England - Thailand 'phone Compatibility

[PattayaParent]

2 mates here on holiday, one is looking to get a new mobile as he dropped it and it's now in pieces.

The other mate has his with him and we got a SIM card for it. Only it's not the right size for his 'phone.

He has a Motorolla with an Orange SIM in it which is at least 50% bigger than the Thai SIM size and has 2 strips of contacts in the 'phone which contact with the SIM chip.

Mate who's looking to buy a new 'phone doesn't know the size of his SIM.

So my question is. Is the larger SIM the standard size in UK? Or just a size Orange use? If the other mate buys a 'phone here will he be ale to use it in UK?

[JohnC]

Do not understand where this "large" sim came from? I am still using my old UK phone here as the sim cards are interchangeble, I have also have a new samsung bought here and my O2 sim card fits that fine. I didnt even need to get the old phone unlocked even though it was an O2 contract phone, just exchanged the O2 sim card for AIS sim card and it works fine.

[ignis]

Before moving here in 2003, used to come here on holidays for 6 years always bought a new phone here, my sim only yearly contract in the UK worked just fine in all the different phones I bought here.

Trying to remember back 20 years believe the sim cards were bigger then, is your friends Motorolla with an Orange SIM very very old?

[webfact]

SIM cards are all the same shape and size.

If you buy them new it will come as part of a larger card

[PattayaParent]

SIM cards are all the same shape and size.

If you buy them new it will come as part of a larger card

If that were true then we wouldn't be having a problem.

The 'phone looks like a new model, it's superslim.

I'll see them later and try to get some info on models and services etc.

[PattayaParent]

As you can see from the photos the blue SIM on the left which is the Orange chip from England is about 50% bigger than the chip on the white SIM.

The other pic is of the chip connector which has 2 rows of strips where the ones here have only 1 row.

The Motorola is ony 1 year old so a new model.

Edited July 6, 2009 by PattayaParent

[torrenova]

I had UK Orange and Thai SIM cards working on phones from when I first was here years ago.

I vaguely seem to recall that years ago, in the relative infancy of mobiles and SIMs, that there was some issue about different size SIMs eithe between networks (most likely) or countries (potentially).

This would be back in the early 90's and I've heard nothing about that issue for many years.

[sungod]

Never really taken any notice, but I travel around Asia extensively and always buy a local sim for my Nokia and never had a problem. In fact I've just dug out all my sims, my contract Thai one has a chip the same as the right hand photo, all my other sims from around Asia are the same as the larger one (including an AIS pay as you go) and just to put the cat amongst the pigeons my pay as you go Orange from the UK is somewhere in the middle!

[PattayaParent]

Well the Thai SIM card (on the right) won't work in the UK 'phone.

[sungod]

May be a stupid question, but has he had the phone unlocked? I know orange phones come locked to their network.

[bangkokrick]

Well the Thai SIM card (on the right) won't work in the UK 'phone.

Hi Pattayapartent. I have just checked my UK orange mobile and also my Truemove Thai mobile and you are correct that the copper strip configuration is as your picture. The plastic backing is the same size. I can change the SIM's between phones and they work perfectly in either phone. My guess is that your mate's mobile is not unlocked and therefore will not wok in Thailand. This is my best guess, so I hope it helps.

Cheers, Rick

[MKAsok]

Sounds like the phone's locked to Orange. There's definitely no issue with using UK phones (bought from Orange) with a Thai SIM card and vice-versa (assuming they've been unlocked). I've done it with several different (and as it happens, all Motorola) phones. Just tell your mate to get the phone unlocked at a shop. Will cost around 200bht. And tell your other mate to make sure the phone he buys is unlocked already.

[Farma]

From the UK Orange website

Requirements:

A GSM cellular phone with the service-provider lock removed. If you are unsure whether your phone is unlocked or not, insert a SIM card from a service provider other than your own to check. (If the phone is locked, you will see an error message when you turn on the phone or a message prompting you to enter a subsidy code.)

To have your phone unlocked, contact your service provider (Cingular,

T-Mobile, etc..) for the unlock code. They usually will provide this at no cost to customers who have been with them for over 3 months.

The phone must be capable of functioning on the 1800 MHz GSM band.

[ballbreaker]

As others have said have friend get phone unlocked. Although there is a difference in overall size of contact area on SIM it will work after his phone is unlocked.

[PattayaParent]

Unlocking could be the answer as the 'phone asks for a password with the Thai SIM.

Thanks for all the help guys.