Number portability not as easy as 1-2-3

At 3:53 pm, Friday, Jan. 28, I was rushing around trying to get organized for an introductory tour of Pattaya for a visiting friend. Then came the SMS from True that I could pick up my shiny, black and silver iPhone 4. Thrilled because it wasn’t supposed to arrive until the following week when I would be away in either Pattaya or Chiang Mai.

But I tripped myself up. I wanted to get my AIS phone number ported over to True. Anyway, I ended up with my iPhone that Friday evening but without a working number. It would take True until the following Wednesday, Feb. 2, to make the change.

At the True kiosk, on the main floor of Fortune Town IT Mall on Ratchadapisek Road, they told me I would have to go to AIS to release the number, then True sales office on the third floor to inform them I’d been to AIS and present True with the release paper. AIS said it wasn’t necessary. True was satisfied with that.

Then back to the ground floor to say I’d put all the round pegs into the round holes. They then said it would take until Wednesday to do the number switch of providers. Wednesday came and went. I was in Chiang Mai and couldn’t act on the fact nothing happened. So I continued to use my 3G iPhone to call and iPhone 4 to check email, take pictures and take notes. My pockets were bulging in all the wrong places.

Got back from Pattaya a day early because of a complete lack of interest in staying there. Then Tuesday my friend from China and I were off to the beautiful city of Chiang Mai in northern Thailand, about one hour’s flight. It’s just too damned far to go by bus or train for a five-day trip.

As I said, the deadline came and went. But Saturday this week I was back in Bangkok without a working iPhone phone. I dove into Fortune Town and hit the True sales office. A very good English speaking True rep informed me of something I didn’t know because I wasn’t told.
In order to make the switch, I have to have had the phone number registered in my name before they would release the number. Well, I had a 1-2 Call number and, well, you don’t need to provide a name when you buy at a nameless vendor. Good, but not always.

Other sticky things about the deal is that you have to have had the number for more than 90 days, which I had. And last, you have to have had it registered in your real name. Well, the True rep said that AIS will hold the number for 7 days after registration and then release it to True. Lovely.

 So now all I have to do is find a full-service AIS shop. Easier said than done. You can’t go to a Telewiz shop, which reps AIS for billing and such. The closest full-service shop to me is Siam Paragon and there are not many. DTAC and True mobile provider shops are everywhere.

We will see how this works out and I will report back.

But number portability in Thailand? Seems like there are barriers of every kind before a provider will release a valuable commodity like a number. Thai providers are becoming more like their greedy western brethren.