800 toll free Numbers

Post by **seagulls** » January 3, 2015, 1:50 pm

For the past ten years I have been using an 800 number to call the USA .That service is no longer available from
Thailand and I have recently incurred a large Phone bill by paying "Full Fare" .Does anyone have any viable options
to reduce the cost ?

Post by **fdimike** » January 3, 2015, 2:18 pm

Buy a calling card from the CAT telephone office. Calls to include "800" numbers are very inexpensive

Post by **parrot** » January 3, 2015, 3:18 pm

You can buy the PHONENET cards at the CAT telephone office, just down the street from Landmark Plaza in 100-500 baht denominations. The cards are also available at the CAT office on the ??3rd?? floor of Central Plaza.

Calls to the US are 1 Baht per minute....whether a home phone, mobile, or toll-free.

You can call from your mobile phone or landline phone......if you call from your mobile, you will not incur any separate charges on your mobile phone as the access number is toll-free in Thailand.

Post by **seagulls** » January 3, 2015, 3:51 pm

Sincere thanks to both posters for their Help . My last bill was horrendous !

Post by **Geoffrey** » January 4, 2015, 5:51 pm

You used to be able to purchase time on CAT PhoneNet cards on-line.

Post by **RLTrader** » January 4, 2015, 7:50 pm

2 things I do - if I need to call a bank or something with a 800 number, I find their real # and call collect, works for me.

For other calls to the states I dial 9 first (I think) on TTT land line, and the charge comes from CAT. Seems cheap for short 15 min calls. Think when I had TOT I dialed 8, but not sure of either, for the #'s are programed into the phone, which is not handy.

I kinda don't think you can dial an 800 # from here, most say from US or Canada, but WTF do I know.

Post by **parrot** » January 4, 2015, 8:00 pm

RLTrader wrote:I kinda don't think you can dial an 800 # from here, most say from US or Canada, but WTF do I know.

When you use Phonenet (by CAT) and dial an 800 #, an automated voice tells you "access to 800 numbers outside the United States is not free of charge. You will be charged international rates to call the number. If you do not wish to proceed, hang up now."

Assuming you continue through with your call on Phonenet, you will be charged 1 baht per minute for the call.

Post by **RLTrader** » January 4, 2015, 8:09 pm

Think the key word is "Phonenet"

Post by **can123** » January 4, 2015, 8:57 pm

I use the Canadian firm Vonage to make calls to America, Canada, Germany and Thailand. The unlimited calls are free and included in the monthly subscription of £ 11. Part of their marketing is the fact that the Vonage box may be used abroad as long as one has a reasonably good Internet connection. I have never taken mine to Thailand as I am usually loaded with e-readers, tablets, mobile phones and GPS stuff. There is no reason to believe that there any restrictions as to its use in Thailand.

Clearly one has to use the phone a lot in order to justify the monthly fee but we get a good deal by using it. Over five hours talk time to Thailand over the Christmas/New Year period alone ensures that we get the best out of it. My wife can phone her mother, who uses a mobile, at any time and for as long as she wishes. The sound quality is excellent too.

http://www.vonage.com/

Post by **Stantheman** » January 4, 2015, 10:07 pm

I have a friend who uses Magic Jack at home in U.S. and takes it with him to Thailand when he visits. The key for use is good internet connection and a computer (for his option) in Thailand. The phone number used by magic jack is his U.S. number so it is like calling from his home and free access to all 800 numbers like his bank,

Post by **Geoffrey** » January 5, 2015, 8:04 am

800 numbers are free on Free Skype