eSIM for Thailand, which plan and what it costs

Published 10 September 2026 · Prices observed 10 September 2026

How much data you actually need

Our estimate, not a measurement, is roughly half a gigabyte a day on maps, messaging and browsing, and two or three with video. A ten-day trip on ordinary use lands near five gigabytes. The reasoning, the setup steps and the questions that are the same in every country are on how a travel eSIM works. This page is the part that is specific to Thailand.

The question that actually decides coverage

An eSIM does not have its own network. It rents capacity from a Thai carrier, and which one it rents from is what determines whether you have a signal on a beach on Koh Lanta.

If a listing does not tell you which network it runs on, that omission is itself information. The plans confident about their coverage say so in the first line.

What the plans cost, observed

The two partners and two reference providers, read on the same night, per plan, before checkout. Yesim’s page lists AIS, dtac and TrueMove as Thailand’s providers but does not say which one its plan runs on. Airalo states True and AIS. Nomad names all three and Ubigi names AIS and True Move. Airalo also lists fixed-data plans from 1 to 50 GB; only its unlimited plans were recorded on the night.

Observed 10 September 2026 · 16 plans · Method

Read by hand on each provider's public plan page, per plan, before checkout, in the currency the page displayed. Prices change and promotions come and go. Partner rows link through our tracked redirect to the provider’s site, not to the plan page, and earn us a commission; the page each of those prices was read from is printed under the plan name. Rows marked reference are providers we do not earn from, and link to the page they were read from. Yesim’s unlimited plans state a fair-use policy without a threshold. Airalo’s state 3 GB a day at full speed. Ubigi’s prices are in US dollars because that is what its page displays, and its 30-day unlimited plan states 60 GB at full speed.

If your plan page still says dtac, read this

dtac is not a separate network any more. True Corporation’s own announcement, dated 1 March 2023 and linked below, records that dtac and True completed their amalgamation under the name True Corporation Public Company Limited. The regulator’s step came first, and True’s listing information memorandum of that same date records that the NBTC resolved to acknowledge the amalgamation on 20 October 2022. The dtac name survives on packaging and in some plan listings. Where you see it, read True.

The claim still circulating in the threads people reach when their eSIM fails is that a Thailand travel eSIM can only connect to dtac. That is wrong. Read 15 September 2026, Airalo’s Thailand page labels True as the primary network the eSIM uses, with one other network not named in the label, and the word dtac appears nowhere on the page. Our own reading of its plan page on 10 September 2026 recorded the wording that it operates on the True and AIS networks in Thailand. Neither reading says dtac, and neither says only.

On the same 10 September reading Nomad’s Thailand shop named True, AIS and dtac, Ubigi named AIS and True Move, and Yesim listed AIS, dtac and TrueMove as the country’s providers without saying which one its own plan runs on. Two network groups matter here, AIS and True, and the second one absorbed the third.

1. Turn the travel line on in your phone’s cellular settings, then turn data roaming on for that line. A travel eSIM is a roaming profile and does nothing with roaming off.
2. Set the travel line as the line used for cellular data, and leave your home line enabled so your number and your codes keep working.
3. Toggle airplane mode on and off, or restart the phone, so the profile re-registers with a Thai network.
4. Still no service, turn off automatic network selection and pick a network by hand. AIS and True are the two that matter, and an entry reading dtac is True.
5. Check the provider’s app for the plan’s state before asking for a refund. A plan whose validity starts on first connection has not started yet, so there is nothing to spend until the profile registers.

• True Corporation’s announcement that the dtac amalgamation completed, 1 March 2023

Setting it up

Install on wifi before you fly, switch the travel line on when you land, and leave the home line alone so your number and your codes keep working. The three steps, and the mistake that locks people out of their bank, are on the shared guide.

eSIM, or the other two options

The next decisions

The table above is what the plans cost. These are the two providers we earn from. Airalo states True and AIS, Yesim does not state a network.

• esim

  Data before you land

  An eSIM installs before departure and connects the moment the plane doors open. Your number and your 2FA codes stay on your existing SIM.

  See plans→
• esimmobile web

  eSIM, pay per gigabyte

  Fixed data bundles with no contract. Useful for short trips where an unlimited plan costs more than the data you will actually use.

  See plans→

Related

• eSIM for Japan, the same table for Japan.
• eSIM for the USA, the same table for the United States.
• How a travel eSIM works, the setup and the questions that do not change by country.
• Travel insurance, why claims get refused, the other purchase most people make the week before they fly.

Questions about eSIM for Thailand

Does a travel eSIM change my phone number?

No. A data-only travel eSIM adds a second line for internet. Your existing number stays on your physical SIM or on your primary eSIM, and it remains the number people reach you on, provided you leave that line enabled.

Should I install before departure or after landing?

Install before you fly, activate on arrival. Installation needs a working internet connection, which is exactly what you will not have at the airport in Thailand. Most providers let you install the profile early and start the validity period later.

Which Thai network does the plan actually use?

Thailand has two host networks that matter, AIS and True, after True absorbed dtac in 2023. Most travel eSIMs run on one or both. In our table Airalo states True and AIS, Nomad and Ubigi name theirs, and Yesim does not say. If a plan does not name its network, that is the answer.

Will it work outside the cities in Thailand?

In Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket and along the tourist corridors, yes on any host network. On the smaller islands, in the far north and on long bus routes, coverage follows the host network’s map, and the plans that name AIS or True are the ones you can check against a map before buying.

Do I need a passport to buy an eSIM for Thailand?

Not for the plans in our table. Yesim’s Thailand plan page lists ID verification as not required, and Airalo’s Thailand page carries no registration notice at all, both read 15 September 2026. A Thai carrier is a different matter. AIS’s own tourist plan page, read the same day, tells you to register the SIM card before use in Thailand, prices 30 days of unlimited data at 1,199 Baht, and states that under NBTC rules a tourist SIM used beyond 60 days from activation needs the passport number sent by SMS to 4444161 or an in-person check at an AIS shop.