International cell phones.

May 7, 2005 11:54 AM

I'm going to be traveling around Asia (Southeast Asia, China and possibly Mongolia) from the 18th of this month until August of 2006, and I want to get an international cell phone. What are my options here? I'm clueless.
posted by borkingchikapa to travel & transportation (8 comments total)

Do you need to have access to it at all times (satellite) or just in major areas?
posted by fionab at 12:05 PM on May 7, 2005

No, just in major areas. I don't need a satellite phone.
posted by borkingchikapa at 12:40 PM on May 7, 2005

Where else will you be in SE Asia?

Regardless your best bet is to buy once you get there --- it's trivial to get a very nice, very cheap unlocked GSM cell pretty much anywhere in Southeast Asia.
posted by nathan_teske at 1:41 PM on May 7, 2005

If you're in China or SE Asia first, I second nathan_teske - just buy one there. Cheap, they work, and GSM. Often in major cities you can find outgoing travellers who will sell you theirs for a few bucks, and they can be a little more reliable than a hawker on the street, but even those are generally fine - I only met one guy over there who bought a bad cell phone, and at $10, it wasn't the end of the world. Check on the LP Thorntree to see if anyone posted something close to your departure time; otherwise, just ask around or post at a few guesthouses, or just buy a new one. And if you travel after that, you can just buy a new card for it. But definitely get the phone cards for long distance!
posted by fionab at 2:32 PM on May 7, 2005

PS: Can I come with? I'm suddenly summer-planless, and I'd do anything to go back over there. Have fun...maybe we can do a Myanmar or Laos meetup?
posted by fionab at 2:34 PM on May 7, 2005

One more thing - if you buy a phone, try to aim for a quad band phone so you can use it literally everywhere.
posted by nathan_teske at 4:29 PM on May 7, 2005

And one one more thing - if you're out of the country for more than 300 days, you qualify for the expatriate tax exemption. Talk with your accountant on that one, it could literally save you tens of thousands of dollars
posted by nathan_teske at 4:31 PM on May 7, 2005

Buy a used phone over there at any of dozens of used phone shops that crowd the shopping streets. If you are from the US, be aware that most of these phone systems are GMS - meaning you buy a SIM card from a local telecom company, and then you simply add units to it whenever you need by buying phone cards and calling the number for a fill up.
posted by zaelic at 3:06 AM on May 8, 2005