Govt installs phones for hearing impaired

Govt installs phones for hearing impaired

New telephone booths for the hearing impaired have been installed nationwide to allow them to communicate with friends, file complaints to the government or make emergency calls.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha presided over the opening of the centre for Thai Telecommunication Relay Service (TTRS) yesterday morning at the state-run Damrongtham complaint centre near Government House. 

The new telephone booths, fitted with a two-way communication screen, allow those with hearing impairments to call friends, phone the government to register complaints about state agencies or make emergency inquiries.

The special booths cost the same to use as normal ones, but the caller and recipient communicate using sign language. The caller can also send text messages by typing on the booth's keyboard.

Gen Prayut said the system will give the hearing impaired better access to government complaint services. 

People from all walks of life have the right to be treated with dignity, he said.

The system is sponsored by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), in cooperation with the Universal Foundation for Persons with Disabilities. 

Both organisations wanted to provide better communication channels for people with disabilities, NBTC chairman ACM Thares Punsri said.

Witthayuth Boonnak, president of the Deaf Association of Bangkok, welcomed the feature allowing those with hearing impairment to make emergency calls.

However, he said the hearing impaired will need basic computer skills to use the special booths.

Wiriya Namsiriphongphan, a lecturer at Thammasat University who is visually impaired, said Gen Prayut should allocate a budget for computer skills training for the more than 30,000 hearing-impaired people.

The premier promised the cabinet will consider the request.

More than 150 special telephone kiosks have been developed and 120 have been installed nationwide, mainly at schools as well as some police stations.

The Damrongtham Centre and the Office of the PM Office Permanent Secretary are already using the service.

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