Unlocking my phone?

[TravelinginTh]

I've found this forum community very helpful, therefore I've decided to post my concern here. I bought mobile i-style 7.7 in Thailand and used AIS network. Now I'm back in Europe and when I insert my countries sim card I get a message: Your phone is locked, for more information contact your network operator. My question is how do I unlock my phone?

[Langsuan Man]

Go on the AIS web site and ask them

 

If your purchase of the phone was subsidized by AIS you are out of luck since they won't give you an unlock code if the phone is still under contract

 

If you were still in Thailand any phone shop would be able to unlock it for you but I don't know what the law is in Europe.  At one time it was illegal to unlock any phone in the US but they finally changed the law to allow unlocking once the phone was out of contract and to allow the sale of unlocked phones 

[TravelinginTh]

I am still waiting for a reply from AIS. I haven't signed any contract with them , only bought a a new phone from a mobile shop in one of the malls.

[wpcoe]

13 hours ago, Langsuan Man said:

Go on the AIS web site and ask them

 

If your purchase of the phone was subsidized by AIS you are out of luck since they won't give you an unlock code if the phone is still under contract

 

If you were still in Thailand any phone shop would be able to unlock it for you but I don't know what the law is in Europe.  At one time it was illegal to unlock any phone in the US but they finally changed the law to allow unlocking once the phone was out of contract and to allow the sale of unlocked phones 

 

Uh oh.   I bought a subsidized iPhone SE last year from AIS and am planning a trip to the USA within the first 12 months of starting the AIS plan (in April.)  Does that mean I won't be able to use my RoamMobility SIM in the phone without first going to a cowboy phone unlocker before departing Thailand?

[Gulfsailor]

In Thailand it's not allowed for providers to sell network locked phones. 

The only thing I can imagine is that the OP's phone does not work with the band his new network operates on.

Unless the OP bought the phone from some back alley vendor. Then who knows what they did to the device. 

[mtls2005]

In Thailand it's not allowed for providers to sell network locked phones. 

 

Unfortunately this statement is incorrect. All providers now sell/promote/give away low-end, private-labelled economy handsets which are locked: AIS/Lava. DTAC/Joey, et al.

 

Higher-end phones are promoted with post-paid contracts, often requiring pre-payments like 3,000 baht, but not locked.

[dddave]

On 1/5/2017 at 9:22 AM, mtls2005 said:

Unfortunately this statement is incorrect. All providers now sell/promote/give away low-end, private-labelled economy handsets which are locked: AIS/Lava. DTAC/Joey, et al

Agree.  A friend bought a B700 True 4" smartphone and it would only work with a True SIM.  We tried both AIS and DTAC SIM's and could not get service.

[Argus Tuft]

I have bought several i-Mobile phones in Thailand, incuding the model mentioned by the OP

 

On purchase, have always been asked if I need it for AIS network, or for other (DTAC/True) networks in Thailand as the specific models were different bands

The phones I bought were for the AIS network in Thailand. but they have worked in every country I have travelled to - ie they were not locked.  This includes several countries in Europe - the mobiles always worked.

 

Perhaps it is a case of the mobile model being the wrong band for the country the OP travelled to?