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GADGET GUY
Talk is cheap
Call your pals in North America without a huge phone bill
ALAN DAWSON
Jetliners out of Bangkok will soon begin carrying their annual loads of Thai students to North America for another school year, and all of them will spend hours in the coming year on the phone back to Thailand.
While you can actually talk on a telephone-type headset for free on two computers equipped with Skype or Yahoo Messenger (for example), most people are far more comfortable with traditional telephones. From 40 baht or 70 a minute about 10 years ago, phone charges have dropped to next-to-zero thanks to a combination of smart, young promoters who have set up technology-heavy companies able to use the Internet Protocol to carry their calls.
Or rather "your calls". If you have a family member in school or otherwise living in Canada or the United States now or in the coming year, you have a growing number of options for clear, dependable and cheap calls to and from Thailand, using normal home, office or mobile phones on both ends. TOT, CAT Telecom and True (007, 008 and 008) services are getting cheaper, but are outrageously expensive compared with the alternatives.
Straight phone calls on these new services are cheapest from North America to Thailand, although these days calls from Thailand are no longer dear.
The 1,400-baht Magicjack device is super-simple to use, and with the help of a standard Internet connection turns your phone in Thailand into a United States telephone, including free calls throughout North America for a year.
The home page of Zayhi.com is in both English and Thai and has clear instructions on how to sign up for the service, as well as how to check and adjust your account.
The US and Canada have more phone card services than you can shake a stick at. Dozens specialise in calls to Thailand and Southeast Asia, and charge rates well under 5 (say 1.7 baht) per minute.
Many Thai families like a small, convenient service staffed in California by Thais, called Thaitel. They have a bewildering number of options, but their QuickCall cards give calls to Thailand for as low as 2 or even less per minute with bulk purchase and discount.
Thaitel is most conveniently accessed via the http://www.thaitel.com/ web site, where you or your loved one in North American - or both - can set up an account or chat directly with customer service.
At Thaitel, you purchase minutes in advance in blocks of dollars, and they give discounts - charging $88 for $100 worth of minutes, for example. And at 2 or 70 satang a minute, that is a lot of hours of phone calls before you need a top-up.
The first time you use Thaitel, they want to talk to you to confirm your credit card details, or you can send them a cheque or money order, to their US office or elsewhere.
As an example of their service, I paged them and "Tanya" instantly told me they have no office in Thailand, but they will handle pretty well any kind of payment through their web site and office in (of course) California. There is proof you can get very fast service in Thai and English if something breaks.
Thaitel operates like many calling-card set-ups in North America. You can call from any phone, anywhere in the US or Canada, starting with a call to a toll-free (1-800) number. There, you punch in a code and private PIN, and then call Thailand. It works out to 20 digits or so per call, so thank goodness for the ability to store numbers on today's handsets.
It will cost you extra to call to a Thai mobile phone instead of a landline from America. But for this and all other services reviewed here, it does not matter if the US or Canadian phone is mobile or fixed-line.
If you would rather keep everything at home, or have an alternative service always ready, there are also cheap, dependable services based in Thailand. They generally work out to a little under 1.5 baht per minute, less than one-fifth of the cheapest deal offered by the telecoms companies.
Extensive tests have shown that the DeeDial and ZayHi (say "hi," get it?) services are extremely dependable, with good voice quality from both ends of conversations. They work like this.
You start by calling the service on a local, Bangkok number. You register the number you're using to call them - regular house or office phone or mobile phone, it doesn't matter. From then on, you must use that phone to call abroad to get the deal. A second number is a separate, new account.
Next, you drop by the mall and pick up a calling card for just about any amount of baht - 100, 300, 500 from places that sell the Sawasdi card, such as Se-Ed books or Watson's drugs. Follow the instructions on the "card", which is actually a lengthy cash receipt, to register your money via phone or a web site, and now you are ready to go.
You call a service at a Bangkok number. A computer answers and quickly checks your account credit. You then phone the number abroad just as if you were in that country and your loved one answers. You account is debited as you go (and if it runs out, it will cut you off).
You can top up your account easily with another Sawasdi Card.
DeeDial is on the web at http://www.deedial.com/ or call them for information on 02-353-3768. They have local numbers in Chon Buri, Phuket and Chiang Mai.
You can check out or register with ZayHi at http://www.zayhi.com/ or on the phone on 02-576-1959. They have local service in the same cities as DeeDial.
Then there's Magicjack.
