Is the mandatory possession of a suitable smartphone really a prerequisite to entering Thailand these days?

[xylophone]

14 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Choose a smaller one, then, there are plenty of pocket-sized smartphones!

I have a small Nokia flip phone which fulfils all of my needs because I only need it for telephone calls and messages.

 

I have a laptop at home with a nice big screen and keyboard on which I do the great percentage of my work/leisure stuff (emails), and that suits me just fine.

 

I don't want my emails following me around, as I've seen what it does to families whereby, as an example, a family of four eating at a restaurant will all be looking at their smart phones, making conversation just about redundant, and not only that, I believe it's ignorant.

 

Just recently a friend persuaded me to look at some smart phones and I tried to find a small one, but the only one which fitted the description of "small" was the new Apple iPhone 12 (I think), which was very expensive, and not only that the keyboard was small for my fat fingers.

 

There are over 1 billion mobile phones in the world which are not the smart phone variety, so it would appear that somebody likes them, as well as me.

 

So, and this is not a trick question, can you please advise me of a small pocket sized smart phone, that will do the trick, despite my fat fingers and fading eyesight.

 

Having said all of that, I will switch it off whilst I am out and about, and only activate it when I need to comply with some government regulation or another.
 

[Tropposurfer]

21 hours ago, 3NUMBAS said:

i prefer a simple button fone as smartfones take  up too much of ones time

Not if you don't look at them they don't.

[PETERTHEEATER]

21 hours ago, bbko said:

Are these just hypothetical questions or does anyone here really still have just a basic mobile phone?

I would travel with mine if I could but that damned electric cord thing keeps getting in the way......????

[KannikaP]

1 hour ago, david555 said:

NO that is the problem ! , and the ones they have is not doing it automatic by typing as on a laptop , they need a separate screen opening ..... to complicated on those nasty smarty's ????

That's very conviniant

[Scouse123]

20 hours ago, ballpoint said:

The whole world is going that way.  I have an APEC business travel card, and was informed a few weeks ago that the physical card was now obsolete and has been replaced by a smartphone app.  I can see the day when your whole passport, and money supply in the form of a digital currency, (and vaccination status, but let's not go there) will also be on your smartphone.

Why not just go the whole way and implant chips that can be scanned into our bodies, it would save the hassle of lost smartphones!

[FritsSikkink]

15 hours ago, HeijoshinCool said:

.It says nothing about requiring one bring specifically a Smart phone with them on entry. 

How do you want to be tracked without a smartphone?

[FritsSikkink]

12 hours ago, sezze said:

Euhm , maybe your phone provider gives you good amount of roaming data . Mine is 10 euro / MB , opening your phone data another country makes your phone check all straight away which does cost a few MB . I once made that mistake in Abu Dhabi , sending me before even doing anything a bill of between 50-100 euro . Im guessing a tracking app , will also give me a few data packages to send , so im guessing about the same amount ... without actually using my phone , 75 euro at present rate is 3000 baht . Im not moaning about the few 1000 baht , im moaning about a few 1000 baht before i even done anything at all , and counting extra for every second ( since it is a tracking app ) .

Switch Roaming Data off before you fly and buy for a small amount a local SIM card.

 

[FritsSikkink]

5 hours ago, jonclark said:

I think this is more about personal choice. Its often easy to forget that up unitl 20 - 25 years ago mobile were a rarity and yet people back in the day managed to survive quite easily. 

 

And to be fair - when i take holidays in Thailand, i leave my smart phone at home simply to get away form the never ending drone of emails / spam / internet and my subconcious habits of continualy fiddling and checking it- It is a holiday after all and a break from the electronic chatter is very benificial to your wellbeing so I can imagine others would also want a break from the smartphone as well. 

 

Smartphones are not a permanat attatchment to your life. 

Very easy to order food or other groceries to be brought to your home though.

[My Paradice Lost]

I'm in the UK with my Thai wife who is keen to return to Thailand a.s.a.p.  Having read this article I have just down loaded the Thailandplus app to my Thailand purchased Vivo smart phone.  I've tried to open the app in order to see how it works, but when I click on the app, it flashes red for a second, then nothing.  Can anybody tell me?  Does this mean that the app will only work in Thailand or is there something wrong?

