New sim card slashes mobile phone charges in Thailand

Mobile phone usage in the fourth most popular destination for Australian travellers, Thailand, is now more affordable, with the new Anaconda Mobile sim card – available to agents for resale - offering data roaming, calls and text charges up to 96 per cent cheaper than competitor sim cards.

More than 930,000 Australians visited Thailand for leisure or business in 2012 – an increase of 12 per cent on 2011 and 165 per cent up on 2002 - according to figures from the Thailand Department of Tourism, with many of those travellers returning to face hefty global roaming charges that can total thousands of dollars.

New rates released by Anaconda Mobile launched in Australia this year – offer calls from Thailand for just 57 cents per minute and texts for only 45 cents - up to 45 and 34 per cent cheaper, respectively, than rates offered by rival sim cards. Anaconda Mobile also offers customers the ability to make direct calls from their mobiles – easier and faster than the call-back system used by competitors.

But Anaconda’s data usage rates of just 49 cents per MB in Thailand are up to 96 per cent cheaper than data rates for competitor cards (up to $11.50 per MB), saving travellers large sums of money.

Anaconda Mobile Director Bruce Hansen said the card was purpose-designed for the travel industry to onsell to customers as an extension of their service, with agents receiving 10 per cent commission on all money credited to the sim card by customers, White label opportunities are also available, Mr Hansen said, so travel companies could offer clients the sim card as their own product.

“Thailand is growing in popularity as a destination for Australians so our pre-paid Anaconda Mobile sim offers travellers there the chance to slash global roaming charges on their mobile phones,” Mr Hansen.

“Many people accept that huge phone bills are just a necessary part of overseas travel but this doesn’t have to be the case for those who are savvy enough to use a sim card like ours to pay just a fraction of the call and roaming charges levied by the major telcos and other sim cards,” Mr Hansen said.

“The pay-as-you-go Anaconda Mobile sim can be used for low-cost global roaming in more than 200 countries, saving Australians from dreaded post-trip bill shock.”

Sourced: TravelDailyNews