[Jaques2go]

could anyone tell me please how much it costs to call a Thai. mobile phone from England? My son lives in Laos but nr. the Mekong and says he can get a Thai phone, which is cheaper to call as its costing me £l.18 per minute on my landline to call Laos.
Could anyone please recommend a phone company who does a simcard as if i use one of those with prefix numbers, my landline or mobile phone the provider charges as well? Thank you

[nonthaburi]

Originally Posted by Jaques2go could anyone tell me please how much it costs to call a Thai. mobile phone from England? My son lives in Laos but nr. the Mekong and says he can get a Thai phone, which is cheaper to call as its costing me £l.18 per minute on my landline to call Laos. Could anyone please recommend a phone company who does a simcard as if i use one of those with prefix numbers, my landline or mobile phone the provider charges as well? Thank you

the best thing I found when in the UK calling Thailand was a five pound phonecard called ' Talkhome ' or ' Talkdirect ' . This gave you 600 minutes so it worked out at around fifty pence an hour . This was fine for calling Thai mobile numbers , the only problem being that you had to use it from a UK landline to make sure that it was a free call as it was an 0800 number.

Hope that answers your problem.

[Jaques2go]

Originally Posted by nonthaburi the best thing I found when in the UK calling Thailand was a five pound phonecard called ' Talkhome ' or ' Talkdirect ' . This gave you 600 minutes so it worked out at around fifty pence an hour . This was fine for calling Thai mobile numbers , the only problem being that you had to use it from a UK landline to make sure that it was a free call as it was an 0800 number. Hope that answers your problem.

thank you, i will look into it - im with talk talk landline so am not sure if they charge on top.............

[bakedbean]

If you both have PCs and an internet line, why not use skype? It's free calls and, if you've got a webcam in your PC, you can talk face to face for free. Just google for skype and download.

[Bob HG]

There are several ways of doing this. There is the phone-card method, which you've already mentioned. If you have Skype, then buy a SkypeIn number in the UK near to where you live. Then sign up for 18866 which is available online. When you make a call with 18866, you only pay 5p to connect. Then if your son doesn't mind paying a small amount in forwarding charges which equates to a local mobile call charge, set up Skype to forward to his mobile, or your son can do this if he has internet access in Laos.

Skype to Skype is free for one-to-one video use, and also for multi-audio calls.

The other way is to use Telediscount from your landline. With Telediscount, you use the codes available on their web site and the call charges will appear on your monthly telephone bill. If you don't have Skype, this is probably the easiest solution. Pricing is extremely good, for example 1p a minute to Oz and US. Thailand is 2p a minute to a landline and 5p a minute to a mobile. Codes change, so it's best to check which one is currently in use.

[Jaques2go]

Originally Posted by Bob HG There are several ways of doing this. There is the phone-card method, which you've already mentioned. If you have Skype, then buy a SkypeIn number in the UK near to where you live. Then sign up for 18866 which is available online. When you make a call with 18866, you only pay 5p to connect. Then if your son doesn't mind paying a small amount in forwarding charges which equates to a local mobile call charge, set up Skype to forward to his mobile, or your son can do this if he has internet access in Laos. Skype to Skype is free for one-to-one video use, and also for multi-audio calls. The other way is to use Telediscount from your landline. With Telediscount, you use the codes available on their web site and the call charges will appear on your monthly telephone bill. If you don't have Skype, this is probably the easiest solution. Pricing is extremely good, for example 1p a minute to Oz and US. Thailand is 2p a minute to a landline and 5p a minute to a mobile. Codes change, so it's best to check which one is currently in use.

thankyou bob, i will probably use the telediscount from my landline, i believe talktalk charge a connection fee and so much a minute on top, but when you ring them, which ive done twice, they say they cant tell you how much it is and there are a lot of websites i have found where people are complaining about their attitude on this subject, which is one of total secrecy so that you will be confused and continue to pay £l.plus per minute............

[Jim Smith]

Originally Posted by Jaques2go could anyone tell me please how much it costs to call a Thai. mobile phone from England? My son lives in Laos but nr. the Mekong and says he can get a Thai phone, which is cheaper to call as its costing me £l.18 per minute on my landline to call Laos. Could anyone please recommend a phone company who does a simcard as if i use one of those with prefix numbers, my landline or mobile phone the provider charges as well? Thank you

We were in UK in April and found a LYCA sim card , which cost 2 pounds, to be incredible for calls to China and a bit less so to Dubai. Whilst I was driving through the countryside my wife was pounding it calling her family in China just to see how much she could use as we were only there for a limited period. After 8 days and many calls, some perhaps for 40-50 minutes we managed to use 6 pounds! Maybe worth checking what the rates are to Thailand and surrounding countries. Possibly not quite as good as we have found there are many schemes around the world with incredibly cheap rates to China!!

[nonthaburi]

If you can get a free 0800 call do try the Talkhome or Talkdirect phonecards I mentioned. 10 hours for five pounds to any Thai number is hard to beat. You can normally get them at a local newsagents.

[Jaques2go]

Thank you everyone, i have a lot to think about, kind of you all to take time to answer my question........Best, Jaques

[Bob HG]

Originally Posted by Jaques2go thankyou bob, i will probably use the telediscount from my landline, i believe talktalk charge a connection fee and so much a minute on top, but when you ring them, which ive done twice, they say they cant tell you how much it is and there are a lot of websites i have found where people are complaining about their attitude on this subject, which is one of total secrecy so that you will be confused and continue to pay £l.plus per minute............

I'd look into changing my provider, if I were you.

I've used a Lyca SIM card and was very pleased with it.

[Jaques2go]

Originally Posted by Bob HG I'd look into changing my provider, if I were you. I've used a Lyca SIM card and was very pleased with it.

.....i am looking into doing that Bob but at the moment im still on a contract till next Jan. from my experience virgin seem pretty good, ive had a mobile phone with them since the 90's and always got a good deal when ive pressed for something............once your contract period's up they are prepared to negotiate
i will look in to the lyca sim as well...........thank you

[Jaques2go]

I got a vectone card in the end, costs 9p a min. to Laos so good result there. Thank you all for your help.

The sad part is my son and his wife and baby spent 2 weeks in Bankok, during which time they had to spend a fortune on Hotel bills, trying to get his wife of 3 years and the 9 month old baby a visa to stay with me for a month's holiday in Hastings where i live, i own my own home and have a good income and my son told the British Embassy that they are staying as my guest, but they refused her and the baby entry into the country on the grounds that they may not leave.....can you believe that?

[nonthaburi]

Originally Posted by Jaques2go I got a vectone card in the end, costs 9p a min. to Laos so good result there. Thank you all for your help. The sad part is my son and his wife and baby spent 2 weeks in Bankok, during which time they had to spend a fortune on Hotel bills, trying to get his wife of 3 years and the 9 month old baby a visa to stay with me for a month's holiday in Hastings where i live, i own my own home and have a good income and my son told the British Embassy that they are staying as my guest, but they refused her and the baby entry into the country on the grounds that they may not leave.....can you believe that?

YES

[bakedbean]

Yes it's a strange world we live in these days. Well Jaques, guess you better book a hold to Thailand instead. I'm sure they will make you welcome