When Anthony Lam Yue-yeung landed in Bangkok last September bound for what he expected to be a pleasant three-day holiday on the resort island of Koh Samui, he switched on his iPhone.
Like mobile phones everywhere it was swiftly flooded with welcome text messages offering roaming discounts and other services.
Lam selected an unlimited data roaming service offered by his provider, 3 Hong Kong, at a rate of HK$138 per 24 hours, confirmed and activated it, and proceeded to browse the internet from his phone as he usually does.
But Lam, a host for online radio station Hong Kong People Reporter, had a rude shock when he got his bill a month later.
Despite the discount rate he had selected, the bill included HK$29,026 for 'additional roaming charges' during the three days he had spent on the island.
The catch was that the discount applied only to True Move, a partner network of 3 Hong Kong, and during his travels his phone had connected to different networks depending on his location.
He and 3 Hong Kong are now in a deadlock, with him refusing to pay and the company demanding that he do so, and cutting off his service every few days to force him to pay.