[nkg]

1 hour ago, xylophone said:

I have a small Nokia flip phone which fulfils all of my needs because I only need it for telephone calls and messages.

 

I have a laptop at home with a nice big screen and keyboard on which I do the great percentage of my work/leisure stuff (emails), and that suits me just fine.

 

I don't want my emails following me around, as I've seen what it does to families whereby, as an example, a family of four eating at a restaurant will all be looking at their smart phones, making conversation just about redundant, and not only that, I believe it's ignorant.

 

Just recently a friend persuaded me to look at some smart phones and I tried to find a small one, but the only one which fitted the description of "small" was the new Apple iPhone 12 (I think), which was very expensive, and not only that the keyboard was small for my fat fingers.

 

There are over 1 billion mobile phones in the world which are not the smart phone variety, so it would appear that somebody likes them, as well as me.

 

So, and this is not a trick question, can you please advise me of a small pocket sized smart phone, that will do the trick, despite my fat fingers and fading eyesight.

 

Having said all of that, I will switch it off whilst I am out and about, and only activate it when I need to comply with some government regulation or another.
 

 

An iPhone 6s runs the latest version of ios, you can get one on ebay or similar for £50 to £100 depending on condition etc. It fits easily into a pocket.

[xylophone]

15 minutes ago, nkg said:

 

An iPhone 6s runs the latest version of ios, you can get one on ebay or similar for £50 to £100 depending on condition etc. It fits easily into a pocket.

Many thanks nkg and have saved a link for it.

 

As it happens I was just surfing the Internet and came across something which interested me which is a flip phone with buttons, which I like, which also has good Internet capabilities, and it is the Nokia 2720 which I believe was only launched a year or so ago, and that should be able to fulfil the Thai government requirements for the various things needed (although I've no idea what they are) so I'm still researching that one, but as I said I have saved a link for your suggestion. Thank you.

[robblok]

2 hours ago, xylophone said:

I have a small Nokia flip phone which fulfils all of my needs because I only need it for telephone calls and messages.

 

I have a laptop at home with a nice big screen and keyboard on which I do the great percentage of my work/leisure stuff (emails), and that suits me just fine.

 

I don't want my emails following me around, as I've seen what it does to families whereby, as an example, a family of four eating at a restaurant will all be looking at their smart phones, making conversation just about redundant, and not only that, I believe it's ignorant.

 

Just recently a friend persuaded me to look at some smart phones and I tried to find a small one, but the only one which fitted the description of "small" was the new Apple iPhone 12 (I think), which was very expensive, and not only that the keyboard was small for my fat fingers.

 

There are over 1 billion mobile phones in the world which are not the smart phone variety, so it would appear that somebody likes them, as well as me.

 

So, and this is not a trick question, can you please advise me of a small pocket sized smart phone, that will do the trick, despite my fat fingers and fading eyesight.

 

Having said all of that, I will switch it off whilst I am out and about, and only activate it when I need to comply with some government regulation or another.
 

I agree, but I own a smartphone too and friends do to we don't use our smart phones much when we are together. Its all about what you your family and friends find normal and acceptable. I agree with it not being much fun if everyone is playing with their smartphone. But that is not a smartphone problem but a user problem. I mean how hard is it not using it for a bit. Its a tool and can give entertainment. But the rest is just up to the users. 

[nrasmussen]

On 9/7/2021 at 5:02 PM, Denim said:

And so you would conclude from this observation that all old people from whatever country are as equally capable as your parents.

 

The old people where I live have to have help using an ATM machine. 

 

Apparently, when tourism kicks off here again, Thailand is looking to China for the bulk of its tourists. The city folk are tech savy but what about the rest.

 

But forgetting all that for a moment and follow the link given by happyexpat and tell me what your honest opinion is of that app.

The point I was trying to make is that just being old does not necessarily imply that one is incapable of using modern technology. I do, however, acknowledge that, regardless of age, it can be a challenge for some people.

 

Regarding your last question, I agree that there are plenty of apps around that are not user-friendly, but registering on this particular app actually seems pretty straightforward.

