Mobile Phone Service - Mandalay

[rak sa_ngop]

I will be visiting Mandalay next month (cheap Air Asia direct flight).

Finding accommodation with 4 weeks notice has proved difficult, but eventually secured a budget room for 40 USD a day. Most more expensive hotels are fully booked out!. Its location is not too convenient, NW of the palace walls, but good for visiting the hill with the temple on top.

It is likely that a Thai person I know would like to visit Mandalay at the same time, but I am letting him make his own hotel arrangements, so it is unlikely that we will have the same hotel, or even hotels close to each other.

In order to be able to meet up the easiest way would be if we could keep in touch by mobile phone. I assume that there is a local mobile service now available. What are the service options, and is it just as easy to purchase a pay as you go SIM card (local calls only) as it is in Thailand?

What about using a Thai (1-2-call) card for sending sms messages within Myanmar.

Any advice or suggestions would be welcomed.

Thanks

[tombkk]

Last time I bought a local SIM card for US$ 30.00. My Thai SIM (AIS) sometimes worked but mostly not. This was in Yangon, though.

[CP3]

not sure about Mandalay..At Yangon, there is tourist sims for you to purchase, 20USD .last for 30days and now there is an option to top up but still validity is 30days.

[mingalaba]

You can buy a temporary (30 days) GSM-Sim Card anywhere in Yangon and also in other cities like Mandalay, Mawlamyine, Myitkyina, etc. Basically any decent town will have mobile phone shops selling these cards.

Name of this Sim-Card is: "One-Time GSM Sim-Card 20 FEC". Most of the phone shops sell them for 19.000 Kyats. Maybe you can negotiate paying 20 USD too (which would be less)

These Sim-Cards work everywhere in Myanmar and allow you to make international and local calls and also local texts.

The per minute prices for calls are pretty high though so you wont last very long with your 20 USD credit.

[SeaVisionBurma]

not sure about Mandalay..At Yangon, there is tourist sims for you to purchase, 20USD .last for 30days and now there is an option to top up but still validity is 30days.

20 USD for 30 days is correct - but you cannot top these SIM cards up. They are a one-time use only, and once they expire (either through using the included USD$20 credit, or by reaching the expiry date) - they can not be used again.

Only the 2 lakh SIM cards can be topped up.

[CP3]

[CP3]

There is an option to purchase top up card denomination in FEC.

[rak sa_ngop]

Bit rusty on my Burmese but FEC Top Up seems pretty clear.

I have been back to Myanmar several times since the days when FEC had to be compulsarily purchased by tourists. I was under the impression that FEC had now been scrapped. Obviously not, so are banks the place to buy them. Or do money changers still trade in FEC. Where are the best places to change money in Mandalay? Any ideas?

Thanks for all the info supplied.

[CP3]

USD will do these days. As for money exchange, you can go into any bank and take reference rate, then compare with rate from some travel agents outside. Heard Yangon rate is still better then Mandalay.

[SeaVisionBurma]

CP3 - Thanks for the posts.

Where did the article come from - and do you have a translation for it?

I have just arrived back from Yangon last week, and was not able to top up a $20 sim card. As with all other sim cards I have bought this year (and I buy them regularly) - I am told every time they are not able to be topped up.

I just contacted a friend in Yangon - and he said the call rate has just been increased, and wonders if this is a new change (allowing top ups) as people will use their cards faster.

Worth some more investigation

[mingalaba]

USD will do these days. As for money exchange, you can go into any bank and take reference rate, then compare with rate from some travel agents outside. Heard Yangon rate is still better then Mandalay.

No. Banks offer the same exchange rate in Yangon and Mandalay. The bank exchange rates are generally better then the black market so no need to compare

[CP3]

SVB. The article just say that FEC20 sim can be topped with FEC10/20 refill card but the validity is still a month..didn't hear anything about call rate increase though. The local call rate is already expensive (30cts?), don't think they will increase it.

[SeaVisionBurma]

SVB. The article just say that FEC20 sim can be topped with FEC10/20 refill card but the validity is still a month..didn't hear anything about call rate increase though. The local call rate is already expensive (30cts?), don't think they will increase it.

CP3 - really appreciate this info. Regardless of call rates, it will be great to be able to top up these sim cards.. I've gone through so many different numbers this year, and always wanted to be able to top up.

I'm guessing that MPT are making a few changes ahead of other telecoms providers being allowed into the market (eg ADSL connection prices have just dropped dramatically). Makes sense for them to offer incentives to stay with them once competition appears...

cheers

SVB

[CP3]

I also thought it is just one time usage until saw this article in one of Journals.

[tombkk]

There are two kinds of sim cards in Myanmar: One-time and top-up. As tourists, we usually get the one-time card (which cannot be topped up), as the other one is a lot more expensive. I don‘t know how much, rumours go from US$ 50 too 300. Or is this a myth?

Anyway, I heard this almost a year ago, so this might be outdated already. If it ever was true to begin with.

Sent from my LG-P698f using Thaivisa Connect App

[SeaVisionBurma]

There are two kinds of sim cards in Myanmar: One-time and top-up. As tourists, we usually get the one-time card (which cannot be topped up), as the other one is a lot more expensive. I don't know how much, rumours go from US$ 50 too 300. Or is this a myth?

The rechargeable one is 2 lakhs (approx USD$250), which is the same one you mentioned which I had thought was the only one able to be topped up.

The new info provided by CP3 is that the one-time use cards for FEC20 (usually cost around 20,000 kyats) can now be topped up.

Got quite excited by this (I don't get out much) until I read his post again - whereby the validity is still only 30 days. Would be better if they can be continually topped up to go over 30 days, but still better than before if this is the case.

Again, definitely worth investigating.

cheers

SVB