Using DTAC Tourist sim card in Europe (Netherlands) not working

[woepie]

Hi,

 

Hope someone can help me. I have a DTAC Happy Tourist sim card (valid until December), which I used a lot in Pattaya last June/July without any problems. I'm going back to Thailand in November, so that should be just fine.

 

However, since coming home, it refuses to connect to any Dutch operator (I'm in the Netherlands).There's plenty of money on it (about 500 baht), and phone is unlocked. Another phone with this sim didn't work either, I guess this is something related to the sim card itself.

 

Any idea how I can get this to work? Do I need to configure something on the phone, or maybe arrange something on the DTAC website?

 

Thanks a lot in advance!

[jerry]

Thai (tourist) simcards don't work outside Thailand . Just keep it till you're back and with 

a little luck you can still use it as some providers stop service after 3 months no log on . 

[woepie]

Thanks Jerry. Not the news I wanted to hear, but still appreciated!

I'm going to try and contact DTAC support to see if they can help (maybe they can change my sim from "tourist" to something that will allow using it outside Thailand).

I'll report back if I get any result.

[thegrogmonster]

I am not sure what a tourist sim is. We have pay as you go (prepaid) and they work fine in Australia. We can even get an overseas data package if needed.

 

Not being in Thailand we were able to register our SIM cards via email.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[neo1011]

My AIS sim that is over a year old has no credit on it but it still connects to EE over here. last time i used it was February and it hasn't been registered  

[woepie]

So if it works for some and not for others, that makes the mystery even bigger. Anyway, I'll wait for DTAC tech support and see what happens, but meanwhile any help or suggestion is still appreciated of course.

 

By the way, I just found a similar thread in the "technical issues" forum http://www.pattaya-addicts.com/forum/topic/276448-using-prepaid-dtac-sim-in-europe/ from someone in Scandinavia who seems to have the same problem. Also started a few days ago and no solution there either, but at least it seems I'm not the only one with the problem.

[jerry]

Why all the hassle ? As you say you will be back in November . 

Even if you get it to work in Holland (afraid not) the money will be gone in no time as roaming is expensive .  

[strangertnt]

So if it works for some and not for others, that makes the mystery even bigger. Anyway, I'll wait for DTAC tech support and see what happens, but meanwhile any help or suggestion is still appreciated of course.

 

By the way, I just found a similar thread in the "technical issues" forum http://www.pattaya-addicts.com/forum/topic/276448-using-prepaid-dtac-sim-in-europe/ from someone in Scandinavia who seems to have the same problem. Also started a few days ago and no solution there either, but at least it seems I'm not the only one with the problem.

Maybe only the 'tourist' sims don't work overseas?

[supergeil]

Why all the hassle ? As you say you will be back in November . 

Even if you get it to work in Holland (afraid not) the money will be gone in no time as roaming is expensive .

I am not the OP but I would also like to be able to use my SIM card outside Thailand so that I can receive OTP texts from my bank. These are required when adding new recipients for money transfers or using the VISA card online with merchants that use “verified by VISA”.

[Fagota]

DTAC....to extend the expiry do *113*30#

[supergeil]

I had a look at dtac’s site: http://www.dtac.co.th/en/postpaid/services/roaming/
 
They have a booklet which mentions having to swap your SIM card if the one you have does not support roaming.
 
There is also a service to check rates, and from the information on the site, it is obviously supposed to work internationally, but as implied, you may need to swap SIM card (free of charge) to one that supports roaming, and it may also be necessary to subscribe to international roaming (a little unclear if this is only for the special packages).

[woepie]

Hi all,

 

Thanks for the replies so far. As an update, I received two (pretty standard copy/paste) replies from DTAC support. I'll post them here, so you can draw your own conclusions:

 

 > Dear customer,
 >
 > Regarding to your enquiry on international roaming issue, please kindly be advised that currently
 > International Roaming at Netherlands is temporarily unavailable for "Trinet Prepaid Number" due to network
 > maintenance. We do apologize for any inconvenience caused.
 >
 > However, you could switch your service contract to "postpaid basis" by making your request at any
 > of our service hall or dtac center, you could check our store location here (please click here [1])
 >
 > The other option is by sending your request to switch to postpaid contract to [email protected]
 > with required document below,
 > - a copy of your passport (first page with whole information are clearly visible)
 > - a picture of the back of SIM card (with 19 digits number are clearly visible)
 > - select a monthly price plan (click here for more details [2])

 > - billing address (in Thailand only)
 > - your reachable contact number
 >
 > We look forward to continuing serving you as a valued
 > customer. Should you need any further assistance,
 > please feel free to contact us.
 >
 > Best Regards,

 

And, after my request how long the outage will take, and if there's any option for customers who don't have a Thai billing address:

 

 > With respect to your enquiry, we are terribly sorry that we could not guaranteed how long it would take.
 > However, please kindly be advised that the engineer and technician are doing their best to speed up the progress.
 > Please accept our sincere apologies for the inconvenience you may have experienced.
 