[xylophone]

On 9/7/2021 at 3:35 PM, OJAS said:

According to the London Royal Thai Embassy website, one of the requirements for going to Thailand is the ThailandPlus app suitably downloaded.

A couple of kind folk have tried to help me out of my dilemma with regards to the "candy bar" phone versus smart phone, and for that I thank them.

 

However here is a question for those more knowledgeable than me, out there: – I was looking at the latest Nokia 2720 (released in 2020/21) because it can easily connect to the Internet and whatever, and I was talking to my friend about that, but he said that I would not be able to access the app (the one we are talking about) because it would either be loaded on an Apple platform or a Google platform, and my Nokia would not be able to access it for downloading??

 

I thought that once my phone was able to connect to the Internet then I would be able to download something like this, however according to him this is not possible – – so can anyone throw some light on this for me please??

 

Thanking you in anticipation.

[toofarnorth]

6 hours ago, KannikaP said:

Does it have a spell checker built in?

Oh don't you start , I had enough trouble with this yesterday. The chap is not English , leave him alone .

[gearbox]

2 minutes ago, xylophone said:

A couple of kind folk have tried to help me out of my dilemma with regards to the "candy bar" phone versus smart phone, and for that I thank them.

 

However here is a question for those more knowledgeable than me, out there: – I was looking at the latest Nokia 2720 (released in 2020/21) because it can easily connect to the Internet and whatever, and I was talking to my friend about that, but he said that I would not be able to access the app (the one we are talking about) because it would either be loaded on an Apple platform or a Google platform, and my Nokia would not be able to access it for downloading??

 

I thought that once my phone was able to connect to the Internet then I would be able to download something like this, however according to him this is not possible – – so can anyone throw some light on this for me please??

 

Thanking you in anticipation.

In short, your friend was right, you need an Apple or Android based phone. The phone you are looking at has 512mb ram, that's too low for any mainstream mobile operating system to load.

 

https://www.kaiostech.com/faq/does-kaios-support-android-apps/

[toofarnorth]

There seems to me , those old blokes like me who sit quietly and talk to just a few have a nokia.

Those who still work , travel and spend  hours at airports have a smart phone . I am of the former .

My nokia does all I need.

[gearbox]

4 hours ago, xylophone said:

I have a small Nokia flip phone which fulfils all of my needs because I only need it for telephone calls and messages.

 

I have a laptop at home with a nice big screen and keyboard on which I do the great percentage of my work/leisure stuff (emails), and that suits me just fine.

 

I don't want my emails following me around, as I've seen what it does to families whereby, as an example, a family of four eating at a restaurant will all be looking at their smart phones, making conversation just about redundant, and not only that, I believe it's ignorant.

 

Just recently a friend persuaded me to look at some smart phones and I tried to find a small one, but the only one which fitted the description of "small" was the new Apple iPhone 12 (I think), which was very expensive, and not only that the keyboard was small for my fat fingers.

 

There are over 1 billion mobile phones in the world which are not the smart phone variety, so it would appear that somebody likes them, as well as me.

 

So, and this is not a trick question, can you please advise me of a small pocket sized smart phone, that will do the trick, despite my fat fingers and fading eyesight.

 

Having said all of that, I will switch it off whilst I am out and about, and only activate it when I need to comply with some government regulation or another.
 

https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_z_flip_5g-10244.php

 

https://www.powerbuy.co.th/en/samsung-samsung-galaxy-z-flip-black-sm-f700fzkdthl-255556

 

It will set you back 44k baht, but when you unfold it it is normal size 6.7 inch smart phone.

[kennw]

On 9/7/2021 at 4:15 PM, nrasmussen said:

I find it hard to believe that anyone in this day and age would travel anywhere without a smartphone.

I hate phones they are an intrusion to my freedom. Does this sound familiar?

[EVENKEEL]

7 minutes ago, gearbox said:

https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_z_flip_5g-10244.php

 

https://www.powerbuy.co.th/en/samsung-samsung-galaxy-z-flip-black-sm-f700fzkdthl-255556

 

It will set you back 44k baht, but when you unfold it it is normal size 6.7 inch smart phone.

