Best SIM card/Data plan for long term stay

You can buy data plan (limited calls) sim cards from all major suppliers, 12 months 5-10-15-30 mbps for below 2,000 thb. If you need a link message me, I guess I cannot post commercial links here???

Of course it depends on your location when selecting the provider

I forgot, unlimited access for 12 months

@Guy Dolev

I got a similar deal with dtac for 1790Baht yr.

But not sure about the VIP number

Either way it's pretty cheap

    Hi allI'm trying to figure out which is the best (Price wise, coverage wise and data wise) plan for long term stay in Thailand.I came across this article...."NEW ONE-YEAR SIM DEAL 2023AIS has launched a new deal which is the best value for money you can find in Thailand. This Deal can only be purchased in an AIS store in Thailand (not at an AIS Kiosk or Airport Kiosk).The AIS Super Premium Gold SIM includes a V.I.P. phone number and gives 100GB of data every month for one year. The data rolls over and the download speeds are not capped. This package has an insanely low price, a one-off payment of 1,900 Baht (55US) lasting 12 months! You’ll have a whopping 1.2TB of data to use over the year."This plan sounds great! Has anyone experienced it so far? And is everything it says in the article true?Thanks         -@Guy Dole

If the price and speed is accurate it's an ok deal. I haven't seen anything about this deal online. Normally we're talking about 60-70GB data/month with AIS for about ฿1.700-1.800/year online,sometimes even more. The price/year depends on the amount of data and speed. I'm with dtac,myself and dtac is normally cheaper than AIS and have more packages. Never buy sim-cards at the airport. You can buy them everywhere,in stores,supermarkets and convenience stores. If staying in larger cities,you dont have to think about coverage. It's out in the sticks it's important to pick an operator that works. AIS works (almost) everywhere. Dtac doesn't work everywhere out in the sticks.

    You can buy data plan (limited calls) sim cards from all major suppliers, 12 months 5-10-15-30 mbps for below 2,000 thb. If you need a link message me, I guess I cannot post commercial links here???
Of course it depends on your location when selecting the provider
   

    -@martinoo2002

5mbps doesn't exist. 4-6-8-10-15-30 are speeds where you get unlimited data.

@Leeds forever!

Thanks. And thanks for the tip about NOT buying in the airport. I just realised that after I did a short research 😊

I found an AIS store at the Market Village shopping centre in Hua Hin so I'll check it out there

    @Guy Dolev
I got a similar deal with dtac for 1790Baht yr.
But not sure about the VIP number
Either way it's pretty cheap
   

    -@scbrock

You don't have 100GB/month with dtac. Probably 60 or 70.

    @Leeds forever!Thanks. And thanks for the tip about NOT buying in the airport. I just realised that after I did a short research 😊I found an AIS store at the Market Village shopping centre in Hua Hin so I'll check it out there        -@Guy Dolev

Don't forget to have the speed verified. 100GB/month is good,though. 1 hour YouTube is about 1GB. Just an example. Don't forget your passport when buying a sim.

@Leeds forever! Thanks for correcting me, that must be the speeds..

I use the thunder net as my wifi provider.....put it in a box and there you go..  unlimited max speed from NT (TOT)

6 people using it mobile.... couple of TV's and laptops and 1 PC and 2 tablets..

Never have a lagging issue, cannot be better nor cheaper

@martinoo2002

Thanks Martin, but I'm only looking for mobile phone use and hotspotting. Not a heavy user of data and only myself

        @Guy DolevI got a similar deal with dtac for 1790Baht yr.But not sure about the VIP numberEither way it's pretty cheap        -@scbrock

You don't have 100GB/month with dtac. Probably 60 or 70.
   

    -@Leeds forever!

I have one from DTAC unlimited at 1890 at 15 MBPS, similar can be bought from AIS and True

            @Guy DolevI got a similar deal with dtac for 1790Baht yr.But not sure about the VIP numberEither way it's pretty cheap        -@scbrockYou don't have 100GB/month with dtac. Probably 60 or 70.         -@Leeds forever!I have one from DTAC unlimited at 1890 at 15 MBPS, similar can be bought from AIS and True        -@martinoo2002

I paid ฿1070 for my 15mbps unlimited data dtac sim January 27. Today in the same store at Lazada the price is ฿1.699. That's almost a 70% increase.

