Thai SIM number and activation

[glenman]

Those old SIM's have longer expiration dates.  The new ones don't last nearly as long.  Unfortunately for you, those old SIM's are working on frequency allocations that have expired.  All three carriers are transitioning to their newer licenses and one day you will find it doesn't work.  Best not to leave too much credit.  They have been sending out SMS about how to upgrade and keep your number but you have probably missed them by not being in Thailand.

 

Thanks for the warning, didn't know that. Just switched my "thai phone" on to check. It has about 500bht on it and valid until 25-oct-2014. 

 

I'm back in August so hopefully still working then.

[31below]

Have never seen sim card packaging that did not have the number on it.

I always look at the packaging to find a number I like.

 

When leaving Thailand you can buy a sim card which has the number on it.

You will have about a year to activate the card by using it. When purchasing card

find the one with the farthest out expiration date for activation. Now you have a

phone number. Make up cards with the number in advance. Go to Thailand

and then activate sim card. Add load as required.

 

Handing out cards with number works almost too well. Try it and see.

[nixonsbest]

Those old SIM's have longer expiration dates. The new ones don't last nearly as long. Unfortunately for you, those old SIM's are working on frequency allocations that have expired. All three carriers are transitioning to their newer licenses and one day you will find it doesn't work. Best not to leave too much credit. They have been sending out SMS about how to upgrade and keep your number but you have probably missed them by not being in Thailand.

 

I had to upgrade my AIS sim in April from 2G to 3G. I went to Tuk Com AIS and they required my passport. That was a fun day 2 trips to Tuk Com during Somgkan.

 

Sent from my GT-S7560M using Tapatalk

[sanuk247]

The "top-off" each month is about as near to a scam as you can get. Know of no other thing offered by company's throughout the world where you are required to make additional purchases each month to retain what you have already purchased. In this case it's a SIM number. Have a Thai AIS SIM card for more than 3 years now. Don't use it much so when I do, Invariably I get a message about you can not use as need to "Top-Off". Can't make the call. Having 600+ baht paid to AIS in pre-paid credit sitting there is not enough for them. We need more and you can't use what you have already purchased unless you buy more every 30 days whether you need it or not. It's a scam... what else can you call it?   

[Ru4Real]

 It's a scam... what else can you call it?   

 

Business?

 

None of the countries I have used prepaid local SIMs (Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, UK, Australia) allow you to keep using it without topping up at regular intervals ... they need to recycly numbers or they would run out.

[sanuk247]

Business?

 

None of the countries I have used prepaid local SIMs (Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, UK, Australia) allow you to keep using it without topping up at regular intervals ... they need to recycly numbers or they would run out.

 

Certainly not business! Business is where you as a company make, buy, sell goods or services in exchange for money. The exchange is voluntary. Extortion, a criminal offense in many country's, perhaps fits these communication company's activity's best. Extortion is the crime of obtaining money from someone by the use of force or threats. Forcing someone to make additional monthly purchases, against the threat of losing something they have already purchased, definitely falls closer to the extortion side rather than the business side.

 

Sad the customer base has lost their way and now make purchases by the company's choice for them rather than their own personal choice. Don't know how many times I have heard customers in a fast food line say "what comes with that". Meaning what have you as a company chosen for me to eat and drink, and remarkably they think little about what that simple question is saying about their lives.

[Sick Water Buffalo]

Certainly not business! Business is where you as a company make, buy, sell goods or services in exchange for money. The exchange is voluntary. Extortion, a criminal offense in many country's, perhaps fits these communication company's activity's best. Extortion is the crime of obtaining money from someone by the use of force or threats. Forcing someone to make additional monthly purchases, against the threat of losing something they have already purchased, definitely falls closer to the extortion side rather than the business side.

 

Perhaps you should bring this up with the Thai government, which makes the rules and regulations regarding the validity and expiration of prepaid mobile telephone numbers.

I hear that the current government is really easygoing and tolerant and they would likely Cave in to your ideological demands.

 

As Ru said, unused prepaid mobile numbers need to be recycled or they would run out. The topoff requirement is to ensure that 'zombie' numbers aren't going to sit unused.

In fact (from an article I read in the Bangkok Post earlier this year), it was the companies that have pushed for longer validity times but it was the government which intended to impose shorter periods before SIMs expired.