cell phone use in Bangkok

[Marco Polo]

Good topic as I've wondered this myself.  

It seems like the most non-techie solution is to use the local Thai SIM card in your existing phone for maps, Line, TF, etc then switch the SIM back in your hotel to check on life back in the world. 

The dual SIM capability is interesting.  I can check and see if my iPhone 12 has that.   Per Apple, supported 2-SIM networks in Thailand appear to be:

Thailand

AIS
dtac
TrueMove H

[LASportsNut]

39 minutes ago, Marco Polo said:

Good topic as I've wondered this myself.  

It seems like the most non-techie solution is to use the local Thai SIM card in your existing phone for maps, Line, TF, etc then switch the SIM back in your hotel to check on life back in the world. 

The dual SIM capability is interesting.  I can check and see if my iPhone 12 has that.   Per Apple, supported 2-SIM networks in Thailand appear to be:

Thailand

AIS
dtac
TrueMove H

Yes, I have since returned and contacted T-Mobile in the USA and they programmed my main USA number into my e-Sim.

Then when I arrived in Thailand I purchased a mobile plan with True.,  They installed the Sim and now I have two active phone numbers on my i-Phone 11.

You will be able to do the same on a 12 for sure.

[BA Moderator]

Off topic posts have been removed. This thread is about cell phone use in BKK

[smurf7]

Sorry for reviving an old thread. What places are generally best to get a SIM or does it not matter, are the certain ISPs you should stick with?

[Jonard]

44 minutes ago, smurf7 said:

Sorry for reviving an old thread. What places are generally best to get a SIM or does it not matter, are the certain ISPs you should stick with?

The airport tends to be a good place to get a sim. If you can use esim, just use airalo. Very conventient.
If you stay close to big cities, all carriers are pretty similar. Outside of cities, AIS is best.

[Johnnysm]

On 9/22/2021 at 12:32 AM, LASportsNut said:

Yes, I have since returned and contacted T-Mobile in the USA and they programmed my main USA number into my e-Sim.

Then when I arrived in Thailand I purchased a mobile plan with True.,  They installed the Sim and now I have two active phone numbers on my i-Phone 11.

You will be able to do the same on a 12 for sure.

Nice 2 sim's 1 phone 👍

[Johnnysm]

15 hours ago, smurf7 said:

Sorry for reviving an old thread. What places are generally best to get a SIM or does it not matter, are the certain ISPs you should stick with?

Many options I think all the big 3 providers are good. Have used 2 of them without issue in and outside of the city.

If you only need social media and no high quality video you could make do with the DTAC pre-paid 300THB for a month with unlimited internet albeit at a slow speed of 0.5Mbps

[Mrmojo]

I was looking at the AIS traveller SIM deal. It's online buy deal only but the plans look interesting. Probably a little bit on the expensive side but I like having no hassle when it comes to these kind of things.

I'm travelling for a month and mainly will be in Bangkok so the 30 day plan seems perfect for me (maybe a little bit expensive but still). 30 days, 300GB, 5G for 1250 baht. It's also a ESIM so easy for me as my phone is capable. Also the benefit of having it straight away, before departure, seems great as I don't need to look for a kiosk or something similar at the airport.

Has anybody got any experience with this service?

https://www.ais.th/travellersim/?intcid=getpage-en-header_menu-consumer_menu-prepaid_submenu1-newsim_package_submenu2-traveller_sim_submenu3

Edited March 12, 2022 by Mrmojo

[Johnnysm]

1 hour ago, Mrmojo said:

I was looking at the AIS traveller SIM deal. It's online buy deal only but the plans look interesting. Probably a little bit on the expensive side but I like having no hassle when it comes to these kind of things.

I'm travelling for a month and mainly will be in Bangkok so the 30 day plan seems perfect for me (maybe a little bit expensive but still). 30 days, 300GB, 5G for 1250 baht. It's also a ESIM so easy for me as my phone is capable. Also the benefit of having it straight away, before departure, seems great as I don't need to look for a kiosk or something similar at the airport.

Has anybody got any experience with this service?

https://www.ais.th/travellersim/?intcid=getpage-en-header_menu-consumer_menu-prepaid_submenu1-newsim_package_submenu2-traveller_sim_submenu3

The providers all have a booths at the Suvarnabhumi arrival terminal so you can easily get your sim on arrival.
Most hotels have wifi so you might not need a high speed connection check out the DTac, AIS and True websites for pre-paid and you probably can find a better deal. Personally I prefer unlimited internet over high speed internet.

[Mrmojo]

1 hour ago, Johnnysm said:

The providers all have a booths at the Suvarnabhumi arrival terminal so you can easily get your sim on arrival.
Most hotels have wifi so you might not need a high speed connection check out the DTac, AIS and True websites for pre-paid and you probably can find a better deal. Personally I prefer unlimited internet over high speed internet.

Thanks! I will do some more research. The ESIM deal sound good for me because I can just have my normal number up for the home front without having a extra phone. 300GB data plan is a little bit too much anyway as I usually only need like 20GB max a month and the hotel has WIFI.

[wtboatr]

Does anyone know if the AIS kiosks at Survarnahbumi do esim activation for the 30 day traveller package?

My iphone is setup with eSIM as my main service with AT&T in the USA.  My thought was to buy a SIM at Survanahbumi so I wouldn't have to carry two phones. 

Now that eSIM can be setup before I arrive in Bangkok, I'm thinking I should leave the eSIM slot free for temporary accounts when traveling and keep my US service on the physical SIM.

[Johnnysm]

2 hours ago, wtboatr said:

Does anyone know if the AIS kiosks at Survarnahbumi do esim activation for the 30 day traveller package?

My iphone is setup with eSIM as my main service with AT&T in the USA.  My thought was to buy a SIM at Survanahbumi so I wouldn't have to carry two phones. 

Now that eSIM can be setup before I arrive in Bangkok, I'm thinking I should leave the eSIM slot free for temporary accounts when traveling and keep my US service on the physical SIM.

No experience with it but I think it will be no problem see: https://www.ais.th/esim/en/