Thailand’s incredible climate and food make it the most visited country in Southeast Asia. This is a great place to visit and if you are planning to go or have already bought your tickets, but know absolutely nothing about the cellular data in Thailand or the phone companies that offer internet services in this country, you must be a bit anxious. But don't worry, here we will teach you everything you need to know about how to get cellular internet in Thailand.
We will explain in detail each of the options to connect to the internet in the country. Their advantages, disadvantages, and plans exist within mainland US, UK, and Australia operators. And our favorite recommendation to keep you always connected.
Among the services to connect to mobile data, we have Pocket Wi-Fi, SIM cards, eSIM, roaming, and free Wi-Fi hotspots that you can connect to without any problem in Thailand. Also, if you live in US, UK, or Australia, there are companies such as Vodafone, T-Mobile, and Telstra that offer international roaming services for this country. Besides, if you want to visit Vietnam, you can learn more about SIM cards for this destination in our blog, Vietnam SIM card.
However, if we are talking about the best option, whether you are in these countries or not, at Roaming we recommend the SIM cards and eSIM cards for Thailand from the online shop Holafly. With this company, you can purchase the service very easily before your trip, you just have to go to their official website and request it.
One of the most important aspects when traveling is the budget, so you must know the exact amount you are going to spend on each basic thing to calculate how much you have left to enjoy the country, for this reason, we have prepared a table with all the basic information of the rates of each of the alternatives that we mentioned above and the operators that offer it.
| Service | Internet tariff in Thailand |
| SIM card Thailand | 8 days with 3GB at $19.14 USD. |
| eSIM Thailand | 3GB for 8 days at $19 USD. |
| T-mobile carrier roaming | $15.00/MB |
| Vodafone carrier roaming | $6.81 USD per megabyte used |
| Telstra carrier roaming | $3.00/MB |
| Pocket WiFi | $84 to $122 USD+ shipping for 7 days |
| Public WiFi | Free |
Connecting to the internet in Thailand using a SIM card is one of the best options, especially if you buy your card before arriving in the country, as you will have data when you land, and you won't have to worry about the internet. For this country, we recommend, one of our favorite alternatives, Holafly SIM cards. They have 24-hour customer service and deliver to Spain, France, Germany, Switzerland, and Luxembourg, so you can ask for the card to be sent to your home address.
They are very easy to use, you will enjoy a free phone number and free incoming calls. Plus you won't have to change your WhatsApp number.
These virtual cards are very easy to acquire quickly from anywhere in the world. Also, with eSIM for Thailand, you can keep your original phone number, as it goes back to your dual SIM mobile. You can share data and it is very easy to set up. These cards are a great advantage, as you will have internet access as soon as you arrive in Thailand. So you won't have any problems requesting services over the internet.
To buy one, all you have to do is go to Holafly's official website, choose the eSIM Thailand, fill in the purchase form, and in a couple of minutes, they will send you a QR code to activate the card.
Holafly's eSIM uses the Dtac network, one of Thailand's leading phone operators.
Although there are many ways to get internet in the world and in Thailand, of course, most are usually very expensive, as is the case of roaming and Pocket Wifi, as they usually charge very high rates per day compared to other services, for example, in the case of roaming they charge per mega or Giga used almost the same value that would cost you a SIM for 8 days.
If you are a T-mobile user and use their roaming service in Thailand you will be charged $15 USD per MB. But if you count with Simple Gold plans you could have unlimited text and 2G data at no extra cost, but some qualifying credit is required.
It is very important that you always keep these prices in mind, especially if you are on a business trip and need to be connected on video calls constantly as if you don't manage your daily internet usage carefully you could have a huge bill at the end of the month.
Vodafone currently charges $6,81 USD per megabyte used (including VAT), a little lower than T-Mobile but still expensive, so if you don't use this service we recommend you keep it turned off so you don't get a surprise bill.
Remember that roaming is not only the Internet connection but also SMS sent and received and national and international calls, so if you make a call or receive a call from someone who did not know you were in another country, you will be charged extra.
Telstra offers its user to have internet for travel in different ways. Firstly, there is the International Roaming Day Pass, the price for this same plan of 500MB of data plus unlimited calls and messages is $10 USD per day. However, this plan is only compatible with Telstra mobile services on a postpaid plan.
Secondly, you could use the pay-as-you-go plan, the price of which varies depending on the destination but it is usually around $3 USD per MB.
Renting a pocket WiFi is an alternative for budget travelers who are not going to be out of town for a long period of time or do not have a place to connect the Pocket to power in case it gets discharged. This is because the wireless router has to be charged at all times and its battery usually doesn't last very long, especially if several people are connected to it. Moreover, you can't leave it too far away from the router because you will lose the signal.
But why do we say it's one of the most expensive options and one that budget travelers tend to use? Because most providers not only charge you for the data plan, they also charge extra for the rental of the portable router and if you don't buy a loss or theft insurance and you lose it, they can charge you more than $110 dollars. However, if this is an option that is right for you, here are two options:
This provider offers a 1GB per day package in Thailand at a price of $11,14 dollars per day and if you exceed the base gigabyte the speed will be reduced to 512 kbps. The minimum you can rent is for three days and if you wish to purchase insurance for loss, damage, or theft you will have to pay an extra $17,90 dollars, however, if you lose it even if you have the insurance you will have to pay $101,31 dollars, as it only covers a part of it.
If you don't buy the insurance and you lose the router, the price to pay for it would be $202,63 dollars.
This company has a Pocket Wifi rental service with 500MB of data per day for Thailand, in case you exceed the base megabytes the service will be reduced to 512 Kbps until the next day. The cost per day is $18,46 dollars and shipping is $5,74 dollars. In addition, if you want to order a power bank to avoid running out of internet because the router runs out of charge, you can do so for an extra $8,89 dollars.
Thailand is a big country, but you can find many of these points at the airport, in museums, bookshops or shopping centers and even in your hotel, so if you plan to travel alone using public WiFi points it is best to confirm with your hotel that they have free WiFi. However, as the name suggests, it is public, which makes it one of the most unstable and insecure alternatives, and it is also very likely that most of the time you will find a point that does not work well because it is too saturated by the number of people connected to it or even that it is useless because sometimes they place the Wifi point but never really enable it to the public.
Our main recommendation is Holafly's SIM and eSIM cards. This is an online shop that very rarely changes its rates and on their website, you can find absolutely all the information related to their cards and guides to check if your phone is compatible. They also provide completely free personalized service in Spanish, regardless of whether you are already a customer or not. Their cards are very easy to purchase and they offer free shipping in less than 48 hours.
If you still have questions about the internet in Thailand, here are some useful questions.
Most networks in Thailand operate on 850, 900, 1800, 2100, 2300, and 2500.
The main telephone companies in Thailand at the moment are DTAC, CAT Mobile, and AIS Mobile.
Thailand has 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G networks throughout the country.
Our mission is simple: to make sure you never have to ask, “What’s the WiFi password?” again. All our tips come straight from personal experience — because we’d never recommend something we haven’t put to the test ourselves.
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