International Calls
International Direct Dialing
is available from hotels, guesthouses, private phones and
international payphones (usually blue or yellow). Leading
credit cards and international phonecards may be used from
the payphones. To call directly, dial 001 for an international
line, followed by the country code, area code and the telephone
number. Alternatively, dial 100 for international operator-assisted
calls.
The minimum service charge
is one minute. Three international call rates are available
depending on the time of day: standard rate is from 7.00
am to 9.00 pm; economy rate is from 9.00 pm to 12.00 pm
and 5.00 am to 7.00 am; reduced rate, the least expensive,
is from 12.00 pm to 5.00 am. A hefty surcharge will probably
be added to calls from hotel rooms or guesthouses.
Large provincial post offices
and the central post office on Charoen Krung Road, Bangkok
have a CAT center providing international calls with reverse
charges or credit card payments, and fax services. The CAT
centers are open 24 hours. Private shops offering international
call services are available but the rates are always higher
than the government centers.
Local Calls
Local phone calls can be
made from public payphones except the blue and yellow international
payphones. One baht, 5 baht and 10 baht coins can be used,
as well as phonecards (available in denominations of 50,
100, 200 and 500 baht) in the green payphones. Certain payphones
in hotels and private establishments only accept 5 and 10
baht coins.
Calls from payphones within
the same province cost 1 baht for three minutes (except
for calls to cellular phones in which case the charge is
3 baht per minute). Within the province, there’s no need
to dial the area code. For calls to other provinces, the
area code must be dialed first. See list of Thai area codes.
01 must be dialed for mobile phones. Malaysia and Laos are
also covered by the long-distance domestic service. For
Laos, dial 007 followed by the country code 856, then the
area code and number. For Malaysia, dial 007 followed by
the country code 60, then the area code and number.
The
telephone system within Thailand is run by the state-run Telephone
Organization of Thailand (TOT), while international calls,
mobile telephony and Internet services are operated by the
Communications Authority of Thailand (CAT).
