Unregistered Pre-paid Mobiles To Be Disconnected

[boardrider]

A question, O Great Native Farangs:

I travel to Thailand from time to time, and I changed my cellular to a double-SIM back, so I can put a Thai pre-paid SIM while in Thailand and still have my original SIM in the phone.

...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

"I changed my cellular to a double-SIM back"

Please tell me more, make and model?

News to moi

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

what make and model of phone has this feature?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It's a replacement back, which I bought in MBK. They had there backs for many models. Mine is a Nokia 3210.

Bye,

Ron.

[harmonist]

Thousands of southern mobile phone users face service cut 

  The telephone companies had repeatedly asked their customers via SMS to register over the past few months.

--TNA 2005-11-15

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I've had the same number and the same handset for 5 years now

I've never had an SMS telling me to register it - at least not in English, and as I can't read Thai (like the several hundred thousand other farang users of pre-paid in the kingdom) it's no use sending me an SMS in Thai - the phone companies should recognise that from the default language set on my handset - the language setting is part of the ID signal that monitors which cell you're currently in.

I have no idea where I have to do it

I have no idea what documents I have to provide

I had no idea of the deadline until reading this at almost 10pm

They really publicised this well didn't they?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You are quite ignorant. If you've been living here already for 5 years and still don't read Thai, then I can only say, that's poor. Being a guest in this country you should do so ... it is the foreigners in any country, who should adapt to the local conditions, wherever they are.

I bet you belong to those, who would require the guests at your home speaking your native tongue, too, wouldn't you ?

Btw, it was well published, in all media, AND in this forum, also well in time. It appears as if you are in trouble with reading not only in Thai.

Furthermore, fyi, the language setting is NOT part of the id, for the id is tied to the sim card, not to the phone, that saves your language setting !

However, it was amusing to read your post though ... No hard feelings :-))

[mijan24]

I know how it works they will just delete the SIM number off of the CAMEL database for the unregistered SIM's. But it would be just like the operators to screw up the operation and delete the VLR database instead.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes I wait for the day!! it will be very very interesting to see the result - (1)registrations submitted from all over the country - (2)collated, (3)data input, - thats three possible areas for a little slip up - the final outcome will be interesting - lets hope it all goes well.

[cutter007]

I doubt that they will shut off the cards anytime soon. Usually, something like this they miss two or three deadlines before it is half ass implemented.

TIT

[Artisan]

Furthermore, fyi,  the language setting is NOT part of the id, for the id is tied to the sim card, not to the phone, that saves your language setting !

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Surely not!!! You can put a different SIM card in your telephone but the phone ID stays the same. Isn't the language setting part of the phone cofiguration and nothing to do with the SIM card?...and the language setting isn't transmitted to the service provider.

[69_68iou1]

The reason could be that taxin wants all phones registered so he can locate any one in thaland from there id card / passort and then there mobile phone number, down to 10 meters in areas like BBK and 1 -3 km in rual areas.

[george]

Update:

18,000 mobile phones in Pattani have unregistered SIM cards

PATTANI: -- More than 20 per cent of the 90,000 mobile phone users in the southern province of Pattani had not registered their SIM cards after the government deadline expired at midnight Nov 15, Pattani governor Phanu Uthairat said here Wednesday.

Eighteen thousand subscribers have not complied with government requests to register their mobile phones.

The government now requires mobile phone subscribers in Pattani and the nearby provinces of Yala and Narathiwat to have registered their mobile phones by Tuesday (Nov 15) or their services would be terminated.

The government order was made following the frequent use of mobile phones to detonate bombs by remote control.

The governor said that mobile subscribers who had not registered their SIM cards could no longer use their mobile phones after 2400 hours (Midnight) on Nov 15.

However, he said, the registration was still opened for the moblie phone users.

Cellphone subscribers who had not yet registered should report their SIM card numbers the service providers as soon as possible, governor Phanu said, and after the enrolling their mobile telephones can be used normally.

Following registration, SIM cards may become the target of insurgents, the governor said, as ill-intentioned people may attempt to steal mobile phones and use the stolen SIM card to detonate bombs.

The governor also warned mobile phone users to be careful and to report any mobile phone theft immediately.

If a mobile telephone is lost, the owner should notify the service provider to suspend its service immediately--otherwise a stolen SIM card may be used to facilitate insurgent violence.

--TNA 2005-11-16

[sriracha john]

I registered 3 months ago, I do not read or speak Thai.

Here is the response from ais someone in udon got a few days ago

Here is the email response from them

Hi One-2-Call member

Thank you for your e-mail. We are glad to answer your question as follows:

This policy is issued for a security reason in Thailand and it is applied to all mobile phone operators in Thailand. However, if you would like to proceed this, you need to bring along an ID card together with SIM card at AIS branches & Outlets nationwide and Telewiz. As this policy relates to a security reason so Thai government requested a cooperation from all parties including people and distributor. This must be proceeded according to government policy and from a rule of Corporation Public Company Limited or (TOT) by December 31, 2005.

