Planning a trip to Thailand? Whether you’re making a stopover in Bangkok or spending your holiday in Phuket, Koh Samui, or elsewhere, you surely don’t want to miss out on internet access on your smartphone. Normally, this would result in expensive roaming charges unless you get yourself a local SIM card. Particularly convenient are digital eSIMs that you can install on your smartphone before departure and start using immediately after landing.
What is an eSIM, and is my smartphone compatible?
An eSIM is a digital SIM card that can be loaded directly onto a compatible device without the need for a physical SIM card. This type of SIM card is particularly convenient for travellers because it is easy and quick to buy and activate online without having to worry about a physical SIM card.
You will find numerous providers of eSIM plans on the Internet. With most of them, you buy a one-off prepaid plan for a certain number of days and data volume. After expiry, there are no further costs and you do not need a subscription.
Unfortunately, not all smartphones support an eSIM. You have good odds with an iPhone 11 / 12 / 13, but also with an Android smartphone, e.g. Google Pixel 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 or Samsung Galaxy S20, S21, or Note 20. You can find a list of smartphones that support eSIM here: Which devices support an eSIM?
If your Android smartphone does not support eSIM profiles, eSIM.me is a physical SIM card that you can use with eSIM profiles.
Most eSIM providers only offer data volume and no free minutes. Since these are also prepaid plans, outgoing calls are generally not supported. With some smartphones, e.g. iPhones, you can still be reached via your normal SIM card and make calls.
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Plans Compared
Here you can easily find the appropriate plan. Simply select your travel period and required data volume, and suitable eSIM plans will be displayed:
Cheapest Providers
While you can already get 1 GB for a week for €2 with Manet.travel, eSIM4Travel offers the same price, and also the cheapest price for 3GB and 5GB. Furthermore, you can currently take advantage of a 10% coupon to save even more. If you need a lot of data, Saily‘s 10GB package for €8 is also a very attractive option.
No time limit
If you only need a small amount of data but over a long period or intermittently, you can purchase 1-20 GB of data without an expiration date with BNESIM. You’ll be paying around €4 per GB, but they never expire and can be used in 17 Asian countries.
Unlimited data
For true unlimited data, you can go with Airhub or Holafly. Airhub charges US$9.50 (~€8.85) for 10 days of unlimited internet. Holafly’s price depends on the exact number of days that you want, but is generally much more expensive than Airhub, charging e.g. €34 for 10 days.
Pay as you go
With MTX Connect, you can purchase an eSIM for €10, which comes with €10 in credit, and then surf at a rate of 1.2 euro cents per MB in many countries worldwide, including Thailand.
Another option is Yesim, charging €4,50 per GB. Also, Yesim often gives out free credit – currently you can get €5 for free. So if you have a short trip to Thailand planned and don’t use much data, this may indeed be the best option overall for you.
The best network in Thailand
The three largest mobile network operators in Thailand are AIS, True Move H, and dtac. The market leader AIS offers the best overall coverage. However, if you primarily stay in major cities or tourist areas, you’ll also have good coverage with True Move H and dtac.