Thai SIM and internet

I am sure that tourist packages are not over paid. When I check DTAC for one month prepaid for tourist with 3 GB it is the same.

The reason people pay the premium is the convenience. You get the whole thing at your point of arrival and the staff speak god english (phone related English anyway) and set it up for you. If you only in the country for two or thee weeks it saves the hassle of waiting until you,re in town, finding a 7-11 or a Family Mart and trying to communicate what you want to someone, who in all likelihood doesn't speak your language. Obviously if your there for a long time or permanently you would just buy a sim and top up as you needed or get a monthly contract.

As every where in the world convenience comes at a cost

AIS English language call center is good and usually you don't have to wait until it's your turn.

You can buy a SIM in a 7/11, call the AIS service center and have them set it up for you.

Thanks everyone for your input. Much appreciated

"finding a 7-11 or a Family Mart" - sounds like you've never been to Thailand ;) This day and age It's hard to find a spot from where you can't see a couple of those. Buying a SIM card and topping it up is easily doable with zero English/Thai language skills - just show 'em your phone

I'm not sure about airports - they probably don't sell no-BS SIM cards (I mean ones without some stupid tourist packet already activated)

Correct! The DTAC desk at Suvarnabhumi only sell the tourist sims. So we tried at the Family Mart and 7-11 to buy a normal DTAC sim. They had them on display but the girls behind the counter said they couldn't sell them to me because I was a foreigner.

The funniest thing was, we went to the DTAC centre in Samui, the people there behind the counter said they couldn't sell a normal 4G sim to us either. Then proceeded to take us to the little repair shop next door and explained what we wanted to the guy, hey presto! we had a sim. Only in Thailand, hey?!

I stuck a 1-2-C sim card in my Huawei tablet and it sent everything except my apps into Thai. Managed to get everything back to English but just have to work out how to configure the damn phone on it.

#14 I've been going for 35 years. For many people just getting a tourist sim deal is the easiest and costs bugger all in reality when you consider flight costs etc

Hi guys,

I'm sure this is probably a stupid question however would a sim card that I buy in Thailand then work in Indonesia too?

That whole tourist sim is bollocks. Supposedly location services cannot be turned off on those sims, or at least that was the plan.

I use the same sim for the past 13 years already, and whilst I did have to register the thing twice, it is a normal sim, no dodgy tourist sim.

Possibly the best value for money package on AIS is the 99 baht internet 7 GB for 7 days. Call 1175 to apply, as I don't seem to be able to find the code needed to apply for the package.

@robbiemacgregor That sim card will work in Indonesia, providing you enable international roaming. Personally I wouldn't bother and buy a local sim there as well, you will probably be paying through the nose.