Using a Thai SIM outside the country

[indyo]

before to leave Thailand be sure to activate the roaming by Customer service, then you can top up from your home banking or even lazada, you don't need necessarily top up to keep alive the prepaid SIM but just buy days for few bath.

I use trumove but you can do that with almost all sim card I guess.

[Digitalbanana]

My DTAC SIM allows for making and receiving calls over Wi-Fi. This includes the banks OTPs by SMS to anywhere in the world, even places where there is no cell phone coverage but you might have an internet Wi-Fi signal perhaps from a satellite link. Cost is same as a local Thai call, so incoming bank OTP's are all free.

[gearbox]

20 hours ago, Robbkk said:

I have a Bangkok Bank account also. Many comments here are a little misleading.

 

You don't need to authenticate your login details with a local SIM card. You just need a local SIM card to install the bank app. And you also need to get a passcode from a Bangkok Bank ATM to install the app.

 

So roaming won't help you unless you also have access to a Bangkok Bank ATM from abroad. I know that other banks are different.

 

After the app is installed it doesn't matter which SIM card you have on your phone. You wont have to authenticate it via SMS again.

 

To relate a personal experience, I was in Bali for a few months last year and used my Bangkok Bank account to pay bills and transfer money numerous times. It was never necessary to receive SMS messages. I didn't have a roaming package and replaced my Thai SIM card with an Indonesian SIM on my phone. Never a problem.

 

The catch is that the app was installed while I was in Thailand with access to a local ATM and SIM. I hope this helps.

This is only valid if you use the phone app. For proper internet banking from a laptop you need a 2 factor authentication with a SMS code in many cases. I had to do bank transfers a few years ago and always had my dtac roaming activated.

 

You can mostly avoid the need of roaming with the mobile app, but lose your phone and your banking is gone.

[misterphil]

On 3/2/2023 at 7:47 AM, topt said:

Depends on pre/post paid, type of SIM, level of credit and most importantly the validity.

What I presume he meant was that 20 baht would extend its life for a further month if you had less than 12 months validity. That's generally how pre paid works - at least for AIS. 

 

However if I want to top up via SCB online banking the minimum top up is 50 baht which AFAIK will still only give you one month.

Wrong. Havent used my AIS number for 4 months while at work and Im -4.95 yes thats negative credit and still valid until 13 Nov 2023.
 

[treetops]

On 3/2/2023 at 4:31 AM, Robbkk said:

To relate a personal experience, I was in Bali for a few months last year and used my Bangkok Bank account to pay bills and transfer money numerous times. It was never necessary to receive SMS messages.

If the OP wishes to set up a new recipient then an OTP via SMS will be required, in my experience.

[topt]

9 hours ago, misterphil said:

Wrong. Havent used my AIS number for 4 months while at work and Im -4.95 yes thats negative credit and still valid until 13 Nov 2023.
 

No - not wrong. As I said it is the validity that's most important and you have that until Nov 13th this year irrespective of your balance and or usage.

 

Not sure what you mean by "negative credit". According to that screenshot looks like you have a credit of 4.95.

I may be wrong but I don't think you can owe money on a pre paid package..............

[Captor]

On 3/3/2023 at 12:19 AM, VBF said:

Agree with all the above - I use my AIS prepaid SIM in UK and also use Ding to top up 

Ho much is the cost for Ding to top up every month from A Thai bank to the local AIS sim card?

[nglodnig]

On 3/2/2023 at 2:03 AM, K2938 said:

So you will NOT be able to get SMS abroad if you have not activated roaming abroad prior to leaving Thailand?  And are SMS received abroad then free of charge to receive, please?

I anm using an AIS pre-paid for quite q few years now and AFAIK I have NEVER enabled roaming on the SIM card. I find I can't make calls outside of Thailand (not that I want to) but receive SMS meessages quite happily and free of charge. This suits me fine. Every month or two I have to go mobiletopup.com and put in some money to keep the SIM card alive but is far preferable from having to get a new SIM card every time I arrive back there - as Bangkok Bank need a "permanent" number or I have to keep updating it.

[VBF]

20 hours ago, Captor said:

Ho much is the cost for Ding to top up every month from A Thai bank to the local AIS sim card?

I don't do it that way.

As I do this when in UK, I top up 10 Baht per transaction which costs 29 pence from my UK PayPal account

Each 10 Baht top-up adds 1 month to the expiry date which is the sole aim of the exercise. 

[Captor]

2 hours ago, VBF said:

I don't do it that way.

As I do this when in UK, I top up 10 Baht per transaction which costs 29 pence from my UK PayPal account

Each 10 Baht top-up adds 1 month to the expiry date which is the sole aim of the exercise. 

OK, thanks for the info. I use to top up 20 thb now and then to my AIS in order to keep the sim alive as I need to have a active sim with Bangkok bank. I am afraid that I will forget that one day. Maybe I will try Ding or this mobiletopup.com that nglodging writes about above.

[Captor]

13 hours ago, nglodnig said:

I anm using an AIS pre-paid for quite q few years now and AFAIK I have NEVER enabled roaming on the SIM card. I find I can't make calls outside of Thailand (not that I want to) but receive SMS meessages quite happily and free of charge. This suits me fine. Every month or two I have to go mobiletopup.com and put in some money to keep the SIM card alive but is far preferable from having to get a new SIM card every time I arrive back there - as Bangkok Bank need a "permanent" number or I have to keep updating it.

