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10-Steps to Buying & Using a Thai Sim Card & Mobile Data Plan

You’ve touched down in tropical Thailand- you’re excited for impending adventures with elephants, lounging on beautiful beaches, trekking through lush jungles and making new friends.

You you reach for your phone to let everyone back home know that you’ve arrived and maybe to snap a selfie to post on social media.

But wait! You’re service-less and airport wifi is a bummer.

What to do?

Below is your step by step guide to getting excellent (and cheap) cell service in the Land of Smiles.

thailand sim card mobile data

Krista Stelzner, assigned to the U.S. 7th Fleet flagship USS Blue Ridge, snaps a selfie with a Thai girl during a community service event at The Child Development and Protection Center in Huay Yai, Thailand.

Step 1. Unlocking Your Phone

Bringing your pre-existing service overseas can be inconvenient and can cost an absolute fortune in fees.

So consider having your phone unlocked from your service provider before you board your flight. It only costs a small fee, and that way you can get a Thai sim card instead.

Also! Know your phone. You may not be aware, but different phones carry different size sim cards. iPhones generally take nano SIMs and Androids may take micro SIM cards. Before you leave, quickly Google your phone model and check- they may also be able to tell you at any provider booth in Thailand. All size sims are available in Thailand.

Step 2: Deciding on Roaming vs. Thai SIM Card

Some travelers would like to keep their current number, which requires that they turn on international roaming.

Before doing this, contact your provider and ask about charges you’ll rack up for data and service roaming. You may also want to ask if they have any partner networks in Thailand.

I don't recommend roaming because it can get pretty pricey, and buying a SIM at either the airport or at a provider shop is a quick, cheap and reliable alternative.

Step 3: Getting a Sim at the Airport Vs a Provider Store

If you’re staying in Thailand for a week or less, getting a plan at the airport is likely a good choice. There you can find tourist targeted plans that provide internet, calling and texting for shorter time spans.

For longer stays, it is be a better idea to get your phone plan directly from a provider store or from a provider’s booth at a local mall. There you can find a more flexible range of plans that that will suit your needs at a lower price.

Generally, purchasing a SIM will require a passport, as most providers register the card under your name and passport number.

You may not be asked at smaller locations or stores in more obscure parts of Thailand, but this registration practice is still the general procedure, so be sure to bring your travel documents with you.

Step 4. Choosing Your Provider & Your Plan

There are three main cell service providers in Thailand: AIS (also known as One-2-Call, DTAC and Truemove. All offer ‘pay as you go’ deals for short and long term travelers and have 3g/4g capability.

Popular plans include daily, weekly and monthly deals that suit pretty much any traveler’s schedule.

Check out the best deals from each service below:

1. AIS: daily unlimited internet (19 THB); weekly unlimited data for varying speeds (from 79-89 THB) and monthly data- 5 GB (488 THB/month); 14 GB (888 THB/month). Calling plans start at 9 THB per day.

2. Truemove: daily unlimited internet (15 THB); weekly data for varying speeds from 55-199 THB depending on amount used; and monthly data ranges from 199-899 THB/month, depending on amount used and speed. Unlimited monthly starts at 599 THB. Calling plans start at 13 THB a day.

3. DTAC: daily internet ranges from 19-49 THB depending on amount used; weekly unlimited internet is 59 THB; monthly internet ranges from 299-799 THB; depending on amount used. Calling plans start at 29 THB a day.

While DTAC is most friendly to Western users in terms of customer service, Truemove provides the most wifi hotspots across Thailand, which is fantastic for travellers on a shoestring budget.

Step 5: Topping Up with Credit

Adding money to your phone plan- also referred to as ‘topping up,’ is very easy and convenient as it can be done at any 7/11, at the provider’s store or even at a Boonterm kiosk on the street.

Additionally, choosing a plan is extremely simple. You can call the provider’s customer service, who will give you a code to dial in and activate immediately.

The cost of the plan your select will be deducted from the amount of money you’ve added to your number through the top up process.

In recent years, most providers have also started to offer an app that makes choosing a call, text and/or data plan a snap. You may also be able to find promotional codes for phone plan deals, which is always helpful if you’re on a budget.

