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

[toofarnorth]

1 hour ago, bbko said:

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

I do , I have a nokia. Does all I want and I don't understand all of it !

[tonray]

2 hours ago, 3NUMBAS said:

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

The nerve of those darn phones taking up your time ! I'm going to scold mine right away

[KhaoYai]

1 hour ago, Denim said:

Plenty of old people are not tech minded and find no need for one.

I wouldn't call myself an 'old person' (some might) and I do have a smartphone. However, I don't think the aversion to smartphones is limited only by age.  I would dearly love to do without mine, I'm sick of being told I need to update this 'App' or that 'App' almost every time I turn on. Then, if you don't do it, the next time you turn on, usually needing to make an urgent call, the bloody thing decides to update itself and I have to wait.

 

There is then the matter of constantly having to upgrade to achieve enough memory to store the ridiculous amount of 'Apps' you're expected to have.  It wouldn't be so bad if you were allowed to delete some of the pre-installed 'Apps' that you never used to make space but short of 'rooting' your phone, that's not possible. 

 

My current phone is now classed as a dinosaur, despite costing almost £500 just 3 years ago - and we accept that.  If I could only expect 3 years from a TV, I'd be really miffed.  The phone still works perfectly but so does the Nokia 6310i that I bought in 2002 - and the 6310 is much better than my 'smartphone' at its primary function, making calls!

 

I object to paying for something and then finding out that its not actually mine - Google and Samsung seem to retain the rights to do whatever they please.  Just recently, with no different usage to normal, I've been getting the Google 'we have detected suspicious activity coming from your phone' message and I have to tick boxes identifying which 'squares contain traffic lights' in order to use my phone again (and yes, I have run a virus scan). 

 

And all the above is without mentioning the billions Messrs Google & Co make each year from 'mining' our data!

 

Mind you, they're damned clever these 'smartphone' people (either that or we are incredibly stupid) - they get us to buy a phone, the networks charge us for connectivity and they both still manage to subject us to constant marketing and control what we do - pretty good that.  Bit like Sky TV who charge to watch their TV network and still subject us to around 20 mins of advertising each hour or paying to work as a Sandwich Board man.

 

I'd dearly love to do without a 'smartphone' and I resist as many 'Apps' as possible but today's world is very much geared to them and its futile to be without altogether.

[toofarnorth]

1 hour ago, david555 said:

I have both .....the dumb one used as a "excuse phone" on occasion ....when finding it conviniant ????

I only have a nokia but at least I can spell convenient .

[DrJack54]

3 minutes ago, toofarnorth said:

I only have a nokia but at least I can spell convenient .

Can you use thaifriendly on the Nokia. 

[ramrod711]

2 hours ago, nrasmussen said:

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

I don't have a smartphone, immigration wanted me to find my house on my smartphone, I gave them a business card with my coordinates printed on it, good enough. I'm not interested in the technology, turn my phone on when I leave the house, turn it off at 18:00 hrs. The main reason I don't have a smartphone is because they are too large, they won't fit in my pocket and I'm not about to carry a backpack just for a phone.

[ramrod711]

2 hours ago, bbko said:

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

I have a flip phone, I can call my friends, they can call me. I have a computer at home. Works for me, which is what technology was meant to do.

[Denim]

9 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Can you use thaifriendly on the Nokia. 

Put it on vibrate mode. More than friendly enough.

[david555]

20 minutes ago, toofarnorth said:

I only have a nokia but at least I can spell convenient .

True...

But as you see i am not a native English one ....

 

Never learned English in my schooltime ...only the 3 other home country languages

 

I try my best to follow forum rules by trying typing English 

So accept my excuses to the language gestapo ..????

????

 

Edited September 7, 2021 by david555

[david555]

21 minutes ago, ramrod711 said:

I don't have a smartphone, immigration wanted me to find my house on my smartphone, I gave them a business card with my coordinates printed on it, good enough. I'm not interested in the technology, turn my phone on when I leave the house, turn it off at 18:00 hrs. The main reason I don't have a smartphone is because they are too large, they won't fit in my pocket and I'm not about to carry a backpack just for a phone.

