Thai SIM cards

[Nightcrawler]

Last few trips,I have made do with using WhatsApp on WiFi available in hotel and just about every bar, restaurant and entertainment venues around Pattaya and general access to Internet. 

It's been a while since I have purchased a Thai Sim card.

Have been looking online but the tourist sim deals seem to offer  time bound and data capacity restrictions 

I am after a cheap and cheerful card just to make and recieve local calls and last at least 3 weeks or longer which can be easy topped up in a 7/11 etc  

Does such a thing still exist as they were, say 5 years ago. ?

Any suggestions? 

[boydeste]

My best advice is to go to the AIS shop for example in Central and see what packages they offer. Given you use WiFi extensively, any data restrictions shouldn't effect you. Many of those drop to a reduced speed which is still functional anyways.

I pay for an ongoing monthly package on my SIM, but top it up via my bank, so not sure about the 7 11 situation.

[Lemondropkid]

5 hours ago, Nightcrawler said:

Last few trips,I have made do with using WhatsApp on WiFi available in hotel and just about every bar, restaurant and entertainment venues around Pattaya and general access to Internet. 

It's been a while since I have purchased a Thai Sim card.

Have been looking online but the tourist sim deals seem to offer  time bound and data capacity restrictions 

I am after a cheap and cheerful card just to make and recieve local calls and last at least 3 weeks or longer which can be easy topped up in a 7/11 etc  

Does such a thing still exist as they were, say 5 years ago. ?

Any suggestions? 

You can get a 30 day SIM from AIS for 899 THB

https://www.ais.th/esim-traveller/#/mealdetail?areaId=56&utm_source=sem&utm_medium=paid&utm_campaign=esim_sep23&utm_term=esimmain&cid=sem-esim_sep23-esimmain

Doubt you'll go through 50GB of data.

I pay a £10 a month for 20GB of daya in the UK and never go through that,or come anywhere close for that matter.

Seems an odd choice to be dicking around trying to get on Wifi in bars and hotels for a month for the sake of saving £20. 

I'll use Bolt a fair bit. Just being able to use a ride hailing app alone would save me over £20 over a month easily

 

Edited September 5 by Lemondropkid

[Golfingboy]

Been a decade since my last trip, but OMG compared to the prices and restrictions I pay back in Canada, was AIS 1-2 Call ever a godsend…..a different package for every need you may have. I’m sure now in the smartphone era they are even more accommodating 

Feel the need to compliment a company I enjoyed, today should be my last day with Virgin over here…..cheaper yes, but HORRIBLE outsourced customer service. I am not going to risk having a stroke because of my cell service……3 times since last Xmas these guys have really let me down….no more 

[Aqualung]

7 hours ago, Nightcrawler said:

Last few trips,I have made do with using WhatsApp on WiFi available in hotel and just about every bar, restaurant and entertainment venues around Pattaya and general access to Internet. 

It's been a while since I have purchased a Thai Sim card.

Have been looking online but the tourist sim deals seem to offer  time bound and data capacity restrictions 

I am after a cheap and cheerful card just to make and recieve local calls and last at least 3 weeks or longer which can be easy topped up in a 7/11 etc  

Does such a thing still exist as they were, say 5 years ago. ?

Any suggestions? 

I've done exactly the same as yourself. In almost 16 years of travelling to Los I've never purchased a Thai sim card. 

That said, I'm not glued to my phone 24 hours a day. 

 

[karon steve]

I usually ask the old bird in the corner of any bar to go and buy me a sim then give her a good tip.
I then get a normal Thai pay as you go sim not a tourist one.

[thegrogmonster]

The missus and myself have had the same DTAC numbers since 2001. I just need to topup once every 12 months to keep the sim card active which I do from the Kasikorn banking app.

Each trip to Thailand I logon to our DTAC accounts and add a data package for the duration of our holidays. These days the data packages are quite cheap for the amount of data you get.

[Painter]

1 hour ago, thegrogmonster said:

The missus and myself have had the same DTAC numbers since 2001. I just need to topup once every 12 months to keep the sim card active which I do from the Kasikorn banking app.

Each trip to Thailand I logon to our DTAC accounts and add a data package for the duration of our holidays. These days the data packages are quite cheap for the amount of data you get.

Same same... except since 2008. Recent trips I have gone to the dtac counter whilst waiting for my luggage, and they put a data package on it for the taxi journey. When that ends, I chose my own for the next month. Rarely more than a couple of hundred baht 

[AJSP]

21 hours ago, Lemondropkid said:

You can get a 30 day SIM from AIS for 899 THB

https://www.ais.th/esim-traveller/#/mealdetail?areaId=56&utm_source=sem&utm_medium=paid&utm_campaign=esim_sep23&utm_term=esimmain&cid=sem-esim_sep23-esimmain

Doubt you'll go through 50GB of data.

I pay a £10 a month for 20GB of daya in the UK and never go through that,or come anywhere close for that matter.

Seems an odd choice to be dicking around trying to get on Wifi in bars and hotels for a month for the sake of saving £20. 

I'll use Bolt a fair bit. Just being able to use a ride hailing app alone would save me over £20 over a month easily

 

Good advice - if you want one instantly you can get at Swampy. 

[Horizondave]

I will be landing on the 17th and hoping to use the sim that I previously purchased. Thing is, it hasn't be used for just over 1 year so it may have been reprogrammed. I will check at the DTAC office on arrival. 

Hope to keep same number, as I need to change my KBank app on to another phone. I do know the existing Dtac number so if I have to get a new sim (number), then I should still be able to go to the bank and get it set up. I am only there 9 days so I see some Dtac deals for 299 - 349 baht for the data needs I have.