I took my Alcatel orange locked phone to MBK and they asked 400 bht to unlock.. rip off merchants, anyone know cheaper places where they dont see a falang and an opportunity to do a "Thai Cheat"?

I regard 400 baht as cheap.

I've heard the average cost of an unlock in Pattaya is 500 baht. Compare that to AU $80 in Sydney for an unlock and that makes 400 baht a bargain.

Some unlocks are more complicated than just keying in a code, some require special cables and a certain amount of expertise.

How is quoting a price a rip off?

That is their price and it is up to you to accept it or get another quote.

if you think you can get it done elsewhere cheaper than go there.

Actually, some phones cost more to unlock than others. You could try getting your wife/girlfriend to ask around. Yesterday my step-daughter, just back from the UK was quoted 1700Baht to unlock her all singing all dancing UK Phone. She eventually did a straight swap for a 2nd hand Iphone 2G...whatever that is.

Zctually more expensive dowm here in Pattaya. Some places want 1,800 baht to unlock an i-phone.

A good friend of mine paid 300bt in MBK so I don't think your quote was too far off the mark.

Five years ago I had my NEC GSM phone unlocked in the US.

The man charged me $50.

That is 1750 baht.

Now he probebly gets alot more.

You were lucky and didn't know it.