LAYAP LINK: The public call office in Singyethang is a busy place and a blessing

6 December, 2009 - Layaps have started descending to the warmer climes of Punakha and Wangduephodrang. The next few months, however, will be business and work. But the way Layaps conduct business has transformed, thanks to the PCO (public call office) in the gewog.

Take for instance Phuba Tshering, a seasonal transporter. Yesterday, the 30-year-old owner of a herd of ponies was calling his tour agent in Thimphu. “I came to tell the agent to keep my money ready, so that I don’t have to waste time in Thimphu,” said Phuba, who is on his way to collect about Nu 100,000 he earned from a tour agent for portering and hiring his ponies.

“I’ve a long shopping list,” said Phuba, as he leaves the PCO. Phuba carries a Chinese-made Nokia mobile phone but, without the B-mobile network reaching Laya, his mobile is a just a music device, unless he is out of his village.

Since Bhutan Telecom started the V-SAT telecommunication service in Laya in 2005, Layaps like Phuba say that the modern communication device has made life easier. “If I hadn’t called the agent, I wouldn’t know if he’ll be there in Thimphu when I reach there,” said Phuba. “Before, I used to send messages through friends, who leave early.”

The PCO at Singyethang is at its busiest during the tourist season. “At least 25 to 30 people, mostly trekkers stop by our office,” said the PCO in-charge. Callers are charged Nu 10 per minute and, according to the in-charge, tourists don’t mind calling for hours from on “top of the world.”

But it is the villagers and the countable civil servants posted in Laya who have benefited from the PCO the most. “The phone is very useful in emergencies,” said Rinchen Sitta, 70, handing over the mobile number scribbled on a paper torn from her grandchildren’s notebook. “We can talk to people we want unlike the wireless service station we had long ago,” said Rinchen.

Farmer Dorji of Toko village said the PCO came in really handy when a relative of his died at the Punakha hospital. “By the time she died, we were already prepared because we’d been in touch with the escorts, who went with the patient,” he said.

The small BT office is also connected with Internet facilities, which gewog’s officials say is a boon. “There are so many resources on the Internet and I often use it to help me at my work,” said livestock extension officer, Pema Dezang. “There’s unlimited information on GID and warble infestation, two common diseases, which affect the yak, the beast of burden for Layaps,” he said.

The telephone and Internet facility has help cut distance and is a boon for officials. “It takes weeks for a postal mail to reach here. With the Internet, it’s like being anywhere,” said another gewog official, adding that it helps them to keep in touch and updated. Internet users are not charged and curious tourists are always seen swarming the small office during the busy trekking season.

Laya will be connected to the B-Mobile network by August next year and the yak herders are already upbeat about the news. “Almost everybody has already bought mobile phones,” said Phuba. “We’d be very grateful if Laya is connected to other dzongkhags.”