forky123 Posted March 6, 2016 Posted March 6, 2016 Find myself in need of some advice. Was pick-pocketed tonight an a baht bus. They got away with my mobile, but luckily nothing else. The reason I think pick-pocketed rather than dropped or lost is that the phone was pretty quickly switched off and isn't online to be tracked. So, I'm now in need of a replacement. Whilst I realise there are hundreds of places here in Pattaya, can anyone recommend somewhere "safe"? TukCom maybe? I really don't want to be ripped off any further so any assistance would be gratefully received. [edit] Can anyone confirm if I will have any issues with a phone bought here when I go back to the UK? Quote
firecat69 Posted March 6, 2016 Posted March 6, 2016 Go into Central Festival Mall I believe Floor #4 and look for New Age ( I think thats the name. Absolutely reliable . His brother runs a store in TukCom. Come in main entrance, take escalator up 1 floor. Turn right and then left all the way to the back. Biggest stand and they supply most of the other stands . They have a bigger selection then Central Festival where his brother specializes in iPhones. You can dicker with him but probably you will pay more then your home country but at least you will know it is the real thing with complete warranty. Quote
forky123 Posted March 6, 2016 Author Posted March 6, 2016 Thanks for the information. If they are more expensive here I may just get a cheap "holiday" mobile. That way I can leave mine at home next time. Quote
Guest Posted March 6, 2016 Posted March 6, 2016 Think I would be going for the proper shops rather than the stalls on the higher floors of Tuk Com. Maybe a simple old fashioned phone, or a Chinese branded smartphone rather than a fake Korean/American brand. Also, as far as possible, I like to travel with zip pockets on trousers and shorts. http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/craghoppers-kiwi-pro-stretch-active-trousers-p266169 It's a challenge to balance practicality with style. Quote
Gaybutton Posted March 7, 2016 Posted March 7, 2016 Think I would be going for the proper shops rather than the stalls on the higher floors of Tuk Com. I would agree depending on what one is looking for. If you're looking for a guaranteed legitimate phone I would avoid Tuk Com. Many of the phone shops at Tuk Com are reputable, but others have no problem about selling counterfeit phones. The problem is it's difficult to know which shops - and there are dozens of them - are the safe ones to buy from. On the other hand, if you're looking only for an inexpensive temporary phone that will probably work if you're in Thailand for a couple weeks holiday, Tuk Com isn't such a bad risk. If you're looking for a cheap basic, but legitimate, phone Tesco-Lotus (and probably Big-C too, but I've never checked), sells perfectly good Nokia phones for as little as 450 baht. About 6 months ago I bought a couple of them to give to a few Thai boys. They both work just fine and are still working just fine. Make sure to take your passport, or at least a photocopy of your passport, if you're going to buy a SIM card. Due to Thailand's recent regulations about registering SIM cards, you'll need to present it or they can't sell you a SIM card. By the way, if you're looking for a top-of-the-line phone, I suggest having a look at the Huawei Mate 8. I recently bought one and I just love that phone. There are plenty of reviews online. You can download the user manuals at: http://consumer.huawei.com/uk/mobile-phones/support/manuals/mate8-uk.htm ChristianPFC 1 Quote
TomNg Posted March 7, 2016 Posted March 7, 2016 This sim card, how long is it going to be valid for ? If I come back to Thailand several months after the initial activation, will it still work? Make sure to take your passport, or at least a photocopy of your passport, if you're going to buy a SIM card. Due to Thailand's recent regulations about registering SIM cards, you'll need to present it or they can't sell you a SIM card. Quote
forky123 Posted March 7, 2016 Author Posted March 7, 2016 If you buy a tourist SIM and buy 12 X 10 baht top ups then it is valid for 360 days (30 days for each top up). Note that if you buy 1 X 100 baht top up you only get 30 days. My shorts have 4 X zipped pockets, 2 X flapped pockets and 2 open pockets. The phone was in a flapped (Velcro) pocket. I don't know how she did it without me noticing. Luckily I keep different items in different pockets so she only got away with the phone. It's a 2.5 year old iPhone 5 so could have been worse I guess. I sent an erase instruction as soon as I realised what had happened. The phone was switched off for a long time but was erased at 0313 this morning. The erase gave a message telling them where I was staying and offering a reward so, having heard nothing, I guess that is that. I'm just glad I've got confirmation of the erase. Also luckily, the phone had a tourist SIM in and I have my normal SIM safe so no racked up charges. Quote
