Mobile Phone Activation in Bangkok
One of the first things we do when entering a new country is buy a SIM card and set up our cell phone.
We don’t have a home plan from Canada and we would never use it over seas anyway, even if we did. With roaming fees and outrageous prices, we would never be able to afford making even one phone call home.
We have found that an unlocked iPhone and a newly purchased SIM card from our destination of choice have worked beautifully during our travels this past year.
Our latest country is Thailand and we are going to give you a step by step guide to how we hooked up our phone the day after we arrived in Bangkok.
- Sign up with the True Move Network. It is the best network in Thailand because it is the only network that has 3G and you can use the True Move wifi at coffee shops and shopping centres all over Thailand.
- Buy your plan by the megabite not time. You will use up your hours quickly but you have to do a lot of downloading and browsing to use up 250 megabytes.
- Buy the High Speed Net SIM card. This is the SIM card for smart phones that need data. It costs 99 Baht.
- When you activate you will automatically receive call time and data time.
- You will want to top up your time though. Go to a 7/11 and buy a top up airtime card. They are sold in 150, 300 or 600 Baht each.
- After you buy your time call *123 * Put in your pin number and hit # and then hit send.
- Your account is now topped up and now you must activate the package that you want.
There are three options for a package:
- 129 Baht 100 MB EDGE and 100 MB 3G
- 399 Baht 500 MB EDGE and 500 MB 3G
- 699 Baht 1 GB EDGE and 1 GB 3G
We bought a 150 Baht card and a 300 Baht card and it lasted us the month
You can activate them two ways.
- Call *9000 and follow the prompts – The will be in English
- Send an SMS to 9789 with your package code.
- You will then receive an SMS confirmation and you are good to go.
Your Air Time is Good for 30 days
If this seems like too much for you, go to the MBK Centre in Bangkok and have them do everything for you. Just walk up to the fourth floor where all the cell phone booths are, find a person that speaks excellent English and ask them to do it all for you. It’s that easy.
Sure you could go to the 7/11 and buy a SIM card on your own and fumble through it, but why not have someone do everything for you. And once your done, hop on the elevator, go to the 7th floor and see a movie. It’ll be a great day.
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Awesome info. Wish this had been available a few weeks ago. When I go to Bangkok, I bought a DTAC sim and had the worst time with that company. After sinking 300 baht and getting no Internet access, I gave up. Goona keep this post in mind if I return to Thailand.
wow! this is way too much for an info overload. Will certainly do this helpful guide when i visit bangkok this April. Great post!
Do you use the phone for internal calls or do you call home to Canada? If so, how much does that cost?
Great info. I did some research into phones for data access recently, and it turns out the iPhone is one of the better phones for regular travellers due to it’s support for the majority of 3G network types. So until we live in a world of global telecom standards.. Apple may be the best option
Great info guys, nice to see data access is not universally expensive
I did some research into mobile phones for global data access recently, and the iPhone seemed like the best option for travellers as it has support for most 3G data types. So if travelling is your thing.. Apple may be the best option (until global standards are adopted that is!)
Amen to iPhones plus SIM cards. It’s a little harder here in Central America if you don’t speak Spanish (like me!) but I’ve had one for El Salvador for the last month for SUPER cheap. Moving to Nicaragua next week and plan to do the same thing.
Amen to iPhones plus SIM cards. It’s a little harder here in Central America if you don’t speak Spanish (like me!) but I’ve had one for El Salvador for the last month for SUPER cheap. Moving to Nicaragua next week and plan to do the same thing. Also, if you are from the U.S. (I’m sure other countries as well) You can buy a skype account that is unlimited calls to the U.S. and Canada for only $3. Soooo, now you can take that 3G plan and call home using Skype. I will say, service has to be TOP NOTCH for this, and it isn’t really in El Salvador, but you can use your iPhone for calls home via Skype anytime you have wifi. My mom says I call her more often when I’m traveling then I do when I’m home. Haha!
Thank you for the article it has been truly helpful. Great read and keep it up!
You know, this almost makes me want to go to Thailand just to use my iPhone from there! Almost. I mean, there are many reasons to go, but just knowing that I won’t be hobbled if I need to use my phone is a huge plus. Usually what I do when I’m traveling internationally is just use the texting, or if I can get on a wi-fi network I’ll use my IM app…..it’s rare that I actually use the phone for voice calls….
Will certainly do this helpful guide, Ever since my friends told me about commentluv how useful it is, I wouldn’t used it right away so far i didn’t see any problem with this…
Unfortunately I dont have a phone with a SIM card. Any other solutions other than changing my providers?
Sorry, I don’t have advice for that one. You can always buy a cheap phone when you get to Bangkok and use that.
hmm, it must consider when i go to Thailand
Oh wow, I am going to Bangkok next month and haven’t figured out how I can keep in touch with my family while I’m in Bangkok. And now it’s solved. Thanks a lot for your share!
Great info. I did some research into phones for data access recently, and it turns out the iPhone is one of the better phones for regular travellers due to it’s support for the majority of 3G network types
We agree techlinking. We love our iphone.
Thanks for the great info. It will come in handy and is just the thing for travellers heading to Thailand. Really great to get first hand experience before diving in. Please spend some time clearing out these rediculous and obviously paid placement “comments” about iphones. They cheapen your otherwise great site and really give your readers the wrong impression. Thanks again.
Hello,
I’ve been in Bangkok for three months and still having trouble getting my phone online .. I have a hunch my phone has a problem but I’ve been burning my way through sims to try and confirm first… I have true move sim right now, but its just regular sim not a net sim so I guess this is the problem.
The first thing you guys say to do is register with true and then choose a package in megabytes… How do you register with them? I often see places I can use my true move passcode..which I do not have because do not know how to register.
Went to true move shop, no help..
Many thanks
Happee
Happee recently posted..Final Summary! Cost Of Living Guide – Month Three