gravion Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 1.sim cards are retailed at 49baht and even written on the package. but on the street they sell it for like 20 baht. why is that? are these stuff on the street stolen cards? or like will expire after a year or something? 2. also topping up on the street... i cant read thai and i dont know what these ppl offer a bargain or not. the dealer seems to allow the customer to input their mobile number on the dealers phone to top up. do they top up just like retail? if u top up 300 baht for ais, u get like 30 days deadline... (man so i gotta top up every 30 days if i dont use all 300 baht in a month...) im thinking of changing to dtac happy prepaid, but is same as ais right? hi plz dont move this topic to telecommunication... also pls inform me about other sim cards services compared to 12call.. i dont like topping up 300baht a month just to keep the line open... thankx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
little_muppet Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 wat i know is those cheap sim card is recycle number. if u hate toping up every month than use register to monthly paid than, than choose the cheapest promotion or no promotion. :jap: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boldfj Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 I can not respond to your first question about cheap SIM cards sold on the street. Regarding your other questions, topping up on the street should be perfectly legitimate. It's called on-line topping up (or in Thai, term ngun on line). Most places charge 1 or 2 baht for the service, above the amount you choose to top up. Most places also do not charge a service charge if you top up 50 baht or more. Topping up should be instantaneous. So if you top up for the telephone you have on you, you should hear the incoming message sound just after you top up. The message should confirm that your phone was topped up by whatever amount you bought, less the service charge. This is available for the three major mobile service providers, 1-2-Call (AIS), DTAC and True Move. Regarding the lenght of time your top up is valid, that is strictly up to the SIM card program you originally purchased. AIS has many different programs available. So you need to find out what promotional program you purchased initially with the SIM card. Sounds like you have an unlimited call program for a monthly rate of 300 baht. But there are many other programs available with AIS. You can have a program which allows you to top up a small amount each time, which doesn't expire very quickly, but the rate per minute is high. This is a good program for someone who doesn't use his mobile phone much and doesn't care about the minute-by-minute cost. The program you have sounds like a good program for a person who uses his mobile phone very frequently, at the expense of having to pay 300 baht per month. This is really a bargain if you use the phone a lot. Switching to one of the other providers is up to you. I personally find that AIS has the best coverage throughout Thailand. However, if you only stay in Bangkok, than any of the services would be about the same with respect to coverage. Don't forget, if you don't want to avail yourself of the on-line top up, you can buy money cards for any of the mobile phone service providers and install the value of the card into your phone yourself. Cards are generally available for 50, 100, 300 baht. But, I have frequently used the on-line street sales and have had no problems at all. If you don't hear and see the message on your phone indicating that your phone has been topped up, ask the person who sold you the top up why not. Most times, from what I've seen, the top up is made by the person selling the service and your phone indicates that the money has been added to your phone, all before you have time to actually pay the person for the top up plus service. So, it's really pretty safe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangkokcitylimits Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 (edited) The sooner it expires the cheaper, SIM cards that you must activate within few days or weeks you can buy for 10b. (it's only the max activation date that expires) And you can buy them with or without a small start credit, 'beautiful numbers' are more expensive... I paid 700b for my 123call SIM because a nice number, had one ever from 2.000b some years ago that was even a nicer number, lol, something with 2 sevens and the rest zero's. And different SIMs can be pre-installed with different promotions or call-rates. You can also buy SIMS that are not being canceled when 3 months not used, the keep the validity. Edited January 10, 2011 by bangkokcitylimits Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigt3365 Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 Duplicate thread. Topic already running in the appropriate forum: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/432668-low-cost-sim-cards-on-the-streets/ //Closed// Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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