TomNg Posted March 7, 2016 Posted March 7, 2016 If you buy 12 x 10 baht top ups, can you load all of them up ( 120 baht) at the same time and valid for 360 days ?; or do you have to load once (10 baht) a month? Can it be loaded outside of Thailand ? Quote
forky123 Posted March 7, 2016 Author Posted March 7, 2016 You can load them all up in Thailand. From what's been said, by two sources, you simply get 12 x 10 or 20 baht top ups and add them separately. Each top up adds 30 days so by doing 12 of them your tourist SIM will last a year. Quote
kokopelli Posted March 7, 2016 Posted March 7, 2016 There are different ways to top up phones. There are kiosks about town where you can top up your phone at low cost. Also, if AIS/1,2Call you can use *121# and Send; cost 30 Baht for 30 days taken from you balance in your account. Quote
TomNg Posted March 7, 2016 Posted March 7, 2016 There are different ways to top up phones. There are kiosks about town where you can top up your phone at low cost. Also, if AIS/1,2Call you can use *121# and Send; cost 30 Baht for 30 days taken from you balance in your account. Hi Kokopelli, This method may work well for people who stay in Thailand. However, I was interested in a sim card for a tourist who only visits Thailand a few times a year for short period of times (few days to weeks) and want to use the same sim card. Quote
1moRussian Posted March 7, 2016 Posted March 7, 2016 Forky123 - that's pity about your phone and thanx for advice about 12x10 or 12x20, should try it next time. Checked AIS web-site: it's minimum 50 baht slips available at 7-elevens, so one needs to find AIS top-up kiosk or top-up spot. Generally I top-up with 100 baht slips getting 3-4 months of validity period for these 300-400 baht. TomNG - AIS web-site (one of Thai telecom companies) states: "In case there is no usage e.g., calling out, receiving calls, using Internet, SMS, etc. or no top up for 90 consecutive days, with no remaining validity, the number will be automatically terminated". So it looks like you have 90 days after you paid validity is finished. But for a tourist SIM you could have general limitation for the SIM life something like 2 years or so. Anyway, probably you will be using Line or another messenger with Thai boys, don't be too worried about keeping your mobile number Quote
traveller123 Posted March 7, 2016 Posted March 7, 2016 I have been caught out by UK companies applying the 90 day rule to Pay As You Go. Landed at Manchester airport switched on my mobile to call the car hire company and it didn't work, as I found out later because I hadn't used it for 3 months and my number had been terminated ChristianPFC 1 Quote
TomNg Posted March 7, 2016 Posted March 7, 2016 My current phone carrier allows free data (internet) and text in Thailand; I only pay when making a phone call. Should I still get a local sim card? Quote
Gaybutton Posted March 7, 2016 Posted March 7, 2016 My current phone carrier allows free data (internet) and text in Thailand; I only pay when making a phone call. Should I still get a local sim card? I suppose that would depend on which is most cost effective for you. Apparently your carrier is a foreign carrier. How much does it cost you to place calls when you're in Thailand and how many would you anticipate placing? If you want calls from boys, would they even place a call to a foreign number? If it were me, I would get a Thai SIM card. You can get them at any convenience store for about 100 baht and buy time for the card at increments of 50 baht on up. If there is some reason why you would need your foreign SIM card, you could always temporarily switch SIM cards if the need arises. Another method of keeping a phone card topped up would be to have a Thai bank account with online banking. You can then top up from any computer, anywhere in the world. Quote
kokopelli Posted March 7, 2016 Posted March 7, 2016 Hi Kokopelli, This method may work well for people who stay in Thailand. However, I was interested in a sim card for a tourist who only visits Thailand a few times a year for short period of times (few days to weeks) and want to use the same sim card. I was referring to AIS/1,2 Call so am not aware of other carriers such as DTAC or Tourist Sim Cards. Quote
firecat69 Posted March 7, 2016 Posted March 7, 2016 Depending on how you bought your phone, many are locked and you cannot just put in a new sim card when you travel to a different country. ggobkk 1 Quote
forky123 Posted March 7, 2016 Author Posted March 7, 2016 My current phone carrier allows free data (internet) and text in Thailand; I only pay when making a phone call. Should I still get a local sim card?It really depends on whether you are happy giving your phone number to the boys you may meet. I prefer not to give my personal mobile number so find the few hundred baht for a tourist SIM well worth it. Quote
