Hope someone can help and please excuse my ignorance :) I have read many posts on this subject but I still don't understand. Well I have a prepaid AIS 12 call Sim card valid  until mid November 2017. I am now in Thailand but will be away in Europe  for 8 months and return to Thailand beginning of November. My questions are: will my Thai Sim card and mobile number still be valid when I return  to Thailand  (it has been registered properly)? ... I heard it becomes invalid after 3 months not using it... and

Will I be able to RECEIVE SMS in Europe on the Thai Sim   (I am interested in  receiving SMS from friends)?

Dear friends I appreciate so much your precious replies.

I have DTac and I get free SMS when roaming and it is valid until the expiry date that has been up to a year. I have been away for up to 6 months without a problem. AIS should be the same. Hopefully someone will come along and confirm.

Thanks so much Rhodie. Hope so much for more posts coming in.

It has been reported here that both DTAC and TRUE have a program where you can top up your pre-paid balance and obtain a longer expiration date based upon the number of months you top up

 

DTAC has a program where you can both increase the life of your phone either by topping up or by just paying (or deducting from your balance) 12 Baht for 6 months of longevity or 24 Baht for 12 months 

 

I "think" True only has the top up per month increase option

 

Unfortunately I can't remember anyone reporting if AIS has a similar program

 

So long as you have International Roaming switched  on you can receive text messages from Thailand for free for both the sender and the receiver 

Thanks  Langsuan Man. Just to be sure I will pay a visit to the nearby AIS shop too.

Your post raises quite a few dependent issues: validity/expiration, usage requirements, international roaming, SMS delivery.

 

While SMS is required for some primary and secondary authorization services, most people in Thailand (your friends) probably use other internet-based messaging services like LINE.

 

SMS is not a guaranteed service, but assuming your SIM/account was in working order, and international roaming enabled, you had a local signal, then you should be able to send and receive SMSes. I haven't stayed up to speed on billing, but believe both parties will be billed for originating SMSes per the terms of their current plan. That might mean 1 or 2 baht per SMS for someone in Thailand sending you a message, while you will pay the international rate, which might be 5 - 10 baht/SMS.

 

The easiest and simplest method to extend expiry out to the maximum of 365/366 days is to do multiple, sequential, separate top-ups at a top-up machine. You can do twelve individual 10-baht top-ups, each yielding 30 days, for 12 baht each (2 baht fee); so you get 360 days, 120 baht credit for 144 baht. Some SIMs do have a 90-day usage requirement, which may or may not be enforced. We are running out of numbers again, so you will see more recycling done, I think?

54 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

You can do twelve individual 10-baht top-ups, each yielding 30 days, for 12 baht each (2 baht fee); so you get 360 days, 120 baht credit for 144 baht.

Or you can pay DTAC 12 or 24 THB for 6 or 12 months of validity 

 

Has nothing to do with your SIM,  it all has to do with your carrier (DTAC, AIS, TRUE) and / or your plan (pre-paid or post-paid )

Thank you mtls2005 for the information. I went to the nearby AIS shop but the lad there hardly spoke any English. So I will try and see what happpens when I'm back home after having topped up with AIS and long enough date. Yes I have LINE too but as it is connected to the Thai number wondering, if it will work.

LINE will work fine with any SIM, on any network; a mobile number is really only used for activation/registration, and finding LINE-enabled friends via their number in your contacts list.

 

You can register a LINE account on line, and even use it on a PC.

 

Or you could use pretty much any internet-based messaging application, of which there are quite a few" FB/Messenger, WhatsApp!, etc.

 

Now assuming you've maxed your expiry, and want to maintain a potential 90-usage requirement, simply dash off an SMS once every 90 days.

 

You will have to register for international roaming: *125 (IVR); *125*1# (USSD)

 

Maybe register for eService so you can manage your account via the internet. And download the AIS eService mobile app.

 

And remember to turn mobile data off, either with AIS (*129*2#) or in your phone, to avoid excess data fees.

On 02/12/2017 at 9:28 AM, mtls2005 said:

LINE will work fine with any SIM, on any network; a mobile number is really only used for activation/registration, and finding LINE-enabled friends via their number in your contacts list.

 

You can register a LINE account on line, and even use it on a PC.

 

Or you could use pretty much any internet-based messaging application, of which there are quite a few" FB/Messenger, WhatsApp!, etc.

 

Now assuming you've maxed your expiry, and want to maintain a potential 90-usage requirement, simply dash off an SMS once every 90 days.

 

You will have to register for international roaming: *125 (IVR); *125*1# (USSD)

 

Maybe register for eService so you can manage your account via the internet. And download the AIS eService mobile app.

 

And remember to turn mobile data off, either with AIS (*129*2#) or in your phone, to avoid excess data fees.

Thanks so much for all this helpful advice! I have now also downloaded the AIS EService mobile app. Looking great!! You would not by any chance happen to know the appx. roaming costs for me when I receive an sms once I'm back home in Europe?! Thanks so much again and have a good day!!