Asia - Quality of phone connections in Bangkok?

I am planning a short stay in Bangkok. I will need to be on the phone a lot (with the US) during my stay. I plan on using a prepaid SIM on a GSM phone, as well as the hotel landline (with a calling card).

All the times I have called Bangkok from the US, the phone connection has sounded terrible, "third-world quality." Did I have bad luck, or are the connections really this bad? Are outgoing circuits overloaded often? Are any mobile carriers or calling cards better than the other ones?

Maybe I'll just Skype it. :)

Thank you for any tips.

I have no experience with the wireless phones, but on the land lines I think you have just had bad luck.

I have both received a call from BKK to the US and made a land line call from BKK to the US. (Both calls originated at hotels in BKK.)

Both calls sounded like the person was next door.

I hope you have better luck this time

I have a land line (for ADSL) in the apartment I keep in BKK and it works fine. I use AIS for my mobile and it works fine too.

The Internet is a problem sometimes though - so Skype may not be a good solution! Limited pipe in and out of Thailand.

I have had bad luck with things like skype in BKK but cell phones and land lines have been fine for my calls to the US. Now, it may very well depend on the network you are using for your calling card though. I have had situations when one card would have a terrible connection but another card or direct dial from the hotel would be fine. Cell phone is just like here...it depends on where you are standing. Also, I have always had problems when roaming with my cell US cell phone in BKK with poor connections and bad call quality. I now just foward my cell phone to a local cell phone and that works better.

You don't mention when you'll be in Bangkok but be aware that the mobile networks are getting overloaded here at the moment. Calling between mobile networks within Thailand can be very difficult at peak times and I get "Network Busy" messages a lot even when trying to call internationally. If you have the hotel landline as a backup you should be OK but people calling you may have trouble connecting (note: I'm not 100% sure if people will have problems calling from overseas to a Bangkok mobile, I've just heard a few anecdotal stories of problems)

The problems should be resolved in a few months but may drag on longer.

I have a Thai Orange (now called True Move, I think) SIM card that I put in my phone when I'm in BKK. I've made many calls to the US on it, and the connection is often great. By using a particular international dialling code / gateway (009?), the cost comes out to around 7 baht per minute, which I find very acceptable. Yes, VOIP is cheaper -- but it's much more restrictive, and the quality is generally poorer than what I get on my Thai mobile.

Enjoy BKK,
Michael

Excellent advice. Many thanks to all.

You can buy a sim card and recharge cards at any 7-11. Make certain that you bring your passport, as they need to record all the info. For a cheaper rate, on your cell phone, dial 0081 or 0091 and then the area code. The reception I get on 1 2 GO is very good, but the lines are getting crowded, and you may have to dial a few times.

Make certain that you bring your passport, as they need to record all the info.

I have bought multiple 1-2 cards in Thailand and never, never been asked for a passport. Since SIMs are available not only at 7-11, but also on street corners, they are untraceable.

You are right about "+8" being the the cheapest way to call the U.S. and Canada. It is about 6 baht per minute versus $1.99 with T-mobile

I have a Nokia 6310i tri band and it works fine in Bangkok on their Orange network. Just occasionally I can't dial out as the lines appear to be busy but this is very rare.

Doug

I use 1 2 GO in Thailand and works just as well or bad as my cell service here. You'll get bad reception or drop calls in certain areas or buildings.
I've call back to the US dialing 0081 or 0091 first and thought it was quite reasonable. :cool:
Good Luck!! ^

The mobile phone network here currently is nearly useless. AIS/1-2-Call (aka the Shingapore Mobile Telephone Company) has been experiencing extreme loss of signal and call connection/completion problems. SMS'es seem to go through to/from 1-2-Call, maybe 50% of the time (after hitting re-send). Calls usually require 10 ~ 15 redials for completion. Calls from my landline seem to be going through 100%, to other landlines and dTAC.

I guess my recommendation as of today would be to get a dTAC (Happy) pre-paid SIM, but try to rely on a landline or SKYPE as mych as you can. Another FT'er was using SKYPE here ion his recent visit and raved about the service/quality.