This was my best dumbphone (picture ),

 

still works after now almost 20 years ....., but looks like a disabled phone now..... i would buy it immediate back if on sale  new...., worked as a charm and the egg rounded shape  make it fitting even in a jeans pocket , try that with those big plat breakable " smarts " ,

 

it is the industry who chase us always further on by updating Android so your phone is "old " in a few years ....WE are the real dumb ones to let them treat us so ....

 

I also have a Hybrid Windows tablet and a laptop at home ..... must not pain my eyes on those as on "smarty " ????

[BritTim]

2 hours ago, Denim said:

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.

 

In China, every person who can afford tourism, even internally within China, has a smart phone. Indeed, it is difficult to travel in China without a smart phone. China's Covid controls are much more sophisticated than those of most countries, and are very much based around national databases and QR codes. Rural farmers living on $800 a year are not taking holidays in Thailand.

[richard_smith237]

27 minutes ago, david555 said:

True...

But as you see i am not a native English one ....

 

Never learned English in my schooltime ...only the 3 other home country languages

 

I try my best to follow forum rules by trying typing English 

So accept my excuses to the language gestapo ..????

????

 

Boom !!!.....    Compliments to the response !!!!... 

 

(sorry, nothing further on topic to add in this response, but had to give you a +1 for that response !)

[Sudarut]

I entered Thailand in January, I didn't need the smart phone to get through the airport, but i needed it for a health app which a hospital monitors, you have to take and enter your body temp twice daily and submit any flu like symptoms into the app.

[richard_smith237]

41 minutes ago, ramrod711 said:

I don't have a smartphone, immigration wanted me to find my house on my smartphone, I gave them a business card with my coordinates printed on it, good enough. I'm not interested in the technology, turn my phone on when I leave the house, turn it off at 18:00 hrs. The main reason I don't have a smartphone is because they are too large, they won't fit in my pocket and I'm not about to carry a backpack just for a phone.

Time to stop wearing the ‘Daisy Dukes’ and wear something more age specific !!! ????

 

 

(They have small smart phones too !! - but you’ll need yer specs to read the screen !)

[Sudarut]

1 hour ago, Eff1n2ret said:

writing down my name and phone number every time I went into Tesco

If you see JACKIE CHAN 08 6669 6911 thats me

[david555]

5 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Time to stop wearing the ‘Daisy Dukes’ and wear something more age specific !!! ????

 

 

(They have small smart phones too !! - but you’ll need yer specs to read the screen !)

They have small ones too?

 

the smallest i found end 2015  was the Samsung J1 and that was already 13cm long and 6.7 cm large and now already 2 years dead .... "samsung dumb" and "Sony Ericson dumb"  still in working mode after 20 years  

Edited September 7, 2021 by david555

[kimamey]

3 hours ago, Farma said:

They didn't check when I arrived earlier this year although a smart phone is needed in ASQ as mine used Line to communicate, place menu requests and for me to send twice daily photos of my thermometer readings.

Unless several selfies were requested including with the thermometer and some with a thumbs up or making a heart shape with your hands I'd suggest you're making this up.  ????

[richard_smith237]

51 minutes ago, ramrod711 said:

I have a flip phone, I can call my friends, they can call me. I have a computer at home. Works for me, which is what technology was meant to do.

I have a hammer and chisel...  I can make a wheel out of a bit of rock, fit to to an axel, train a horse to pull me - it gets me to the market half a day faster than walking..... its what technology was meant to do....    

 

Apologies for the sarcasm but it was necessary to outline development comes in all forms...   on this forum we are discussing smart phones which is very very old tech....  our kids (or for some, grand kids) will be adopting to Neuralink tech... 

