A Question Regarding International Roaming...

[jimmybkk]

I have a friend from the Philippines visiting Thailand soon and for various reasons they do not wish anyone to know they are overseas. They need to be contactable on their phone while they are here and they have a roaming package, however, am I right in thinking that if they are out of range of a signal and someone calls them then the "sorry, we could not connect your call" message will be in Thai? If so, it would be a bit of a giveaway. Even if there is a very small possibility it would be in Thai it is not an option.

Does anyone know of a way around this problem? Unfortunately forwarding to voicemail or having the phone turned off all the time and then calling back using Skype with caller id for example are not options.

As far as I can tell it is not possible to forward a call to a Skype account unless you have a Skype number and you cannot get Skype numbers in the Philippines nor in Thailand. Would it be possible to get a Skype number in another (any) country and for the Philippine number to be forwarded to the Skype number and then the call received using Skype on a smartphone here? If it was set up like would there be any telltale signs that the call was being bounced around? What would happen on Skype if a call cannot be put through for whatever reason?

Today I've been looking at Vonage but I can't figure out whether calls to a mobile phone can be forwarded to a Vonage mobile number, and also what happens if there is no signal - what message does the caller hear.

In fact, if there was any way to ensure that a missed call or unreachable call is met with beeps rather than a Thai voice, this would work also.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions/solutions...

[bobl]

Afaik the unreachable messages could be in Thai.

When they land in Thailand, let's say their phone roams onto DTAC - this involves a "negotiation" and handshaking between DTAC and the Phillipines carrier. Now, both the Phillipine carrier and DTAC knows how the calls are to be routed and voila - roaming.

What happens then, if they subsequently wander out of range of a DTAC tower... There's a very good chance that the caller will get DTAC's "unreachable" message.

If they remained out of range for long enough dtac would drop their routing, so the "unreachable" message would revert to the Phillipine carrier's.

[route8]

With regard to International roaming,could someone advise me of the best solution for my upcoming trip to Europe.

I will be away from Thailand during July August,returning early September.

I will be travelling with my iPhone 4S to Spain, France,Italy and Cyprus.

I bought my iPhone from AIS with a monthly promotion package of 400 mins call time & 200 sms,s for use only in Thailand.

My options at present seem to be 1: to suspend the service and the number until I return.

2:Buy a roaming package from AIS for 3400 baht ,which only lasts 7 days...really not an option. I am informed by AIS that if

i keep my number active every call i recieve will cost 125 Baht + very high charges to Thailand or anywhere else in the World,usng the AIS network

and Service.

Other options that come to mind are to buy one SIM card for Europe,or to buy sim cards locally when in each of the 4 countries that i mentioned above.

The final option that comes to mind is to buy International calling cards for phone calls,but at the same time being able to use the internet and skype.

I would be pleased to recieve any suggestions or ideas you may have based maybe on recent experiences,in order that I can get a reliable service

at a reasonable cost whist on my trip to Europe.

Thanks.

[mark131v]

Route 8,

I travel a lot for work and have found all the Thai providers to be rubbish and even getting basic information difficult, I have finally bitten the bullet and on the recomendation of a few work mates bought an international roaming sim from worldsim. I have not had chance to use it yet but it is pay as you go with optional auto reload and and sounds like it would be an option for you

[bobl]

My advice for international roaming is don't. Period. Double don't, if you have a smartphone. Voice roaming is bad enough, data roaming is daylight robbery. I do have international roaming on one of my lines, but it's my BB - I never make or recieve calls or SMS while roaming - only E-mail and BBM (my BB subscription doesn't cost anything extra to roam with).

These days it's relatively easy to get a throwaway chip and a cheap data bundle, in each of the countries you visit. If it's not essential to you that you keep your number (presumably not, if you're going to use skype) I'd go that route.

[h90]

Afaik the unreachable messages could be in Thai.

When they land in Thailand, let's say their phone roams onto DTAC - this involves a "negotiation" and handshaking between DTAC and the Phillipines carrier. Now, both the Phillipine carrier and DTAC knows how the calls are to be routed and voila - roaming.

What happens then, if they subsequently wander out of range of a DTAC tower... There's a very good chance that the caller will get DTAC's "unreachable" message.

If they remained out of range for long enough dtac would drop their routing, so the "unreachable" message would revert to the Phillipine carrier's.

There are also a couple of other freak messages if there are any problems.....My mother told me she had various Thai-Computer-Girls speaking with her when trying to call me, even I was in the range.

No idea what the computer said, most probably a reason why there is no connection.

[h90]

My advice for international roaming is don't. Period. Double don't, if you have a smartphone. Voice roaming is bad enough, data roaming is daylight robbery. I do have international roaming on one of my lines, but it's my BB - I never make or recieve calls or SMS while roaming - only E-mail and BBM (my BB subscription doesn't cost anything extra to roam with).

These days it's relatively easy to get a throwaway chip and a cheap data bundle, in each of the countries you visit. If it's not essential to you that you keep your number (presumably not, if you're going to use skype) I'd go that route.

Isn't it possible to register a local number (Philippines) with Skype? Than buy a card for 3G here and answer Skype and you appear always to be at Philippines?

On your mobile phone you add a message that you can't be reached because your mobile phone is broken and sent for repair, so please use the number xxxxxxxxx.

Than turn the Philippines phone of before leaving.