Thai SIM cards

[Nightcrawler]

Last few trips,I have made do with using WhatsApp on WiFi available in hotel and just about every bar, restaurant and entertainment venues around Pattaya and general access to Internet. 

It's been a while since I have purchased a Thai Sim card.

Have been looking online but the tourist sim deals seem to offer  time bound and data capacity restrictions 

I am after a cheap and cheerful card just to make and recieve local calls and last at least 3 weeks or longer which can be easy topped up in a 7/11 etc  

Does such a thing still exist as they were, say 5 years ago. ?

Any suggestions? 

[boydeste]

My best advice is to go to the AIS shop for example in Central and see what packages they offer. Given you use WiFi extensively, any data restrictions shouldn't effect you. Many of those drop to a reduced speed which is still functional anyways.

I pay for an ongoing monthly package on my SIM, but top it up via my bank, so not sure about the 7 11 situation.

[Lemondropkid]

5 hours ago, Nightcrawler said:

Last few trips,I have made do with using WhatsApp on WiFi available in hotel and just about every bar, restaurant and entertainment venues around Pattaya and general access to Internet. 

It's been a while since I have purchased a Thai Sim card.

Have been looking online but the tourist sim deals seem to offer  time bound and data capacity restrictions 

I am after a cheap and cheerful card just to make and recieve local calls and last at least 3 weeks or longer which can be easy topped up in a 7/11 etc  

Does such a thing still exist as they were, say 5 years ago. ?

Any suggestions? 

You can get a 30 day SIM from AIS for 899 THB

https://www.ais.th/esim-traveller/#/mealdetail?areaId=56&utm_source=sem&utm_medium=paid&utm_campaign=esim_sep23&utm_term=esimmain&cid=sem-esim_sep23-esimmain

Doubt you'll go through 50GB of data.

I pay a £10 a month for 20GB of daya in the UK and never go through that,or come anywhere close for that matter.

Seems an odd choice to be dicking around trying to get on Wifi in bars and hotels for a month for the sake of saving £20. 

I'll use Bolt a fair bit. Just being able to use a ride hailing app alone would save me over £20 over a month easily

 

Edited September 5, 2023 by Lemondropkid

[Golfingboy]

Been a decade since my last trip, but OMG compared to the prices and restrictions I pay back in Canada, was AIS 1-2 Call ever a godsend…..a different package for every need you may have. I’m sure now in the smartphone era they are even more accommodating 

Feel the need to compliment a company I enjoyed, today should be my last day with Virgin over here…..cheaper yes, but HORRIBLE outsourced customer service. I am not going to risk having a stroke because of my cell service……3 times since last Xmas these guys have really let me down….no more 

[Aqualung]

7 hours ago, Nightcrawler said:

Last few trips,I have made do with using WhatsApp on WiFi available in hotel and just about every bar, restaurant and entertainment venues around Pattaya and general access to Internet. 

It's been a while since I have purchased a Thai Sim card.

Have been looking online but the tourist sim deals seem to offer  time bound and data capacity restrictions 

I am after a cheap and cheerful card just to make and recieve local calls and last at least 3 weeks or longer which can be easy topped up in a 7/11 etc  

Does such a thing still exist as they were, say 5 years ago. ?

Any suggestions? 

I've done exactly the same as yourself. In almost 16 years of travelling to Los I've never purchased a Thai sim card. 

That said, I'm not glued to my phone 24 hours a day. 

 

[karon steve]

I usually ask the old bird in the corner of any bar to go and buy me a sim then give her a good tip.
I then get a normal Thai pay as you go sim not a tourist one.

[thegrogmonster]

The missus and myself have had the same DTAC numbers since 2001. I just need to topup once every 12 months to keep the sim card active which I do from the Kasikorn banking app.

Each trip to Thailand I logon to our DTAC accounts and add a data package for the duration of our holidays. These days the data packages are quite cheap for the amount of data you get.

