Cheap mobiles in Pattaya

[joe552]

How much would I pay for a cheap mobile in Pattaya? Just for texting my friend. Thanks.

[cdnmatt]

When we picked up new iPhones, I also had Leo pick me up a cheap Nokia for clients. I think it was around 700 baht.

[joe552]

Thanks Matt, that's around €20, so perfect.

Another stupid question - will it be all in Thai, or can I change the language. Well, I say I, but I mean my friend.

[francois]

When we picked up new iPhones, I also had Leo pick me up a cheap Nokia for clients. I think it was around 700 baht.

Was that in Pattaya as Joe asked?

[cdnmatt]

Well, same shit. You're in Pattaya, right? Then instead of making dickhead remarks, head over to Tuckom, and confirm there's 7000 baht Nokia phones available, which I'm 99.5% sure there are.

The Nokia I got was from Tuckom too, so I'm sure it's the same in Pattaya.

[Moses]

Well, same shit. You're in Pattaya, right? Then instead of making dickhead remarks, head over to Tuckom, and confirm there's 7000 baht Nokia phones available, which I'm 99.5% sure there are.

The Nokia I got was from Tuckom too, so I'm sure it's the same in Pattaya.

700



Another stupid question - will it be all in Thai, or can I change the language. Well, I say I, but I mean my friend.
just ask seller, he will change to English

[joe552]

Thanks Moses

[cdnmatt]

Joe, will you have your laptop with you in Thailand? Or a tablet or phone of any kind? If so, just download Line.

https://line.me/en/

I can promise you, if your friend is Thai, he has Line. Every Thai person has Line. It's like Skype for SE Asians.

[goji]

As long as you are really sure you only want a push button phone in this day & age.

With all the boys on the dating apps, plus Line etc, I reckon having a smart phone & some data allowance is mandatory.

The other point, is there is some utter crap on sale in Tuk Com. Even some of the micro USB leads have failed before I got on the plane back home, their chargers are prone to failure & I would not be at all keen to buy anything even more expensive, such as a phone.
Since basic push button mobile phones can be bought for as little as £5 in Argos, I would be looking at the cheapest ones there & then trying to figure out if these can easily be unlocked.

[joe552]

I have a Nokia which is a few years old but good enough for me. I have no technical ability at all. So going to Tukcom and getting them to set it up for me seems the best option.

[scottish-guy]

... basic push button mobile phones can be bought for as little as £5 in Argos, I would be looking at the cheapest ones there & then trying to figure out if these can easily be unlocked.

Good advice Goji - but no need to "figure" out - simply type SIM FREE MOBILE into their search and you'll get them from £12.99.

Sim free is always a little more expensive - but considering you'd have to pay to have a "locked" phone "unlocked" not to mention the bother of actually doing that, Joe might consider sim free the better option.

In other words Joe, you'd just get a Thai Sim from 7-11 or similar, on arrival.

[joe552]

Ok I'll have a look at Argos. They're only 10 minutes from where I live. Thanks

I've had a look at Argos and they have a phone for €17, so that's great. I'll get it tomorrow and let you know.

Thanks again

[cdnmatt]

Well, since we're on the topic of phones, and Joe seems to have his problem resolved, anyone out there good with iPhone? I'm having two main problems...

I want to be able to answer a call just by telling Siri "answer" or "pick up". I know there's an app for it, but can't seem to find it anymore. Or is there maybe a setting I can change? I can answer Line calls, but for some reason am unable to answer phone calls, which sucks. I have my mother calling me, and I keep hanging up on her, while I think I'm accepting the call.

Other issue is I want to use Line via Siri. With Leo's old iPhone 5 I was able to tell Siri, "send Line message to Matt hey honey", and it went through fine. However, when I try it on my iPhone 6, Siri just says, "I wish I could, but Line hasn't set that up with me yet".

Obviously a permission / privacy problem, but does anyone know EXACTLY where in the settings to go to resolve this? Leo can't figure it out, and I'm blind rendering me useless. Google searches have came up with some results, mainly for WhatsApp, but nothing useful.

[francois]

Joe, does your Nokia use a Sim Card? If so, then no problem. Just buy a Sim Card here and you are in business. No need for a smart phone unless you are heavy into games, blah, blah, blah and want to become another smart phone zombie. AIS is easy way to go but there is Dtac and some other providers. Very easy to do but you need your passport to buy the Sim Card.