In addition, if you want to use your SIM card in the specific areas like Pattanee, Yala and Naratiwas, you have to identify yourself by November 15, 2005. If you do not do within the mentionable period, we will disconnect the service.

Additional Information : For more information of product and serive of One-2-Call you can visit website www.one-2-call.com that you can also apply for Freedom club and you will be able to check balance and validity or join in events held by AIS.

Any questions? Just dial *122# or email us at [email protected] 24 hours' a day.

Freedom Freestyle by one-2-call

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hmmm... that was written in the same manner that the right honorable Dr. PhD Thaksin speaks English.

Didn't know he wrote AIS emails, too.

[bkk_mike]

Thousands of southern mobile phone users face service cut 

  The telephone companies had repeatedly asked their customers via SMS to register over the past few months.

--TNA 2005-11-15

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I've had the same number and the same handset for 5 years now

I've never had an SMS telling me to register it - at least not in English, and as I can't read Thai (like the several hundred thousand other farang users of pre-paid in the kingdom) it's no use sending me an SMS in Thai - the phone companies should recognise that from the default language set on my handset - the language setting is part of the ID signal that monitors which cell you're currently in.

I have no idea where I have to do it

I have no idea what documents I have to provide

I had no idea of the deadline until reading this at almost 10pm

They really publicised this well didn't they?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Far be it from me to question anyone but isn't Thai the National Language in the Kingdom?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's the problem, Mr. Visitor from Canada. There are many arrogant foreigners in Thailand who are believe they have the God-given right to be spoon fed with everything in their own language....mostly English.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

All I know is - anyone with a phone that's more than 4-5 years old, or which wasn't actually bought in Thailand, generally doesn't handle SMS's in Thai anyway.

Admittedly, my current phone was bought in Thailand, and is new enough for me to hand to my wife to read. But I know Thais who can't read SMS's sent to them in Thai because their phones can't display them. Also, for me personally, SMSs from the AIS CALL CENTER tend to get deleted unread anyway...

[Buff-horns]

where do you post copies of your passport etc if you are outside the country and cant get back by the cutof date ? wheres 12calls office for postal applications?

or do you apply to your local Thai embassy ?i read somewhere you can use your embassy .

[Eddie67]

Hello. Why make problems where it isn't ?

1: You can register almost anywhere, in any shoppingcenter which have a mobileshop who are an agent of your mobile service provider. Very easy, takes 0,7 minutes and it is free.

2: I have AIS, and if you call the number to your "menu" (I cannot remember this number, but it is the same one you use if you for example want to change your answering machine message). In that menu somewhere, you can change the language to ENGLISH! Quite sure I did it, because all SMS I get from AIS is in English.

I really don't understand all this troublemaking ...

Have a WONDERFUL day, Love to Thailand.

(Where I am now is -5 degrees, but HEY, I am coming over in 2 weeks ...)

[george]

Confusion as registered phone users still cut off

Angry customers pack mobile phone stores

The deadline for pre-paid mobile phone users to register their SIM cards in Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat expired yesterday but there was frustration among phone owners who had already registered but found their signals cut off.

Branches of mobile phone network providers in the southern border provinces were packed with people demanding to know why their phones could not be used despite having registered in good time.

Many complained about the inconvenience of having to make inquiries and of getting their lines reconnected.

The government hopes the mandatory registration will curb southern violence by regulating access to SIM cards, often used to detonate bombs via mobile phone.

Krisorn Pornsuthee, Information Communication and Technology Ministry permanent secretary, said around 90% of pre-paid phone owners in the three southernmost provinces had registered when the deadline expired yesterday.

Pattani governor Panu Uthairat said those who had not registered could still do so but they would have to hurry as the compilation of registration data needed some time to process.

Users who lose their SIM cards must alert police immediately to prevent them ending up in the wrong hands.

Confusion reigned, however, as many owners who had registered were unable to use their phones yesterday.

Pol Sgt Suriyan Thongsuwan, of Mayo district police in Pattani, said he and fellow policemen who registered their SIM cards at the local post office had encountered the same problem.

He said communication between police stations and remote checkpoints was virtually non-existent.

His wife who had come to visit him from Bangkok was stranded at a bus terminal because he could not get in touch with her.

Sommart Aksornwattana, acting head of Pattani post office, said his office had collected the registration data and passed it on to the district administration office.

He had notified the district office of the trouble with connections and expected the glitches to be cleared up by yesterday evening.

--Bangkok Post 2005-11-17

[george]

'Glitch' deep sixes deep south mobile phone service

NARATHIWAT: -- An unanticipated technical fault short-circuited, so to speak, mobile phone service to thousands of compliant consumers in Thailand's southern border provinces.

The glitch caused inconvenience for thousands of prepaid mobile phone users who lined up at mobile phone service points here Thursday to re-register their SIM cards after their mobile phone service had been terminated despite registration.