 

Imagine a world where I don’t need to break down my understanding into words, express those words, have you listen to them, understand them, then open them up into your own understanding....   a neurolink - 'I can think it for you’... frightening, but the possibilities are astounding.... We’re already on the exponential curve. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 7, 2021 by richard_smith237

[richard_smith237]

3 minutes ago, david555 said:

They have small ones too?

 

the smallest i found end 2015  was the Samsung J1 and that was already 13cm long and 6.7 cm large and now already 2 years dead .... "samsung dumb" and "Sony Ericson dumb"  still in working mode after 20 years  

Well... to start with... they have bigger shorts !! 

 

My current phone is: 131.5 x 64.2 x 7.4 mm... (iPhone 12mini - won it at work).

 

 

 

 

 

 

[david555]

3 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Well... to start with... they have bigger shorts !! 

 

My current phone is: 131.5 x 64.2 x 7.4 mm... (iPhone 12mini - won it at work).

 

 

 

 

 

 

And you call that a mini .....?

i mean the  131.5 x 64.2 x 7.4 mm... (iPhone 12mini ) 

 

not the lady pants ????

Edited September 7, 2021 by david555

[kickstart]

3 hours ago, bbko said:

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

I have a very basic  smartphone too old to do anything ,re downloading and apps ,I just use it to do something called making phone calls .

Anything thing else I use my laptop.

[sezze]

I do have a smartphone , but i do know 1 person my age who doesn't have 1 and i do know that my parents don't have 1 also and absolutely cannot work with anything remotely more then the numbers on a standard phone ( even reading a received SMS is not possible ) .

But on the point , what do you do with your smartphone without connection ? Meaning , arriving at airport , foreign card in it , costs are very very high ( 100s of baht/MB ) so if you come off the airplane and you startup your phone it checks everything and bang , you are down several 1000s of baht on your foreign phonecard . Not very attractive ... . In the "normal" days , i arrived at airport and at arrival i did buy a high volume Thai phonecard , so i could use ( call/data) without a problem . Does this option still exist , since it is behind immigration , and if i need to go straight away in transfer , i cant reach those shops ?

[david555]

4 minutes ago, sezze said:

I do have a smartphone , but i do know 1 person my age who doesn't have 1 and i do know that my parents don't have 1 also and absolutely cannot work with anything remotely more then the numbers on a standard phone ( even reading a received SMS is not possible ) .

But on the point , what do you do with your smartphone without connection ? Meaning , arriving at airport , foreign card in it , costs are very very high ( 100s of baht/MB ) so if you come off the airplane and you startup your phone it checks everything and bang , you are down several 1000s of baht on your foreign phonecard . Not very attractive ... . In the "normal" days , i arrived at airport and at arrival i did buy a high volume Thai phonecard , so i could use ( call/data) without a problem . Does this option still exist , since it is behind immigration , and if i need to go straight away in transfer , i cant reach those shops ?

Smart remark ????????.... just landed and no Thai connection settings yet , and just in the arrival zone before immigration ...

[LongTimeLurker]

2 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Do you really think someone is not going to come to Thailand because of an App ??

 

The CoE process itself, while not that complicated (once we’ve gone through the process) is daunting for a newbie, such to the point that it will prevent the tourists who have choice, but an App... no one cares except a few old timers. 

 

Apps are a way of life now.... we have to get used to it, be it ordering on Lazada, Shopee, Grat Taxi, Uber, FoodPanda, GrabFood, Eatigo, mBanking, TV watching, Music, Messaging, Maps...

.... even booking the vaccine... 

 

These days life just gets more difficult without a smart phone... none of the Apps are great. 

 

The Morchana and Thailand Plus Apps aren’t terribly designed, it does what it needs to - I’m not sure what the issue is.

 

 

Now... If you want to discuss Immigration Apps... then I’m right with alongside you on that one !!! terrible. 

 

 

 

 

But how many apps can you get on your 'phone, mine are always telling me I'm running out of space to store the sh!t.

[LongTimeLurker]

2 hours ago, Eff1n2ret said:

it seemed rather tedious (and pointless) writing down my name and phone number every time I went into Tesco -

Why did you bother?

