Basic mobile phone

[Pdavies99]

I want to buy a real basic mobile, just for calls.

what should I expect to pay and are 3g mobile phones being phased out of service?

Thanks

[dddave]

Just go to any office of DTAC, AIS or TRUE or a TELEWIZ shop. They all sell basic 3G compatible "Feature" phones for as little as 300 Baht including SIM card.

If you will be staying in a rural area, best to find out in advance which service is best there from local residents before buying as not all the service providers have 100% coverage in all places.

Edited May 20, 2016 by dddave

[MJCM]

It's not 3G that is phased out at the moment it's 2G.

BIL just bought a cheap Samsung and I think he paid around 690 THB for it. Very basic model

Edited May 20, 2016 by MJCM

[CharlieH]

Better to ask in the MOBILE phone forum

MOVED

[dddave]

One of the advantages of buying from one of the service providers: True, AIS or DTAC is that they generally back up the phones and will repair or replace defective units. Most phone shops will brush you off...especially shops that sell cheap, feature phones.

A friend bought a cheap smartphone from AIS and when the display failed after 6 months, they replaced it, no argument.

[lostinisaan]

Doesn't AIS have the best coverage/ reception??? I prefer to buy phones at Telewiz. Best service and always some great deals.

Edited May 20, 2016 by lostinisaan

[MJCM]

Doesn't AIS have the best coverage/ reception??? I prefer to buy phones at Telewiz. Best service and always some great deals.

Nope not everywhere.

In our village and the surrounding ones, AIS is the worst with True having the best reception.

[jadee]

I would recommend either a basic Samsung for 600-700 baht from a supermarket like Tesco, or a basic phone from True. Most 7-11s stock basic True phones for 599baht. At least they are easy to get repairs and replacement items. I would not recommend a non-brand name phone, even if you want 'basic'. I bought a 'Sonoire' phone from Tesco for 350baht and it was terrible as you can imagine. The speaker was such low quality, it was unusable.

[Gary A]

Doesn't AIS have the best coverage/ reception??? I prefer to buy phones at Telewiz. Best service and always some great deals.

Nope not everywhere.

In our village and the surrounding ones, AIS is the worst with True having the best reception.

Once in a while, I like to go up a mountain to a village called Thai Kun Ming. True has no signal there. I solved that by using a dual SIM phone when I go up there. Dtac and AIS both have signals. At my home I have a full signal from True but the Internet quit working. Six calls to True and several trips to the local True shop were all a waste of time. Now I carry a single SIM phone with an AIS card and also use AIS at home for the Internet. My three True SIM cards are in the trash can. Good riddance.

[gt162]

Bring your old unlocked G3 phone from farangland.