So basically no clue about the outage, and no reply at all about an option if you don't have a Thai billing address.

 

Bottom line: I'll hope it starts working sometime when the "network maintenance" is done, but not holding my breath. My guess is I won't be able to use the SIM until I return to Thailand in November. I'll visit a DTAC shop there to see if there are better SIM options.

 

Why all the hassle ? As you say you will be back in November . 

Even if you get it to work in Holland (afraid not) the money will be gone in no time as roaming is expensive .  

 

It would be nice if I would receive the SMS messages and calls that people are trying to send me.

 

DTAC....to extend the expiry do *113*30#

 

Great, except for the fact that I can't connect to any network operator here in The Netherlands.

 

Anyway, thanks for the help so far. If it starts working I'll update the thread, and I remain interested if anyone has a smart idea what to do!

[izzyg]

Any progress?

[woepie]

Nope. I guess the "network maintenance" is still on-going...

[woepie]

Quick update for whoever is reading this: last weekend I spent in Spain and France, and in these countries the phone/SIM was working perfectly. No problems at all.

 

So it seems the SIM itself is working fine, and the fact that it's a prepaid tourist sim also doesn't seem to be a problem.

 

Unfortunately, in my home country of The Netherlands still no luck. I'm starting to think that DTAC doesn't have an agreement with any Dutch carrier. T-Mobile is listed in the "available networks" but isn't working, other Dutch carriers are listed with a mention "Forbidden".

 

Does anybody have a working DTAC SIM in The Netherlands, and if yes with which carrier?

 

Any ideas and suggestions remain welcome of course.

[supergeil]

So it seems the SIM itself is working fine, and the fact that it's a prepaid tourist sim also doesn't seem to be a problem.

[…] 

Any ideas and suggestions remain welcome of course.

I went to a DTAC shop today and they told me that if I wanted my SIM to work internationally then I had to switch to a postpaid plan (as is also hinted in the email reply that woepie quoted).

 

They told me that they have a special postpaid plan which is 59 baht/month that I can use when abroad, though I have to have been a postpaid subscriber for at least 3 months before I can get this cheap package.

[woepie]

I went to a DTAC shop today and they told me that if I wanted my SIM to work internationally then I had to switch to a postpaid plan (as is also hinted in the email reply that woepie quoted).

...

 

Thanks for the reply! But the strange things is that my PREpaid dtac tourist SIM is working fine in other European countries, like Spain and France. So for me, it seems that for some reason it's just not working in my country (Netherlands).

 

Actually, I'll be in Germany (where you seem to come from) next Wednesday, so that's another country I can try. I'll report back later this week if my sim is working there.

[Woofiee]

Thanks for the reply! But the strange things is that my PREpaid dtac tourist SIM is working fine in other European countries, like Spain and France. So for me, it seems that for some reason it's just not working in my country (Netherlands).

 

Having lived here as well for around 2 decades, I'd be surprised if it wasn't blocked. The Dutch are famously protectionist in what they let into the country, whether it be books, distributor/retailers, or services. My guess is DTAC isn't ever going to work here. 

[supergeil]

Their International Roaming Booklet about roaming coverage says that prepaid is supported in 46 countries and postpaid is supported in 154 countries.

 

So that would explain why it works in some countries (for prepaid).

 

I can’t find a list of countries supported when on prepaid, the booklet has a QR code for both prepaid and postpaid, so it might link to such list, but I don’t have a QR scanner and the iTunes app store is currently down for me. Maybe someone else can check this?

 

The booklet is here: http://www.dtac.co.th/document-upload/roaming/IR_Booklet_EN.pdf

 

Note though that the booklet also does say that not all SIM cards support it, so if on prepaid, you might be in a non-supported country and/or your SIM card might not be “subscribed” to IR (or both). Though for woepie, it sounds like it’s just that The Netherlands is currently not supported for prepaid.

[woepie]

Ok, interesting (and final) update. IT WORKS NOW!!!!

 

I was in Germany, and it worked there, just like in France, Spain, etc.

 

I came back in Holland, fully expecting it to stop working, but the phone automatically switched to a Dutch operator and has been working perfectly fine since. I've sent and received text messages and made a call to Thailand already, no problem at all. I also updated my baht balance with two scratch cards that I took home with me, also no problem at all.

 

I have no clue what changed, and probably never will. I'll be back in Thailand in a few weeks, will check in a DTAC store if they have a clue.

 

Anyway, thanks for all the help and replies. Great forum!!!!