Mobile Service In Thailand <for Expats>

[jdinasia]

I was curious as to what other people did for hand-phone service in Thailand.

I am postpay

with AIS

about 1200/mo <plan for 750 plus 200 for GPRS 50 hours plus taxes and a little extra usage>

<<put this in general ... guess it could be in internet etc too ...move if needed!>>

[Tywais]

Pre-paid, DTAC and less then 500, never liked talking on the phone. However if my wife gets ahold of the phone then it jumps a couple of brackets 1000-1500 B.

Edited August 27, 2006 by tywais

[jdinasia]

9 people voted so far ....

seems most use pre-paid and spend less than 1000/mo.. though early on there was one that surprised me early on! That was the person that spent 1500-1999 and was pre-paid

would be cool to find out why!

Also from personal observtion it seems like most expats are not too fond of Thaksin ... why do we use AIS more than the other companies?

[bazmlb]

9 people voted so far ....

seems most use pre-paid and spend less than 1000/mo.. though early on there was one that surprised me early on! That was the person that spent 1500-1999 and was pre-paid

would be cool to find out why!

Also from personal observtion it seems like most expats are not too fond of Thaksin ... why do we use AIS more than the other companies?

I use 12call coz it was always easy to get anywhere, instructions clear and it always use to work when i started coming here a while ago, i dont ring out much so i dont notice the congestion. Tgf is with Ais billed and always complains betterly, i just smile knowing not being able to call helps keeps the bill down, there is a positive side to it!

[Gary A]

I don't care who owns the company. I use what works best. AIS has the best coverage where we live. My wife uses D-Tac and she has dead spots in places when I have a good signal.

I was using GPRS a lot when I had the VERY poor Loxinfo Ipstar Internet. My AIS is also better than D-Tac although neither are that great. 25 hours of GPRS for 100 baht with AIS is pretty cheap. True (Orange) nor Hutch has coverage up here.

Edited August 27, 2006 by Gary A

[jdinasia]

I picked AIS for the GPRS too!

[billd766]

I am on AIS as it is better where I live than DTAC and there is nothing else.

My monthly post paid bill is around 2,000 baht but that does include about 500 a month for GPRS and around the same or more for CAT international billing.

[simon43]

I use DTAC Happy (Prepay) in Phuket and am very happy with it. In BKK I used AIS Prepay and found that it was quite expensive. But DTAC seems to have a system whereby you are given credit for incoming calls. So I regularly get a service sms from them saying that my incoming call bonus has been topped up.

The end result is that I pay about 300 baht a month on prepay cards, compared to maybe 2000 baht per month with AIS

So, DTAC does it for me!

Simon

[jdinasia]

I am on AIS as it is better where I live than DTAC and there is nothing else.

My monthly post paid bill is around 2,000 baht but that does include about 500 a month for GPRS and around the same or more for CAT international billing.

how many hours of GPRS do you use a month?

I am on one of the GPRS pckages. 200 baht for 50 hours (3000 minutes for 200 baht aint all shabby!)... when GPRS was the only internet connection I had I used the 400 hours for 900 baht plan

Edited August 27, 2006 by jdinasia

[Queers for Fears]

dtac dtac dtac. love em

[sabaijai]

I have DTAC and it offers GPRS as well. I rarely use GPRS though, too slow and expensive.

[meadish_sweetball]

I have AIS postpaid. I dont call a lot so my monthly bills are 400 - 1000 baht. Used to have GPRS but I cancelled the package since my GPRS capable phone packed it in on Songkran this year.

[petecooper]

seems most use pre-paid and spend less than 1000/mo.. though early on there was one that surprised me early on! That was the person that spent 1500-1999 and was pre-paid

would be cool to find out why!

My guess would be because that person doesn't have a work permit? I also spend a lot and would like to be on post-paid but can't for that reason...

