Can I bring Australian smart phone to Thailand

[charlieboz]

Hi guys,

Just wondering if anyone can help me with some advice re: Australian smart phones in Thailand. I live in BKK half the year (work offshore) but am regularly back in Australia. I want to buy my first smartphone in Australia (mainly because of warranty protection in case something goes wrong) but I don't know if Australian smartphones work on the same system as Thai smartphones? Will I have any issues using the phone here (for both calls and internet access?) or will it be fine? I know very little about technology so please keep it basic.

Cheers and thanks for any help.

[chrisbinbkk99]

Yes they do

Sent from my GT-I9500 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Aachen]

But the service in Thailand is generally good...

[weary]

You may want to make sure that you do not buy a phone that is locked to an Australian operator. If you do, you generally get the phone for considerably less money, in some countries (unsure about Oz) network operators will sell you smartphones at a loss in order to secure as many customers as possible, generally trying to cover that loss with the monthly fee/plan.

If you buy an unlocked phone in Australia, all you need to do in Thailand is to pop in a Thai SIM card and it will work. If the phone is locked to an Australian operator, you will need to pay to have the phone unlocked in Thailand (which voids your warranty).

The other option is to keep your Australian SIM card in the phone while in Thailand. This will also WORK, but often means increased, sometimes substantially increased, costs.

One example of this:

You are using your Aussie SIM in Thailand. Somebody calls you from Australia. Charges:

- The caller first pays for the call within Australia. Then, on top, you will be charged for an international mobile phone call from Australia to Thailand, too.

- If a friend of yours in Thailand calls your Australian number while you are in Thailand:

- The caller pays for an international mobile phone call Thailand-Australia, and you pay for an international mobile phone call Australia-Thailand.

This happens because only your phone "knows" that it is not in Australia. Your Aussie friend's or Thai friend's phones do not know this, they assume that as you have an Australian number, you are still located in Australia. So I would advise against using your phone like that unless your phone bill is paid by a company that has OK'd this type of usage beforehand.

[jocko]

Unlocked phone with thai sim is the way to go if you can , get phone that you can put both sims in that saves a bit of agrro.

Good Luck

[charlieboz]

Cheers everyone thanks very much

[Stinkdog]

If you buy a smartphone here in Thailand like Galaxy Note 2 for example there will be no bloatware included in the software.

Telstra and Optus are horrible for having there own Apps etc which cant be removed easily.

Or as other posters have recommended try to buy one unlocked.

I travel back and forth from here to Oz and have had phones from both countries.

Never had any problems

[Estrada]

I have two mobile phones. One is a Samsung Galaxy II smart phone which I use with a True H 3G SIM card. The other is my old Acer Smart Phone which I use with a True Move "Inter SIM". With this SIM card I can make overseas calls to many Countries including Australia at only B1/minute. Costs me only B30 for 30 minutes of flapping the gums with my Aussie mate and my mother in the UK. Beats the B6+/minute using the normal telephone system.

I visit the Gold Coast every year for a month and purchase an Optus SIM with internet access and that is a good deal. My Aussie Mate that I stay with also has a deal for his home phone whereby he can make very cheap overseas calls to Thailand so I telephone my Wife on arrival and give here my Optus mobile number so that she can telephone me using the True Move Inter-SIM.

It is always dangerous financially to take use internationally roaming, I made that mistake in the UK and racked up B9500 in a few days. You can pick up a pay as you go SIM when you arrive in Thailand at the Airport arrivals or in the first shopping centre you visit. You can top the money up by buying time from 7-11 stores or the various operators shops. For True you buy scratch cards for B50 upwards and then enter the pin numbers.

[Rorri]

You may want to make sure that you do not buy a phone that is locked to an Australian operator. If you do, you generally get the phone for considerably less money, in some countries (unsure about Oz) network operators will sell you smartphones at a loss in order to secure as many customers as possible, generally trying to cover that loss with the monthly fee/plan.

If you buy an unlocked phone in Australia, all you need to do in Thailand is to pop in a Thai SIM card and it will work. If the phone is locked to an Australian operator, you will need to pay to have the phone unlocked in Thailand (which voids your warranty).

The other option is to keep your Australian SIM card in the phone while in Thailand. This will also WORK, but often means increased, sometimes substantially increased, costs.

One example of this:

You are using your Aussie SIM in Thailand. Somebody calls you from Australia. Charges:

- The caller first pays for the call within Australia. Then, on top, you will be charged for an international mobile phone call from Australia to Thailand, too.

- If a friend of yours in Thailand calls your Australian number while you are in Thailand:

- The caller pays for an international mobile phone call Thailand-Australia, and you pay for an international mobile phone call Australia-Thailand.

This happens because only your phone "knows" that it is not in Australia. Your Aussie friend's or Thai friend's phones do not know this, they assume that as you have an Australian number, you are still located in Australia. So I would advise against using your phone like that unless your phone bill is paid by a company that has OK'd this type of usage beforehand.

I know, from personal experience, both Telstra and Optus, will unlock mobiles free of charge.

[billinparadise]

Check out kogan.com for really cheap phones and sim card ,,my Galaxy 3 from them has no problems operating in au and thailand

[ripstanley]

We live in Thailand. We bought a new IPhone 5 in Sydney. It was an unlocked phone. The wife's Thai sim card did not fit but the retailer cut the card to fit the new phone. Had no problems when we returned to Thailand. She has good internet access.

[jackflash]

Different frequency bands are used for mobile phones around the world, but Oz and LOS are very similar.

Certainly 2G (GSM) will work, and probably 3G.

Lists of frequencies used in different countries are here:

http://www.gsmarena.com/network-bands.php3?sCountry=THAILAND

The new Oz 4G phones have a different band to the USA ones.

