Landline phones in Thailand to be charged by minute

[webfact]

Landline Phones To Be Charged By Minute
By Khaosod English


Former Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva speaks on phone with members of the public, 2 July 2010.

BANGKOK: -- Landline phones in Thailand are no longer to be charged under a flat fee of 3 baht per call, an official said.

Mr. Thakorn Tanthasit, Secretary-Genral of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), said the agency is currently amending the telecommunication regulations which would become effective in July this year.

The new regulation will replace the flat fee of landline calls with a charge of 0.45 baht per minute, Mr. Thakorn said. The price will be reduced to 0.34 baht per minute in July 2015.

He explained that the change is necessary as service providers are bearing greater financial costs in their operation at the present time.

The amendment will be finalised by June this year, Mr. Thakorn said.

Source: http://en.khaosod.co.th/detail.php?newsid=1395315961&typecate=06&section=


-- Khaosod English 2014-03-21

[JoeThePoster]

Good luck calling 4-digit and other service numbers. Pay 45 satang per minute to listen to corny music.

Edited March 21, 2014 by JoeThePoster

[chainarong]

Just like Australia, now Thailand , the rip- off really begins.

[whybother]

Just like Australia, now Thailand , the rip- off really begins.

"Local calls from a public phone cost around $.50 and are untimed"

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g255055-s605/Australia:Telephones.html

[Tatsujin]

Anyone got the profit figures from any of these operators?

[focus27]

This will actually make telemarketing phone-spam cheaper.

Fantastic!

[GeorgeO]

There is some sound logic in this.

Under the current billing system, Thai people will talk to their friends for 15 to 20 minutes, or even longer, with no real aim to the conversation. Once they find that the price goes beyond the old 3 baht charge as soon as they have been on the line 6 minutes and 40 seconds, they may just find something better to do with all that remaining time...!!

[ezzra]

"He explained that the change is necessary as service providers are bearing greater financial costs in their operation at the present time." AND... to line up our pockets, more money for us...AND, send more

business over to our mates with the cellular phones concession as now, who would want to use land

line if mobile phones ate cheaper to use...

[impulse]

Dang. No more using the phone as a baby monitor.

[p_brownstone]

Makes perfect sense really.

I have always wondered at the flat rate fee - as someone already said, Thais will spend literally hours on the 'phone just gossiping - I've even seen instances where someone will lay the handset down, go and make a meal or whatever and come back to continue the conversation half an hour or more later.

Patrick

[wilcopops]

How often does anyone use a landline for phone calls these days?

I guess people will just stop using landlines all together.

[gbswales]

Anyone got the profit figures from any of these operators?

I don't know - ask British Telecom in the UK they have been charging per minute for as long as I can remember!

[Ianatlarge]

Really. Imo nationalise the telephone companies. They are using public resources for personal profit. The tech behind phones is easy, simple, and cold be better implemented as a public monopoly. Try and avoid the mess that Australia is in.

[MMarlow]

How often does anyone use a landline for phone calls these days?

I guess people will just stop using landlines all together.

Ever heard of businesses?

[MK1]

Designed to reduce people hogging up land lines unnecessarily, reduce the rumour mongering and to raise more revenue perhaps for the cash strapped insolvent government.

The impact on running costs to business and government departments will be immensely expensive.

[somchaismith]

They arleady charge a monthly fee of over 100 baht for basic line rental. It's no wonder the telecommunications industry creates fugitives with giant empires.

[sirineou]

How often does anyone use a landline for phone calls these days?

I guess people will just stop using landlines all together.

Ever heard of businesses?

ever heard of VOIP?

[bino]

Dang. No more using the phone as a baby monitor.

If you have an extra laptop kicking around, you could use Skype to do this quite effectively. Create a new account for it, set it up in the nursery, and configure Skype to Answer calls automatically.

As an even greater benefit, if the laptop has a camera you can configure Skype to answer video calls automatically and see inside the nursery.

I don't have a baby, but have set up the above on my office PC to keep an eye on my employees, who can be quite infantile at times.

Edited March 21, 2014 by bino

[vicio]

From long time I activated SkypeOut Unlimited World: 10,49USD

You can call unlimited any landline and mobile in Thailand and most landlines in the world.

Usually after the first call to my mom overseas is already a deal for me.

[rotary]

Land line use has plummeted in recent years due to mobile phones, looks like they are trying to make up for that loss. Last time I had a land line was something around 2006.

Edited March 21, 2014 by rotary

[samran]

Really. Imo nationalise the telephone companies. They are using public resources for personal profit. The tech behind phones is easy, simple, and cold be better implemented as a public monopoly. Try and avoid the mess that Australia is in.

Keep up!

TOT is already owned by government.

Private players pay a concession fee to the government.

I have no problem with user pays, as it is basically taxpayers and people who don't use landlines very much but still pay the connection fee cross subsidising others.

Edited March 21, 2014 by samran

[lucifer666]

I can't remember the last time i used one. Must have been at least 3-4 years ago.

[wilcopops]

How often does anyone use a landline for phone calls these days?

I guess people will just stop using landlines all together.

Ever heard of businesses?

ever heard of VOIP?

Sounds like Marlow hasn't heard of business accounts or VOIP.

[wilcopops]

How often does anyone use a landline for phone calls these days?

I guess people will just stop using landlines all together.

Ever heard of businesses?

ever heard of VOIP?

Sounds like Marlow hasn't heard of business accounts or VOIP.

[Pompey50]

This is a problem for phone company's around the world, now most people here in the UK and increasingly in places like Thailand are using the internet and VOIP services to communicate. So they are not making money on phonecalls: their traditional money maker: any more.

They provide the networks, but others like skype are making the profits. For a number of years now I have had a Skype world subscription. I can chat to friends in Thailand for as long as I want for no extra cost over that of the subscription.

[somchaismith]

Land line use has plummeted in recent years due to mobile phones, looks like they are trying to make up for that loss. Last time I had a land line was something around 2006.

Thai business law 101, Section 42,:' When demand decreases, raise the prices.'

[3SoiDogNight]

I'm disappointed to read this. I still prefer to use landline when possible.

Although I have a cellphone, the reception isn't so great in my building and most other high-rise buildings.

At work when calling a business, I still prefer the landline.

Also when making international calls back, I always use the landline (with calling card) because I like the clarity. I do not like the poor sound quality of Skype or VoiP.

[TheReporter]

Thailand is really going backward in its development efforts, rather than going forward. What makes the Minister of Telecommunications think that by charging more for the landlined phones people will still use them when they have inexpensive cell phones at their disposal?

[cnx355]

Not a big change for me as I have been calling mobile phone for 5 years using my TOT landline and I always pay by the minutes.

I guess that the 3 bahts per call fee is landline to landline only.

[andygunther]

How often does anyone use a landline for phone calls these days?

I guess people will just stop using landlines all together.

After I changed my internet to cable because my ADSL wasn't stable , I did cancel my phone line too.