[joe552]

francois I thought all phones had a SIM. I had to take be back off to make sure, but yes, it has a SIM. So, just to be clear - when I get to Pattaya, all I have to do is buy a SIM from 7-11 and put it in the phone? Where do I get the phone number from? If it's that easy, then I'll do it. Worse case scenario is I go back to Matt's original advice and buy a cheap phone over there.

Matt, let's agree to share the thread. I have no idea what your post said, let alone having a solution.

[justaguy]

Take your passport with you, as registration when buying a sim is mandatory. You can also buy them at the airport.

When you buy the sim, the sim's telephone number is indicated.

[joe552]

Thanks justaguy. Next question - will the sim be in Thai and can I change that?

Appreciate all the advice.

[francois]

Joe, some phones in the world (at least in USA) don't use a Sim Card. But do as justaguy wrote.
No need to buy a phone. Probably easier to do at Tukcom or 7-11 rather than at the airport.

[justaguy]

That does not matter, as I presume the phone you are putting the sim in would be in English.

As to providers, Ais and dtac are the best. I personally use Ais, In fact I am using my current sim for over 13 years already. Not sure if ais is sold at the 7-11, as they have stopped offering topups over the counter. You can use those orange vending machines outside to topup.

Probably irrelevant for you, but AIS has an excellent G4 network with good dataspeeds and excellent coverage Nationwide. To my surprise their 4G network has coverage pretty much all over issaan.

[joe552]

Thanks again chaps.

Now you can start to answer Matt's questions.

[frequent]

Next question - will the sim be in Thai and can I change that?WTF? The phone will read your SIM in whatever language you set your phone to

[francois]

Joe think too much.

[joe552]

frequent, I didn't know that, so asked the question.

[Up2U]

I am 99% sure UK mobile frequencies are the same as Thailand. As others, have noted it is a simple case of replacing your UK SIM card with a Thai card. I would go to any AIS/ Telewiz shop at any of the malls or Tukcom. Be sure to save your settings before replacing the card.

[joe552]

And how would I do that?

[gerefan2]

Don’t go to Tukcom they are a bunch of theiving devious bastards. I’ve said that before and I will say it again as often as necessary.
The booths there were raided a year or two ago for selling fake goods.
I heard the other day that they were robbing expensive parts off devices in for repair and replacing them with cheap copy parts.
Go to a genuine official outlet.

[joe552]

WTF? The phone will read your SIM in whatever language you set your phone to

I meant to edit my response to this, but forgot.

The revised message would have included at least one fuck off, and 2 or 3 fucking's

[joe552]

gerefan, someone mentioned earlier an AIT (?) outlet. Is that what you mean? Like here I would go to a Vodafone store for a phone, or whatever.

[gerefan2]

tukcom Is a huge store full of kiosks selling electrical goods. Most are fakes and counterfeit. Some maybe real. I avoid the place and would go to the AIS shop in Central Festival.

[scottish-guy]

Buying fake and counterfeit goods is fine if the price reflects that fact - it's when they want the full genuine price!!!

[FarangRuMak]

As long as you are really sure you only want a push button phone in this day & age.

With all the boys on the dating apps, plus Line etc, I reckon having a smart phone & some data allowance is mandatory.

The other point, is there is some utter crap on sale in Tuk Com. Even some of the micro USB leads have failed before I got on the plane back home, their chargers are prone to failure & I would not be at all keen to buy anything even more expensive, such as a phone.
Since basic push button mobile phones can be bought for as little as £5 in Argos, I would be looking at the cheapest ones there & then trying to figure out if these can easily be unlocked.
In fairness the Tuk Com dealers have 2 versions of everything; the cheap copy or the genuine article at the normal price.
A few months ago it was raided by scores of police so they might be low on copy stock now.

[goji]

I've had a look at Argos and they have a phone for €17, so that's great. I'll get it tomorrow and let you know.

In the previous post, I did mention unlocking the phone, or checking how to get it unlocked (google).
So hopefully that is considered before you go to Argos.
As long as it's not locked to the original SIM provider, then all you need to do is put a Thai SIM inside.