Can anyone suggest which brands are the best? Should I wait and buy one in Thailand?

Cheeper?

I've never owned one.

A friend of mine takes cell phones from the UK to sell in Thailand, so I guess you'd be better off bringing a cell phone with you (assuming prices in the States are comparable to the UK).

Different system in North America to the rest of the world.

From UK one can use the cell-phone, with a different SIM card.

Cell-phones start at about 2,000 baht and can go up to 12,000 baht for one with all the bells and whistles. SIM card has plenty of call-time on it for the price charged.

I would wait til you get here.

Dunno- better off in my opinion buying an unlocked phone not in Thailand. Very expensive by western standards.... unless u want a used model maybe not good quality.

I ordered a mobile for less than 50quid brand new - sony erricson. Just pop in the sim card and u are good to go. BTW can use Yank Phones if unlocked and designated world triband same same as rest of the world -just add sim from country where u are going.

Marshy,

if you're from Europe, you will find a much greater choice in LOS. This is because most of the phones are Far Eastern (Japanese, Taiwan etc) and Europe only allows a certain amount of models to be imported. In the UK, grey imports can be got, but they come with all the usual grey-import problems (loss of warrantly, parts can not be sourced etc). SOme whole makes are not available. INNOSTREAM for example. Phones are not cheap in LOS, but not as expensive as UK either for letest models - older models are cheaper in the UK as they are basically cost priced for clearance.

I would wait and get a Tri-Band in LOS. Get a Pay as You Go SIM in Europe so you can make cheaper calls when home, and a Thai SIM for use in the Kingdom.

Cell-phones start at about 2,000 baht and can go up to 12,000 baht for one with all the bells and whistles.

More like 40,000 Baht

40,000 bath ? is it made of gold ?

15000 TBH is more like a top line Nokia. Bit Pricey - def do better buying off the web- same same model. Not sure why Nokia, but since Gf mates have Nokia seems she has to have Nokia.

40000 THB holy shi*** better do more than a mobile for that price!

Marshy

It appears you live in Florida. I would buy a tri-band "unlocked" cell phone in the US. Many service providers (T-Mobile) in USA now use GSM technology (like Thailand) and you will be able to use the phone is both the US and Thailand by simply swapping SIMM cards. I would purchase on EBay and recommend a Sony Ericsson T300 or Nokia 6610. Remember to get an "unlocked" phone.

Although its easier to have an unlocked phone, its not a problem if you get a locked phone. Go into any shop that sells phones and they will tell you where you can get in unlocked. I brought my new phone from europe and it was locked. I brough it to a shop in Big C and for 250 Batt they unlocked it.

Although there are many brands out there, Nokia generally comes out in the top of consumer tests.