AFAIK, convenience stores do not sell pre-paid SIMs, but they do sell top-up cards and pre-paid calling cards. Mobile phone shops, of which there are more than convenience stores, sell pre-paid SIMs. AFAIK, pre-apaid SIMs need to be registered to an ID card (for a Thai) or a passport. I know when I first bought my pre-paid SIM this requirement was not in place but I did have to register by 31 Dec. 2005 or face loss of service. There is a short form the shop needs to fill out, and an original passport was required in my case, and in every case I know of first-hand.

On my last trip to Bangkok I used Skype extensively over the internet service at my hotel. It worked well about 75% of the time, and poorly other times. Interestingly, when it didn't work, we'd use the "talk" option on Yahoo IM, and then switched to Skype and it would work.

Cheap, too!

I spend alot of time on the phone when I am in BKK. I have a pre-paid sim that I guess is now useless per transpac. I used skpe on my last trip about 12 hours of talk time and never had a problem calling US to a land line or cell. The calls to computers were a little bad. I stay at the westin if that matters.
I also use my Cingular cell server and have no problems texting or calling out.

I often use WebPhone.com or YahooVoiceOut for calling USA while I am in BKK. I have a very good headset and mic, sometimes it is very, very clear, sometimes not. I suspect it is due to Internet traffic from where I am at the time I make the call. FWIW, the calls seem to be very clear all morning BKK time, and get worse in the afternoon.

Yahoo messenger with friends (computer to computer) is free and I find it crystal clear.

I also use my 1-2-call SIM card and use 008 or 009 for about 7-baht/minute (16 cents) to USA. Call quality has always been very good, some redialing is sometime necessary but once the call goes through, I have not been cut off.

I also use this service - http://www.telcan.net - about 10 cents a minute is my cost for someone to call a toll-free number in the USA which rings my Thai cell phone. Quality is good. Using their callback service from Thailand mobile to USA is about 9 cents/minute. Quality also good.

Just a quick follow-up...AIS/1-2-Call seems to have sorted out the bulk of their system and interconnect problems? The past few days calls seem to be going through closer to half the time where it was maybe 10% last week, except during 4 PM to 7 PM, and SMS Tx/Rx seems to be 100%? I also have a dTAC post-paid account, and can say that their service has been much, much, much better. So I'd still go with my recommendation for a dTAC/Happy pre-paid SIM.

Calls in Thailand link (http://www.calls.in.th/contents.php?id=186) which explains the various alternatives for calling internationally.

From Thailand to the U.S.A...

001/+1 9 baht/min
008 7 baht/min (TOT)
009 6 baht/min (CAT)

exclusive of 7% VAT

Local calls (outbound) depend on the promotion you've specifically requested or defaulted to; could be anyting between half a baht per min, all the way up to 5 baht/min.

...

AFAIK, convenience stores do not sell pre-paid SIMs, but they do sell top-up cards and pre-paid calling cards. Mobile phone shops, of which there are more than convenience stores, sell pre-paid SIMs. AFAIK, pre-apaid SIMs need to be registered to an ID card (for a Thai) or a passport. I know when I first bought my pre-paid SIM this requirement was not in place but I did have to register by 31 Dec. 2005 or face loss of service. There is a short form the shop needs to fill out, and an original passport was required in my case, and in every case I know of first-hand.
Just a data point that in March, 2006 I got a DTAC pre-paid SIM for B500 from the Family Mart by the Quality Suites BKK Airport at Laksi Plaza with no id. They had a choice of SIMs.

I have purchased 3 DTAC sim cards from 3 different 7-11s in the past 18 months. All were 199 Baht. Only the last time in April did I need the passport #.

IME, cell phone coverage and voice quality in BKK is vastly superior to that in the USA.

As a longer-term heads-up, be aware that the plan is to change to a ten digit dialing plan for mobile phones in Thailand as of 1 September 2006.

Simply put, insert "8" between the leading zero and the second digit for in-country calls and drop the leading zero, after adding the "8", for international in-bound calls.

Not sure how firm this date is? It might have been June previously?



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

Are the mobile numbers all 10-digits now?

Are the mobile numbers all 10-digits now?

I believe it is.

SIM card prices are falling to give-away levels. I bought one in MBK (1-2-Call) in January for 99 Baht including 50 Baht credit.

I bought one on the street for 39 baht included in the pack was the 50 baht free time, so I am now 11 baht to the good and have a SIM which does not neet to be activated for a year.