• 
• 

Published on April 3, 2008

The number that showed on the screen was not familiar. But I decided to pick it up, in case the garage owner I left my car with wanted to say the repair was done.

What I heard was a lady's voice I didn't recognise.

"Is that Khun Weerayut?" she said.

"Yes," I replied.

"Do you have a minute? I am calling from the XXX insurance firm. We have a special offer for you.…"

"Sorry," I interrupted. My instinct told me this would not give me any pleasure. "I have to say I'm not interested. I'm quite busy," I said.

"But our package seems suitable for you because …"

"Sorry. I have a lot of work to do. I don't have time."

"All right. But would you mind if called later when you have time? Early evening?" she said.

I remembered her number, so I didn't answer her call in the evening.

Nowadays, spam phone calls are out of control. Friends of mine told me they'd received these "surprise calls" too. The sales pitches cover credit cards to loans and insurance.

The irritation caused by spam goes beyond e-mail accounts to everyday life. Nothing is truly free in this world, so you can't really blame the Internet operators for allowing spam. It is understandable that their business growth and survival depends on advertisement fees. As I will pay them nothing, what I try to do is make the best of the free service. I am happy with that. It's fair enough.

But receiving a phone call from a person trying to sell an insurance package is a different matter.

My mobile-phone account is pre-paid. I refill with scratch cards. In other words, I pay to give my friends, colleagues, family members or business contacts easy access to me when I am away.

Did I pay for alien calls? Of course not. Did I ever give the insurance firm my mobile-phone number? I don't think so.

I once received a letter from the bank that I opened a credit-card account with. Attached was a leaflet full of small-print. The last paragraphs noted that if I didn't send it back to the bank, I was deemed to have no intention of keeping my personal records confidential.

I decided to ignore the leaflet and threw it in the bin. It is not my job to return a leaflet to the bank. It should not be my business to tell the bank that the personal records of its customers should be kept confidential. It is a simple business ethic the bank should understand.

The insurance lady was among several surprise calls I have received up in recent months. What they have in common is they keep telling me about special offers and how unfortunate I'll be if I reject them. I did, anyway.

I've learned that firms have been trading personal records of their customers for years. It is only in recent years that mobile-phone numbers have got high premiums. It is not only because of the soaring number of users countrywide. The firms can reach their targets directly. They have the means to get to potential customers.

Behind the public's irritation, some business-people are making money at the cost of other people's privacy. Getting annoyed? We might feel it, but they don't.

So, don't be surprised if today you get another surprise call. Their business keeps going while morality is vanishing. I have no choice for communication, though. I just keep using my mobile phone but have to think of new ways to handle the irritating calls. What else can I do?

By the way, madam. Where did you get my number?

Weerayut Chokchaimadon

The Nation