Simm & Pay As You Go Plan

[Spee]

Apologies in advance if this is an oft-asked question.

Does anyone have any recommendations for buying a SIMM and pay as you go phone plan in BKK?

I have a new Sony Ericsson mobile phone that I would like to use while on travel in LOS, so that family and business may contact me if needed.

Is there a way that I can just go to a store and buy a SIMM, phone number and perhaps 1K-2K baht worth of minutes?

I have an upcoming trip to LOS planned, as well as another later this year. And I expect to be making more and more frequent trips as time goes on. Having a SIMM/phone number to use while there will be important.

TIA ....

[happymanme]

spee 1st make sure your phone is unlocked to accept another network sim card,then when you land in bkk get down to mbk centre 4th floor i think it is and choose from the hundred or so vendors for your ais simcard.

happy hunting

ps if your phone is not unlocked then they will probably unlock it for you...what model phone is it as some sony ericssons are difficult to unlock..spee where are you from it might pay to get it unlocked in your own country..

allan

[kenk3z]

You'll have no problem getting a 1-2-Call SIM (or other brand) for a GSM phone in Thailand. The nice thing is that they self-activate as soon as you put them in the phone, meaning you can buy them at any little shop on the street. They are readily available at the Jay Marts stores on many of the BTS platforms, for example.

In my idle time, I went to many different places to ask about buying SIMs and the "plus-up" extra time scratch-off-code cards. There were several places where I was quoted a higher-than-standard price. Obviously the shopkeeper was trying to make a little profit for themselves - on the order of 50 baht added to the 400 baht standard price.

This works if you have an unlocked GSM phone. If it is locked, when you put in a "foreign" system SIM, the phone indicates "incorrect SIM" or some such error message. Then you have to go to the larger places (like MBK) mentioned above.

I understand it used to be a real hassle to visit Thailand and use a cell phone. Massive deposits and excessive fees. Now you operate just like a Thai citizen as far as the prepaid cell phones go - the caveat being you don't get cheated.

Plus-up cards are clearly marked in their Baht value - that's what you pay. The SIM cards are not necessarily clearly marked in price.

If you look on EBay you can sometimes find a Thailand 1-2-Call SIM. The advantage of buying in advance is that you will know your phone number to give to friends and relatives - its printed on the SIM container. Plus, you can start using your phone right in the airport when you get off the plane. You will pay a lot more in price and shipping to do that though.

In the Thai cell phone system, incoming calls are free.

kenk3z

[autonomous_unit]

Yes, you can buy AIS or DTAC pre-paid SIMs at many shops throughout the larger malls with as much fanfare as buying a sixpack of beer. The airtime rates are also comparable or better than the typical subscription rates. Subscription is better if you need to use the phone for GPRS internet service and lots of it.

As mentioned above, make sure your phone is unlocked and if not, maybe ask around upstairs at MBK in the cell phone graveyard.

I wish it were as easy and affordable to get pre-paid service in the States! I wasted almost an hour at smaller electronics shops before hiking over to an official T-Mobile store to get a bare SIM rather than the refill cards or a bundled SIM and phone.

[kenk3z]

EBay is the way to go in the US if you want a T-Mobile prepaid SIM.

They activate it for you in advance, typically assigned to "John Doe" as the account holder. If you want, your prepaid service can be totally anonymous as far as who the phone is registered to. In most cases the phone number will be in the seller's area code, but T-Mobile is quite willing to give you a number reassignment for free in any area code you want.

T-Mobile will also unlock a locked GSM phone for you, one phone per 90 days of service. Whether you bought it from them or not. (But obviously it would be locked on the T-Mobile network at first in order for you to get service.)

EBay is also a good source for additional time credit. I found a $100 card for $76 as an example.

In fact, I got the GSM phone on EBay as well. Now I'm starting to sound like an EBay employee. I'm not affiliated with either EBay or T-Mobile.

kenk3z

[Spee]

what model phone is it as some sony ericssons are difficult to unlock..

It is a top of the line T630, new model, quad band, all the bells and whistles.

The dealer told me that I can use new SIM's as needed in other countries.

[donx]

My wife has asked me to look into getting her a new cell phone that she can use both here in the US and over in Thailand when she is visiting. I have concluded that getting a quadband GSM phone is the best approach as Thailand uses the 900/1800 bands and the US uses the 850/1900 bands. After reaching this conclusion, I have decided to get a Motorola V600 for AT&T GSM and plan on unlocking it as suggested above. I can get this phone free if I commit to a 1 year $40/month nationwide plan with AT&T.

Is there anyone in Thailand using this phone? Do you disagree with my conclusion regarding the need for a quadband phone? Is there a better quadband phone available for free (with a 1 year US service agreement) that I should be looking into?