Step 6: Tethering from Phone to Laptop

Spotty wifi is the bane of every traveller’s existence. If you’re planning on using a tablet or a computer but realize that everyone else’s Netflix is hogging the hotel or apartment’s wifi, you may want to consider using your phone’s data plan to set up a hot spot.

This will require quite a large data plan, so if you’re considering this, getting a prepaid unlimited data plan is a good bet.

To set up a hot spot:

1. (for iPhone) go to ‘settings’
2. Click on ‘personal hotspot’
3. Turn it on
4. Choose how to connect tablet or computer (with either wifi, USB cable, or bluetooth) – you will be prompted

Step 7: Guarding Your Data

One interesting element of Thai data plans is that you’re actually buying however many GBs of data at a certain speed. Once you use that up, you can still get access to data, but it’ll be throttled to 128kbps; so slow you’ll want to pull your hair out!

Therefore, trying to ration your data is just good sense, especially if you only want to top up once during your time in Thailand.

Whenever possible, connect to wifi networks provided by dining or shopping establishments near you or even mobile wifi zones enabled by your internet provider.

Save data sucking activities, like video streaming (hello YouTube!) or Skype calls (hi, Mom and Dad) for wifi zones, and make sure that your phone is on ‘power saver mode,’ if possible. That will prevent apps from constantly refreshing and sucking data.

Another good idea is to go into each application – preferably those that you don’t use often – and turning cellular data ‘off’ so that the application cannot be enabled without entering a wifi zone.

Step 8: Avoiding Over Charging

One great thing about ‘pay as you go’ plans is that you’re never going to be surprised by an enormous bill- you’re simply going to run out of minutes or data or texts.

Contact your plan provider’s customer service line to ensure that alerts are sent to your phone in English so that you know how much of your plan you have left or if there is any information you need to know about service coverage.

If you have the provider’s app, you can also check plan levels and contact customer service there. Note the time and date that your plan is set to expire, as most have daily, weekly or monthly limits. As any traveler knows, it’s no fun to be caught without any way to communicate!

Step 9: Staying Active

Keeping your sim card active depends on what type of sim card you have. For prepaid tourist sim cards the general rule is that after a top up you have 30 days of validity. To check when your package expires, you can dial the following codes, based on your specific mobile provider.

To check your date of expiry you can use these USSD codes:

  • AIS –  *121#
  • DTAC – *101*9#
  • True – #123#

Extend Your SIM’s validity

To extend your validity:

AIS:

  • Add 10 Baht credit for 30 Days Validity
  • Alternative method: Dial *500*9#  Add 30 days validity for 30 THB via Mao Mao package

DTAC:

Extend your validity for up to 365 days, at a cost of 2 Baht per month.

  • Press : *113*30*9# for 30 days extension.  Cost 2 Baht
  • Press : *113*60*9# for 60 days extension.  Cost 4 Baht
  • Press : *113*90*9# for 90 days extension.  Cost 6 Baht
  • Press : *113*180*9# for 180 days extension.   Cost 12 Baht
  • Conditions: Must activate SIM for at least 90 days or have usage of 200 THB.

TrueMove H:

Extend your validity for up to 365 days at a cost of 2 Baht per month

  • Press : * 934 * 30 # for 30 days extension.  Cost 2 Baht
  • Press : * 934 * 90 # for 90 days extension.  Cost 6 Baht
  • Press : * 934 * 180 # for 180 days extension.   Cost 12 Baht

Step 10: Contacting Customer Service

To contact a call center with questions or concerns about international roaming, a SIM card or activating or deactivating a data plan, here is a list of the major carrier customer support numbers.

DTAC
1678 – from your phone
Line: @dtac
feedback@dtac.co.th

AIS/One-to-Call
1175 – From your phone
Line Messenger @12Call_Fan
callcenter@ais.co.th

TrueMove
1331 – From your phone
LINE: @truemoveh

With these easy steps, you’re well on your way to exploring the beauty of Thailand, all while sharing it with those back home. Happy travels!

I've got a fair bit of experience with sims, providers, plans and all things mobile in Thailand, so if you've got a question, leave it below and I'll answer it as best I can.

Tips to Start Planning Your Trip Now

Don’t Forget Travel Insurance:

Travel insurance protects you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. I never travel without it. I’ve been using SafetyWing for years. You should too.

