Homepage > Thai Youth Issues > THE ESSENTIAL DEVICE: Life in the phone lane

Published on May 24, 2002 The Nation

Many teens today are utterly devoted to their mobiles, even to the extent that they regard them as an extra limb

For some teens, it is part of their life - some even claim a cell phone to be one of their organs. To others, it is a piece of equipment that helps "overcome loneliness". Still others just think that it is "cool" to own one.

Many young cell-phone users acknowledge their phones mean more than just something to talk into.

"Without my mobile phone, my life is nothing," says a teenage girl who asked not to be named. "I need it to contact my friends, like, where we should meet in the morning or where to meet in the evening for tutoring courses. The cell phone is very important. For example, if I am on the bus and I want to call friends out for a movie, I can call their cell phones without having to call them at home and ask for their parents' permission."

For 16-year-old Nat, chatting can be costly, but she is willing to pay the price.

"There was one time when I completely used up the battery in my mobile phone, chatting with friends. For that single talk I paid some Bt4,000," says Nat, a teenage girl with stylish hair.

Nat has lost about four mobile phones already. But she does not worry much as her parents will always buy her a new one "so that I will not be out of contact with them".

"What kind of things are we chit-chatting about? Well, you know, it's all kinds of stuff; nonsense, you may call it," she concedes.

Another teen, Kannikar Sarawadi, or Golf, says she will buy one as soon as she finishes Mathayom 6.

"I think when I am a university student, I must own one. That's the trend," says the 17 year old.

Op, 16, says many of his friends in the same class, especially girls, often change their mobile phones.

"We boys don't change much because it's expensive. But for the girls, changing to a new phone is like a fashion among them.

"Me? I will buy one when I am in university," adds Op, a Mathayom 5 student.

Juthamas Anchananurak, or Joy, says she felt like changing her new mobile phone when she saw her friends had done so.

Nirun Vitoonpisansin, 18, a college student says mostly he calls his parents, friends and girlfriend.

"My dad bought this cell phone for me because I am staying at the dormitory. They can contact me via my cell phone," he says.

Pakorn Pairtrakul, a third year university student, says if he has nothing to do he will call his friends.

"My friends who don't have a mobile phone become people who are very difficult to locate," he says.

His monthly cell phone bills sometimes reach Bt8,000, he says. When that happens, he doesn't bother his parents. Instead, he cuts down on food expenditures and entertainment.

His colleague at the same university, Angkhana Sutthirangsan, says she often uses her mobile phone to ask friends about homework. She spends an hour at least talking on the phone to them and her monthly phone bill is about Bt8,000.

"Mostly it is my parents who pay the bill. But if it costs more, I pay it myself from my monthly expenses or by working part time," she said.

"I have used about five phones already. I never leave home without the phone; it is like one of my organs. If I forget the phone, I have to go back to get it, no matter where I am."

In order to avoid paying a lot of money, some young people take advantage of the fact that with some models they are not charged if they don't talk longer than five seconds.

"It is like, I am calling a friend to say hello, this is Jieb, and then I disconnect the call. Then I will call again, asking where are you and, then off again," says Jieb or Kanyarat Kongchai, a third year university student. "Altogether, before we can get all the messages, it'll be more than 10 times that we have turned the phone on and off. But it's kind of fun."

For Jieb and her friends, some communications tools like pagers have become "old" technology.

"Only a few of my friends still use pagers. Those who used to have them now have changed to a mobile phone because the pager is only one-way and very slow before we can get to each other," she says.

Jieb rates nine as the level of her dependence on the mobile phone.

"It is important for me as a girl from up-country. Having a mobile phone enables my parents to inquire about my well-being so that they don't worry much," she says. "Mostly we use the phone for talking. We don't care much about its other functions, like connecting to the Internet or reading news as advertised.

"Sometime we use it to send message and some 'funny porn' graphics," Jieb adds, giggling. "We also used the phone to ask for class navigation from friends and rooms for each course."

Jieb says some friends pick up the phone while they are studying and the teacher retaliates by discontinuing the class.

"But some of my friends don't care, they continue talking," Jieb says, "Still, most of our teachers are not that serious. They themselves answer their phones while teaching.

"What about those who don't have mobile phone? Well, they are like not keeping up with the world trend," Jieb says.

Mukdawan Sakboon

THE NATION