Can mobiletopup.com pay automatically and in that case what does it cost? I use to topup manually from my account but I M afraid to forget it. I will check it up. Thanks.

[VBF]

5 hours ago, Captor said:

OK, thanks for the info. I use to top up 20 thb now and then to my AIS in order to keep the sim alive as I need to have a active sim with Bangkok bank. I am afraid that I will forget that one day. Maybe I will try Ding or this mobiletopup.com that nglodging writes about above.

You're welcome. 

I keep stuff like that in my Google Calendar  - I've got a rotten memory too ..????

[Neeranam]

I've been thinking about this as I'm going to the UK soon and worried about not getting SMS messages. 

I've used DTAC for 23 years, paying monthly. 

Can I use the phone in the UK?

[The Fugitive]

1 hour ago, Neeranam said:

I've been thinking about this as I'm going to the UK soon and worried about not getting SMS messages. 

I've used DTAC for 23 years, paying monthly. 

Can I use the phone in the UK?

Thai bought 'phones work in UK (as least mine do and they're not expensive/new ones). Enable roaming before you go. Remember to turn off mobile data. Should automatically connect to a compatible network as soon as you land in UK. Your SMS OTP's will be received without charge. 

[Neeranam]

2 hours ago, The Fugitive said:

Thai bought 'phones work in UK (as least mine do and they're not expensive/new ones). Enable roaming before you go. Remember to turn off mobile data. Should automatically connect to a compatible network as soon as you land in UK. Your SMS OTP's will be received without charge. 

Do enable roaming on my phone, by myself, or must I contact DTAC? 

Thanks. 

[The Fugitive]

2 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

Do enable roaming on my phone, by myself, or must I contact DTAC? 

Thanks. 

Either. Lots of info here; http://www.dtac.co.th/en/prepaid/services/roaming/preparation.html

[Salerno]

On 3/6/2023 at 3:09 PM, Captor said:

OK, thanks for the info. I use to top up 20 thb now and then to my AIS in order to keep the sim alive as I need to have a active sim with Bangkok bank. I am afraid that I will forget that one day. Maybe I will try Ding or this mobiletopup.com that nglodging writes about above.

To minimise potential issues just max out validity in one go instead of doing monthly top-ups i.e. do multiple top-ups (can do 10 Baht with Ding) until you hit the 12 months max validity then add a reminder in your calendar for 11 months later. About 10 minutes out of your day and you're set for another year.

Edited March 22, 2023 by Salerno

[VBF]

19 hours ago, Salerno said:

To minimise potential issues just max out validity in one go instead of doing monthly top-ups i.e. do multiple top-ups (can do 10 Baht with Ding) until you hit the 12 months max validity then add a reminder in your calendar for 11 months later. About 10 minutes out of your day and you're set for another year.

Careful! I did exactly that on one occasion and Ding blocked me after 3 top ups. When I contacted them, I was told that multiple identical transactions get blocked. I was told to try again next day.... I did and it worked.

[Salerno]

21 minutes ago, VBF said:

Careful! I did exactly that on one occasion and Ding blocked me after 3 top ups. When I contacted them, I was told that multiple identical transactions get blocked. I was told to try again next day.... I did and it worked.

That's interesting, personally I never had a problem ... in fact wait, come to think of it, that did happen the very first time I used it (their "special" offer for new accounts really should have only been able to be used once if you ask me but I got 11 months out of it over 3 days ????). Since then only topped up 3-4 times in one go and didn't happen so slipped my mind. 

[VBF]

10 hours ago, Salerno said:

That's interesting, personally I never had a problem ... in fact wait, come to think of it, that did happen the very first time I used it (their "special" offer for new accounts really should have only been able to be used once if you ask me but I got 11 months out of it over 3 days ????). Since then only topped up 3-4 times in one go and didn't happen so slipped my mind. 

This appears to be one of those "YMMV" situations. ???? No idea WHY Ding behaves as it does but I just do 2 topups at a time with them.

[Neeranam]

On 3/3/2023 at 8:18 AM, Digitalbanana said:

My DTAC SIM allows for making and receiving calls over Wi-Fi. This includes the banks OTPs by SMS to anywhere in the world, even places where there is no cell phone coverage but you might have an internet Wi-Fi signal perhaps from a satellite link. Cost is same as a local Thai call, so incoming bank OTP's are all free.

great, I am going to the UK next week and was wondering this

[scottiejohn]

On 3/3/2023 at 8:18 AM, Digitalbanana said:

My DTAC SIM allows for making and receiving calls over Wi-Fi. This includes the banks OTPs by SMS to anywhere in the world, even places where there is no cell phone coverage but you might have an internet Wi-Fi signal perhaps from a satellite link. Cost is same as a local Thai call, so incoming bank OTP's are all free.

You have a link to this amazing service that you can share with us all?

[Kalasin Jo]

On 3/4/2023 at 10:24 AM, topt said:

Not sure what you mean by "negative credit

AIS will give you a small amount of negative credit. ie: you owe them, in case you run out of prepaid credit during a call/ internet use. When you next top up they deduct this negative amount from your top up. You can I believe turn this off if you don't want this to happen.

[topt]

2 hours ago, scottiejohn said:

You have a link to this amazing service that you can share with us all?

Quick search brings up this along with many others. Depends on your provider etc....

https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/wi-fi-calling-guide/