@Leeds forever! 

Yeah I know what you mean.... prices of annual plans are more expensive as the providers are not reacting to the lower prices from the 3rd party suppliers.. Well with the speed and the unlimited factor it will still be cheaper than providers

Thunder cannot be beaten though but really depends on location

    @martinoo2002Thanks Martin, but I'm only looking for mobile phone use and hotspotting. Not a heavy user of data and only myself         -@Guy Dolev

If you watch movies (streaming) or a lot of Facebook and also YouTube, the amount of data is important. For me 60-70GB/month is normally not enough. That's why I went for unlimited data and it was cheap in January.

@Leeds forever!

Well apparently you weren't the only one who spotted that bargain and now they're trying to cash in on the trend 😊 But I'm still happy to pay 1699B for the whole year of unlimited data! In Australia you'd pay that for one month if you're lucky!

    @Leeds forever!Well apparently you weren't the only one who spotted that bargain and now they're trying to cash in on the trend 😊 But I'm still happy to pay 1699B for the whole year of unlimited data! In Australia you'd pay that for one month if you're lucky!         -@Guy Dolev

Well,that deal with AIS is not a bad deal.100GB/month is good.

We'll see how much it will cost for me in January next year. Online,that is. I know morons paying ฿4-500/month for crappy wi-fi. They are totally clueless.

@Leeds forever!

You can check now, get the sim sent to you and activate at the date you want

I have bought three at the time, too good a deal to pass on

@Leeds forever!

Yes I think I might give that deal a go as now in Australia I only use like 30-40GB a month so that would more than double it and it rolls over so if I don't use it one month I'll have more the next month 😊

    @Leeds forever!
You can check now, get the sim sent to you and activate at the date you want
I have bought three at the time, too good a deal to pass on
   

    -@martinoo2002

I know how to buy a sim-card and you can actually activate a dtac sim yourself using dtac's app. I will buy a new one in January,not now.

    @Leeds forever!Yes I think I might give that deal a go as now in Australia I only use like 30-40GB a month so that would more than double it and it rolls over so if I don't use it one month I'll have more the next month 😊        -@Guy Dolev

One more thing, don't change phone number in Thailand. Then you don't have to go to your bank(s) and change number in your profile. Same with the email-address. You can't change these online,only in person.Same with the passport number after renewal.

@Leeds forever!

It wasn' meant as 'how; but more to 'when' as you mentioned yourself prices are going up....

    @Leeds forever!It wasn' meant as 'how; but more to 'when' as you mentioned yourself prices are going up....        -@martinoo2002

I think/hope that prices will go down in January. Fingers crossed.I'm usually lucky. I had free wi-fi three years from 2019-2022. The best 3BB-router on my floor in my condominium building was like 6-7 meters away and I was the only one who knew the password. Then they unplugged the router. That was a bummer. 🤨

@Leeds forever!

Sorry but I think I've missed that one...What do you mean by "Don't change your number in Thailand"? You mean once I got a Sim card I should hang on to it?

@Leeds forever!

We're talking about 629THB per year lol Which is the equivalent of how many pounds?

    @Leeds forever!Sorry but I think I've missed that one...What do you mean by "Don't change your number in Thailand"? You mean once I got a Sim card I should hang on to it?        -@Guy Dolev

Every phone here are dual sim phones. You can use one sim as a primary and keep that number. My 15mbps unlimited dtac sim-card is sim 2 in my phone. I've had sim 1 as my primary dtac number for years and I'm only using it when texting. I'm using sim 2 for outgoing phone calls. It's a bit confusing for people I'm calling. 😁

@Leeds forever!

I found an even better package with Dtac!

1,790

THB

Unlimited data 15 Mbps + Free call to all Network for 12 months

15 Mbps 100 GB Unlimited data with 128 Kbps

Free call to dtac numbers (30 min/call)

Free Call to all Network 60 min/month

12 months validity (360 days)

    @Leeds forever!I found an even better package with Dtac!1,790THBUnlimited data 15 Mbps + Free call to all Network for 12 months15 Mbps 100 GB Unlimited data with 128 KbpsFree call to dtac numbers (30 min/call)Free Call to all Network 60 min/month12 months validity (360 days).   