[Painter]

1 hour ago, thegrogmonster said:

The missus and myself have had the same DTAC numbers since 2001. I just need to topup once every 12 months to keep the sim card active which I do from the Kasikorn banking app.

Each trip to Thailand I logon to our DTAC accounts and add a data package for the duration of our holidays. These days the data packages are quite cheap for the amount of data you get.

Same same... except since 2008. Recent trips I have gone to the dtac counter whilst waiting for my luggage, and they put a data package on it for the taxi journey. When that ends, I chose my own for the next month. Rarely more than a couple of hundred baht 

[AJSP]

21 hours ago, Lemondropkid said:

You can get a 30 day SIM from AIS for 899 THB

https://www.ais.th/esim-traveller/#/mealdetail?areaId=56&utm_source=sem&utm_medium=paid&utm_campaign=esim_sep23&utm_term=esimmain&cid=sem-esim_sep23-esimmain

Doubt you'll go through 50GB of data.

I pay a £10 a month for 20GB of daya in the UK and never go through that,or come anywhere close for that matter.

Seems an odd choice to be dicking around trying to get on Wifi in bars and hotels for a month for the sake of saving £20. 

I'll use Bolt a fair bit. Just being able to use a ride hailing app alone would save me over £20 over a month easily

 

Good advice - if you want one instantly you can get at Swampy. 

[Horizondave]

I will be landing on the 17th and hoping to use the sim that I previously purchased. Thing is, it hasn't be used for just over 1 year so it may have been reprogrammed. I will check at the DTAC office on arrival. 

Hope to keep same number, as I need to change my KBank app on to another phone. I do know the existing Dtac number so if I have to get a new sim (number), then I should still be able to go to the bank and get it set up. I am only there 9 days so I see some Dtac deals for 299 - 349 baht for the data needs I have. 

[Nightcrawler]

Just a quick question. 

Looking at the various Thai SIM deals, they specify time options ie 30 days etc  is this just for data or is it for the number itself? 

Can you top up a SIM card just make and recieve calls after the expiry of the package? If that makes sense.

I am not really bothered about the data allowance as I mostly use local WiFi, but more interested in just making and recieving local calls

So for instance, if I bought a 7 day package at the airport of 7/11 etc, can I top it up after 7 days? Or does the line and number simply expire? 

They don't seem to make that clear on the package details. 

[Glasseye]

3 minutes ago, Nightcrawler said:

Just a quick question. 

Looking at the various Thai SIM deals, they specify time options ie 30 days etc  is this just for data or is it for the number itself? 

Can you top up a SIM card just make and recieve calls after the expiry of the package? If that makes sense.

I am not really bothered about the data allowance as I mostly use local WiFi, but more interested in just making and recieving local calls

So for instance, if I bought a 7 day package at the airport of 7/11 etc, can I top it up after 7 days? Or does the line and number simply expire? 

Funny you should mention the above. As I just today am looking at switching phone service here. I am getting sick of TrueH sending me 4 or 5 text messages every day.

So, I started to look at the "packages" AIS offers. That was a complete waste of time, because it is more confusing than looking at a KFC menu.

So... I am going to do as BM Boydeste suggested earlier in this thread. Go to the local primary AIS branch. Talk to one of their reps and explain what my needs are. Hopefully they won't fcuk me too hard on what they give me.

 A few weeks back I finally hit a bonus call (what I label a customer service call that actually goes well) with my U.S. provider. That call ended up saving me $50/month on my T-mobile sim bill. 

BTW - if you have a dual sim phone, expect issues when "roaming". There are setting challenges that crop up often that can cause lost connections, missed calls and issues with voice mail. Don't succumb to the notion that your "auto" connect and sim manager is always taking care of everything, because it ain't.

 

 

[fygjam]

46 minutes ago, Nightcrawler said:

Just a quick question. 

Looking at the various Thai SIM deals, they specify time options ie 30 days etc  is this just for data or is it for the number itself? 