It will take a minute for some people to get their head around this concept: Magicjack turns your regular phone into an American telephone with free calls anywhere in the United States and Canada.
To do this, you need a Windows computer with a high-speed Internet connection such as the regular service by True, TOT, etc. It is only useful for calls to or from North America, but oh my, is it cheap and ultra-useful for them.
You plug the business end of the Magicjack into the USB outlet just like a thumb drive or camera. Then you plug any ordinary telephone into the other end of the Magicjack just like you plug it into the wall for a Thailand line - any kind of regular telephone.
The first time you use Magicjack, you will have to set it up. The small device automatically installs itself on the computer, then invites you to register and get a (real) United States telephone number.
Once you finish this five-minute operation, just pick up the phone and dial any US or Canadian phone number exactly as if you were in North America yourself. For $20 (668 baht) a year, included in the purchase price of the Magicjack, you can call anywhere on the continent for free, and talk as long as you want.
The Magicjack is also $20. So you get the device and a one-year phone subscription for $40. You probably only need one, too. You can call any phone, landline or mobile, and there is no real reason for the person in North America to have a Magicjack just to call you in Thailand. In an emergency, they could call you for one minute, and tell you to call them right back.
The Magicjack has worked well. Voice quality is excellent, most of the time. Occasionally, a call suddenly cuts off. In either case, just hit Redial to start again.
There is really one medium and one small drawback. The former is that your computer has to be on for the US phone link to work. The caller can leave voicemail when you're not online.
The latter is that you can only conveniently buy Magicjack in North America. Although Amazon might ship one to you, it is probably easiest for your loved one to mail the small, light device from the US for you.
Legally? So far as Magicjack, the US and Canada are concerned, the device is totally legal for worldwide use with a US phone number. In Thailand, you may technically be breaking a 1960s law that says you must use CAT Telecom for international calls - but probably not.
Every computer-savvy person in Thailand already makes phone calls via the Internet. All Magicjack does is make the process super-easy by allowing the use of an ordinary phone to make ordinary calls. By the way, with Magicjack you can use a headset and on-screen dialpads like Skype and Yahoo if you wish. And you can use it on any Windows computer, meaning you can switch machines at any time once you have registered once.
Email Gadget Guy at [email protected].
Talk is cheap
Call your pals in North America without a huge phone bill
ALAN DAWSON
Jetliners out of Bangkok will soon begin carrying their annual loads of Thai students to North America for another school year, and all of them will spend hours in the coming year on the phone back to Thailand.
While you can actually talk on a telephone-type headset for free on two computers equipped with Skype or Yahoo Messenger (for example), most people are far more comfortable with traditional telephones. From 40 baht or 70 a minute about 10 years ago, phone charges have dropped to next-to-zero thanks to a combination of smart, young promoters who have set up technology-heavy companies able to use the Internet Protocol to carry their calls.
Or rather "your calls". If you have a family member in school or otherwise living in Canada or the United States now or in the coming year, you have a growing number of options for clear, dependable and cheap calls to and from Thailand, using normal home, office or mobile phones on both ends. TOT, CAT Telecom and True (007, 008 and 008) services are getting cheaper, but are outrageously expensive compared with the alternatives.
Straight phone calls on these new services are cheapest from North America to Thailand, although these days calls from Thailand are no longer dear.
The 1,400-baht Magicjack device is super-simple to use, and with the help of a standard Internet connection turns your phone in Thailand into a United States telephone, including free calls throughout North America for a year.
The home page of Zayhi.com is in both English and Thai and has clear instructions on how to sign up for the service, as well as how to check and adjust your account.
The US and Canada have more phone card services than you can shake a stick at. Dozens specialise in calls to Thailand and Southeast Asia, and charge rates well under 5 (say 1.7 baht) per minute.
Many Thai families like a small, convenient service staffed in California by Thais, called Thaitel. They have a bewildering number of options, but their QuickCall cards give calls to Thailand for as low as 2 or even less per minute with bulk purchase and discount.
Thaitel is most conveniently accessed via the http://www.thaitel.com/ web site, where you or your loved one in North American - or both - can set up an account or chat directly with customer service.
At Thaitel, you purchase minutes in advance in blocks of dollars, and they give discounts - charging $88 for $100 worth of minutes, for example. And at 2 or 70 satang a minute, that is a lot of hours of phone calls before you need a top-up.
The first time you use Thaitel, they want to talk to you to confirm your credit card details, or you can send them a cheque or money order, to their US office or elsewhere.