Big stink recently when 4G Apples wouldn't work on Oz.

[jackflash]

Comparison of LOS and Oz phone bands

THAILAND
--------
2G GSM 900, GSM 1800, GSM 1900

3G UMTS 850, UMTS 900, UMTS 2100

4G LTE 1800, LTE 2300


AUSTRALIA
---------
2G GSM 900, GSM 1800

3G UMTS 850, UMTS 900, UMTS 2100

4G LTE 1800

Edited July 10, 2013 by jackflash

[SeaVisionBurma]

Juvenile troll post removed, along with replies quoting it

[masuk]

I have two mobile phones. One is a Samsung Galaxy II smart phone which I use with a True H 3G SIM card. The other is my old Acer Smart Phone which I use with a True Move "Inter SIM". With this SIM card I can make overseas calls to many Countries including Australia at only B1/minute. Costs me only B30 for 30 minutes of flapping the gums with my Aussie mate and my mother in the UK. Beats the B6+/minute using the normal telephone system.

I visit the Gold Coast every year for a month and purchase an Optus SIM with internet access and that is a good deal. My Aussie Mate that I stay with also has a deal for his home phone whereby he can make very cheap overseas calls to Thailand so I telephone my Wife on arrival and give here my Optus mobile number so that she can telephone me using the True Move Inter-SIM.

It is always dangerous financially to take use internationally roaming, I made that mistake in the UK and racked up B9500 in a few days. You can pick up a pay as you go SIM when you arrive in Thailand at the Airport arrivals or in the first shopping centre you visit. You can top the money up by buying time from 7-11 stores or the various operators shops. For True you buy scratch cards for B50 upwards and then enter the pin numbers.

When I'm back on the Gold Coast in a couple of months, I'll be going into ALDI's and joining their phone service. It's heaps cheaper, and even a call to Singapore from Oz is just a few cents a minute. Also long renewal periods. I believe it's 12 months even if you've only got a few cents left. Once I've joined, I can keep the number and top up each visit, or maybe on the internet.

Much better than being snagged with Telstra or others and massive 'early leaving' fines.

I bought an 'oldies' phone, which doesn't even take photos. Just talk or message and has a small torch built in.

Here in Thailand, the Thai SIM card slots in no problems with size, and I can refill this using internet banking.

[avander]

Check out kogan.com for really cheap phones and sim card ,,my Galaxy 3 from them has no problems operating in au and thailand

I would highly recommend NOT BUYING anything from Kogan. They are well known for selling cheap but equally well known for not having stock of popular discounted products for weeks and weeks on end. Horrible marketing practices.

[BahBahBoBo]

Well, according to some posters in this forum, the Thai's are 'just crawled out of the mudpits and can't hold an intelligent thought" so based on that I would think a 'foreign' 'smart' phone would have great difficulty communicating with the thick, backwards, unintelligent just out of the mudpits Thai phones.

Or!! You could ignore those biased prejudicial opinions and just give it a go! Go on mate! Just give 'er a shot!

[bangkokheat]

you can bring a smart phone providing it doesnt make the thai phones look stupid

[bra]

I have 2 Blackberries, one using Telstra for phone and data in Australia, and a Thai Blackberry using AIS for phone and data in Thailand. When leaving Australia I turn off data services, as these can be very expensive if roaming overseas. I still keep my Australian mobile on most of the time in Thailand to receive business calls - a bit expensive but my clients in Australia don't have to be informed that I am travelling, and they can just make a local call and get me. This phone roams well in Thailand with several service providers, and I get good 3G on DTAC even in remote villages in Isaan.

You can get a Thai SIM and use in your unlocked AUS phone as others have suggested.

I have Malaysian and Indonesian phones that I use in the same way in those countries. Clients and friends far prefer to call you on a local number in their respective countries.

[Shakkas]

Yup you aure can, buying the phone in Aus is no different than buying it in Thailand, If you buy in Thailand it will be unlocked and you wont have to hassles of getting it unlocked. If you buy in Thailand just buy from the company shop ie. Samsung shop, Iphone shop in any major Plaza, I have a Samsung Note 2 with Thai sim, Internet package approx 500thb per month, and Iphone 4s with telstra sim roaming for incoming work calls etc. Just make sure if you have you Aus Sim card on here in Thailand and especially if it is post paid from Aus to TURN OFF data roaming as you will get hit with a huge suprise. Telstra reciving texts are free when roaming, incoming and out going calls and texts are not.

In your case I would buy the phone in either Aus or Thailand as the price is pretty much the same, probably abit cheaper in Thailand, but I would use a PREPAID SIM for the Aus number, you can recharge both sims online both aus and thai, If you have a Thai bank account you can recharge through that or your bank can issue you with a 3 digit number you can enter to recharge also, which I find the easiest. 7/11 also you can recharge thai sim.

[ozyjon]

I am in the same situation as you are (work wise) and i remember once when i was greener (un experienced) i brought my phone from Sydney with $100 Optus credit on it just for safety sake, my friends tried to ring me and i tried to ring them with so many problems and when i finally got through i found that my optus card had no credit, when i returned to Sydney i asked the salesperson what had happened, and was told that my credit expired because i didn't use it in the allocated time, so i bought a Smartphone in Bangkok that i use in Thailand and i use my Sydney phone also, i should get a phone that uses 2 sim cards but i find having 2 phones gives me more security and privacy from unwanted prying Thai eyes, can turn one on or off as i need, i have phones i bought in Sydney and Thailand and they work all over the world that i travel in (not Japan, Korea) so buy your phone in Pantip or somewhere else it's cheaper but look for the Chinese knock off, and check the battery ( made in PRC) don't take it if it's Chinese.

[saroq]

Yes they do

Sent from my GT-I9500 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Just make sure that it's unlocked.