mongatu Posted June 23, 2003 Report Share Posted June 23, 2003 Hi, I've read several of the posts regarding prepaid sim cards in LOS and looked at the sites of the three providers that have been mentioned. I have a few more questions that maybe someone here can help with. One question I have is, is the mobile user billed for incoming calls? I saw that Orange seems to have the best rates but gathered that the coverage is not so great outside of BKK. Is the coverage pretty good in BKK? Also, on the Orange site, they say if you drop a call, they credit you for 30 seconds of air time. Do they do this automatically or does the user have to call in and request it each time a call is dropped? If anyone has used any of the three service providers, it would be great to hear some feedback as to how you like them. Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Straycat Posted June 23, 2003 Report Share Posted June 23, 2003 One question I have is, is the mobile user billed for incoming calls? No, not as far as I know (there may be charges if you're outside of Thailand and someone calls you...this is common practise for Farangland operators at least). I use AIS One-2-Call and I think it works splendid. Orange et al I don't know a thing about... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mongatu Posted June 23, 2003 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2003 Yes, I was just interested in what the practice is while the user is in Thailand, using a Thai based pre-paid sim card. I had a hard time navigating/understanding the AIS 1-2Call site but I think I figured out that 800 TB buys you a 100 minute refill, so the service is 8 TB per minute. Is this correct? Also, if anyone knows which pre-paid sim cards will last the longest before they expire, that would be helpful. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Straycat Posted June 23, 2003 Report Share Posted June 23, 2003 As for AIS one-2-call the 800 baht is an intial payment for the SIM-card with some minutes thrown in. (AIS is the most expensive when it comes to the initial payment). -- I don't know what the tariff is but it takes a bloody long time before it's time for a refill (however I don't call much from the mobile). Refill cards are sold at 300 baht and 500 baht value. Available in every 7-Eleven. Expiration is prolonged with every refill. You'd get substantial time added fairly quickly. I think my AIS account will expire in 2005 or so.... As long as you stay in big cities and tourist areas I suspect it will not make much of a difference whatever operator you choose. Upcountry it's probably best with AIS... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SurferDude Posted July 9, 2003 Report Share Posted July 9, 2003 The card I bought 3 mos ago was about 800 baht, but I think it gave me 400 baht in calls. As Straycat said, everytime you run low you can buy a 300 baht top-up card, which extends the expiration on all your minutes. All incoming calls are free, regardless of where they originate. For One-2-call, you need to make sure you have a phone that works on 900 mHz, some of them sold in the US are not tri-band. If your phone is SIM-locked to a carrier, this can usually be removed by the shop at MBK that sells you the initial SIM chip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mongatu Posted July 10, 2003 Author Report Share Posted July 10, 2003 Thanks for the additional info SC and SD. I recently acquired a barely used tri-band unlocked Motorola V60i for $60 at my local Chinese cell phone store here in SF so I should be in good shape to use a local pre-paid sim card in LOS. (I had to buy a tri-band phone for use while traveling because my plan here at home is TDMA. I would have simply switched to a new GSM plan and gotten a free or almost free carrier subsidized tri-band but I have some great promotions that cannot currently be duplicated which I would have had to give up if I were to switch to a new GSM plan. So under those circumstances, it made sense for me to purchase the used tri-band just for travel while still keeping my old TDMA plan and phone for use at home.) I got the details on AIS prepaid service from their excellent email customer service and thought I might as well post it for everybody's benefit, even though I'm leaning towards going with Dpromt initially (Dprompt's card costs 400 baht and includes 100 Baht worth of free calls): [color:"blue"] Dear Sir, Thank you very much for your inquiry. It is our pleasure having a chance to serve you best. In regard of the above subject, we are pleased to inform the details of One-2-Call Prepaid System as following: One-2-Call Service Rates: Local Calls : 5 Baht per minute (including VAT 7%) Long Distance Calls : 8 Baht per minute (including VAT 7%) Friend Net : 4 Baht per minute nationwide for calling GSM Advance, One-2-Call, and GSM 1800 (including VAT 7%) International Calls : Communications Authority of Thailand (CAT) Rate. You can find more information about International Call Rate at website http://www.cat.or.th or click here Receiving Calls : No charge (both domestic and international calls) Short Message Service Rate: Sending SMS : 3 Baht nationwide per 1 message (including VAT 7%) International SMS : 9.63 Baht per 1 message (including VAT 7%) Receiving SMS : No charge One-2-Call Price & Promotion: The price of One-2-Call Starter Kit (only SIM Card) is 888 baht and you will get promotion free calls 300 Baht, validity 30 days if activate in July 2003. You can find the details about One-2-Call promotion from www.one-2-call.com or click --> HERE [/color] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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