Mobile Phone Unlocking

[StevieH]

anyone know what the ballpark price is for getting a nokia mobile unlocked for a thai sim card please? think there are a bunch of places on the top floor of kad suan kaew that do the necessary, just wondering how much it might be. cheers.

[john b good]

anyone know what the ballpark price is for getting a nokia mobile unlocked for a thai sim card please? think there are a bunch of places on the top floor of kad suan kaew that do the necessary, just wondering how much it might be. cheers.

Try putting the SIM card in and booting it up. I brought a fone in last year and did just that.

No need for any "unlocking" leastaways I didn't need to

It's been awhile since Thailand was the last place on the planet in terms of mobile fone services.

[wedders]

Someone told me it cost 1000 baht at kad suan kaew recently, but I'm sure I paid less than that there myself a year back. Maybe prices have gone up. Took about 20 minutes or so.

One problem I got as a result - I transferred my One2Call sim card from an old phone to my French mobile after it had been unlocked, and suddenly started getting bombarded with text adverts (in Thai, which my French mobile couldn't read anyway). Got about 20 per day. Had to take the mobile back to same place a couple of days later and ask that they stop whatever was causing it. (They did).

[StevieH]

thanks, 1,000 baht seems somewhat steep but i may just have to bite the bullet and get it done. i don't imagine that kad suan kaew shopkeepers are too prone to bartering.

[threedot]

From memory, I think I got it done for around 400 baht in KSK - I was with a local though.

[mcgriffith]

1000 B seems quite high to me.

I have never unlocked a phone brought from overseas here, so I'm not sure.

Mid-2006, I bought a brand new Samsung T-809 (T-Mobile) in CA, USA.

They network unlocked it for free....In California, that is.

Arrived in BKK, went to MBK, bought an AIS 12Call SIM- off and running.

I previously unlocked one other phone in the US in a little strip mall in Nevada. Cost $5 a few years ago.

I guess it depends on the phone. Some older or obscure phones...they maybe have to do a websearch to find the unlocking software...this might be reflected in the fee charged.

Unless you are totally in love with your phone- why not at least consider buying a new or used phone here? All phones sold in Thailand are not network locked....and I've seen them as cheap as 880 B recently.

I just bought a new Nokia 6300 from DTAC with an internet SIM. 5690 B for a phone that does everything short of cooking breakfast...

Just a thought....

[zzSleepyJohn]

If you can connect your phone to your computer, you might consider unlocking it on-line. www.dc-unlocker.com can unlock virtually every mobile, most of them for €15. I've very recently successfully unlocked my USB mobile dongle bought in UK through them after failing to find anyone capable of unlocking it in Thailand, and I noticed that they also list a large range of mobiles they can handle. Unlocking isn't exactly a standard procedure because there appear to be a variety of locking techniques around but this firm seem to know the score. How successful you'll be getting your mobile unlocked in Thailand is likely to depend on both the model and who locked it in the first place. Check also this TV thread for further info on unlocking.

[benjamat]

300 baht if you are in bkk at MBK

[briley]

I had a pig of a phone to unlock (orange SVP500 - new operating system etc) cost me 500 baht and took 24 hours.

Easy phones are around the 100 baht range - some can be DIY jobs using online unlockers but you have to do some homework. Hardly worth it for 100 baht.

They'll all give you a quote before they do the work. Go and ask.