SIM Card Experience

[chrisinth]

I would just like to pass on my experience yesterday trying to purchase SIM cards. I'm still baffled by this.

The background to this is that I purchased two pocket Wi-Fi devices for the company, we are moving to a new site where the workshop is being built and we haven't got the network infrastructure setup yet, but need internet connection for brief periods. In my wisdom, I decided to get 2 x 3G internet pre-paid SIM's from DTAC so there would be no reason to start a contract with them. Simple eh?

Anyway, armed with one of the devices and a girl from the office, lets call her Bee for the sake of the story, we went to the official DTAC shop located in Central, Phitsanulok. Greeted nicely at the door and directed to one of the girls behind the counter to make the purchase. Bee had left her purse in the car with her ID card in it; no problem, I had brought my passport as a form of ID along with my business card. All good to this point.

The DTAC girl then informed us that she could not sell SIM cards to a farang, that she could only sell them to a Thai with their ID card as proof. I thought I had misheard but this was verified by Bee. The DTAC girl then suggested that we leave the shop and purchase the SIM's 'outside' and return for any promotions or top-ups we needed.

At this stage I was very confused, but left DTAC and walked literally 15 meters to the first 'mobile' stall we came to and purchased 2 x 3G internet SIM's within 5 minutes. Needless to say, I didn't go back to the DTAC shop.......... I put credit on them online back at the office, both working perfectly.

Now my question to the above is why? I understand that obviously DTAC must have policies that need to be followed, but without trying to establish any logic here, how come I can buy as many SIM's as I want 'outside' without registering them and still be able to bring them back to the official store to service them?

Just for clarity, I have been using DTAC since 1999 (15 years), still have my original number and currently use 5 SIM cards on different devices (DUOS phone, aircard, tablet, spare phone) and never had a problem with them. Only one number is registered as it is on a monthly contract, so am I illegal with the rest of them?

[Rooo]

Absolutly wrong information you were given. Can purchase as a foreigner, must register with ID say passport etc..... Just did it on Samui.

[chrisinth]

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Absolutly wrong information you were given. Can purchase as a foreigner, must register with ID say passport etc..... Just did it on Samui.

Would absolutely agree with you Rooo, that was my understanding hence bringing my passport with me. However the girl was adamant about it. Definitely sending out the wrong message.

[AlexRRR]

I got my DTAC sim from a booth, when i got an iphone 5 DTAC changed it over to a nano sim no issues no id from either.

[claffey]

I got my DTAC sim from a booth, when i got an iphone 5 DTAC changed it over to a nano sim no issues no id from either.

Anyone can buy a DTAC SIM card from a 7 eleven...No ID required by anyone...

[JDGRUEN]

I cannot imagine what the policy would be based on to deny you buying a SIM Card... This year I bout an AIS Pocket WiFi device and SIM card ... I bought it from a authorized AIS Dealer ... they didn't even write down my name... not to mention asking for ID... Maybe the owner of the shop you went to does not like Foreigners.

[h90]

strange what you are doing......

If I need sim cards, I tell the lady in the office (your Bee), she calls the motorbike taxi, who buys it, pays it from his money, and brings it and get the money + something like 30 Baht.

If it needs longer than 15 min till I have it in my hands I already ask if there is a problem.

No need to waste your own time, specially as the things get more complicated when they see a Farang face....

[Chicog]

No need to waste your own time, specially as the things get more complicated when they see a Farang face....

I don't know where you get that from.

In the AIS shops when you are getting your queue ticket, you select that you are a foreigner to guarantee that you get an English speaker when your number is called.

I've never had anything but excellent service from them, including the techies.

Edited September 9, 2014 by Chicog

[thedemon]

A visiting friend of mine lost his AIS prepaid SIM that he had for years but had never registered to his name. When I called the AIS call centre the agent (that spoke perfect English as they usually do) told me that a anyone with a Thai ID card could have the SIM replaced at any AIS service centre but that a foreigner with only a passport would need a police report as well.

Perhaps there is some kind of government regulation that gets interpreted strangely.

[2fishin2]

Ive bought and lost countless sim cards over the years. Never had any difficulties ever. Just pony up the cash and away you go. Theres more to the story.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[Chicog]

A visiting friend of mine lost his AIS prepaid SIM that he had for years but had never registered to his name. When I called the AIS call centre the agent (that spoke perfect English as they usually do) told me that a anyone with a Thai ID card could have the SIM replaced at any AIS service centre but that a foreigner with only a passport would need a police report as well.

Perhaps there is some kind of government regulation that gets interpreted strangely.

If he wanted a SIM with the same number and his available credit, probably understandable.

But that doesn't apply if you just want a new number, you can buy them from 7/11 as (everyone) said, without ID.

I do remember when they made it mandatory to register SIM cards with an ID, that was Thaksin's idea to stop the muslim terrorists down south using mobiles to blow stuff up.

But I can't remember if that was a law that was passed, and if so whether or not it's still on the books causing problems.

[thedemon]

A visiting friend of mine lost his AIS prepaid SIM that he had for years but had never registered to his name. When I called the AIS call centre the agent (that spoke perfect English as they usually do) told me that a anyone with a Thai ID card could have the SIM replaced at any AIS service centre but that a foreigner with only a passport would need a police report as well.

Perhaps there is some kind of government regulation that gets interpreted strangely.

If he wanted a SIM with the same number and his available credit, probably understandable.

But that doesn't apply if you just want a new number, you can buy them from 7/11 as (everyone) said, without ID.

I do remember when they made it mandatory to register SIM cards with an ID, that was Thaksin's idea to stop the muslim terrorists down south using mobiles to blow stuff up.

But I can't remember if that was a law that was passed, and if so whether or not it's still on the books causing problems.

Yes that's correct. He had been using that number when visiting for years so wanted to keep the same number. We couldn't be bothered going to make a police report so had the SIM registered to my name because I have a Thai (non-Thai) ID card. I was quite surprised that once the AIS employee entered my ID number into their system they were able to verify my details, home address etc. So they obviously have some level of access to the provincial government computer network.

Perhaps that's why the extra security measures with foreigners.

Yes I recall the sudden requirement to have ID for a new SIM a few years ago because of the bomb detonation thing. However 7-11 etc would accept just about anything as ID so the plan was doomed from the start. After a half-hearted start they gave up. But it does seem like the kind of thing that this military government could decide to enforce again.

[vincent13]

Have received replacement sims on 2 occasions by showing my passport. I simply tell them I lost the phone.

Why would they ask for or require a police report? .

[thedemon]

Have received replacement sims on 2 occasions by showing my passport. I simply tell them I lost the phone.

Why would they ask for or require a police report? .

I don't know but that's what they told me. It was about 6 weeks ago.

[Chicog]

Have received replacement sims on 2 occasions by showing my passport. I simply tell them I lost the phone.

Why would they ask for or require a police report? .

I suspect it's just company policy.

A little bit of CYA.

[jimmybkk]

I recently lost a post-paid Dtac SIM card registered in a company name and when I sent my staff to go get a replacement they were also told they needed to get a police report.

I bought a pre-paid AIS One-To-Call SIM card from a 7/11 a few months back and when I put it in my phone I had to fill in a load of registration information and was surprised to see a message informing me that I could not use the new SIM for 24 hours while my registration information was validated.

I bought a pre-paid Dtac SIM from a 7/11 a few days ago and was able to make calls and access the Internet immediately.

Makes me wonder if perhaps some people never got the memo...