Book Your Accommodation:

Best hotel rates are found at Agoda, Booking.com, and Hotels.com.

Do You Need a Backpack?

Check out my top tips for the best travel bag. that will make your trip 10x more comfortable



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Comments Sort by : newest | oldest

  1. Amar says

    Still valuable info after 5 years, thanks ThallandLife!
    After browsing through several walkthroughs, I find yours helpful, yet not commercialized towards any providers/resellers, and that's got me writing for advice.
    I am staying in Thailand for 15-16 days from mid-December, travelling to only the tourist destinations of Phuket and Pattaya, besides Bangkok. I mainly will use the internet (somewhere 15-30GB would suffice) and really doubt on needing to make a local phonecall (but if there is one to offer, why not). I understood that it would be wiser to obtain a plan in town, can do that in order to enjoy better plan offerings for the same price than those Tourist plans.
    Now the question is, will I be able to obtain a Thai provider E-SIM with a plan that is good for my stay, if I walk to a downtown store of any carriers? And what would you suggest for a mobile plan?
    Better yet, a comparison of those e-sim services would be appreciated by many like me, if you update your post with that info.

    Cheers,
    Reply

  2. LuisZ says

    Hi! First of all, thanks for the article is very helpful but I have a little question, right now I’m on Mexico, I was able to get an esim from dtac but it’s for tourists, do you know if there’s any way to change it to a “normal plan” but outside of Thailand?
    I’m worried of losing the esim without using it…
    Or what can you suggest me in order to have a permanent Thai number?
    Expecting for your answer and thank you again.
    Luis
    Reply

    • JamesE says

      Luis, First question: Which vendor did you buy the eSIM from? Second: Which plan did you get? and, Third: You got a number, right?

      The only difference between a physical "regular" SIM and a Tourist SIM is that the tourist SIM has a 1-year expiration date built into the system. What I don't know is if that also applies to eSIMs. The other thing is that from a functional standpoint there is no difference between a "regular" SIM or eSIM or one targeted for tourists. So, you can buy whatever voice/data package that makes sense for how you are planning on using the SIM. And to do that requires some installation.

      I see on dtac's website that the eSIM is only available through 3rd party resellers. Your best bet is to call the place you bought it from and to have them enable international use (or help you set it up) so that you can receive OTPs from dtac to set up the "dtac" and "dtac Call" apps. (Note: once they're set up you won't really need international service again.) The "dtac" app is similar in functionality to the dtac website while the "dtac Call" app uses data (cellular or WiFi) for voice and text. The reason the Call app is important is that all of your voice and texts are billed at the Thailand rate and not at the international rate for your country. So, you download the apps, run them to set them up which is when you will receive the texts with the OTP, now you can buy whatever voice or data package you want and use the dtac Call app for voice and text. All this is much less of an issue if you're in Thailand and a dtac rep at a store can set it up in two minutes. So, if you're going to Thailand anytime soon and can wait, just wait.

      If you do set this up at home make sure you disable the eSIM after you're done. You won't actually need the eSIM until you're using cellular data in Thailand. You really do not want to accidentally start to roam on the dtac line. It's insanely expensive.

      This gives you at least a year to make sure your Tourist eSIM doesn't expire (again a question for the vendor you bought it from) like a physical one would. If it does then that would be an issue for a dtac Center to sort out for you. Good luck!
      Reply

      • JamesE says

        I was able to find a bit more information. The Happy Tourist eSIM offerings have the same "lifecycle rules" as a regular physical tourist SIM. Also all changes, top-ups, and plan modifications are done through dtac and not the vendor. This means you'll have to go through the process I wrote about to get your eSIM set up with the dtac and dtac Call apps.
        Reply

    • JamesE says

      A "Calling Plan" is merely the details of your mobile subscription in terms of data, voice, and messaging and the price you pay. In Thailand each carrier has dozens of plans ranging from one-day up to annual. The Thai carriers also split the plans. For example I have a base plan that sets my voice, messaging, and data costs and speed but then I add a separate data plan to save money when I'm in Thailand.
      Reply

  4. Val says

    Many thanks for this article James.

    We have recently been advised by our bank that we can no longer make online transactions unless we have local mobile phone number so we can receive SMS code. We used to use a pin2 to transact our transfers.