That's the one I'm considering, 1600USD.

[xylophone]

9 minutes ago, gearbox said:

https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_z_flip_5g-10244.php

 

https://www.powerbuy.co.th/en/samsung-samsung-galaxy-z-flip-black-sm-f700fzkdthl-255556

 

It will set you back 44k baht, but when you unfold it it is normal size 6.7 inch smart phone.

Thanks for your reply but at 44k baht, I think I'll give it a miss!!

[gk10012001]

10 hours ago, Rampant Rabbit said:

precisely, no way am I  carrying around any device with a stack of  info on it, 1  ill  lose  it , 2  ill forget to charge it3  Ill sit  on it and break it, 4 I dont and wont.

Yes.  If I do get and use a smart phone, it will not have any personal data on it.  I just will not use it for bank transactions, checking emails or anything that can wait until I get home.  People today need to learn patience and notthe instant second to second mental stimulation they get from a smart phone.  God forbid any of them remember when we used to write and mail letters to correspond with people. 

  Traveling Maps and being able to use the internet to get some information about where a particular restaurant is, or what movie is playing,  I get it.  But usually I know where I am going when I head out of the house.  If one is just wandering and making an itinerary on the fly, I understand that.  The phone can be great for that.  Maybe killing some time while waiting for something and watching a youtube video or listening to Thailand Green Wave Radio station, I get it.  But as for using the phone to store documents (If you can even NOT store things on the cloud), and tons of other personal things, is dangerous and I don't like it

[gearbox]

3 minutes ago, xylophone said:

Thanks for your reply but at 44k baht, I think I'll give it a miss!!

There will be powerful smart phones which are as big as a safety match box, can be folded multiple times, have 8gb RAM and cost $50.....in 15-20 years. Until then it is way,way cheaper to buy shorts or trousers with bigger pockets ????

[HeijoshinCool]

6 hours ago, FritsSikkink said:

How do you want to be tracked without a smartphone?

.

 

By Immigration Agent 36-24-36....

 

Seriously, you're kidding right? How do I want to be tracked?

 

God, I hope you are kidding.

[Ralf001]

6 hours ago, xylophone said:

 

I don't want my emails following me around, as I've seen what it does to families whereby, as an example, a family of four eating at a restaurant will all be looking at their smart phones

 

 

 

 

 

Maybe they were sending/receiving important emails.

[HeijoshinCool]

10 hours ago, robblok said:

10 hours ago, HeijoshinCool said:

.

 

It is about freedom. Losing that is the most costly of all.

 

Conformity was not an attribute of my forefathers, who repelled yours from our land.

 

No offense intended.

 

.

Expand  Expand  

Not sure where you came from but my forefathers did not invade many countries. Dutch only had a few colonies.

.

 

My comment was not about geography or nationality, it was about liberty vs conforming; going along to get along, going down that slippery slope where tyranny awaits at the bottom with a wicked grin.

 

Only a few years left, likely, before that tyranny is fully revealed. Then it will be too late.

[HeijoshinCool]

.

 

I see certain posters here repeatedly using the word conform, criticizing and attacking those of us who don't "follow the rules." 

 

Many generations ago, the people who were conformists were not the ones who got us the freedoms most of us have known and enjoyed over the years (at least until recently)...

 

It was the rebels who got us liberty and our right to pursue happiness.

 

.

[HeijoshinCool]

52 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

7 hours ago, xylophone said:

 

I don't want my emails following me around, as I've seen what it does to families whereby, as an example, a family of four eating at a restaurant will all be looking at their smart phones

 

 

 

 

 

Expand  

Maybe they were sending/receiving important emails.

.

 

Yeah, probably to each other.......

[DrJack54]

Might become more difficult.

[Liverpool Lou]

8 hours ago, xylophone said:

So, and this is not a trick question, can you please advise me of a small pocket sized smart phone, that will do the trick, despite my fat fingers and fading eyesight.

Go to a couple of phone shops, with your pocket, and look at them, tell the staff what you're looking for.  My Huawei P20 fits into my pocket, as did my previous P9.