By 
Staying online in Thailand is easy: the networks are fast and every airport has tourist SIM counters right after customs. The decision is whether to install a Thailand eSIM before you fly or queue for a SIM card with a Thai number when you land. Both are cheap. Here’s what separates them, what the three brands charge, and the face check that’s now part of buying a SIM.
Staying connected in Thailand
- Networks: AIS, and True, which merged with dtac in 2023 and still sells both brands. 5G in Bangkok and the main resort areas.
- Tourist SIM: roughly 300 to 450 baht (US$9 to $14) for eight days, with a Thai number.
- eSIM: bought online and installed at home. Data only, unless it comes from a Thai carrier.
- Registration: passport, plus a face check for new SIMs since August 2025.
- Emergency: 191 police, 1669 ambulance, 199 fire, 1155 Tourist Police.
- Wi-Fi: free in hotels, malls and most cafés.
Thailand’s mobile networks after the True and dtac merger
Thailand has two big operators. AIS is the largest. True Corporation absorbed dtac in 2023, but both brands are still on sale, each with its own tourist SIM and its own shops, which confuses a lot of people at the airport. The state-owned NT is a distant third and barely sells to visitors.
AIS and True both run 5G in Bangkok, Phuket, Chiang Mai, Pattaya and the other big tourist areas. Coverage thins out on small islands and in national parks, where no network is perfect.
Thailand tourist SIM cards and prices
Tourist SIM counters sit just past customs at Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, Phuket, Chiang Mai and the other international airports, and 7-Eleven stores sell them too. Bring your passport. These are the prices we found in September 2026:
| Tourist SIM | 8 days | Longer options | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIS Traveller SIM | About 449 baht | 15 and 30 days | Largest network; high-speed data, then slower past the fair-use limit |
| True tourist SIM | About 449 baht | 15 and 30 days | Calls to Thai numbers included; also sold as an eSIM |
| dtac Happy Tourist SIM | 299 baht | 15 days, 599 baht | 15 GB at full speed on the 8-day plan, then slower |
“Unlimited” on a Thai tourist SIM means unlimited at a reduced speed once you pass a fair-use allowance. The slow speed is fine for maps and messages and hopeless for video calls. Counters change their line-up often, so check what’s on the board before you pay.
Thailand eSIM: the two kinds
International travel eSIMs, bought through an app, are data only and run on AIS, True or dtac. You install one at home and switch it on when you land, but there’s no Thai number. They usually cost less per gigabyte than a carrier’s tourist SIM.
The Thai carriers also sell their own tourist eSIMs online, delivered as a QR code. These work like their physical tourist SIMs, Thai number included, and the validity usually starts from the first connection in Thailand rather than the day you scan the code. Follow the carrier’s instructions for the identity check, which uses your passport.
Either way, check first that your phone supports eSIM and isn’t locked to your home carrier. The four checks in our guide to whether your phone works in Japan apply in Thailand too.
SIM registration and the 2025 face check
Every Thai SIM has to be registered to an identity document, which for a visitor means the passport. In August 2025 the telecoms regulator, the NBTC, added a liveness check to new SIM registrations, a camera test that confirms a real face matches the document, as part of a crackdown on scam call centres. At the counter that means a passport scan and a quick photo.
Don’t buy a SIM that someone else has registered in their own name, whatever the price. It can be cut off without warning, and the number isn’t legally yours.
A data-only eSIM can't call 191 or 1669
Thailand’s emergency numbers are 191 for the police, 1669 for an ambulance, 199 for fire and 1155 for the Tourist Police, who speak English. A data-only eSIM has no voice line. Keep your home SIM switched on for calls, or choose a Thai SIM or carrier eSIM that comes with a number.
Grab, LINE and apps that want a Thai number
Grab and Bolt both accept a foreign phone number, as long as it can receive the sign-up code. Set the account up at home. LINE, which Thais use the way others use WhatsApp, runs over any data connection, so hotels and tour desks can reach you on an eSIM.
What no SIM will fix is Thai banking. PromptPay and Thai banking apps need a Thai bank account, so a local number alone won’t unlock them. Our Thailand currency guide covers how visitors pay instead.
Thailand eSIM or SIM card: which one?
| If you… | Get | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Want to land connected, with no queue | International travel eSIM | Installed at home, working as soon as you land |
| Need a Thai number for hotels, drivers or deliveries | Tourist SIM or a carrier eSIM | Number, calls and data, registered to your passport |
| Want the cheapest week | dtac Happy Tourist SIM | 299 baht for eight days |
| Head for small islands or national parks | AIS | Largest network, the safest bet away from the cities |
What we would actually do
For a week or two in Bangkok and the islands, we’d install a data-only Thailand eSIM at home and keep the home SIM on for calls and bank codes. If we needed a Thai number, for a long stay or a lot of calls to hotels and drivers, we’d buy an AIS or True tourist SIM at the airport counter and let the staff set it up.
Before you fly, fill in the free Thailand Digital Arrival Card, then read our guides to Thailand currency, tipping in Thailand and the best time to visit Thailand. Heading on to Vietnam? The Vietnam eSIM guide covers the same choice there, and our eSIM, pocket Wi-Fi or SIM table for Japan does it for Japan.
Looking for the rest? Every Thailand guide we’ve published, from the TDAC to the eSIM, is sorted by topic in our Thailand travel guide.
Sources
- dtac — Happy Tourist SIM prices and data.
- True — tourist SIM and eSIM.
- AIS — Traveller SIM.
- NBTC (National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission) — SIM registration and identity checks.
Data checked: 2026-09-28
