When my partner and I were travelling in Sri Lanka we had our mobile phones unlocked and used Sri Lankan sim cards. Pay as you go scatch cards were widely available and there was good network coverage. We could also make very cheap international calls with them.
I understand from other postings that MBK is the place to go in Bangkok re mobile phones. Can anyone recommend a good network with English displays and good network coverage in Northern Thailand that would also allow us to make cheap international calls. It would also be good to know if we could then use the network in Cambodia and Laos when we make trips into there.

AIS has the largest network..
orange, is the best for the city. not sure how thier network is up north.

a new law passed that you must rejister with the government to get a sim card. I'm not sure how it works...

You can get sim-card/phone card sets at any shopping centre or at 7eleven shops. The set for "1,2 call" including sim-card and 50 baht phone credit costs 300 Baht. I use them always. If you dial 800 before the country code, calls to Europe are 8 Baht/minute, otherwise 21 Baht/minute. The staff will fix everything for you! I don't know if it works outside Thailand.

that law about registering was passed becouse some separatist in the deep south were ignitien bombs by using thier cell phones. yep it makes no scence.

ttt

Thanks for the info. It all sounds fine apart from the 800 bit. Micha45, where do you put the 800 - before the 00 or after is for example you are dialling 00 44 for the UK?

hmm I've nenver seen 800..
008 (TOT)
009 (CAT telicom)..

either one offers cheep international rates just press 009 - country code + area code + phone number.

sorry! orgy7 has the correct information!

I recommend purchasing your Thai SIM cards in advance so you can give your Thai phone number out to friends and family.

DTAC is the card I recommend. I purchased mine in advance from this site:

http://www.intelligenceweb.net

Brand new in package and it worked great. Could setup in English and connect as soon as the plane was on the runway.

Cheers!

you will be overwhelmed with the number of phone shops in mbk....there must be 1000 of them...at least 2 full floors...

the cell phone craze is fizzing out. the new muxt have gadget is MP3 players. MBK used too have wall to wall cell pone dealers i'd say about 60% have packed up and gone.

like FriendofSaitKitts i bought a DTAC sim card before going to Thailand (from the website he mentions) so i could give out the number before leaving home and start using the card as soon as the plane hit the runway!

I looked through some previous posts as we arrive next week and want a sim card for our phone. The site mentioned here, www.intelligenceweb.net is no longer operating. Does anyone know where I can buy a sim card prior to arriving in thailand?

Seeing how SIM cards are sold everywhere (e.g. 7-11 etc.) and are very cheap (e.g.199 baht) do you really need to be connected the second you get off the plane? The websites l've seen for purchasing a SIM beforehand have been very expensive so why pay triple the local price just for the sake of an hour or two. 7-11's are everywhere, no one seems to worry about registration anymore, not in Bangkok at least.

Do not buy SIM cards ahead of time listen to Zeer. When I went to bangkok I found SIM cards everywhere and they were way cheaper there than anything i found prior to arrival.

thanks, I will take Zeers advise. I am leaving a sick relative behind and just need to know that I can be contacted in case things get worse.