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Foreign cellular running on pre paid card in LOS?


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@ scum baggio

I bought a one2call Siemens A 35 in MBK for 7500. The cheapest Siemens would have cost about 1000 B less.

The price included a card charged up with the 800 B you mentioned, plus 2000 B ("promotion"), also valid for 2 months.

At these prices I cannot see the advantage of buying the phone in Singapore.

The advantage of buying it in Thailand was that I could make use of the guarantee (I needed it twice).

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iuytrede,

the 2,000 Baht 'promotion' makes this of course a good deal. Before they used to give only 1,000 Baht in these promotions. The cheaper Siemens that you mention is probably the C25, which I happen to know costs under 3,000 Baht in S'pore.

These package deals like the one you took (Phone, SIM card, talktime) and which are increasingly available are no bad deal. But they might not be available for the phone that you want. I bought a few Ericcson 1018's for 2,400 Baht in S'pore - at that time they were 12,500 Baht in Thailand, then later the price came down to 8,000 Baht or so. Or look at the price difference of the Ericsson R320s which I mention somewhere above. The latter has, as I said before, WAP facility, and now I'm waiting patiently for the day that One-2-Call will make WAP available for their system. So far, for WAP services you have to be a subscriber, they don't go with the pre-paid system. cool.gif" border="0

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  • 2 weeks later...

Originally posted by Dry Son:

"1)How do I set about bringing my (sim-unlocked) foreign cellular to work in LOS?"

In brief here is my experience...

You go to a black market dealer and have him 'tune' your phone, and if you are lucky it will work.

Details below...

1. I bought a Bosch Worldphone (made in Germany; marketed in UK; purchased in USA!) It is one of those GSM ones, where one can, supposedly buy prepaid cards (in some countries anonymously -- not in the Philippines by the way). The vendor assured me that my model would work everywhere in the world except Japan.

2. In BKK I was advised that Shinwatra has a monopoly in three countries cell service: Thailand, Cambodia and Laos. And that phones can be adjusted (it's illegal, but commonly done) at many cell phone shops on the upper floors of Mah Boon Krong department stores.

3. You guessed it. Bosch is an exception brand. If you have a popular brand such as Erickson or Nokia these techies can generally adjust it to work with the Thai system, but NOT Bosch -- no market demand (oddall brand, going out of the business?)

4. And to make matters worse, to get a Thai telephone number for your phone, of any kind, you can't do it as a foreigner on a tourist visa. The shops in Mah Boon Krong (MBK) have lists of available numbers but you'll have to come with a Thai national (or somebody with a work permit?) to sign up for you.

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4. And to make matters worse, to get a Thai telephone number for your phone, of any kind, you can't do it as a foreigner on a tourist visa. The shops in Mah Boon Krong (MBK) have lists of available numbers but you'll have to come with a Thai national (or somebody with a work permit?) to sign up for you.

_____________________________

Any of the prepaids can be obtained by anyone.

no ID check, nothing.

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@ winston james et al....

I'm stuck with 4 x UK Nokia 3210's, a 5110, and 2 x 6150's

Anyone had any success re-tuning these models yet?

frown.gif" border="0

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have read an awful lot about doctoring mobile phones in Thailand or what ever. Can anyone please explain to me what is the real purpose of all this doctoring. I have a mobile phone which works on 'roaming' in Thailand. What, if anything, would I gain from getting my phone doctored. Maybe I'm stupid (don't you all answer that) but I'm at a serious loss as to whats going on. Anyone willing to explain to me what is this all about. Thanks.

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Originally posted by akay56:

"can't figure out why the prepaid cards are so bloody expensive in thailand, ..."

Blame the honourable Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra and his AIS (Advanced Information Services). For some time they were the only provider and they could set any price they wanted. Then the second system came along (Prompt), and I think their prepaid SIM cards are virtually identically-priced. Yeah, in Singapore all the different phone companies throw a free SIM card at you when you buy a mobile.

Call me a selfish bastard, but one reason why I can't stand Thaksin is because he wrings every satang he can out of us AIS users (as well as UBC subscribers). If he gets kicked out office next month I'll be smiling all over my dirty butt. Sweet revenge!

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