Local Mobile Phones in Thailand

If you are heading to Thailand and want to have mobile phone access as well as internet on your phone it is really easy to achieve and cheap cheap.

I use AIS’s 1-2-Call service for my local number in Thailand so this post only relates to their service. 1-2-Call is a prepaid service and you can buy refill cards from any 7-Eleven and loads of other places. To buy a SIM card visit an AIS shop. There are a few choices including a SIM card that maintains credit for 1 year – good if you are visiting Thailand often.

So just buying the SIM card and activating it will give you a local Thai phone number. If your phone is GPRS enabled you should also be able to access the internet from your phone. The charge is 1 Thai Baht (THB) per minute if you don’t buy a package from AIS.

There are a number of packages available that make access really cheap. I recently bought 5 hours access for only 50 THB (about US$1.65). This lasts for 30 days and the cost is deducted from the credit you have on your phone. To buy internet access packages call *138 and follow the English instructions. Calling *139 checks your balance.

It is really easy to use and will make those long bus journeys more fun as you’ll be able check your emails and surf the web for very little cost.