By LAWI WENG
In a sign of the growing purchasing power of Burmese migrants, Thailand’s second-largest mobile phone company, DTAC, has launched a new service that allows Burmese subscribers to listen to music in their native language.
The company’s “Ring4U” service, which plays a song of the customer’s choice instead of the normal dial tone when making a call, includes 45 Burmese songs by various artists, according to a DTAC customer-service operator.
The operator said that the number of Burmese customers who use DTAC’s mobile phone services has increased substantially since June, when the company introduced Burmese songs as part of its Ring4U service.
Although no official figures are available, the operator estimated that the company has at least 100,000 Burmese customers. There are more than a million Burmese believed to be living in Thailand—mostly as illegal migrant workers.
DTAC subscribers can access Burmese-language instructions for using Ring4U by dialing *7001 on their phones. The service costs 37 baht (US $1.07) per month, plus 21 baht ($0.61) per song.
“I was very happy that I could listen to Burmese music on my phone,” said Aung Tun, a Burmese migrant who works at the Night Bazaar in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai.
DTAC is one of the leading telecommunication services providers in Thailand. Founded in August 1989, the company had over 16 million customers as of March 2008.
In addition to Burmese, DTAC also provides customer service in Japanese and Pattani Malay.
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