Thai Phone With International Travel.. Advice Needed

[monty1412]

iphone 4s running a internet and phone package from DTAC.

Travel allot with job re SE Asia.. any advice on packages etc that can see me cheaply access emails etc when I land in other countries.. I know finding a wifi spot is an obvious answer but sometimes need to get emails and respond when Im in car from airport or otherwise situated where a wifi link is not feasible.

Thanks in advance for advice

rgds

[lomatopo]

Mobile data is your only option, I think. If you cannot locate a local SIM immediately upon arrival then maybe DTAC data roaming? (It's not cheap.)

Post-paid (DTAC)? Or pre-paid (Happy)?

Budget?

DTAC does offer international data roaming which might address your requirements, at least until you can get a local SIM?

http://www.dtac.co.th/en/postpaid/services/roaming/roaming350.html

[JetsetBkk]

A friend of mine got a pre-paid deal with his mobile company. It cost about 1200 baht for 7 days international data roaming, unlimited no. of megabytes.

He tested it before he went abroad - downloaded stuff and then rang them up to ask how much he owed, and they said "Nothing, it's covered by the pre-paid agreement".

So he went to Singapore, did masses of phoning, downloading, etc and came back to Thailand.

He got an itemised bill in the post for about 500,000 baht! But the amount owed was zero baht because of the pre-paid agreement.

[dddave]

I'm with AIS and I travel internationally frequently. Every time I land in another country, I immediately get text messages from the local affiliated carrier with package offers on messaging and calls. Not dirt cheap but usually reasonable.

[monty1412]

A friend of mine got a pre-paid deal with his mobile company. It cost about 1200 baht for 7 days international data roaming, unlimited no. of megabytes.

He tested it before he went abroad - downloaded stuff and then rang them up to ask how much he owed, and they said "Nothing, it's covered by the pre-paid agreement".

So he went to Singapore, did masses of phoning, downloading, etc and came back to Thailand.

He got an itemised bill in the post for about 500,000 baht! But the amount owed was zero baht because of the pre-paid agreement.

Do you know or can you easily find out who that was with i.e which carrier ?? Thanks.. sounds just the ticket although the horror of seeing a 500K bill must be a heart starter Thanks

[lomatopo]

AIS offers international data roaming with thresholds: http://www.ais.co.th/interservice/en/gsm-worry-free-data-roaming.shtml

Both AIS and DTAC send IR greetings, example, SMSes from the DTAC IR SMS center upon landing in NRT (2100 MHz roaming on Softbank):

Welcome to JPN. Enjoy dtac roaming with free SMS receiving & 12B/SMS sending. Call receiving 25B/min & Calling to Thailand 78B/min by dial +66<Phone number>.

Online your smartphone in JPN at special rate 350 B./day for 25 MB (normal rate is 410 B./MB). Simply subscribe package & check conditions at +6622027100(free).

[kurtmartens]

A friend of mine got a pre-paid deal with his mobile company. It cost about 1200 baht for 7 days international data roaming, unlimited no. of megabytes.

He tested it before he went abroad - downloaded stuff and then rang them up to ask how much he owed, and they said "Nothing, it's covered by the pre-paid agreement".

So he went to Singapore, did masses of phoning, downloading, etc and came back to Thailand.

He got an itemised bill in the post for about 500,000 baht! But the amount owed was zero baht because of the pre-paid agreement.

Just did the same when I went to Philippines last month. Prepaid for a week of international data roaming ... worked great.

[lomatopo]

Just did the same when I went to Philippines last month. Prepaid for a week of international data roaming ... worked great.

Can you share any details? Service provider? Cost? Coverage? Speeds? Was the service you used somehow better than using a service provider in the Philippines?

[JetsetBkk]

A friend of mine got a pre-paid deal with his mobile company. It cost about 1200 baht for 7 days international data roaming, unlimited no. of megabytes.

He tested it before he went abroad - downloaded stuff and then rang them up to ask how much he owed, and they said "Nothing, it's covered by the pre-paid agreement".

So he went to Singapore, did masses of phoning, downloading, etc and came back to Thailand.

He got an itemised bill in the post for about 500,000 baht! But the amount owed was zero baht because of the pre-paid agreement.

Do you know or can you easily find out who that was with i.e which carrier ?? Thanks.. sounds just the ticket although the horror of seeing a 500K bill must be a heart starter Thanks

Yes, I'll email him now and try to find out more details. He's in Sweden now so might take a while.

[Bpuumike]

A friend of mine got a pre-paid deal with his mobile company. It cost about 1200 baht for 7 days international data roaming, unlimited no. of megabytes.

He tested it before he went abroad - downloaded stuff and then rang them up to ask how much he owed, and they said "Nothing, it's covered by the pre-paid agreement".

