The best eSIM for Thailand

The short answer

Thailand is easy: every travel eSIM runs on a Thai network, and the big ones cover the cities and the main islands well. So don’t look for a magic brand. Look at these five things:

1. Which network, and how many. Thailand’s two big networks are AIS and True. A plan with both gives your phone a fallback when one is weak on an island or in the hills.
2. What happens when the data runs out. Does it stop, or slow down so you can still use maps?
3. Hotspot. Allowed or not, if you want to share with a laptop.
4. Price per GB, not the price of the smallest plan.
5. What a refund looks like if you don’t use it.

How we score on those five

We’ll be specific, because “best” without facts means nothing:

• Networks: our Thailand eSIM runs on AIS and True, both with 5G. Your phone picks the strongest.
• When the data runs out: on 3 GB and bigger, you stay online at 128 kbps. The 1 GB plan stops.
• Hotspot: yes.
• Price per GB: in the table above, at today’s prices.
• Refund: not installed? Full refund, no questions asked.

One thing we can’t do yet: top up the same eSIM. For more data you order a new plan, with its own QR code.

The comparison with other brands only shows plans where we’re at least 50 cents cheaper than every brand that has the same plan. Where we’re not, we don’t show the row. Check the other brands’ own pages before you decide; prices change.

When a Thai SIM card is the better deal

To be fair: AIS and True sell tourist SIMs at Bangkok’s airports, and for a week or two in Thailand only, they’re good value. You also get a Thai phone number, which some Thai apps need.

The trade-off is the counter. A Thai SIM has to be registered in person, with your passport. After a long flight that means a queue, and the SIM only works in Thailand. With an eSIM you install at home and you’re online the moment you land, also when you go on to Laos, Cambodia or Vietnam.

Thailand only, or more?

Going on to Laos, Vietnam or Cambodia? Then a regional eSIM is usually cheaper than a Thai one plus another per country. See the Banana Pancake Trail or the Southeast Asia eSIM for Malaysia, Singapore and Bali.

More about networks, the islands and data use: our Thailand eSIM page.

Sources: on SIM registration in Thailand, Tilleke & Gibbins. Competitor prices: esimdb.com, see the note under the comparison. Networks and plans come from our own catalogue.