How to keep the same Thai phone number from a trip to another ?

[Lukas7]

Question in the title.

 

I am with AIS 1-2call, got my number last august and I woul like to use it again in january. Will it still be usable or will they cancel my line due to inactivity ?

Maybe I should top up every month or so ?

 

How do you do it guys ?

[gonesamui]

I don't remember how often you need to do it but it's not about inactivity but about putting credit on your phone. You'll need to put new credit on your phone on a regular base.

[capricorn]

Dunno about AIS but I'm with DTAC/Happy and I can keep my number for a year without having to top up.

[Fritzy]

I'm with True so my experiences are based on that, but I'm sure it's similar with AIS.

 

Your prepaid credit is going to have an expiration date, typically 3 months from the top up date. I'm not sure how long they'll keep the number assigned to the SIM without any credit in the account, so I'll do one of the 2 options below to extend the validity of the credit.

 

1. On True you can call a number that will debit 3 baht from your account and extend the validity for 1 month. I'll do this before I leave to extend the validity of the credit until I expect to get back.

2. You would also get a 3 month extension if you top up, so if I forget to do the extension before I leave Thailand I can just top up with my K-Bank account and get another 3 months added to the expiration date.

 

The first option is the cheapest but it needs to be done while you're in Thailand. Since you're already back I'd try calling or chatting with the contact centre to see if they can debit your account to extend the validity of the number.

 

Fritzy

[THAJEC]

Question in the title.

 

I am with AIS 1-2call, got my number last august and I woul like to use it again in january. Will it still be usable or will they cancel my line due to inactivity ?

Maybe I should top up every month or so ?

 

How do you do it guys ?

I have 1,2call too. I gave my thai friend money when I was leaving Patts and she send me 100 B for code number regularly. I can tell you I need 800 B for six and half months.

[Muso]

Dunno about AIS but I'm with DTAC/Happy and I can keep my number for a year without having to top up.

me too.. had same number for 3 years, longest non use 11 months.. no worries at all...

[Hattis]

I have had same 1-2 call - number over 2 years using it every 6 months though. I always top up for 500 baht before leaving, that extends validity 1 year. Also i belive 1 year is max. no matter how much you topping.

[On Borrowed Time]

 

2. You would also get a 3 month extension if you top up, so if I forget to do the extension before I leave Thailand I can just top up with my K-Bank account and get another 3 months added to the expiration date.

 

I do this too. I love the fact you can top up from your internet account for as little as 100 baht

[Khunmike]

Just go to thaiprepaidcard.com and you can add credit to you're card from anywhere in the world. I use there service for years, never had any trouble.. Works great!

[Lukas7]

Yeah I knew about that site. Just wanted to know if I had to top up again before my next trip. Will do just in case.

 

Thanks guys!

[Khunmike]

just put you're Thai card in you're phone and press "balance".. you get a sms back with you're balance and how long you're credit is good for. so now you know when it expired...cost almost nothing..

good luck!

[Mart39]

When I was in Patts' in August I went to tuk com and asked for a sim with long validity, girl was very good and gave me an ais 1-2-call sim card.

 

Basically whenever I top up any amount it adds 60 days up to a maximum of 1 year. Expiry date at the moment is August 2012.

 

Each time I head home now I'll still have 1 year's validity on my phone.

[tunamelt]

There is a rare 12Call SIM floating around called Nan Nan that gives 1 year validity, but other than that you will have to keep adding credit to a 12call number.

 

DTAC Happy on the other hand lets you extend validity up to 1 year for 2 thb per month. Keypress codes to do it here. For long term numbers, DTAC is your best choice.

[marko456]

i have the same phone and simm for about 1.5 years now. I just checked and have a bal of 130B and valid till 07-12

use for most *121# and then "call" to get bal and how long good for

Mark

[biggles]

I have had the same number with 1-2 Call for eight years now. In addition to topping up the card to extend the validity (which is what I do) you can also pay a small fee to extend. Last time I was in Carrefour phone shop it was 30 baht per month.

[Lukas7]

I just check, my balance is at 0 since december 25th (last top up was september 3rd or 4th). It says I need to top up before january 9th to avoid service termination.

 

I think I'll do what Hattis said next time.

 

Anyway, I asked a friend who will be in town soon to get me a 100 baht top up in the meantime.

 

If I really need to, I'll get a new sim card from DTAC Happy.

[allsaints25]

I went to one of the 1-2 shops in Bangkok and they said they would keep the number for me. It has worked, i was there two years ago but my wife took the sim and the number still worked - she has been each year though.

[overseas516]

I have had 1-2 one call for over 5 years and the validity is 12 months. I have just returned from Pattaya and put another 500 Baht on it on the 31st December 2011 and it expires on the 30th December 2012. As i am planning to return on around beginning of December 2012 all i need to do is put another 100 baht on it and it will extend for another year.

[PCarell]

I was going to get TrueMove http://www.truemove.com/en/One-year-long.rails

But it is kind of conflicting. Picture says 1 March 2012 and text below it 31 October 2011.

[Lukas7]

The 500 baht one year extend is good.

 

Thanks for all the advices guys!

[landmann]

Get a special True Move Sim - good for 1 year from the date/time of purchase

[Noud]

With 12call it is easy, they have a service to top up and extend validity online, amongst other things. https://12calleservi...PWeb/index.html works like a charm. you can top it up that way and there is a service to extend the validity with 30 days, for a cost of 30 bhat. That does only seem to possible to do once every 5 days or so though as it is comes with free talk time.

[M.C.H.]

When buying 1-2 call sym cards you can get them where the credit lasts for different time spans I believe the longest is 12 months

[Bakwan]

I have a SIM Card from DTAC. At the end of each trip, I add 100 Baht and they extend my validity to one year from the date I add Baht. (I'm very happy with this arrangement. Maybe that's why they also call it "Happy")

 

As long as you make more than one trip per year, this works very well (no hassle)!

 

I should add that I don't know if DTAC/Happy has different types of SIM Cards that extend for different lengths of time when Baht is added. But, as I said, the one I have always extends to one year past the time when Baht is added.

 

Bakwan

[PCarell]

TrueMove Inter SIM has now at least "top up 10 Baht get one year validity".

 

http://www.truemove.com/en/Inter-SIM-Prepay.rails