Thai Sim Card Top Off

[kahuna]

Hi All,

Found this guy in eBay who lives in Pattaya and will top off your Thai sim card for a small fee so you don't lose the number and have to buy a new sim on your next trip...

I'm not endorsing him (caveat emptor), but we shared a couple emails and he seems straight...I'll give him a try and let y'all know...

kahuna

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws....=1&rd=1

[SamplerDoc]

Hold the cell call Jack....
You mean Even tho I have Bhat left....I could lose my cell number?  How long does my number stay active if its not topped off?

I also wonder if there is a way to set up the cell so that I can call it from USA and retrieve messages from folks in LOS leaving them?

[kahuna]

Correct...the bhat you added to your account expires after a certain time if you don't use it....

When you topped off your phone in Thai, you should have received an sms telling you how much baht was applied to your account and when it would expire...

You can call from outside Thai to your Thai number but I don't believe you can access sms messages...I don't have VM in Thai...

For example, when I topped off my sim in late August early Sept, I believe it expires sometime this month...So I'm gonna top off now and it will still be good in January when I return...

Correct me if I'm wrong on this guys, but this is how I understand it works with most Thai sims...

[divertwo]

Aloha and a great topic as I just got my quad band GSM phone for my planned trip(s) to LOS. I planned on buying a SIM card via e-Bay or other internet source but see there are a number of Thai providers for phone service. Is there a preferred phone service that the Forum members may have had good luck with? Like the USA, I'm sure the Thai providers differ a little in their technology and service regions. Regarding "topping off"....seems strange that it is amount of baht rather than frequency (or lack of) of calls that would "kill" the phone service. Maybe just calling your Thai phone from your home country would keep things active. Better yet, have one of the "local" Forum members call our Thai phone once/twice a year. Having never used a GSM in Thailand with their carriers I have no idea what services they offer...SMS, VM, etc........ALOHA

[BAM]

(divertwo @ Nov. 15 2006,08:31) I just got my quad band GSM phone for my planned trip(s) to LOS.  

Just be sure the phone is not SIM locked to your US service provider.  Cingular, AT&T, T-Mobile, SunComm all lock their phones to the SIM cards they provide making the phone only work with their SIM card. They still allow you to travel outside their network using their SIM, known as ROAMing, however they will charge you high Roaming charges... like $2 a minute. This is what they want and one of the reason they lock the phone in the first place... another is to keep you from jumping ship to another provider like T-Mobile to AT&T in the same market.

If your phone is locked you can get it unlocked in Thailand by many of the phone shops however be very careful still... I had a phone unlocked in BKK on my first trip... the phone worked great in Thailand however once I returned home the phone no longer worked.. When I took it in for repair I was told the phone was cloned to a phone in Thailand and without the original software flash the phone was now not reparable ... I later did get it working again at a underground Chinese cell phone chop shop...



Common error messages of a phone locked to a specific service provider when you insert a different SIM card:
Subsidy password, SP (Service Provider) lock, phone restrictions. NCK, NSCK, SPCK, Insert Correct SIM Card, Phone Restricted, Enter Special Code, Contact Service Provider, Cannot Undo Restriction, Wrong SIM Card, Not Allowed.

[stogie bear]

When you get a new number in Thailand it may only be activated for 30 or 60 days regardless of how much credit you have stored on it.

The longer you use it the more time you get to use the credit up to a miaimum of one year.

For example - if you buy a new phone number today it will last you 60 days and topping up the credit extends it for another thirty days (as of course does using it!)

Eventually you work your way through the ranks to get a year to use your credit...