TomNg Posted March 8, 2016 Posted March 8, 2016 It really depends on whether you are happy giving your phone number to the boys you may meet. I prefer not to give my personal mobile number so find the few hundred baht for a tourist SIM well worth it.Since I have free data, I read some sugguestion on the net that I could use the Line app for free texting in Thailand. The receiver would also not incur any extra charges for texting back using the app, is it right? If I use the Line app just for texting, would the receiver be able to see my real phone number? (Sorry if I ask too many questions but because I don't want to carry 2 phones with me. I need to keep my home phone open just in case my family or friends want to get a hold of me. If I need to buy a local sim, I will need to bring a spare phone for that) Quote
Gaybutton Posted March 8, 2016 Posted March 8, 2016 If I use the Line app just for texting, would the receiver be able to see my real phone number? He won't see your phone number, but the recipient also has to have Line and he needs to have it open. You can't send text messages directly to telephone numbers with Line. There are no charges for texting or speaking, but the connection for speaking is usually bad. I really don't understand why this is even an issue. A Thai SIM card, along with some time, and the cost of making phone calls and text messages is so inexpensive that it's hardly a factor. If you stay in Thailand for two weeks, unless you're making a lot of phone calls and talking for a long time on every one of them, I doubt you would be spending more than 500 baht total - including the SIM card. If you want a second telephone for your Thai SIM card, as I said above, you can buy a brand new basic telephone for as little as 450 baht. If you do that, you would probably still be spending less than 1000 baht total. Quote
forky123 Posted March 8, 2016 Author Posted March 8, 2016 Also, one of the two things I was most grateful about after my phone was stolen was that my UK SIM wasn't in it. Who knows what charges could have been racked up. The second thing was the functionality of the Track my iPhone and erase functions. That and the fact the FBI keep trying to get Apple to give them a way round the lock screen and erase functions gave me some peace of mind that any data on their couldn't easily be accessed. ChristianPFC 1 Quote
Guest Promsak Posted March 8, 2016 Posted March 8, 2016 I can only retell my experience with AIS 12Call (prepay) at a Telewiz shop, The assistant advised me to go to a Telewiz or AIS shop and ask for 10 twenty Baht top ups. That would extend the expiry date by 300 days. She said that 7-11s only do minimum 50 Baht top-ups. Quote
Guest Posted March 8, 2016 Posted March 8, 2016 Advantages of a Thai SIM card: 1 You take it out of the phone when returning home, so do not get phone calls from bar boys when in business meetings at home. 2 You take your home SIM out of the phone in Thailand, so will not get interrupted by home country calls when in a gogo bar. You could put the home SIM in a separate phone and check it once a day, once a week or whatever you prefer. 3 Call & internet data costs are much lower in Thailand with a Thai SIM. 4 The internet data can be a good back up for your hotel wifi, which is most likely to be very slow at peak times. Quote
LAguy Posted March 8, 2016 Posted March 8, 2016 I'm thinking after reading this thread that I might buy a relatively cheap phone when I'm in Thailand... I'm going to be there for about 5 weeks, and would really hate to have my iPhone stolen... Even though it's got free texting and internet worldwide, I'd hate to lose it at a bar or getting a massage! I'll bring it with me but keep it in the safe when I go out... What kind of cheap phone would you guys recommend I pick up in Thailand? I assume an Android something, but have no idea about what you can get that works for Apps like Line and Hornet, etc... Quote
Guest abang1961 Posted March 8, 2016 Posted March 8, 2016 This is my take on mobile phones. Here in Asia, the iphone is (was) a status symbol. Owning one means you have some dough then. Now, it is as common as anything and no more a fashion statement. Conversely, the more widely-used platform is Android phones. Cheaper versions from China like phones from Huawei, Lenovo cost no more than USD 100. Personally, I am using an older Lenovo version (A606) for the past months and it has yet to malfunction. So you may be wiser to purchase a cheap Android phone in Thailand and use it throughout your 8 weeks’ stay and beyond. http://shop.lenovo.com/sa/en/smartphones/a-series/a606/ Quote
