| I travel to Thailand 3 or 4 times per year and | | | | will also extend the length that your SIM is valid |
| having a cell phone with a local number saves me | | | | for. |
| a lot of money. Local calls are dirt cheap and | | | | In Thailand, for every 300 Baht (about 9 US |
| long distance calls back to America are | | | | dollars) added to your phone, you get one |
| inexpensive. | | | | additional month of usage. My problem has been |
| All you need is an unlocked GSM tri-band or | | | | having enough months left on my SIM to keep |
| quad-band phone a Thai SIM card. A SIM, or | | | | my phone number for my next trip. My trips |
| subscriber identity module, is that little wafer chip | | | | can be three months apart or sometimes six |
| about the size of your thumbnail under your | | | | months. So I need to ensure that there is ample |
| battery in your cell. | | | | time on my SIM. |
| You can get SIMs in almost every country you | | | | This trip I learned how to overcome this. I use a |
| travel to and it only takes a couple of seconds to | | | | service called 1-2-Call and all that has to be done |
| swap them out. | | | | is to have someone with an abundance of months |
| The problem with American cell phone carriers is | | | | on their phone that they can transfer to you. |
| that they lock the SIM to a specific carrier. So, | | | | My girlfriend had a bunch of months on her phone, |
| you have to get it unlocked, a relatively simple | | | | so she just called *140 and followed the prompts |
| task that will only cost a couple of dollars. You | | | | to transfer time a month at a time. I had her |
| can try to get your service provider to unlock | | | | add 8 months to my SIM card and it only took a |
| your SIM, but most likely you will have to be a | | | | few minutes to conclude the swap. You can |
| long time customer with a compelling story to get | | | | choose English or Thai and the instructions are |
| it unlocked. | | | | very easy to follow. Just keep in mind that |
| The easiest way to overcome this is to buy a cell | | | | when they prompt you for "validity" this means |
| phone in Asia. They are inexpensive and are not | | | | how long the card is valid for. |
| locked to specific carrier. New and second-hand | | | | I also found that I can use the same number to |
| phone are readily available and the prices are very | | | | swap money from my phone to hers. I had a |
| reasonable. | | | | lot of money on my phone because I would try |
| The only real problem I have had is maintaining | | | | to increase the amount of months by adding |
| the same phone number in Thailand trip after | | | | about 1,000 Baht to my phone in hopes that I |
| trip. The way it works in Thailand, is you get | | | | would have enough time to last me until my next |
| your SIM, and then to add more money to it, you | | | | trip. |
| go to the local 7-11 or Family Mart, and buy a | | | | In the past, I would buy phone cards for her so |
| small, credit card sized, phone card. You scratch | | | | that she would have time and money on her |
| off a protective coating to reveal a series of | | | | phone to call me when I am back in America. |
| numbers that you input into your phone. | | | | This worked out even better. She got money |
| Whatever denomination of Baht you purchased is | | | | added to her SIM and I got time. Definitely a |
| automatically added to your SIM. The company | | | | win-win situation. |