Cell Phones/ Thailand

[kittyboy]

I arrive in Thailand on 25 December 2008. I will be staying for about 4 weeks both in Pattaya and BKK. My current cell phone will not work in Thailand. What are my options for cell phone service in Thailand?

I assume that I can buy or rent a cell phone for short term use?

What would I expect to pay for use of a cell phone for 4 weeks?

I am not a big phone talker but would like to be able to call friends who are traveling with me part of the time. I am looking for inexpensive options.



I searched the forum for the tersm "cell phone" but so many threads popped up that is was useless.

Thanks gentlemen.

Mark

Buy a Thai 'pay as you go' sim card (100 baht with 100 baht calltime) and stick it in your existing mobile phone - though you will have to check your phone is compatible. UK phones seem to work fine. And most modern phones are multi-band (whatever that means). If you have an old phone and you're American, you're probably stuffed.

Buy a Thai 'pay as you go' sim card (100 baht with 100 baht calltime) and stick it in your existing mobile phone - though you will have to check your phone is compatible. UK phones seem to work fine. And most modern phones are multi-band (whatever that means). If you have an old phone and you're American, you're probably stuffed.

If your phone is locked to a single phone company take to one of the trillion phone shops in Thailand and get it unlocked (works on all phones American, British and Outer Mongolian) for about 400baht and buy a thai pay as you go sim card for about 100. Top up cards can be bought at any mini mart (7-11) and phone shops.

P.S. For cheap international calls put 007, 008 or 009 before the country code you are calling

[kittyboy]

Thanks for the quick reply -

I am in the US and use SPRINT - I have been told (by the SPRINT customer service people) that my cell phone does not have a sim card - and that I will have to either buy or rent a phone while in Thailand.

Mark

I am in the US and use SPRINT - I have been told (by the SPRINT customer service people) that my cell phone does not have a sim card - and that I will have to either buy or rent a phone while in Thailand.Sprint don't use GSM hence there is no SIM card. The least expensive option is to go somewhere like MBK in Bangkok and pick-up a second-hand phone for a few thousand baht, and buy a pre-paid kit at the same time

I am in the US and use SPRINT - I have been told (by the SPRINT customer service people) that my cell phone does not have a sim card - and that I will have to either buy or rent a phone while in Thailand.Sprint don't use GSM hence there is no SIM card. The least expensive option is to go somewhere like MBK in Bangkok and pick-up a second-hand phone for a few thousand baht, and buy a pre-paid kit at the same time
A few Thousand baht!!! If your just here for a few weeks you can get a second hand nokia 3310/30 for between 500-800 Baht then get 300 back on it when you finish your hols

A few Thousand baht!!! If your just here for a few weeks you can get a second hand nokia 3310/30 for between 500-800 Baht then get 300 back on it when you finish your holsMy musings over the weekend have been about what the poor people are up to these days. I'm constantly coming across examples

[gearguy]

Sprint used CDMA system, not GSM, so you're phone won't work outside of Sprint system.
(I have Sprint as well via my company.)

If you expect to travel back to Thailand, or indeed elsewhere in the world, then indeed go to MBK
and buy an unlocked GSM phone. You can then buy SIM cards just about anywhere in the
world and have a pay as you go plan. You will want to make sure you get a tri-band (900/1800/1900)
or a quad-band (850/900/1800/1900) phone. Tri-band are less expensive generally but I think that
there are some US and Japan carriers that use the 850 band.

If you're in the US and you want to have all this ready to go for when you get to Thailand.
you can go to http://www.telestial.com/ You can buy just a SIM card from them or a whole
phone combo. But unlocked GSM phones can be bought cheaper than what telestial sells.
For example. compuUSA has $40 Samsung phones and you can get an unlocked Razr Quad-band
for $120. $40 for the SIM card with a 300 baht top-off and for $160 that's a nice phone and you
are ready to go.

You'll pay a bit more than waiting till you get to Thialand, but you will be set from the moment
you arrive and you'll know your number even before you leave.

Remember, the phone you will get will be able to be used elsewhere. I have an very cheap Siemens
A70 phone I bought years ago for around $20 and have used it in Thailand, China, Taiwan,
Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia. Easy to get SIM cards and easy to top-up.

I like the fact that you end up with a local number; makes it easy for new friends to call you.

