dsquared37

Wondering if this could be accomplished with a cheap (700THB??) stupid phone as well. Contol the app through the international smart phone but set the number to the local SIM (in the stupid phone) so direct contact with the driver is possible.

FlyerTalker683455

Yes for sure.

ft101

Two phones or a dual sim phone are required if you want to make and receive calls locally, and from overseas contacts who won't have your Thai number.

I know I'd rather carry one phone than two.

aBroadAbroad

Data point: I've successfully used grab taxi in Bangkok with my USA number, including calls from driver.

transpac

As long as your phone roams in Thailand, and the driver knows how to dial your number (001/+) and he has enough money, calls from a driver should work fine. Can't think of any reason why they wouldn't.

aBroadAbroad

Yes, that was understood. I was responding more specifically to these comments:

The risk is that some drivers may not want to incur the added expense of calling you if you have a non-local number. In my most recent situation, it was a major downpour at dinner time on a Saturday night, and I only needed a short trip (roughly Asoke to Witthayu). Took 4-5 attempts to get a driver, but the one I finally got was great. He called my USA cell number at least three times to let me know he was stuck in traffic but still coming. Almost no English, and my Thai is less than nit noy, but we worked it out.

FlyerTalker683455

ok, but honest to God, what's the aversion against having a local number. In Thailand it is a completely hassle free process.

dtsm

Not completely hassle free like old days. Do need to register with a passport, etc. But as most folks have said, very convenient to have as very reasonably priced and easy to pick up at the airport kiosks or MBK.

aBroadAbroad

Who said there was an aversion. It's simply a matter of answering the question for the benefit of those who do not find it necessary or prefer not to get a local sim while they're here.

And who says it's completely hassle free? For me, it means choosing between not having my U.S. number active at all times, or carrying a second phone, or paying high rates to forward my frequently used and extremely reliable U.S. number to a seldom used Thai number that does not always work properly and always needs to be topped off. All of these are a definite and completely pointless hassle for me, personally.

Fwiw, I do subscribe to a Thai number that is forwarded to my US number — I keep it as a convenience/courtesy for certain local dealings — but it can't receive SMS, so using it to register with Grab Taxi was not an option. Really, with T-Mo's free wifi calling, iMessage, Line, FaceTime, Skype, etc., my local number has become almost entirely irrelevant.

transpac

Not completely hassle free like old days. Do need to register with a passport, etc.


I bought a SIM for a visiting colleague a few weeks ago in a counter shop in MBK. Totally hassle-free, just like the old days. Everyone uses a mobile app (2-Shots) and it took more time to get change than it did to register the SIM using a copy of my passport. They just snap a pic of the passport or ID (Thai drivers license was OK too), and bar-code the SIM package. Done.


If you spend a lot of time here having a local number, for many but not all, is almost a requirement. I would never expect all the locals I know to call me on my U.S. numbers (T-Mo, Talkatone, Google Voice 2x, magicJack). You need it for almost all aspects of daily life including Immigration, police, rental agreements, deliveries, banking, p.o. box, auto license, etc. You can forward T-Mo to GV, or any VoIP provider, so as to ring through here.

Some do call via LINE, FB, etc. but that requires WiFi, and doesn't always work on 3G/4G, IME.

FlyerTalker683455

local number is irrelevant to you, but not locals trying to call you, unless that's not important to you. I wouldn't feel right to burden a cabbie with calling an overseas number.

aBroadAbroad

I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you simply misunderstood my comment about keeping a Thai number as a convenience and a courtesy, and that you're not intentionally distorting my words. To clarify, it is precisely those very infrequent occasions when I need a number for locals, as a courtesy to them, that the number is only almost irrelevant.

I seldom take taxis, and when I do, the order is typically placed from my husband's phone (Bangkok number), or by a doorman, concierge, taxi stand, etc. As a courtesy, in those rare instances when I use Grab Taxi from my USA phone (I think I've done so twice in the past six months), I always tip extra if the driver has called me. I recommend that all customers using an international number do the same. That said, I have no doubt that drivers in the GT scheme understand they will sometimes deal with international numbers. Local mobile carriers do offer cheap international calling packages, and cabbies have the option of declining the pickup request and/or not calling the customer.

In any case, I'm not sure why we are still going around on this. The salient points to this side discussion are that (1) some people who come here do have reasons for not getting a Thai SIM card, even if makes no sense to you, and (2) the earlier statement that they will be unable to use GT because they don't have a Thai number is not quite accurate.

Since this discussion is not really about the merits and disadvantages of using Thai vs. international SIM cards, perhaps we can now return to the thread topic?

FlyerTalker683455

You are a decent lady then. Not all are.

TravelinSperry

thanks for the explanation. I'm happy to hear I can use grabtaxi with my intl T-Mobile number. I was avoiding it due to earlier suggestions that one needed a local #.

transpac

Again, as long as your phone roams in Thailand - and it probably will assuming it AIS has enough spectrum during your trip - and the driver understands how to dial your int'l number, can get through (expect ~50% call completion for combo out-bound and in-bound calls) and has enough balance on his phone to make the call, you should be fine. IME, the driver always calls, and if he can't reach you he won't pick you up.

My U.S. T-Mo number roams here in Thailand on AIS/GSM900, not sure if it will roam on AIS/3G-2100 (my phone supports both) when AIS loses their 900 concession next month. Service is kind of sucky, outbound calls sometimes go through, inbound calls are even less reliable, but if people try calling a few dozen times they usually get through to me.

Local SIMs, calling and most importantly, mobile data plans are all incredibly inexpensive. Yes, you'll find WiFi in many places but for the most part it is over-subscribed, under-performing and a pain in the butt to use (service drops then you have to log-in again).

No reason to avoid trying with your int'l T-Mo number as it might work.