Can you top up a SIM card just make and recieve calls after the expiry of the package? If that makes sense.

I am not really bothered about the data allowance as I mostly use local WiFi, but more interested in just making and recieving local calls

So for instance, if I bought a 7 day package at the airport of 7/11 etc, can I top it up after 7 days? Or does the line and number simply expire? 

They don't seem to make that clear on the package details. 

My comments relate to AIS (1 2 Call).

I haven't "played" SIMs for a while to my info might be dated.

Avoid packages and just get a basic SIM. The packages are what they call "bolt-on", ie. they can be added to the basic SIM provided you have sufficient credit.

A basic SIM with 30 days validity cost 300 baht. You can make and receive calls and use data as well but data this way is expensive.

When you have used the 300 baht credit you just top up again. A 300 baht top up added 30 more days validity. Lesser amounts added less validity. Maximum validity is one year.

Just add whatever package suits your need at the time. For example, when I was going home I'd get a 1 day internet package so I had data at the airport.

Provided I had at least 32 baht credit I just dialled *777*7149# and I had 1 day (24 hours) internet access. Unlimited data but limited to 4Mbps speed.

 

[tko]

I keep this list of AIS codes for adding internet when I'm travelling.

*777*7388#       10Mbps 7 days 330Baht
          7210           6          7           270
          7154           4          7           220
          7211            6        30           850

EDIT: also, once you've got a sim card to one year validity from top ups, you only need to add 20Baht a month to keep extending it out a year from your top up.  We have several sims in our mobile hot spot phones and in our GSM alarm system on the house upcountry that I do that with.

Edited January 4 by tko

[maipenrai]

I just use a separate phone for my Thai service with AIS - I keep it working through wifi while I am home and top it up occasionally from my Kasikorn account, have had the same number for years now. 

[Glasseye]

4 hours ago, tko said:

I keep this list of AIS codes for adding internet when I'm travelling.

*777*7388#       10Mbps 7 days 330Baht
          7210           6          7           270
          7154           4          7           220
          7211            6        30           850

EDIT: also, once you've got a sim card to one year validity from top ups, you only need to add 20Baht a month to keep extending it out a year from your top up.  We have several sims in our mobile hot spot phones and in our GSM alarm system on the house upcountry that I do that with.

 

Now that is a good idea, and simple. Having that info. handy is an easy solution to a problem that crops up from time to time. That being the top up conundrum that drops up from time to time.

I need to pull my head out of ass and just write those numbers down after I make the switch. Having those handy will save a lot of wtf when the time comes.

[fygjam]

21 minutes ago, Glasseye said:

 

Now that is a good idea, and simple. Having that info. handy is an easy solution to a problem that crops up from time to time. That being the top up conundrum that drops up from time to time.

I need to pull my head out of ass and just write those numbers down after I make the switch. Having those handy will save a lot of wtf when the time comes.

Put them in your contacts. I used to put a period "." in front of the name so they appeared at the top of the contacts list.

 

[Glasseye]

5 minutes ago, fygjam said:

Put them in your contacts. I used to put a period "." in front of the name so they appeared at the top of the contacts list.

 

👍

[thegrogmonster]

10 hours ago, Nightcrawler said:

Just a quick question. 

Looking at the various Thai SIM deals, they specify time options ie 30 days etc  is this just for data or is it for the number itself? 

Can you top up a SIM card just make and recieve calls after the expiry of the package? If that makes sense.

I am not really bothered about the data allowance as I mostly use local WiFi, but more interested in just making and recieving local calls

So for instance, if I bought a 7 day package at the airport of 7/11 etc, can I top it up after 7 days? Or does the line and number simply expire? 

They don't seem to make that clear on the package details. 

I got a text from DTAC saying I have been with them for 15 years but I know I have had the same number with them since 2001.