Wish we had this system in the US.

Calling to your Thai number FROM the US can still be expensive; so best to call home, rather than have home call you.

A few Thousand baht!!! If your just here for a few weeks you can get a second hand nokia 3310/30 for between 500-800 Baht then get 300 back on it when you finish your holsMy musings over the weekend have been about what the poor people are up to these days. I'm constantly coming across examples

The poor people (like your good self) spend most of thier free time on here breaking verbal wind.... :drunken: :drunken:

[kittyboy]

Thanks guys for the info. I will probably buy a cheapo phone while in Thailand - buy minutes for whatever usage I need then either keep the phone or sell it back.

Again I appreciate the info.

Mark

The poor people (like your good self) spend most of thier free time ..."Free time"? Elephantspike is paying me good money to write this drivel. He tells me the cheque is in the mail

You might well find you can buy a cheap phone in the States. I know in the UK you can get cheap ones. I found that phones in Thailand are relatively quite expensive, not sure on the 2nd hand market. However, having said that I just bought a useful phone in Thailand which has 2 sim cards, saves me changing over to my "other" one, so at any time I can answer local calls on my Thai sim card along with answering calls with my "home" sim card. That was the only reason I bought it, it cost around 5,700 bht. In the UK, these type of phones, I don't think are on sale.

You might well find you can buy a cheap phone in the States. I know in the UK you can get cheap ones. I found that phones in Thailand are relatively quite expensive, not sure on the 2nd hand market. However, having said that I just bought a useful phone in Thailand which has 2 sim cards, saves me changing over to my "other" one, so at any time I can answer local calls on my Thai sim card along with answering calls with my "home" sim card. That was the only reason I bought it, it cost around 5,700 bht. In the UK, these type of phones, I don't think are on sale.

They have sold them in the UK for a few years

Forget a second hand phone. You can get a brand new phone these days for about 1,200.00. Then sell it back when you leave if you want.

[Beachlover]

The poor people (like your good self) spend most of thier free time ..."Free time"? Elephantspike is paying me good money to write this drivel. He tells me the cheque is in the mail

The cheque may as well be up your a**e :blackeye:

[Geezer]

Chao Na has it right (for once).

At Tuk Com in Pattaya, and many other places, you can buy a brand new Nokia for a little less than a thousand baht. Stick in a SIM card for 300bt. Buy as little as 50 bt of time and youтАЩre in business.

They will take care of all this where you buy the phone.

Thanks guys for the info. I will probably buy a cheapo phone while in Thailand - buy minutes for whatever usage I need then either keep the phone or sell it back.

Again I appreciate the info.

Mark

The last time I did this, the cheapest B&W Nokia phone was just about 1000 baht NEW. Throw in a SIM and you're looking at 1100 baht, more or less. You can save more by buying a second hand one. Whatever -- if you're planning on coming back to Thailand, I guess you would remove the battery on departure and keep it until you return. We're talking $30 here, more or less, so you could also GIVE the phone to a lad you like, if he doesn't already have a cell-phone.

You might well find you can buy a cheap phone in the States. I know in the UK you can get cheap ones. I found that phones in Thailand are relatively quite expensive, not sure on the 2nd hand market. However, having said that I just bought a useful phone in Thailand which has 2 sim cards, saves me changing over to my "other" one, so at any time I can answer local calls on my Thai sim card along with answering calls with my "home" sim card. That was the only reason I bought it, it cost around 5,700 bht. In the UK, these type of phones, I don't think are on sale.

They have sold them in the UK for a few years

Where?

[bao-bao]

I bought a cheap, basic "black and white display" Nokia in Bangkok for around Bt1,000 and have had it for about a year. I highly recommend the idea. The simple display also allows you to hold a charge a longer time.

It doesn't take pictures or play songs or tell me how much change I have in my pocket, but as a means of communication it beats the crap out of trying to use pay phones there.

Buy the right type of SIM card and it'll hold your credits and phone number for an entire year without topping it off.

[quiet1]

If you do buy a SIM and plan to return within a year or so, AIS and DTAC have programs where you can extend the expiration date of pre-paid accounts using credit time you have on the account. If you don't, your account will probably expire and you will need to buy a new SIM with a new phone number each time. This way, you can keep the same phone number.