On the topic of mobile telephony in Thailand a lot has already been said. I would like to give a tip on how to get a really high data volume.
There are three major providers who split the cake among themselves. True and AIS seem to be the most popular ones and don’t give each other much in terms of network coverage. I use a prepaid SIM card 12call from AIS, as you can buy it everywhere for 50,- Baht. For travelers who are in Thailand for the first time, there are shops of the telephone companies in the big airports, which install the SIM card immediately. The staff in the endless mobile shops are also very helpful.
For this SIM card there are so-called add-ons, i.e. short codes, which are sent to the telephone company by SMS. You can use them to buy additional Internet volume. There are different offers. For example:
5 GB in 3 days for 105 Baht (dial *777*7040#)
4 GB in 14 days for 99 Baht (dial *777*776#)
My favorite is:
5 GB in 7 days for 150 Baht (dial *777*7050#)
Bookings are confirmed by SMS in Thai and English. The prerequisite is of course a credit balance on the SIM card that covers the amount.
On this website of AIS you can find all add-ons in the overview. Hint: in the lines with the length of validity you can scroll with the arrow to the right to see more packages. “Internet Max Speed” currently means 4G. This is faster than many wireless networks in Germany.
It may seem annoying to buy a new mobile volume every week, but to my knowledge there is no cheaper way to get 20 GB. For some people it might be better to sign a contract similar to the one in Europe. Especially frequent callers could save a little money. This is important if you want to keep the cost of living in Thailand low. For me as a part nomad, my approach has clear advantages. With the prepaid card I only pay when I top up the card.
AIS also sends me offers by SMS again and again. You should pay attention to what they actually offer. So it is good to compare prices and services on the overview on the above mentioned website.
Mobile Internet in Thailand – usage
I make a lot of phone calls via Facebook Messenger or Skype, listen to music by Deezer and above all I use my smartphone as a hotspot for my work with my notebook. So far, 5 GB per week have always been enough. If that’s not enough, it’s very easy to buy a data volume with the short codes.
By the way, SIM cards do not become invalid if they are not used for more than 6 months. Even if they are only used once a year, they remain valid. In order to be able to use the topped-up amount as long as possible – even on the next holiday – there is the trick described here.
The Baht-Euro exchange rate fluctuates. Therefore I usually only give amounts in Baht here on my website. For the conversion to other currencies I use the app “Currency Converter” from Finanzen 100 or the website of my bank in Thailand: www.bangkokbank.com/en/Personal/Other-Services/View-Rates/Foreign-Exchange-Rates
Hi Stefan, thanks a lot for the information regarding cheap mobile internet in Thailand. This is the actual link to the add on packages for 1-2-call:
https://m.ais.co.th/package-ontop/?intcid=index-en-package-addon-ontoppackages
Best Regards
Bernd
Hi Bernd,
thank you for this helpful information.
Stefan
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