Safe Speed Forums

Can anyone tell me any of the cheap phone lines I can use to phone Thialand. I've tried a few from the internet but they appear not to work, when I call from my land line direct I can get through but then I’m paying a fortune. If anyone knows one of the cheaper options (that works) I'd be grateful if you could let me know.

Cheers
Dixie

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Useless laws weaken necessary laws.

Skype

Its probably not exactly what you were thinking of, but its likely to be the cheapest way of calling long-distance.

You are right Robin, and thanks. The only thing is the people we want to communicate with don't have computers. My wife is Thai and she needs to contact her sister because we've been told her father is very ill. I don't mind paying as a one off) the full rate but if she is going to have to call often then I'd like to try and find a cheaper way.

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Useless laws weaken necessary laws.

There a Skype to landline gateway you can use. I think it's called 'SkypeOUT" (It used to be called SkypeOUT). The bulk of the distance is via VoIP (Voice over IP) but the final local link is by landline. I guess it depends if there's a close enough SkypeOUT gateway.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

Thanks Paul, I supose I should have said with my first post, the people we are trying to call only have mobile phones. Mobiles together with call charges are so cheap out there they don't bother with land lines.

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Useless laws weaken necessary laws.

You could check out BT Broadband Talk - similar idea . As well as cheap overseas calls (1.25p /min to States) you get free evening and weekend calls to 01/02 numbers if you've got one of the top packages.

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

Skype will still work for you. Imagine that your call goes over the internet as far as a phone in-country, and that phone then makes the local call for you, connecting you that way. You're able to call any number.

Skype to a Thai mobile is advertised at 7.5ppm inc VAT.

I should have said Skype to PSTN. Also works with mobiles.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

Hi Dixie. I've been lurkin' around these parts for almost 3 years now. Odd that it should be this that finally got me to register.
My wife is from the Philippines and has lived here in England for almost 5 years now. The situation over there is probably very similar to Thailand - plenty of internet cafes springing up, but no personal access due to land lines being so expensive that only businesses can afford them. Hence mobiles are very popular.
What I suggest to ANYONE who has to make frequent overseas calls is a trip down to the local asian owned shop/newsagents. There will be plenty of brands of single use phone cards on sale, generally for around 5 or 10 pounds. Some shops do a multi use card that you can top up using a swipe machine next to the till. These work out a wee bit cheaper.
BT call cost to a Thailand or Philippine mobile is around 85p per minute. A single use card will get you around 40 to 50 minutes for a fiver. The swipe card type will get you just over an hour.
My wifes sister lives in Norway and the same cards can be used if they want to call eachother - a fiver will get you 4 to 5 hours call time to a Norwegian land line!
Basically, these card companies are buying MASSIVE amounts of international talk time from BT and the like at minimum price, so are able to flog it to the likes of us at a huge saving, while still making a profit for themselves.
Hope this helps.

Hi Maaarrghk! And

Thanks for the information. I also use another forum and I've been given a low cost number to use which I will try out tomorrow, as it’s now too late to call. I’ll post here if it works.

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Useless laws weaken necessary laws.

I if the other party is internet enabled I use the "phone" function in Yahoo messenger for long distance. Its free and if you use the web cam you get video as well.

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Speed camera policy Kills

Thanks for the welcome Dixie.
We recently tried the low cost number that you mentioned. It worked out at 8p per minute compared with 7p per minute with the swipe card when phoning the Philippines. The difference may be a little less for Thailand, I don't know. Best way is to try both options. If the difference is minimal it may be worthwhile to use the number and save the hassle of going out to buy a card.
There are internet cafes in the Philippines and my wife will often chat to her sister using yahoo instant messenger and a web cam, but it can cost her sister 2 hours pay for 1 hours internet time and the hardware out there is not too brilliant - neither is the power supply!
Things may be a bit better in Thailand of course, it being more popular as a tourist destination.
Hope your Father in Law is OK.

Was it this link you were given? I have never tried Thailand but have used similar services listed on this site to call a Portuguese mobile.

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Driving fast is for a particular time and place, I can do it I just only do it occasionally because I am a gentleman.
- James May

Thanks toltec, that’s not the link I was given but I did already know about it. I tried a couple of numbers on there and had problems being connected, also some of the call charges where different to what was quoted on the web page, to what was said when I rang them. I was in a rush at the time so was only asking if anyone knew of one I could use without having to look around.

I did get a number that worked from someone on another forum, it was (mobile to mobile) for 3 pence per min (weekend). I'm not at home at the moment but will post it up when I can.

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Useless laws weaken necessary laws.

Possibly try these services too, I've used them both, but not for Thailand I must admit:

http://www.just-dial.com/
http://www.call18866.co.uk/

www.1899.com - Currently 5p connection plus 2p/min.

www.18185.co.uk - Currently 4p connection plus 1p/min.

Same rates on both for Thailand landlines or mobile phones. I can't guarantee what the service is like for Thailand though, as I normally only use them for calls to North America.

Neither service has any sort of sign up fee. You just register a credit card or direct debit and will be billed for usage.

Have you heard of Voipax before? Its an alternative for using skype, cheaper and free for a lot of countries. If you register on http://www.voipax.com and download their free Voipax Softphone you can phone a lot of countries all over the world for free and more then 200 countries for a fraction of the cost of regular phone providers. Once registered you can call Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Hungary, Ireland, Germany , France, Malaysia, Singapore, New Zealand, Australia and lots of other countries free. It’s easy and convenient to use and you can keep in touch with relatives and friends all over the world.