    Due to Covid we are back in Australia and cant see us returning anytime soon. Do you know if I can set up Thai mobile plan from outside of Thailand. I would need to pay online?
    Reply

    • JamesE says

      If you don't want to maintain a mobile plan in Australia your best bet is to set up a VOIP service (like Skype) that also allows SMS (which Skype doesn't outside the US). You then add a soft-phone app to your mobile and calls and SMS get forwarded to the app. I use a Canadian service (I'm in the US) called voip.ms with a soft-phone app called Softphone (there are many others). It's super-cheap, like US$5 - yes, 5 - a year, but does require a bit of tech understanding (or a techie friend) to set up the first time. After that you don't even touch it.

      Your second question is easy but requires a few hoops to jump through. You need to set up the number inside of Thailand so you'd need somebody in-country to help you. They would purchase the SIM (฿50 =/-) and add a small balance. You would download the carrier's VOIP app (I use dtac Call) and the service app (dtac, for me). Your friend/relative will have the SIM on a phone and with you on a chat you set up the service app (your f/r will receive a one-time password) so you can access it, then you set up the VOIP app (another OTP) with the service directed to the app, not the SIM (it's easier than it sounds). Now all calls/texts sent to your Thai number go to your phone in Oz and you can make calls or send texts at the local Thai rate. You can easily top-up your account online via the website or service app. Just make sure you trust the person with the SIM not to burn through ฿300K a month streaming videos and playing games. The SIM will still work fine for outbound and data.
      Reply

  5. Ken F says

    As its almost time for me to return to Thailand after a very long absence - and since a sim card is always the first thing I get when arriving – I decided to take a second look at this article. The first thing I noticed is that, unless rates have gone down since 2017 when this was written, it looks like I might actually be paying a bit more in Thailand than I am here in the states for an equivalent pay-as-you-go plan, which is surprising. I currently use Mint Mobile (operates on the T-Mobile 5-G network) and I pay $15 a month for unlimited talk and text and 4GB of very fast data (much more than I will ever use). Anyway, I’m curious to know how the rates have gone up or down in Thailand since 2017. Also I’d like to know if these Thai cellular service providers all give you the ability to go online to reload your minutes or change your plan? And do they all send you e-mail and or text messages to remind you that your time is almost up? Also can you purchase blocks of more than a month like here in the States? Here you can pay for up to a year of service at a time.

    By the way, the article also did not go into which provider has the best coverage so I found a current coverage map on my own and I was surprised to learn how extensive 5G is with some carriers. It looks like while dtac has virtually no 5G, AIS has good 5G in all the major cities and True Move has pretty much got the entire country covered by 5-G. The reason this is surprising to me is because since it took 4 or 5 years longer for smart phones to catch on in Thailand than it did here in the states I guess I just assumed that it would take that much longer for them to build up their 5G networks. But they do not seem to be lagging behind us at all (assuming those coverage maps are correct). And maybe that is not really all that surprising when you consider that Thais are now as thoroughly addicted to having constant mobile internet access as the rest of the world.

    As for me I’m not even sure why I should care about 5G coverage seeing as how less than one percent of my total yearly internet access is done through a mobile device (if you don’t include WiFi calling from home). The thing is, when I’m out and about I would rather engage with the world around me than to have my head buried in my phone. In fact, when going to the beach in Thailand (which is all the time) I either leave my phone at home or I lock it under the seat of my motorbike. And when I do use internet on the go it is only to get data that is necessary for me to get where I am going or to do what I need to do in the real world, not to post photos of what I had for lunch on social media.
    Reply

    • JamesE says

      Hi Ken. I'm on dtac and haven't noticed any price increases over the past few of years, except that the base rate for calls (on dtac) has been standardized at 0.99/minute. I have a pre-paid SIM and add a 2GB, 100Mbps 30-day data plan for ฿179 (if memory serves...). My biggest gripe with Thai carriers is I haven't found any pre-paid plans for unlimited text/MMS. I don't use voice very much (here in the US or when in Thailand) so just stick with the base plan for that. I have a dual-SIM phone so can use my US SIM for texts but that doesn't work for MMS.