As an example of their service, I paged them and "Tanya" instantly told me they have no office in Thailand, but they will handle pretty well any kind of payment through their web site and office in (of course) California. There is proof you can get very fast service in Thai and English if something breaks.
Thaitel operates like many calling-card set-ups in North America. You can call from any phone, anywhere in the US or Canada, starting with a call to a toll-free (1-800) number. There, you punch in a code and private PIN, and then call Thailand. It works out to 20 digits or so per call, so thank goodness for the ability to store numbers on today's handsets.
It will cost you extra to call to a Thai mobile phone instead of a landline from America. But for this and all other services reviewed here, it does not matter if the US or Canadian phone is mobile or fixed-line.
If you would rather keep everything at home, or have an alternative service always ready, there are also cheap, dependable services based in Thailand. They generally work out to a little under 1.5 baht per minute, less than one-fifth of the cheapest deal offered by the telecoms companies.
Extensive tests have shown that the DeeDial and ZayHi (say "hi," get it?) services are extremely dependable, with good voice quality from both ends of conversations. They work like this.
You start by calling the service on a local, Bangkok number. You register the number you're using to call them - regular house or office phone or mobile phone, it doesn't matter. From then on, you must use that phone to call abroad to get the deal. A second number is a separate, new account.
Next, you drop by the mall and pick up a calling card for just about any amount of baht - 100, 300, 500 from places that sell the Sawasdi card, such as Se-Ed books or Watson's drugs. Follow the instructions on the "card", which is actually a lengthy cash receipt, to register your money via phone or a web site, and now you are ready to go.
You call a service at a Bangkok number. A computer answers and quickly checks your account credit. You then phone the number abroad just as if you were in that country and your loved one answers. You account is debited as you go (and if it runs out, it will cut you off).
You can top up your account easily with another Sawasdi Card.
DeeDial is on the web at http://www.deedial.com/ or call them for information on 02-353-3768. They have local numbers in Chon Buri, Phuket and Chiang Mai.
You can check out or register with ZayHi at http://www.zayhi.com/ or on the phone on 02-576-1959. They have local service in the same cities as DeeDial.
Then there's Magicjack.
It will take a minute for some people to get their head around this concept: Magicjack turns your regular phone into an American telephone with free calls anywhere in the United States and Canada.
To do this, you need a Windows computer with a high-speed Internet connection such as the regular service by True, TOT, etc. It is only useful for calls to or from North America, but oh my, is it cheap and ultra-useful for them.
You plug the business end of the Magicjack into the USB outlet just like a thumb drive or camera. Then you plug any ordinary telephone into the other end of the Magicjack just like you plug it into the wall for a Thailand line - any kind of regular telephone.
The first time you use Magicjack, you will have to set it up. The small device automatically installs itself on the computer, then invites you to register and get a (real) United States telephone number.
Once you finish this five-minute operation, just pick up the phone and dial any US or Canadian phone number exactly as if you were in North America yourself. For $20 (668 baht) a year, included in the purchase price of the Magicjack, you can call anywhere on the continent for free, and talk as long as you want.
The Magicjack is also $20. So you get the device and a one-year phone subscription for $40. You probably only need one, too. You can call any phone, landline or mobile, and there is no real reason for the person in North America to have a Magicjack just to call you in Thailand. In an emergency, they could call you for one minute, and tell you to call them right back.
The Magicjack has worked well. Voice quality is excellent, most of the time. Occasionally, a call suddenly cuts off. In either case, just hit Redial to start again.
There is really one medium and one small drawback. The former is that your computer has to be on for the US phone link to work. The caller can leave voicemail when you're not online.
The latter is that you can only conveniently buy Magicjack in North America. Although Amazon might ship one to you, it is probably easiest for your loved one to mail the small, light device from the US for you.
Legally? So far as Magicjack, the US and Canada are concerned, the device is totally legal for worldwide use with a US phone number. In Thailand, you may technically be breaking a 1960s law that says you must use CAT Telecom for international calls - but probably not.
Every computer-savvy person in Thailand already makes phone calls via the Internet. All Magicjack does is make the process super-easy by allowing the use of an ordinary phone to make ordinary calls. By the way, with Magicjack you can use a headset and on-screen dialpads like Skype and Yahoo if you wish. And you can use it on any Windows computer, meaning you can switch machines at any time once you have registered once.
Email Gadget Guy at [email protected].
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