[divertwo]

All good info............hell with that roaming crap that Cingular tried to sell me..........FYI, via e-Bay, there are companies that will unlock your phone for $10 USD so it will function worldwide using various service provider SIM cards. My quad band Motorola was a T-mobile locked phone, now it is unlocked and works with Cingular and Nextel......those are the only SIM cards I have tried..........ALOHA

[BAM]

(divertwo @ Nov. 15 2006,15:44) FYI, via e-Bay, there are companies that will unlock your phone for $10 USD

The way that works is you give them your phones IEMI number. (International Equipment Mobile Identifier)
From this 15 digit number they run it through a secret logarithm that gives them your unlock code for that phone. They then send you the unlock code and you punch it in yourself. This trick only works for some models.... while other models can only be unlocked by being physically connected to a unlocker box€¦ a box built by a hacker for unlocking phones€¦ or the phone is connected to a computer to do the same.
And then there are some phone models that can't be unlocked at all.

[kahuna]

I just topped my 1 2 Call card off for 600 bht from this Pattaya eBay  guy...see how it works and let you all know...Small investment to keep from having to buy a new sim...

I've had two phones unlocked at MBK for a few bht...think I paid 300 bht to have an old v180 unlocked with a code in a few minutes and more recently paid 400 bht to unlock my razr...it had to be connected to the computer an took about 30 minutes to unlock...but both work fine here (USA) and in Thai...

[SamplerDoc]

(Bam @ Nov. 15 2006,17:05)

(divertwo @ Nov. 15 2006,15:44) FYI, via e-Bay, there are companies that will unlock your phone for $10 USD

The way that works is you give them your phones IEMI number. (International Equipment Mobile Identifier)
From this 15 digit number they run it through a secret logarithm that gives them your unlock code for that phone. They then send you the unlock code and you punch it in yourself. This trick only works for some models.... while other models can only be unlocked by being physically connected to a unlocker box€¦ a box built by a hacker for unlocking phones€¦ or the phone is connected to a computer to do the same.
And then there are some phone models that can't be unlocked at all.

Good Stuff Bam...
I called T-mobile got my unlock code before going to Asia, it worked and off I went (I did all the above myself by contacting them 1 week prior as they suggested).  However, when I tried to put a sim card in from Thai and China in it, it would not work.  It seems that even tho it was "unlocked" something went wrong.

I bought a new cheap cell in China and one in LOS and a sim card for each.

[SamplerDoc]

(stogie bear @ Nov. 15 2006,15:37) When you get a new number in Thailand it may only be activated for 30 or 60 days regardless of how much credit you have stored on it.

The longer you use it the more time you get to use the credit up to a miaimum of one year.

For example - if you buy a new phone number today it will last you 60 days and topping up the credit extends it for another thirty days (as of course does using it!)

Eventually you work your way through the ranks to get a year to use your credit...

I think and hope thats wrong....
I bought a Cell and Sim card at MBK and did not listen too my "gf guide" about how much bhat to put on it and put 100 bhat on it which of course I went thru in days.  Went back a few days later and put on 300 bhat before I left LOS and the message on the cell was I had 50 some bhat remaining and that it would expire on August 12, 2007 ......so it seems as if it would last 1 year from the topping off date.

I would hope that that is true.  I did have friends in LOS tell me they can not leave a SMS but no idea if the voice mail works or how I could retrive it from the USA.

[kahuna]

Mr. Pattaya eBay guy added 600 bht to my account in 2 separate actions and I just received 2 sms messages from 1 2 Call:

First message: "You have 542.88 baht and valid until 01/07/2007."

Second message: "You have 642.88 baht and valid until 02/07/2007."

Stogie and Mr. Pattaya eBay are correct...Thanks...now I'm good until I return in January...

[stogie bear]

If anyone has a DTAC account they always give you 900 in actual credit when you buy 800 Bahts worth of top up credit!

[dummy_plug]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but when your SIM card "expires" it is actually talking about unused credit and not the number. Since my first trip I've always used the same SIM card and although my unused credit expired on subsequent trips I was able to buy a recharge card and reactivate my number. So based on my understanding, this guy on Ebay is charging money for something you don't need???

[kahuna]

Don't know about your sim DP...but I know two guys whose couldn't top off their cards and the only solution is to buy a new card...For two hundred bht I didn't want to take a chance...