Is anyone able suggest/recommend a Thai "Pay As You Go SIM" - where are the best places to buy them in Bangkok, the associated costs, which is the most reliable network, which has the best call quality etc.

Any assistance will be greatly appreciated.

Got my 12call sim at MBK 3 years ago cost about 400Bht, it now roams!no big probs with coverage.

Hi Tobias, you can get the sim cards at all 7/11 stores, in fact most supermarkets sell them, I always use dtac pay and go never had a problem with them, be carefull if your phone is on the orange network, or you bought from vodaphone store you will need to get it unlocked before it will take another sim card, if you ask in the supermarket they will insert the sim card for you, and ring up to activate it, you can buy from 50bht to 500bht cards. good luck.

hi Tobias try.
http://www.one-2-call.com/One2Call/otc/t/product_OwePaiLaey.jsp hope
hope link works

Ive allways used 12call too and never had any probs with coverage, and call rates are very cheap, i think on purchase of sim connection pack( varries sometimes have promotion) the conection last,s for a month or so and when top up it increases .
you can top up by 50bt / 300 bt /500 bt/1000 bt etc

7/11, MBK, chemist, and many more shops with the logo sell them

They also have orange PAYG now but the service may be limited to Bangkok , and others i havent had experiance of


regards Andy

I've got a 1-2-Call pay as you go sim...which gets a signal in the UK on Orange

But I don't know my Thai number, so I can't call myself and see if it actually works


Nick

It has recently got quite competitive in LOS with PAYG phones and tariffs.

AIS is well regarded as the best network in terms of reliability and coverage. 1-2-Call is the PAYG services which runs of the AIS network. Tariff information in English can be found here

If you're calling back to the UK, don't forget to use 008 (i.e. 00844xxxxxxxx). IIRC, it's 6 baht/min and much cheaper than 001.

SIMs can be bought in many places (many small mobile shops all over the place - theres one in nearly every soi). If you need to get your phone unlocked (SIM lock) removed, then MBK is your best bet. They tend to just 'flash' your phone so make sure you back up any contacts stored on the phone.

The other two worthy networks are DTAC (PAYG service is branded 'Happy') and True Move (previously Orange). Steer clear of Hutch!

Top ups for all networks can be bought at 7-Elevens and just about every mom+pop shop.

HTH

Cheers,
Packpao

1 2 call best in my opinion by far! Good coverage and easy for a falang to use.

quote:

Hi Tobias, you can get the sim cards at all 7/11 stores

Many 7/11 shops do not sell the SIM cards, only the top-up cards. ALL the 24 hour chains - 7-11, 108, Family Mart - sell top-up cards.

I agree with Packpao and Lucky, AIS 1-2-Call is the best in my experience for nationwide coverage and reliability. Most shops/stalls selling phones will have them. Check the expiry date on the barcode sticker (back of the box). This is the last date the card can be activated. Smaller shops are notorious for having out of date cards. Even better, get the shop/stall to put the card in your phone and activate the SIM for you, that way you'll be sure it works before you walk away.

There are various AIS Starter Kits available each with different tariffs. '1-2-Call Freedom' is the most popular, 'Sawasdee' or 'Sawasdee Tua Thai' are less popular options (pink coloured packaging).

quote:

If you're calling back to the UK, don't forget to use 008 (i.e. 00844xxxxxxxx). IIRC, it's 6 baht/min and much cheaper than 001.

Another cheap method for calling the UK is to dial 009 instead of 001 (i.e. 00944xxxxxxxx). I've found 009 more reliable than 008 in recent times. Both 008 and 009 are VoIP services. Slightly more expensive, but much better quality is 007 - useful for important business calls or faxing. NEVER dial +44 or 00144, it will cost you a bomb.

I use DTAC's Happy Card.

Top Up's in 7/11

Family Mart

and the 108 chain.