   -@Guy Dolev

That's not the one I paid ฿1070 for. Mine is 15mbps unlimited data.

You'll have 15mbps 100GB/month and unlimited data with 128kbps when your limit is reached. 128kbps is basically useless. But you'll probably not reach the limit.

There's actually a downside with dtac's unlimited data packages. If there's a lot of traffic/data in an area and you're using your phone as hotspot,dtac has the right to lower the speed to 3mbps. You can read about that in dtac's Terms & Conditions for unlimited data packages.  I also read about it on dtac's Facebook page.Compare the dtac package with the AIS-package you mentioned earlier.

@Leeds forever!

Thanks. That's what I was planning to do. They both have stores next to each other at the Village Market shopping centre in Hua Hin so that is handy! 😊

    @Leeds forever!Thanks. That's what I was planning to do. They both have stores next to each other at the Village Market shopping centre in Hua Hin so that is handy! 😊        -@Guy Dolev

Like I said earlier,dtac is cheaper than AIS, but the coverage is not as good as AIS. Especially out in the sticks. I think a 100GB package might be better than one with unlimited data if you're going to use it as hotspot. It depends on whether dtac allow using the 100GB package sim as hotspot. Ask them.

@Guy Dolev

That's the package I have.

Yes Leeds it's a 100G a month

Mine says 98 Gig remaining with about 6 days

left in the cycle. Not much chance you will go

over.

But, my condo has free wifi and it sets to anyplace

with free wifi.

@Leeds forever!

Yes I'd prefer 100GB with guaranteed high speed than unlimited with slower data. But I couldn't find that AIS deal online for 1900B yet. The only one I could find was 2799B ☹️

    @Leeds forever!Yes I'd prefer 100GB with guaranteed high speed than unlimited with slower data. But I couldn't find that AIS deal online for 1900B yet. The only one I could find was 2799B ☹️        -@Guy Dolev

A consistent/stable 15mbps unlimited is not actually slow. You can surf with no lag on 4mbps, watch HQ movies on 6mbps and watch HD movies streaming om 8mbps. It's way better than a lousy condominium wi-fi. I've watched HD movies on 4mbps and no buffering what so ever. It shouldn't work.The only problem is when the operator slows the speed way down because they don't allow the sim being used as hotspot.

What about this deal at Lazada? NT Max speed,12 months subscription.No phone calls,though. But only ฿969 today. The guy working at the store says using hotspot is allowed. I asked him if that's 100% true. He hasn't answered yet.

https://s.lazada.co.th/s.lqhbo

    What about this deal at Lazada? NT Max speed,12 months subscription.No phone calls,though. But only ฿969 today. The guy working at the store says using hotspot is allowed. I asked him if that's 100% true. He hasn't answered yet.
https://s.lazada.co.th/s.lqhbo-@Leeds forever!

The guy claims using the sim as hotspot without reduced speed is ok. Max speed, unlimited data for 12 months. No incoming or outgoing calls. If using a Lazada voucher, the price will be ฿919. Free shipping. You can register the sim-card until the end of next year. The store will do it for you.

@Leeds forever!

If you have the correct router you can use it as your wifi source.....

    @Leeds forever!
If you have the correct router you can use it as your wifi source.....
   

    -@martinoo2002

Yes,but my router,a D-Link DWR-M920 isn't supported. That's what the guy in store says. But I have read the datasheet and it should work. There's a possibility it might have something to do with the routers firmware. I need to contact D-Link and ask them. I think I'll buy the sim-card anyway and activate/register it when my dtac sim-card expires in January 27. I checked out NT/TOT's coverage map for the area where I'm staying and it looks good.

    @Leeds forever!
If you have the correct router you can use it as your wifi source.....
   

    -@martinoo2002

I contacted D-Link's support and they said my router should support LTE band 40. That's the LTE band NT/TOT's uses. I'll just jam the sim-card in the router and see what happens. If not, I'll put in my phone. No big deal. ฿919 is an ok price.

@Leeds forever!

No phone calls on that Sim, which means you'll have to rely on WhatsApp and other apps for communication. Or is that just as a second Sim for data usage only?