it at every opportunity.....is it any wonder the locals are getting more and more fed up with the farangs.

[hardy1943]

hi'

always something to complain about ...

add or change by hand the phone number or you customer will do it!

what are you afraid of, loosing customers?

seems to me to hear westerners in their home country!

never satisfied!

always something to complain about!

give Thailand a break, would you ...

I love this country, but explain to me I have a Telephone post on my property and the neighbor

acrossed the street has a phone running off of my pole,I have been trying to get a hard line phone

installed in my house for over 6 month now and was told they ran out of number and I may have to wait years for a phone,so I am connected with satillite to run my computer.

Does anyone else have the same problem not getting a phone hooked up?

[Whitey]

For me personally, it comes just in time. I'll be printing cards early september. But I understand the case for many, many of you out there having to get new cards. I personally wouldn't bet on the two systems working for an overlap period ... but who knows :-)

My guess is no as well. The day they switched to adding a zero before the numbers, I tried to make a call to my house and guess what? Couldn't make it. I assume this change will be the same and we will all just deal with it.

[bluie]

Beginning September 1, users of all mobile telephone systems will have to dial the prefix 08, he said. For examples, the number 01-123-4567 will be changed to 08-112-345-67 and the new number of 09-123-4567 will be 08-912-345-67.

wouldnt it be easier to understand if you say the number 01-123-4567 will be changed to

08-1-12345-67 or number of 09-123-4567 will be 08-9 -12345-67. so in other words you add the prefix follow it by previous prefix, simple. Just a different way to explain

It would be much easier to grasp if you realise that all you need to do is slip the 8 in as the second digit simple

[britmaveric]

I have a odd feeling a cockup will occur!!

[Deke]

Will the landline numbers also change to ten digits with some other prefix?

Edited May 27, 2006 by Deke

[RJJ]

I love this country, but explain to me I have a Telephone post on my property and the neighbor

acrossed the street has a phone running off of my pole,I have been trying to get a hard line phone

installed in my house for over 6 month now and was told they ran out of number and I may have to wait years for a phone,so I am connected with satillite to run my computer.

Does anyone else have the same problem not getting a phone hooked up?

It's probably got nothing to do with running out of numbers, they have simply run out of space to run another wire to your house.

Every phone in Thailand has it's own wire back to the exchange, they do not join in at the pole itself.

Surely if they run that extra wire to your house, some of the poles will fall over.

[ausiekid]

Does Toxin/AIS also have biz interests in one or more of the copy shop chains where most of us get our namecards printed?

I really feel sorry for the people who have to buy new namecards, it could send someone broke. I wish I had a problem like that.