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AIS estimates that there are over 50,000 Japanese in Thailand. The MMS (multimedia messaging service) news in Japanese is part of AIS's service development to serve all consumer segments.

Pratthana Leelapanang, AIS assistant vice president for value-added services, said that the political situation in Thailand during the past two years had prompted rising demand for mobile news and people also wanted to be updated on the current flu outbreak.

Pratthana added that the service, Thailand's first and only Japanese MMS news-provider, aimed to significantly benefit the Japanese living in Thailand. Timely updates are necessary in order to be prepared for the ever-changing political, economic and social situation in Thailand, he said.

Pana Janviroj, chief operating officer of The Nation, said the paper realised that mobile phones supplemented existing media in distributing news to people on a one-to-one basis without restrictions of time and place.

The MMS news service will send political, economic and social news from Thailand and Japan to subscribers' mobile phones, featuring pictures, sound and text reports in Japanese. The service will regularly send between three and four MMS news bulletins a day.

Subscribers can register for the service by dialling *298*005# and asking to receive an SMS reply. From now until September 30, subscribers will get a special price of only Bt99 a month, with a 7-day free trial. Regular service will cost Bt149 a month.

So far news on mobile phones has been available in Thai and English only.