Three Dollar Per Month Phone Plan in Thailand! How much are you paying?

Having traveled the world for almost two decades, I would always travel with a little case of all the sim cards for each country. I would pop the correct one into my phone or buy a new one, go to a kiosk of some sort, and I'd usually be good to go. I've been staying in Thailand since the pandemic and for well over a year now I've set up a promotional plan with the major telecommunication company, True Move.

The plan is 200 baht, six dollars a month. I'll explain how the price drops to three dollars, but first know that that service is no contract and as long as I pay by the 5th of the following month it automatically renews itself. I have a phone number and can only call other True Move customers, non-True Move numbers I can not call unless I pay extra. Now you may think that aspect is not good. Well, here in Thailand everyone including businesses use line messenger app for free, just data or wifi.

Then for my international friends and family back home. I can connect with anyone else using facebook messenger or whatsapp. I really can't remember the last time I had to dial a number. And if I had to, I can easily use my skype account with a few bucks in it. So my six dollar plan is data only. Thirty gigs a month and at a good speed for streaming videos, face calls, surfing the web, everything.

The thirty gigs of data is way more than I use. As a lot of the time I'm connected to a wifi signal anyway. So how caan I say three dollars a month per phone? I share the data entirely with my girlfriend. She has no phone plan at all. If we are out and she needs to use her phone I just hit the mobile hotspot button and share my data with her. We are always together and are planning to start traveling the country soon by motor bike, so this works out perfectly. We could split the bill, three dollars each, but being the nice guy that I am....you get the idea ;).

A Very Travel Pro Explanation

I told my girlfriend that back in my country, the USA, people pay upwards of $100 dollars a month for their phone plan. She couldn't believe it. She said that's like 25% of an average Thai salary, just to use your phone!

I told her that after traveling all over the world I've seen that economies are set up uniquely for each country and region. In the less wealthy countries basic needs like food, rent, water, electricity, fuel, and phone service are all really cheap (in comparison) so the everyday person can afford to live, period. While luxury things are still very expensive fancy cars, apple computers, and name brand cloths for example, even a McDonald's Happy Meal is considered high end in some places.

In fact a lot of the less wealthy countries like Ecuador impose high importation taxes jacking up the prices of things like a PS5 and big screen TV. A five dollar bottle of wine in the US can cost as much as $15 dollars here in Thailand! This all while domestic products can be surprisingly inexpensive; for example coconut milk here in Thailand.

I explained that in wealthier countries people pay far more for their basic needs, like phone service, and I think the main reason is because the companies know they can get away with it, combined with much higher overhead like higher salaries. As the basic needs of the western world get more expensive the middle class gets smaller.

It's not a good situation especially as inflation rises in the west along with a cold winter and increased energy prices setting in. I hear a lot of complaint about inflation in the western world, while here it's more about job loss and extreme poverty.

Thailand lost 25% of it's GDP since the tourism sector got wiped out with the pandemic travel restrictions. It's been devastating to the country, driving the poverty rate to multi-decade highs! Here is a "green" Jacuzzi from an abandoned resort on this island.

Back to the phones. I remember visiting Ukraine and getting a sim card. The guy who sold it to me spoke pretty good English. He apologized for the higher price. I was totally confused because it cost me like $2 dollars for an entire month of data. He then explained that the company raised their prices drastically a few weeks ago.

Again I was confused. Raised their prices drastically to two dollars? He said that the the same plan would have been like seventy five cents just a short while ago. My mind was blown. He then explained that the people in the country revolted, took to the streets and protested the price increase, as it went up to like $3 originally, then they dropped it to $2 after protests, including many death threats to the president of the company.

Now if you are from where I'm from, Up-state NY. You may still be scratching your head. Last I recall almost 18 years ago, I was paying like $60 a month for my phone. This is why I love travel, it puts things into perspective. What is normal over here, might be totally abnormal over there, that goes for so many things including a simple phone bill.

This could very well be the reason, I've been traveling and living outside of the western world for so long. Maybe I've gotten lazy, maybe I've just gotten too comfortable not needing the pressure to make a lot of money in order to have the basic necessities, like a working cell phone. Maybe this is my main attraction to international living? I don't know but I can tell you I'd way rather pay six bucks for my phone service than sixty.

What about you? How much are you paying for your phone service in your country? Do you think the economy functions fairly in regards to how much things of necessity cost? Let us all know, and until next time.

From the Gulf of Thailand,

-Dan "World Travel Pro"

Thumbnail Photo by yang miao on Unsplash

Secondary photos by: World Travel Pro!