      I think I end up paying about US$20/month which is less than I pay in the states but more than your Mint plan.
      Reply

      • Ken F says

        So, from what you are saying it looks like not much has changed in Thailand over the past few years when it comes to options and pricing on mobile plans, whereas here in the States prices have been going down and options have been increasing. And I think for me the options are even more important than the pricing. For example, I’ve gotten so used to only having to top up every 3 months or less here in the States that its going to be hard to get used to having to do it every month. Hopefully you can at least top up online with all or most of the carriers in Thailand because I’ve gotten used to that as well.

        By the way I have also been using dual sim phones for years as I like to have a separate business line and personal line on the same device – although now that I am semi-retired I only have the one number. Of course even single sim phones can have two lines active but with a dual sim you can have a different plan or even a different carrier for each number and this way you can get the best plan for the particular usage pattern for each number. And, as you already know, its also nice when traveling to not have to take your domestic sim out when you put in a foreign country sim. The problem is virtually none of the dual sim phones you can buy out there today are made for the American market and this means if something goes wrong you will not have a valid warranty on the thing – not that the businesses selling these phones will tell you this. My most recent obscenely expensive phone is an American market phone but it is also not a true dual sim phone. It has one regular sim and one e-sim and they cannot both be active at the same time. Still, the manufacturer is supposedly eventually going to put out a software update that will allow both sims to be active at once – although I’m not holding my breath on that one.

        In any case I will probably keep my domestic sim active for a bit after going back to Thailand even though it will be a bit pricey to use. The roaming charges would be 25 cents a minute for calls, 5 cents per MMS text, and 20 cents per MB of data.
        Reply

        • JamesE says

          "virtually none of the dual sim phones you can buy out there today are made for the American market" This was the deciding factor on me switching to an iPhone. What phone do you have. I've got no problem with the iPhone using both regular and eSIM at the same time. I also use a North American VOIP service, voip.ms out of Canada, as a "business line" it's dirt cheap and you only pay when you use it.

          Yeah, Online Top-up is no problem. I can use my cc or do a transfer from my BKK Bank account.
          Reply

          • Ken F says

            I have the new Moto RAZR 5G because having a foldable phone is very important to me. I just got tired of carrying around such a huge phone all the time and this one gives me the same large screen as my previous phone but is much more compact when folded. It also gives me the one thing that I REALLY miss from the old flip-phone days and that is being able to end a call by closing the flip. I cannot even count the number of times with my last phone that I thought I had ended a call when I hit the end call touch screen button but it did not take and I later found I was still connected. And in some cases the persons voice mail was recording everything I said. I remember one time in particular when I was having a really bad day and a customer was really pissing me off and after I thought I had hung up I had kind of a meltdown and said some very unflattering things about him. Well as it turns out the call had not disconnected and he had not hung up his phone either. Talk about embarrassing. Anyway, for me a foldable is the only way to go despite the high price.
            Reply

  6. Chris says

    Many thanks for this, my wife and I have just moved to Thailand and this advise has stopped us falling into the trap of committing to the SIM offered to us by the hotel!

    I have a question that is on a slightly different topic, but still around making phone calls. I’m wondering if you have any advise on calling UK/non Thai landlines? We have some loose ends to tie up which will require some calls (to the tax office, for example) and I’m wondering if we should look for a VoIP-type solution (such as Google Voice) or would Thai sims allow WiFi calls to non-Thai landlines? Any advice would be gratefully received!
    Reply

  7. James E says

    Just a head's up for any dtac subscribers, particularly if you're not in Thailand right now. I've got a pre-paid plan and received a text this morning that the plan is going to be switched over to a different plan with a mandatory daily fee starting October 8, 2020. The new plan will remain in effect "until cancelled". It's not much, 3THB/day, but if you haven't been keeping an eye on your balance you could burn through your balance and lose your phone number. So check your texts on the dtac call app and see if there's a surprise waiting for you. I'm going to do some more research and see if there are any alternate plans but I have a feeling dtac is going to insist on getting some revenue, one way or another, from numbers that are lightly used. I'll report back.
    Reply