 

I never have.

[LongTimeLurker]

2 hours ago, jazzdog32095 said:

No cellphone in 10 years. I intend to bi-pass the smart phone for the soon to be mandatory micro-chip embedded in the frontal lobe.  

Isn't it embedded in your arm these days?

[MrJ2U]

I think it's practical to carry a smart phone wherever you go.

 

Why are you hesitant?

 

Once you get used to it you'll wonder why you didn't get one earlier.

 

You don't even need a computer or laptop anymore these things are so powerful.

 

 

[LongTimeLurker]

46 minutes ago, sezze said:

I do have a smartphone , but i do know 1 person my age who doesn't have 1 and i do know that my parents don't have 1 also and absolutely cannot work with anything remotely more then the numbers on a standard phone ( even reading a received SMS is not possible ) .

But on the point , what do you do with your smartphone without connection ? Meaning , arriving at airport , foreign card in it , costs are very very high ( 100s of baht/MB ) so if you come off the airplane and you startup your phone it checks everything and bang , you are down several 1000s of baht on your foreign phonecard . Not very attractive ... . In the "normal" days , i arrived at airport and at arrival i did buy a high volume Thai phonecard , so i could use ( call/data) without a problem . Does this option still exist , since it is behind immigration , and if i need to go straight away in transfer , i cant reach those shops ?

Just use the free airport wifi.

[LongTimeLurker]

13 minutes ago, MrJ2U said:

I think it's practical to carry a smart phone wherever you go.

 

Why are you hesitant?

 

Once you get used to it you'll wonder why you didn't get one earlier.

 

You don't even need a computer or laptop anymore these things are so powerful.

 

 

True, I was smartphone hesitant until I was given one.

 

But I never use it for email or posting on websites 'cos I find the keys too small, so I will always have a laptop for that (although some tablets have finger friendly virtual keyboards).

[HeijoshinCool]

2 hours ago, KhaoYai said:

I wouldn't call myself an 'old person' (some might) and I do have a smartphone. However, I don't think the aversion to smartphones is limited only by age.  I would dearly love to do without mine, I'm sick of being told I need to update this 'App' or that 'App' almost every time I turn on. Then, if you don't do it, the next time you turn on, usually needing to make an urgent call, the bloody thing decides to update itself and I have to wait.

 

There is then the matter of constantly having to upgrade to achieve enough memory to store the ridiculous amount of 'Apps' you're expected to have.  It wouldn't be so bad if you were allowed to delete some of the pre-installed 'Apps' that you never used to make space but short of 'rooting' your phone, that's not possible. 

 

My current phone is now classed as a dinosaur, despite costing almost £500 just 3 years ago - and we accept that.  If I could only expect 3 years from a TV, I'd be really miffed.  The phone still works perfectly but so does the Nokia 6310i that I bought in 2002 - and the 6310 is much better than my 'smartphone' at its primary function, making calls!

 

I object to paying for something and then finding out that its not actually mine - Google and Samsung seem to retain the rights to do whatever they please.  Just recently, with no different usage to normal, I've been getting the Google 'we have detected suspicious activity coming from your phone' message and I have to tick boxes identifying which 'squares contain traffic lights' in order to use my phone again (and yes, I have run a virus scan). 

 

And all the above is without mentioning the billions Messrs Google & Co make each year from 'mining' our data!

 

Mind you, they're damned clever these 'smartphone' people (either that or we are incredibly stupid) - they get us to buy a phone, the networks charge us for connectivity and they both still manage to subject us to constant marketing and control what we do - pretty good that.  Bit like Sky TV who charge to watch their TV network and still subject us to around 20 mins of advertising each hour or paying to work as a Sandwich Board man.

 

I'd dearly love to do without a 'smartphone' and I resist as many 'Apps' as possible but today's world is very much geared to them and its futile to be without altogether.

.

 

My mouth is empty....

 

You took those words right out of it!