Phone prices

Can anyone tell me what I could expect to pay for a mobile phone with SIM card in Phuket? My phone at the moment is on the blink, so wondering whether jst best to wait till I get to Thailand to pick one up. Are phones unlocked so i could use it on my return to Australia with my normal sim? Any recommendations on where to get best deal/service?

Phone prices

If you go downstairs at Big C, you%26#39;ll find an array of phone shops and the D-Tac shop. Lots to choose from, you can get second hand too. I paid $50 for a second hand Samsung phone. I told them the battery wasn%26#39;t very good, so they gave me a new battery.

For details of a sim card with D-Tac, check here;

members.virtualtourist.com/m/9045f/160bcd/c/

3rd tip down.

Phone prices

I bought 2 new phones at MBK recently in Bangkok,very basic but reliable(30 dollars each).The guy put the sim in for me and then all you do is buy 100 bauht card.Even bought a Dee international card(300 bauht)and called oz,u.k. and hongkong(3 bauht min).I%26#39;m sure some of the local ex-pats in phuket will know where they sell them there.You will be able to get your phone unlocked back in oz no prob%26#39;s.Any one down china town etc..will do it for you!

I should have added that the phones are usually unlocked, but if not, any of the retailers there can do it for you for 200 baht, from memory.

Agree with previous posts, MBK in Bangkok and Big C in Phuket are the great place to buy a mobile phone. If Patong is your convenience place to buy it, there are around 10 mobile phone booths on the 3th floor of Robinson Building at Jungceylon(It%26#39;s on the same floor of Bowling green and Cinemas). You can buy it from there too.

cool. thanks for the tips

Hi - I dont worry with mobiles while in Phuket - I get a phonecard which costs only approx 20 cents per minute. I got 300 baht cards and the yellow phones are everywhere. If not for you good luck with phone.

Scott

There%26#39;s no sim-locking of mobile phones in Thailand. Any phone you buy there will work with your home card back in Australia.

US and Canadians need to make sure they get a tri-band though, because the frequencies are different in North America.

Just at this moment, I%26#39;m using a tri-band phone I bought in Thailand with a Fido card in Eastern Canada.

So what kind of phones do we use in australia?

GSM? Triband? whatever?

In Australia, you use GSM on the 900/1800 bands just like most operators in Thailand.

The GSM operators in the US and Canada use 1900.

So if you bought a phone in Thailand (or Austraklia) that you wanted to use in North America, you%26#39;d need to make sure it%26#39;s a triband ie 900/1800/1900.

But for Australians, a normal duo-band phone (GSM 900/1800) is sufficent.