SIM card registration deadline swiftly approaching
PHUKET: Prepaid SIM card users have six days left to register their cards or else be blocked from accessing data services and placing calls.
“All users who have yet to register their SIM cards must do so before July 31. If you do not, you will be blocked from making any calls, other than those to emergency numbers,” says Wanna Setthaphong, director of the Phuket-based National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) Region 11 office.
Although unregistered SIM cards will be restricted, users will still be able to receive calls, he noted.
Mr Wanna explained that the numbers 191 for the police, 199 for the fire department, 1669 for medical emergency assistance and 1200 for the NBTC can be called free of charge.
The news follows the NBTC announcing in January that all SIM cards in the country must be registered, including SIM cards sold to expats and tourists (story here).
“You can register your SIM card at any official mobile phone operator’s office, convenience stores that sell SIM cards, or at the NBTC Phuket office on Wichitsongkram Road in Kathu near the Kathu Temple,” he told the Phuket Gazette today. “You will be able to register after the deadline, but please try to do so beforehand to avoid any inconveniences.”
An employee at the NBTC call center says that more than 63.7 million of the 90mn prepaid SIM cards have already been registered.
“I have no idea how many of these prepaid SIM cards are being used and registered in Phuket. All of this information is being sent to the NBTC headquarters in Bangkok as people continue to register,” said Mr Wanna.
He reiterated that this move is part of the NBTC’s strategy to support the government’s national security policy.
“Over the years, unregistered SIM cards have reportedly been used by terrorists to plant bombs, as well as for fraudulent and illegal businesses,” he noted.
The registration process is hoped to take only minutes. Thais must present their national ID cards, and foreigners must present their passports.
More information is available at official mobile phone operator stores or by calling the mobile phone operators as follows:
DTAC: call 1678, or +66-2-202 7000 from abroad.
AIS: call 1175, or +66-2-271 9000 from abroad.
True: call 1331, or +66-2-900 9000 from abroad.
NBTC Phuket: call 076-321961/3, or email mtr_pk@nbtc.go.th
— Chutharat Plerin