The folks i asked always seemed to recommend 12call although the dtac happy cards seem cheapest to buy initially, I got the feeling that orange seemed to have poor coverage in rural parts despite having enormous ariel towers. A word of warning .........the credit and the cards don,t last long if you don,t use them for a while, so if your not there from time to time give it to someone else to use maybe ??. News vendors sell them along with just about everyone else.

Hello Tobias

I bought AIS 1-2-Call sim from BiG C as recommended to me by Lamai, top up cards all Family marts 7/11 , also unlike my previous Orange/True move card ,(i don't know if this has changed now for Orange/True move card ) , once the top up card is activated the credit is active for a year, so when i arrive at airport and cannot find Lamai i can call her. unlike the previous Orange phone which wouldn't give me a signal ??? .

Kevin

Question. We had a DTAC HAPPY CARD that worked just fine but I was under the impression that apart from having to top up when credit was low you also had to top up as credit was on a time limit of a few months. I understood that if you didn't use your credit up by a certain time limit you'd lose that credit plus your number would be given to someone else. Being as I have since returned to the UK & doubt I'll be back this year due to other travel commitments we gave our phone & sim away to my sister-out-law.
Am I correct in any of this belief or was I slipped a custard by the out-law just so she could get hold of our new phone & card?

Oh Casey how could you not trust your out-laws

It is true that if you don't top up your SIM card regularly you lose the credit and number.

Yeah...no wonder the sister-out-law helped choose our phone for us!!

Hey...I've just passed a thousand posts!! It's my millenium today & might I add the sun is shining outside too!

I've got one-2-call and am very happy with it.

But for the first couple of days I got 100s of text messages (ads I guess) until I phoned the call centre and asked them to be stopped.

None since.

Oh, and 001 IS expensive! Thanks Paul for telling us about 007!

Thank you gentlemen for your assistance on this, all your comments have been very helpful indeed. The consensus certainly points to AIS/1-2-Call and, thanks to Packpao's generosity, this will be the service we shall be using (cheers Packpao ).

As I will be arriving in Bangkok immediately after business in Abu Dhabi, I shall need to be in contact with the UK quite a bit for the first couple of days. I take on board the comments vis-à-vis 009 and 007 - does anyone know the rates for calling the UK (landline and mobile) using these services? This will help me estimate how much call credit should be loaded on to the SIM account, bearing in mind I shall only be in Thailand for 6/7 days.

Again, many thanks for you help on this chaps

quote:

I take on board the comments vis-à-vis 009 and 007 - does anyone know the rates for calling the UK (landline and mobile) using these services?

Current rates to UK landline or mobile are:

007 : 9 baht + VAT (9.63 baht) / min - TOT 'Crystal Clear'
008 : 7 baht + VAT (7.49 baht) / min - TOT VoIP
009 : 7 baht + VAT (7.49 baht) / min - CAT VoIP

Links to rates: TOT 007 & 008 | CAT 009

Dialling '001' or '+' will, by comparison, cost 18 baht + VAT / min

Worth bearing in mind that once you get below about 40 baht credit,you may find it difficult to make any calls and are limited to texts until you top up.

quote:

Originally posted by Marcus:
I've got one-2-call and am very happy with it.

But for the first couple of days I got 100s of text messages (ads I guess) until I phoned the call centre and asked them to be stopped.

None since.

Lol those adds drive me up the wall, I spent ages last trip trying to turn them off, didn't think to contact the call centre, presumed I wouldn't understand them or they me.

Yes, they have English speaking staff there, and the ads stopped almost immediately! None since either!

Does anyone know about coverage for laos [vientiane area]. We will be spending about 8 days there and about 12 days in los. Is there a network that would cover both.
Thanks, Gordy

Was up there last month for a day! The pre paid network from One to Call worked fine all they way to the Laos capital and back.
ian1208

Thanks for the info Ian. Was there 3 years ago on orange network which worked o.k in nong khai but not over the border.
Wife and daughters going in 3 weeks time for 6 weeks and I join them 3 weeks later. Can`t wait.
Great info from previous posts about pre-fix numbers
Gordy