What SIM for data in Thailand?

[creamcheeseandlox]

Will be in Thailand for 20 days in August. Need an option for using phone outside of WiFi. What's the best option...buy something before I go or wait till I get there and get an esim from local shop??

Recommendations please

Have a look at Airalo.
They have good coverage and you can choose either a fixed plan or unlimited plan.

For reference, went to Thailand for 18 days in January, and have been before There are loads of e-SIMS on offer (airalo, roamic etc.), and unless you have a very old phone (you can check compatibility) they are extremely cheap and very reliable - I think you would be looking at less than £5 for 30 days with plenty of GB, which you can monitor, and buy more if you need it. BUT. here is the rub - to install the e-SIM you need wifi, you can buy it advance, but to make it actually work, you need the wifi, and you need to know what you are doing (it is fairly simple, just follow their instructions about mobile settings, and definitely disable your own normal SIM, and add the e-SIM). If you are being picked up at the airport and taken to a hotel with wifi, this is all good, you have all the time in the world to sort it. If you are going to rely on getting a GRAB from the airport, then I would advise you need to sort it there and then with airport free wifi (then turn the wifi off and make sure that the e-SIM has kicked in - sometimes this means turning your phone on and off). There is one additional issue (not specific to Thailand) is that sometimes local ride-hailing apps need you to set up an account, and they require a local number, so they can send you an OTP verification thing - for this you almost certainly will need a proper SIM with a phone number (e-SIMs don't have them generally). I can't remember for GRAB (the main one, think they also have Uber) but some countries I have been in do not have UBER, GRAB or BOLT, and I have had to download Yandex, and for that you need a local SIM. Regardless of all of this (I was just trying to do it on the cheap), SIM providers are all over the airports, and, for half the price, in the cities too. As an aside, if you are landing in Bangkok, do check out the excellent metro rail link into town, it's busy but it takes half the time of a taxi most of the time and costs a couple of quid. We hated using ride-hailing in Bangkok, the traffic was so bad, constant cancelling and you could probably walk it quicker (or get public transport). Everywhere else it was fine. Have a great trip x

thanks for all that Info. Am I best of getting it there though, is it cheaper? We are going straight to a hotel so can sort it on the WiFi if needed.

Easiest to buy an eSIM ahead of time, install it when you’re still at home with good WiFi, then when you arrive you just switch it on and you’re good to go. It used to be cheaper to buy in country but with these esims i usually find it cheaper online for most countries - for Southeast Asia try trip.com it’s so cheap and I’ve never had any issues.

Download the App Monty eSIM. Easy to use. Choose which amount of data tarif and Download the eSIM before you go. Before you land go into settings and change over from your normal sim to the eSIM.
very cheap for good amount of data. You can top up while you’re there if you under estimate how much data you’ll need.
we used it in Australia paid about £6 for 20gb for 3 weeks. Got several friends who’ve travelled extensively and used it.

Can I buy multiple on the same phone. So get my kids one also and they scan the QR code or do they have to do it pm their phones?

Yes. I bought 2 to use in Australia at the same time, one for me and one for friend.

I bought both on my app, friend scanned the QR code for the second one to download the eSIM to her phone.

I would second this. Trip.com are great for the main East Asian destinations. Cheap and reliable. Install before you go but then switch on that SIM once you get there (and switch off current one).