On that note, does anyone know if "you-can't-get-postpaid-without-work-permit" is really true? Someone in a DTAC office told me once, but now I wonder if that rule is flexible in the way that things can be here sometimes.

Anyone got a post-paid phone (from any carrier) without a work permit?

[Khun Bob]

seems most use pre-paid and spend less than 1000/mo.. though early on there was one that surprised me early on! That was the person that spent 1500-1999 and was pre-paid

would be cool to find out why!

My guess would be because that person doesn't have a work permit? I also spend a lot and would like to be on post-paid but can't for that reason...

On that note, does anyone know if "you-can't-get-postpaid-without-work-permit" is really true? Someone in a DTAC office told me once, but now I wonder if that rule is flexible in the way that things can be here sometimes.

Anyone got a post-paid phone (from any carrier) without a work permit?

Answers yes - had a post paid without a work permit for over a year now - like many things here look the part (dress very well), be polite and have official looking letters offerring a postion. Also, if turned down be prepared to go else where. Most of the staff in the customer service centres will like you (male or female (if you get the drift) - and dont go with your wife or girlfriend) as they speak good english and this could jeopadise your chances. Omce you have this yu can keep it going when out fo the country by paying with credit card and your credit is rolled over as well.

The answer is DTAC - well thats what did it for me, plus i get nice letters every month from them that helps when applying for other things too...

[jdinasia]

I've never had a work permit ....

Was not an issue at all ... brought my passport and a copy of my lease and that was all!

I do have to agree ... getting bills from Thai companies delivered to your house DOES make life easier in oh so many little ways!

Edited August 28, 2006 by jdinasia

[petecooper]

Thanks for the info, I'll give it another try!

[billd766]

I am on AIS as it is better where I live than DTAC and there is nothing else.

My monthly post paid bill is around 2,000 baht but that does include about 500 a month for GPRS and around the same or more for CAT international billing.

how many hours of GPRS do you use a month?

I am on one of the GPRS pckages. 200 baht for 50 hours (3000 minutes for 200 baht aint all shabby!)... when GPRS was the only internet connection I had I used the 400 hours for 900 baht plan

Hi JD

I suppose I use around 90 to 100 hours a month as I use GPRS for Emails as well. I generally log on twice a day and I have found that the morning session (about 7 am) is much quicker than the evening (after 8pm).

I have just received this letter from AIS as I keep bitching about my connection.

Dear Mr.Bill

Valued Customer

Subject : Thank you for your feedback

Thank you Mr.Bill very much for your e-mail.

With regard to your e-mail, we would like to inform you that we are really sorry for answering your e-mail late. For the problem about GPRS connection, we would like to inform you that we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience that you have experienced about the problem. Presently, our network was back to the same quality prior to this incident and you can use your mobile phone as usual. Also, we are developing and expanding our network quality to support all of our customers' usage. Please be assured that we will do everything we can ensure your convenient usage consistenly. We are truly grateful to be your assistance and solve any problem that you might have on your mobile phone usage. Otherwise, we would like to recommend you to turn off your mobile phone for a while then turn on and try to connect GPRS again later. Besides, a list of location where no GPRS is enclosed. If you still experience any problem about setting, please contact us with the error and we will solve the problem for you.

We would like to thank you for the best relationship and the trust in our service. AIS will continue to provide the best service to our value customers and we hope that you will gain satisfaction from using our service. If there should be any concerns or suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact AIS Call Center 1148 or 02-271-9000 or click at http://www.gsmadvance.ais.co.th/contact/contact_en.asp or email us at [email protected] for 24 hours a day or you can go to http://www.gsmadvance.ais.co.th and select at "Online Call Center" (9.00 a.m. – 12.00 p.m. and 18.30 p.m. - 20.30 p.m.).

No GPRS in these southern bases

(Satellite Base Station)

P P Island

Yao Yai Island

Khao Sok

No GPRS in these northern bases

(Satellite Base Station)

Khun Wang Project

Pang Ung