Residents in the deep South have, if effect, had their mobile phone service 'deep sixed' -- tossed into the trashcan -- by an unseen technological gremlin.

The government requires mobile phone subscribers in Pattani and the nearby provinces of Yala and Narathiwat to have registered their mobile phones by Tuesday (Nov 15) or their services were to be terminated after midnight.

Although 80 per cent of prepaid mobile phone users registered their SIM cards as the government regulation required, their mobile phone signals were nonetheless cut off.

Telephone services providers have offered no explanation for the glitch, which has the effect of temporarily rendering useless an important paid communication service.

Only unregistered prepaid mobile phones were supposed to encounter such a problem as the government's measure to curb mobile phone-activated bomb includes SIM card registration to allow officials to track the owners of SIM-cards used in the restive south.

Some users have already registered their SIM cards for many times, but they still face technical problems and their registered SIM cards cannot be used. Meanwhile, some decided to buy new SIM cards to facilitate doing business as usual.

--TNA 2005-11-17

[99BigLad99]

I get SMS messages form my operator the ones that cost me money for downloading something in English and the ones in that will save me money are always in Thai !!

Edited November 17, 2005 by mgc

[RDN]

...there was frustration among phone owners who had already registered but found their signals cut off....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hands up all those who said this would happen!

[britmaveric]

...there was frustration among phone owners who had already registered but found their signals cut off....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hands up all those who said this would happen!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Not surprised, but cross my fingers and hope I dont find the same in Jan!

[RDN]

....Telephone services providers have offered no explanation for the glitch, which has the effect of temporarily rendering useless an important paid communication service....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Of course not, this is a similar approach to that taken by UBC after the tsunami - cut off the customers by scrambling their signal, and when they complain about it say "Oh, you're still alive then? OK, we'll unscramble your signal". Customer service, Thai style.

[britmaveric]

....Telephone services providers have offered no explanation for the glitch, which has the effect of temporarily rendering useless an important paid communication service....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Of course not, this is a similar approach to that taken by UBC after the tsunami - cut off the customers by scrambling their signal, and when they complain about it say "Oh, you're still alive then? OK, we'll unscramble your signal". Customer service, Thai style.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Cynic in me says - hmmmm mobile users will have to buy new simcards and top off cards! INCREASE PROFIT

[socalbro]

It just don't seem to add up...

How is registering a cell phones going to stop a blood thirsty terrorist from killing if that's what they decide God wants them to do???

Couldn't be too hard to steal a phone from someone and use it if that's what they need to set off a bomb. Then the fellow they pinched it from will have the police shoot him down as he gets home from work and the real murders get away.

I think it has much more to do with controling the whole population of Thailand and using the violence in the South as an excuse to do so.

Is it possible it could have anything to do with the AIS-Taksin relationship? Is there any benifit to the service providers. Or just the govt. being able to tap into any phone and now know who they are listening to, where they are located and who's doinkin' who's ol'lady.

Could they listen in on a political opponents conversations? Know where a person is, who they talk to and about what?

I'm just playing devil's advocate here, but it wouldn't be unlike the police or politicians here to use this info to their own advantage somehow - most likely not for good of others as they claim...

BIG BROTHER'S ARRIVED

[ThaiWest]

Well, if you aren't on postpay you should be ... and again if you are not you have had MONTHS to take care of this.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

AIS currently have ~ 16 million subscribers, with 14 million being pre-paid and the remaining 2 million are post-paid customers. I am certain AIS wishes this were reversed. Foreigners are required to have a work-permit in order to get a post-paid account.

I would expect all of the operators to start sending out SMSes reminding people to register their SIMs as we get closer to the 31 December cut-off date. Most, but not all, the SMS'es AIS send to me are in Thai.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There isn't any understanding, for me, why any person with a RETIERMENT VISA is not granted any REGARD! We must provide proof of income in order to obtain this visa. Why can't the varous government departments understand this?

[ianpants69]

Well it's the 18th and my DTAC and PCT pre-paid are stil going as are the AIS and Hutch phones in the house (all of which are unregistered)

What's all the fuss, anyone think this was actually going to happen?

[tracer]

Hey brother, if I live in USA or England, can I get messages from the phone company sent to my phone in Norwegian if I choose Norwegian language on my phone?

Get real.

Do you think the hundreds of thousands of non-Thai and non-English speaking immigrants from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos should get messages in their own language too? Or just you?

EOQ

When the Apec meeting was in Phuket, they sure were sending every day crap in English via sms, pure spam.

That and English should do as it really shouldnt be that difficult to either read it in or get it clarified by a friend. TRY that with Thai....

[sleepyjohn]

While we're trying to stop bombers....who bombed Sonthi, the well known Thaksin critic, at his office recently and LAST NIGHT near the office where his broadcast last night was made(You heard it here first)?