Hi, we are going to thailand for 4weeks. what is the cheapest way to text/call friends/family back in the UK?

Question

Hi, we are going to thailand for 4weeks. what is the cheapest way to text/call friends/family back in the UK?

Answer 1

My Thai friends call me in the UK using Skype. As my mobile in the UK  is a Skypephone from 3, I have Skype on my mobile so I can receive their calls just like receiving any other call to my mobile. You can't get cheaper than free. However, for this you will probably need to take a laptop with you and find out about internet access (for example pay as you go wifi access from True) or have internet access where you are staying that is set up for Skype. Thai mobiles, as far as I know, are not yet set up to include Skype; although if anyone has any information to the contrary I would be very interested to know 'coz I'll be in Thailand next month and would like to buy a mobile with Skype compatibility if such a thing is now available in Thailand.

Alternatively, and not quite as cheaply, calling/texting from a Thai mobile phone to a UK phone is not very expensive, about 10p per minute for calling (access code 009, soong soong gow, if i remember) and about 20p for a SMS. Thai mobile phone charges are generally not as expensive as in the UK 'coz in the UK our beloved gov.t sold the mobile licences for as much as they could get and the mobile phone companies have to recoup the licence cost from the consumer. Result = UK mobile phone charges are very expensive compared to other countries.

Finally, if your friends are relatives can use MSN (aka Windows messenger) or Yahoo Messenger - there are plenty of internet cafes in Thailand where you can go in and communicate using these programmes. Many internet cafes have microphones/cameras so that use can use MSN for PC to PC video/voice calls too.

[Added later:

for calling a Thai mobile from my mobile in the UK I use dial2save 'coz it costs 1p per minute, in addition to the cost of dialling the UK access code (which is covered by my monthly bundle of minutes.)]

Answer 2

there  are  plenty  of  internet  cafes  .  use  skype /  yahoo  chat

Answer 3

Lots of cheap internet shops all over Thailand.  You could set up a schedule where you can IM your friends or families and communicate with them.

Check with your cell phone company, my brother can email me from his cell phone and I can read those emails on a computer in Thailand.  I  can use the internet to send emails to his cell phone too!  He tells me that the price is not much more than a simple text msg.  

Good luck.  

Answer 4

Try SMSDiscount.com, Nonoh.net

Best, cheapest of the lot!