Just a Phone

[billy2bs]

I will be arriving soon and will need to buy a simple phone while I am in Bkk.I will only call in Thailand and back home to USA and once to China. So very basic is all I need.Staying in the Silom area, is there a second hand reliable place or New phone place that will suit my need?
Thanks....Bill :notworthy:

[newalaan]

will be arriving soon and will need to buy a simple phone while I am in BkkYes i have the same for my Thailand visits. I bought a Samsung slim phone new for about Bt800. If i lose it, it's not a disaster, also it is unlikely to be stolen as it is not worth a professional theifs time as it is worthless and that's really the main reason i just use a cheap phone in Thailand. There used to be a few mobile phone stalls/shops in soi Jipoon nearest soi (stretching from Suriwong rd>silom rd) to Rama 4. but on my last visit couldn't see any dealing in phones. I bought my top up card from a small mobile shop concession that many of the boys use next to Family Mart right beside the Soi Twilight entrance on Suriwong Rd, cheap new and used phones there for sure.

[billy2bs]

Newalaan, thanks for that info. Sounds just like what I am looking for.
Bill :wav:

[gaymandenmark]

I would go to MBK. Easy from Silom area, just take the Skytrain. There are so many phoneshops, with all types of new and secondhand phones, that I am wondering how they can all survive.

[pong]

NEW simple handfones can be had from 600 THb nowadays-some even have a radio in them.. Do not muddle with 2nd hd-only the expensive types get 2nd hand value-but you wont need those xyberries as you said.
Foneshops are as many as 7-11s, but yes, for the very widest choice MBK- a whole floor with just fones and all that.

Yeah, I have also fancied getting a very cheap phone for just Bt1000 and something that you bring in and out even at those places you are not too comfortable with.

I like your idea of not being worthwhile for a professional thief but maybe those who are trying their luck with this would already fancy it. It still pays to be very vigilant and mindful of your stuff when outside.

For going round bars etc I have an ancient Nokia 3210 from about 10-15yrs ago which no Bar Boy would be seen dead with.

Far from being tempted to steal it, I have inadvertantly left it lying in bars only to have staff chasing after me, desperate to give it back!

:party

[Neal]

Ha Ha! Mine is a Motorola flip phone and the same goes for mine! hey don't want it!

[jinks]

Through e-bay I have just replaced my "holiday phone".

It's a Nokia X1... twin sim = calls and text only my GB and Thai cards.

No bells or whistles just a simple mobile that cuts out the need to carry two phones.

[newalaan]

I like your idea of not being worthwhile for a professional thief but maybe those who are trying their luck with this would already fancy it. It still pays to be very vigilant and mindful of your stuff when outside.Totally agree about being mindful, because the main reason for having an old phone nobody in Thailand would really want, is because of the value of the SIM card inside, i really couldn't be that bothered about the phone itself, its the hassle of losing a heap of contact info on the SIM card, so yes while not worrying about the cost of the phone replacement i am very vigilant regarding even this cheap phone because of the SIM card, the unattractiveness of the phone just raises the chances of it not being stolen for it's value. My last phone i had owned since my first visit 12 years ago and only gave up the ghost Songkran 2 years ago, even with taking alot of precautions! So for 10 years my cheap Nokia worked perfectly, it was more reliable than many of the 'hiso/for show' phones alot of the boys I knew owned.

[Neal]

Newalaan my sweet, the thing that would set me in a tizzy the most would be me losing your phone number. I would be lost! (joking. I love ya) :love7: :sumo:

[pennyboy]

My mobile is an old Nokia about 6 years old. Recently I have been seeing a boy regularly and he said he did not have a phone but asked me to buy a phone for him to make it easier to contact each other. I told him I was thinking of buying a new phone and he could have my old one. He looked at the phone, looked at me and screamed "cannot" .

My mobile is an old Nokia about 6 years old. Recently I have been seeing a boy regularly and he said he did not have a phone but asked me to buy a phone for him to make it easier to contact each other. I told him I was thinking of buying a new phone and he could have my old one. He looked at the phone, looked at me and screamed "cannot" .

Dear Pennyboy,

I can tell you from experience (and you ought to know anyway) that only a top of the range iphone 4 will do - oh and better buy 2 of them because 1 will certainly be "lost" or "stolen" with a few weeks.

Similarly I have found out that an ordinary laptop is no good whatsoever - only a macbook air will do, and whilst that's great for school (more on that subject to come), it's too big to carry around so an Ipad WiFi 3G 64GB (with all accessories of course) is required for daily use.

I can also tell you that boys can not cook anything whatsoever, so their living allowance must be sufficient for them to eat out every night and of course they can only dine out wearing trendy clothes (hint, hint).

Finally, school - it is just not acceptable to expect them to attend a Thai school, Singapore is the preferred option - with resultant impact on all previously mentioned expenses.

I hope this helps!

Yours sincerely

I. M. Penniless

[topjohn5]

Why buy a used phone when you can walk into any Tesco or Big C and buy a new phone for under 500 baht or a dual sim new phone for 6-700 baht. Admittedly that is a Thai made i-mobile. If you need a Nokia than they are still under 1000 baht or the X-1 mentioned for 1200 baht which is dual sim.
Just a thought...anyway, I bought the X-1 dual sim Nokia recently and it works great!

[christianpfc]

For going round bars etc I have an ancient Nokia 3210 from about 10-15yrs ago which no Bar Boy would be seen dead with.

I did the opposite. In Europe I used an old (from 2001) Nokia 6210, which was sufficient. But in Thailand I realized that I have to scroll to read SMS and that I can see only three entries when I scroll through the names, because the resolution of the screen is insufficient. So I got a newer phone (from about 2005) as a gift from a friend, which I use now (I can read an entire SMS without scrolling).

[Beachlover]

New phones are so cheap these days that if it's any trouble finding a second-hand dealer, I would just buy one new.

I think these days, it's worth having data on your phone so you have internet access, maps etc. Don't know how I ever made my way around foreign cities without it.

Newalaan... if you use a smartphone you can just backup your contacts to your Google or Apple account and never be worried about losing that or any other data.

Having said that... I've carried late model phones into the busiest and most packed nightclubs and bars around Asia and never lost one or been worried about losing one.