Mobile Services

Phuket Tourist Information Guide

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There are a few mobile services in Phuket that are reliable. The big three are AIS, DTAC and TRUE. AIS has fallen out of favor with some people as they left a bad taste in the mouths over Thaksin Shinawatra or his relatives owning the company. In fact, even 7-11 has completely dropped support for selling phone cards at their stores. Family Mart, sometimes much harder to find, still has a service to allow you to put Thai Baht on your phone for AIS SIM cards.

DTAC and TRUE both have good phone and data coverage. Everyone is on 3G and there are some spots that read 4G consistently, though is it really 4G speeds? Doesn’t seem like it on our phones!

Mobile services in Phuket are improving all the time. AIS data plans have come of age. It used to be that you were charged 1 THB for every minute using a data connection without a special pre-selected data plan, but recently they’ve decided that if you use more than so many minutes, they just charge you for an entire day of internet access – only around 30 THB, and you can use it for 24-hours. That’s so much easier on the wallet, and makes using the internet while you’re here – a simple and cheap process.

We’ve seen people use worldwide SIM cards here in their phones, and that’s so much more expensive than it is just buying a cheap 50 THB SIM from one of the companies mentioned and then adding money to it as needed. You don’t need to go to a convenience store to add money to your phone, you can also stop at the stand in the mall or on the street for any mobile services in Phuket and be able to top-up your account.

Connections are good Thailand-wide for the most part. The problem with bad connections is usually someone using a dirt-cheap phone and not the actual mobile service connection. Apple and Android phones usually provide great reception.

If you crack your iPhone or Android phone screen and need it replaced, you can do so at any of a hundred shops at the malls. Do be aware that the quality of screen may not be exactly what you had before (OEM), it might be an inferior screen.

Don’t forget to bring your passport with you as you purchase a SIM card, it’s the law that all SIM users be registered.

* As you can see we have only one location on this page at the moment. We are sorry for the inconvenience and assure you that we will list more as soon as we have done our research on availability and quality. *

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