Bangkok Library Digital library and information center for Bangkok, Thailand

Browsing the Internet on Happy DTAC GPRS can be painfully slow, but due to a recent house move I've had to use mobile internet more frequently on my phone. Several months ago I signed up for a recurring package of 20 hours per month (105 baht per month) but when I checked today I found I had run out of remaining minutes. No problem! Making sure I had enough credit on my phone, I phoned the DTAC Call Center to request another 20 hours for this month only. The fee was deducted from my phone and I received a confirmation SMS message within minutes.

Subscribers of Happy DTAC GPRS can check their remaining GPRS balance by calling the following number:

*101*4*9#

After calling the above number, I received the following message:

Just a few moments later I received the SMS message confirming the remaining GPRS balance and expiry date:

Credit purchased for Happy DTAC (Thailand) SIM cards can expire in just a few days. By paying a small fee you can extend credit validity between 30 and 180 days. If you do this twice, you can extend credit by 360 days (180 x 2) up to a maximum of 365 days making it ideal for light users and occasional visitors to Thailand.

EASY STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS TO ENABLE INTERNET ACCESS FROM A MOTOROLA E6 MOBILE PHONE. CONFIGURE YOUR MOTOROLA E6 MOBILE PHONE AS A GPRS MODEM FOR USE WITH UBUNTU.

Introduction

These instructions explain how I configured Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (64 bit) to connect to the Internet using a Motorola E6 mobile phone. Although I cannot guarantee they may work, the instructions may be useful for someone with similar requirements and hardware. For reference, I used the following:

• IBM Lenovo R61i laptop computer
• USB cable
• Motorola E6 (MotoRokr) smart phone
• Happy DTAC SIM

Please note that I had already subscribed to a GPRS package with the carrier DTAC (Thailand). This cost about 100 baht per month for a maximum of 20 hours usage.

Thailand Mobile Expo 2010 is running until February 7 at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center. Previous fairs have attracted large numbers of visitors – particularly at the weekends – and this year should be no exception. Most of the "bargains" (advertised in Thai) are strictly limited to the first few customers; nevertheless, the fair is a good place to see all the latest mobile phones, PDA and GPS devices, generally at high street or slightly discounted prices.