So he went to Singapore, did masses of phoning, downloading, etc and came back to Thailand.

He got an itemised bill in the post for about 500,000 baht! But the amount owed was zero baht because of the pre-paid agreement.

Just did the same when I went to Philippines last month. Prepaid for a week of international data roaming ... worked great.

Which company?

[kurtmartens]

A friend of mine got a pre-paid deal with his mobile company. It cost about 1200 baht for 7 days international data roaming, unlimited no. of megabytes.

He tested it before he went abroad - downloaded stuff and then rang them up to ask how much he owed, and they said "Nothing, it's covered by the pre-paid agreement".

So he went to Singapore, did masses of phoning, downloading, etc and came back to Thailand.

He got an itemised bill in the post for about 500,000 baht! But the amount owed was zero baht because of the pre-paid agreement.

Just did the same when I went to Philippines last month. Prepaid for a week of international data roaming ... worked great.

Which company?

AIS

[lomatopo]

I finally found it:

http://www.ais.co.th/interservice/en/gsm.shtml

1 day 350 baht

3 days 950 baht

5 days 1,400 baht

looks like unlimited data in Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan & Vietnam.

You have to make sure you use the listed partners, click on the flags to identify the service providers.

Philippines: http://www.ais.co.th/interservice/en/pro-gsm-philippines-bridge-dr-u.shtml

[JetsetBkk]

A friend of mine got a pre-paid deal with his mobile company. It cost about 1200 baht for 7 days international data roaming, unlimited no. of megabytes.

He tested it before he went abroad - downloaded stuff and then rang them up to ask how much he owed, and they said "Nothing, it's covered by the pre-paid agreement".

So he went to Singapore, did masses of phoning, downloading, etc and came back to Thailand.

He got an itemised bill in the post for about 500,000 baht! But the amount owed was zero baht because of the pre-paid agreement.

Do you know or can you easily find out who that was with i.e which carrier ?? Thanks.. sounds just the ticket although the horror of seeing a 500K bill must be a heart starter Thanks

The response from my friend in Sweden is that his service provider was AIS, and it was not "roaming for calls" but only Data traffic.

However, he also said Skype worked almost flawlessly.

So you need to check with AIS customer service. He thinks they had weekly and daily packages.

[guzzi850m2]

I would say Sim card for each country is way cheaper, I am often in Singapore and use Singtel when there and if you uses their package deals it's cheap.

Okay it's a pain to carry all the Sim cards around and they quickly expires if not used.

[dddave]

I would say Sim card for each country is way cheaper, I am often in Singapore and use Singtel when there and if you uses their package deals it's cheap.

Okay it's a pain to carry all the Sim cards around and they quickly expires if not used.

Using local SIMs is cheaper; yes, and probably best if you need to use a lot of data but if you are in a business situation where customers and colleagues need to be able to contact you easily, then you're stuck with the problem of notifying them of each and every SIM/number change...annoying for both you and them.

[SeaVisionBurma]

I would say Sim card for each country is way cheaper, I am often in Singapore and use Singtel when there and if you uses their package deals it's cheap.

Okay it's a pain to carry all the Sim cards around and they quickly expires if not used.

Using local SIMs is cheaper; yes, and probably best if you need to use a lot of data but if you are in a business situation where customers and colleagues need to be able to contact you easily, then you're stuck with the problem of notifying them of each and every SIM/number change...annoying for both you and them.

Not if you use a dual active sim phone.

One of the handiest features of my current phone is it is a dual active sim - ie both sim cards are active (instead of older models where you switched between one or the other)

Slot 1 is 3G, slot 2 is 2G

When I travel - my AIS sim card goes into slot 2, and I disable data and calls for it, but allow it to receive sms

The local sim card for the country I am arriving in goes into slot 1 - as I can generally get a cheaper local data and call package to use on the 3G slot - saving horrendous roaming charges.

If I do need to receive a call on the AIS sim - easy enough to enable it.

I'm using a very basic Android model - cost less than $100 - an Alcatel OT-918D. However there are plenty of brands in Thailand which have dual active sim (Samsung, i-mobile etc)

[lomatopo]

When I travel - my AIS sim card goes into slot 2, and I disable data and calls for it, but allow it to receive sms

FWIW, you can leave calls enabled, this allows the call ring through capturing the caller ID, you could then reject the call with an SMS, an option on some phones, telling the caller you are on the phone but will call them back in a few minutes, or just let the call go to your AIS voicemail, where your greeting advises callers that you will return their call shortly. Then use the local SIM to ring back.

That said, there a ton of communications/messaging options available these days - I use Google Voice which offers some very impressive features but it may not be the best solution for everyone - and it of course does not address the OP's requirement for "local" data..