Anyway all I do each trip is log onto our accounts and add a data package that suits our trip to our existing phone numbers. The data package is finished at the expiration date but the phones keep working as long as it has credit. Our phones stay active for 12 months from each topup.

Edited January 4 by thegrogmonster

[Butch]

Some brilliant and really useful info here chaps, maybe this topic needs to be pinned so as it doesn't fall down the topic list.

I think that some of the Companies reissue numbers as well, which gives rise to the occasional odd text or call.

[coxyhog]

My last trip I bought an AIS SIM card which lasted a month & had unlimited Thai calls & data for all of 300b.

Very useful as a hotspot when we were in our house in Korat where we have no wifi.

[Stillearly]

I've just topped up my Dtac sim using my Banking app , sim is now good until Nov 24

[fygjam]

5 hours ago, Butch said:

Some brilliant and really useful info here chaps, maybe this topic needs to be pinned so as it doesn't fall down the topic list.

I think that some of the Companies reissue numbers as well, which gives rise to the occasional odd text or call.

All companies anywhere recycle phone numbers.

As I recall from many years ago, with AIS, after the validity expiry date the phone would still work but could only receive calls. You also received the occasional text from AIS telling you to top up. Any remaining credit at the expiry date was pocketed by AIS. This applied for 2 weeks after the expiry date.

For another 2 weeks, the phone wouldn't work but you could still get the number back but you had to do it at an AIS service center.

After that (one month after the expiry date) the number was lost and after three months could be reissued.

 

AIS also have (or had) their Welcome Home service. You could put an expired SIM into a phone and it would prompt you for a top up. You would get a new phone number but it saved having to queue up to get a new SIM.

 

Useless SIM fact.

SIM stands for subscriber identification module. The SIM does not contain the phone number. It contains a 15 digit (last time I checked) number, the IMSI. International mobile subscriber identification. The first 3 digits of the IMSI identify the country where the SIM was issued. The next 2 digits identify the network operator or service provider who issued the SIM. AIS used different codes for their prepaid and post paid SIMs. The remaining digits are a sequence number. The connection between SIM/IMSI and phone number is just a computer entry in the network operator's database. The above is not strictly correct for the USA because there are so many operators and service providers that 2 digits were not sufficient.

Another useless SIM fact, I'm on a roll here.

Theoretically a SIM cannot be cloned. A SIM contains a microprocessor with private memory only accessible by the microprocessor. When a phone tries to connect to a base station the base station issues a challenge and the challenge response returned by the phone is calculated by the microprocessor using a key stored in its own private memory. To clone a SIM you would need to be able to read the microprocessor's private memory to get the key which you can't do.

Unless you're IBM. IBM claimed that by dissolving the epoxy encapsulation of the SIM microprocessor and then observing the naked microprocessor chip with an atom level electron microscope they could see the atomic level changes as the challenge was processed and "see" the key being read and work out its value.

Unfortunately there was a bug in version 1 of the challenge/response algorithm so not all operators implement it.

 

[Painter]

8 hours ago, thegrogmonster said:

I got a text from DTAC saying I have been with them for 15 years but I know I have had the same number with them since 2001.

Anyway all I do each trip is log onto our accounts and add a data package that suits our trip to our existing phone numbers. The data package is finished at the expiration date but the phones keep working as long as it has credit. Our phones stay active for 12 months from each topup.

Same same, except I visit the kiosk in the luggage hall whilst waiting for my bags to arrive, and get them to put a months package on. That package auto renews assuming there is credit on my phone, so when I go home it cancels itself, but the number remains live for a year since last topup.  Their latest text to me said id had that number for 17 years and a few months...

[thegrogmonster]

9 hours ago, thegrogmonster said:

I got a text from DTAC saying I have been with them for 15 years but I know I have had the same number with them since 2001.

Anyway all I do each trip is log onto our accounts and add a data package that suits our trip to our existing phone numbers. The data package is finished at the expiration date but the phones keep working as long as it has credit. Our phones stay active for 12 months from each topup.