No Work Permit No Postpaid Sim DTAC

[Notherenow]

So I rocked up to the DTAC shop today to sign up for a 12 month postpaid plan 199 baht a month about 5 gb of data and 90 minutes of calls a month. Anyway the girl tells me that I need a work permit, which of course being retired I do not have. 

I tried to provide them with the lease document but they would not accept anything but a work permit. So of course after I left the store I called the company and it was confirmed that I did require a work permit. 

So Thailand being Thailand I thought I would see if AIS is the same and apparently no they do not require a work permit. But the plan that they had at the same price previously was no longer available.

Anyway I would rather stay with DTAC for convenience but just wondering if anybody else has encountered this and found a workaround or have any other suggestions. 

Prepaid seemingly does not offer the same competitive plans with the same amount of data.

[Bar4]

50 minutes ago, Iamkanga said:

So I rocked up to the DTAC shop today to sign up for a 12 month postpaid plan 199 baht a month about 5 gb of data and 90 minutes of calls a month. Anyway the girl tells me that I need a Work Permit, which of course being retired I do not have. 

I tried to provide them with the lease document but they would not accept anything but a Work Permit. So of course after I left the store I called the company and it was confirmed that I did require a Work Permit. 

So Thailand being Thailand I thought I would see if AIS is the same and apparently no they do not require a Work Permit. But the plan that they had at the same price previously was no longer available.

Anyway I would rather stay with DTAC for convenience but just wondering if anybody else has encountered this and found a workaround or have any other suggestions. 

Prepaid seemingly does not offer the same competitive plans with the same amount of data.

I tried to sign up for than plan or one similar as well. "Register Online" I saw and thought this is great. Filled it all in and then get to the part "Upload a copy of your Thai ID". All done in English as well. So I got off my tush and went to the DTAC shop with my work permit. I forget the reason they gave but the upshot is that package it is only available to Thai's.

So now I have been severely pissed off by both TRUE and DTAC. Running out of options fast.

Cheers,

Mark

PS: wonder if the DTAC deal is available to Chinese?

 

[Garzan]

I've been on the same postpay plan with True for the last six years. Non-Imm O visa and a whole string of retirement extensions. Unlimited 4G, 3G, Edge, unlimited Wifi, 450 talk minutes (that I never use). I couldn't say what the data speed is, but I've never felt restricted whenever I've been using it. Cost is 760.77b including all taxes and misc charges. I could probably get a better plan now, but I've been sucked into the entropy hole...the cost is reasonable to me, and it would require me to go get frustrated with my poor Thai, and their poor English if I wanted to see about changing it. 

[Oukiva]

1 hour ago, Iamkanga said:

So I rocked up to the DTAC shop today to sign up for a 12 month postpaid plan 199 baht a month about 5 gb of data and 90 minutes of calls a month. Anyway the girl tells me that I need a Work Permit,  //

For small amounts like that, I prefer to take the 1-year *prepaid* offers. No need to show any document; Not even need to go to an AIS office, just register from you mobile; And in addition usually a better price than for postpaid.

By example for Internet on my phone, I use the AIS "Unlimited Max Speed 4 Mbits" package at 2'500 baht per year (see here) and just receive SMS yearly when it's time to renew.

[Notherenow]

1 hour ago, Garzan said:

I've been on the same postpay plan with True for the last six years. Non-Imm O visa and a whole string of retirement extensions. Unlimited 4G, 3G, Edge, unlimited Wifi, 450 talk minutes (that I never use). I couldn't say what the data speed is, but I've never felt restricted whenever I've been using it. Cost is 760.77b including all taxes and misc charges. I could probably get a better plan now, but I've been sucked into the entropy hole...the cost is reasonable to me, and it would require me to go get frustrated with my poor Thai, and their poor English if I wanted to see about changing it. 

Fair enough but thats almost 4x the price of a plan that fits me. Im just tight arsing it out. I just dont like spending money unnecessarily. 

[Notherenow]

1 hour ago, Oukiva said:

For small amounts like that, I prefer to take the 1-year *prepaid* offers. No need to show any document; Not even need to go to an AIS office, just register from you mobile; And in addition usually a better price than for postpaid.

By example for Internet on my phone, I use the AIS "Unlimited Max Speed 4 Mbits" package at 2'500 baht per year (see here) and just receive SMS yearly when it's time to renew.

Thats a pretty average speed though isnt it? Probably fine but thats not decent 3/4g right?

[Oukiva]

2 hours ago, Iamkanga said:

Thats a pretty average speed though isnt it? Probably fine but thats not decent 3/4g right?

4 Mbps is in fact a lot of more than what I need ! 
My Internet usage on my phone is LINE at +95%, 
and it would probably work as well with their lowest package at 1 Mbps. 
Other is GoogleMaps and occasional website reading. Again, more than enough. 
In the condo I have VDSL 50+ Mbps for my computer... and my phone through WiFi. 

[Notherenow]

5 minutes ago, Oukiva said:

4 Mbps in fact a lot of more than what I need ! 
My Internet usage on my phone is LINE at +95%, 
and it would probably work as well with their lowest package at 1 Mbps. 
Other is GoogleMaps and occasional website reading. Again, more than enough. 
At home I have VDSL 50+ Mbps for my computer... and my phone through WiFi. 

Yes pretty much my thoughts. And it's a fair backup solution just not quite ideal.

[Garzan]

11 hours ago, Iamkanga said:

Fair enough but thats almost 4x the price of a plan that fits me. Im just tight arsing it out. I just dont like spending money unnecessarily. 

3

Totally understand. At the time I got it it was one of the few postpay available, and I got well and truly tired of my phone service quitting suddenly because my prepay funds had run out. That annoyance factor was my motivation. 

Now, there are other plans, and with K+ on the phone and free wifi in a bar, I could top off any time I needed to without going to a 7-11 or anywhere else. You're 'tight arseing' and I'm 'lazy assing'. :-)  

[wes12]

Possible you can get away with it by trying another dtac shop, showing a residence certificate (similar to what some banks ask), or getting a thai person to sign up and then transfer it over to you.

[Notherenow]

4 hours ago, wes12 said:

Possible you can get away with it by trying another dtac shop, showing a residence certificate (similar to what some banks ask), or getting a thai person to sign up and then transfer it over to you.

Cheers good idea to try another shop. Failing that I might try your idea with my friend transferring the name.

[Notherenow]

So just to close this out.

I ended up transferring my number to a Thai friend. This took about 15 minutes. I went to the shop the next day to sign up for the plan but had to wait until the transfer had finished which was another few days. I asked the girl if I could do it on the app at that point to which she replied no. So of course understanding how Thailand works in that department, on the day she said I could sign up for the plan I tried the app and I'm sure to nobody's surprise it worked. I should also mention that you need the Thai person's ID number. But other than that all very straightforward.

But for those that are interested in saving a few dollars it's quite a good deal if you're okay to sign up for a year. 

[NotASexTorist]

https://th.linemobile.com/en/packages

You could have just gone with their S package for 179 baht. 5 GB and 150 minutes.

 

Run by DTAC.

[Notherenow]

8 hours ago, NotASexTorist said:

https://th.linemobile.com/en/packages

You could have just gone with their S package for 179 baht. 5 GB and 150 minutes.

 

Run by DTAC.

Cheers for that. I was not aware of that service at all or I would have been all over it.