    • James E says

      UPDATE: Wellllllll.... It's Thailand, what can I say. My dtac main package did change as I was told a week ago, but the add-on package for cheaper voice did not automatically get added as the original SMS said it would. I'm going to monitor my balance and check to see what happens just to make sure it doesn't show up later. I did get some info from dtac: 1) if you have a PLERN (เพลิน) SIM the change is only affecting that SIM. 2) online support knows nothing about this and you have to contact the dtac call center (1678) to get any questions answered. 3) the new base rates are Voice 0.75B/min, Net 2B/MB, SMS 3B, MMS 5B. That Net 2B/MB could add up if you're running background apps or leave your map on...
      Reply

      • James E says

        ANOTHER UPDATE plus SOME NEW INFO... So, no new add-on voice plan which is good news. If you have this SIM and want to keep a by-the-second pricing structure (.01 THB/sec) instead of the per-minute pricing the dial code is: *104*113#. If you only do short calls and you use your phone every day this is much more cost effective than the per-minute pricing which always rounds up. The new info is that effective 01-11-20 the dtac Jaidee Day Giveaway Service, which, despite vying for the title of Name of Something That Least Reflects What the Something Actually Is, is what dtac calls its extend your number and balance validity program, is getting 50% more expensive. It'll now be 3THB/month instead of 2. Not much money but if you carry a number using this program update soon.
        Reply

          • JamesE says

            Yes. But they have to be much longer. My "new" terms are 0.75THB/min so a, say, 1:20 call would cost 1.50THB but with the per second pricing would only be 0.83 (assuming that was the only call I made that day). In my case it would always be cheaper. But other SIMS/plans have lower per-minute rates and some offer free dtac-dtac calling. As with all things: your mileage may vary. My partner has a 0.50/minute SIM so her break even is about 5 min.
            Reply

    • James E says

      Okay... :) You could have done the dtac Jaidee Day Giveaway service for 12 Baht for 180 days. Stay away from the "Tourist" stuff it costs more. Other option is topping up in bigger amounts. The larger amounts last 90 days and you get some bonus credit added. I think that starts at 300 Baht. It stays valid for as long as you want. I (typically) put 500 Baht on my SIM when I arrive, then do the Day Giveaway before I leave then when I return in six months I'll only need to add 2-300 Baht. Repeat as needed. I only go every six months so that works for me. If you're a resident or visit more frequently there are other ways that are cheaper and give you more.
      Reply

        • James E says

          When you return to TLOS check with dtac to see if you can switch your SIM out of the "Tourist" category (I'm assuming you got one of their "Happy SIMs"). The only difference between a "tourist" SIM and a regular SIM is that the phone number automatically expires after a year on the tourist version. This is just a setting in their database so they might be able to switch you over with no problem. Also, if you don't yet have the dtac app it's worth getting. I've found differences in plans between the app and the website offering. There's one last dtac hack I've found useful. If you get a data plan with "12 month auto renewal" you don't have to keep it (and pay for it) for the whole year. Just get the plan and a month before you leave cancel it. You get the plan until its next renewal date and then *POOF* it's gone. Saves a lot compared to a weekly plan.
          Reply

          • Zoe says

            Thanks so much! I rarely use the phone - just for OTPs really, so will let this one go. I did specify not tourust, but the 7 11 staff weren't having it! Will probably just let it go after 6 months and start again. I downloaded the dtac call app, cheers!
            Reply

  9. Ian says

    Hi there - great website by the way, very informative!

    My question: how do you stop your sim card expiring when you are out of the country? I would like to keep it active for my Thai bank account purposes, but it seems like you can only keep the card alive when within Thailand...

    Thanks,
    Ian
    Reply

    • James E says

      You don’t say what carrier you’re using but with dtac you can add validity for next to nothing, like 2THB/month. It’s called the Jaidee Day Giveaway Service. You can also do an online top-up to keep your number active which works for all carriers . Also, be sure to sign up for your carrier’s online call app (dtac’s is called dtac Call) which will allow you to use your phone for voice and text at the domestic (Thailand) rates and not have to pay international roaming charges.
      Reply

  10. James E says

    My, how things have changed. I'm looking for a dtac data package and the ones I've used previously have all been thrown under the bus. The current scheme seems to be: buy a basic unlimited data package and then add a speed booster to get about the same thing I used to get with a single package at about twice the price. Does anyone have any advice or recent experience with dealing with this on dtac pre-paid? Thanks!
    Reply

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