AIS eSIM in Thailand: Tourist Plans, Registration and Setup

If mobile data is all you need, a HelloRoam Thailand eSIM installs at home before you fly and connects as you land. On 31 October 2026, six of our eight Thailand plans listed AIS among their networks, as the section on our plans below explains.

AIS tourist eSIM prices run from 399 baht for 5 days to 1,199 for 30

Prices and rules for AIS, True and dtac in this guide are copied from each company's own website, and we read every page on 27 October 2026. AIS's online eSIM shop sells four plan lengths. Its tourist SIM page lists the same four as SIM cards, plus a 60-day plan that comes only as a SIM card.

Get your Thailand eSIM before you flyInstall it at home, then switch on data roaming for it when you land. From £2.60.See Thailand plans

The pound figures use the Bank of England's spot rate for 23 October 2026, when £1 bought 45.20 baht, so treat them as a guide. AIS's shop also shows an approximate US dollar price beside each baht price. AIS sells the SIM cards at Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Samui, Hat Yai and Phuket airports, and in AIS and Telewiz shops across Thailand.

Every plan in the table carries the same package: unlimited data at what AIS calls maximum speed on 5G and 4G, free calls to other AIS numbers, unlimited AIS SUPER WiFi and 100 baht of bonus credit. The credit covers calls to any Thai network, and calls abroad through the 00300 prefix.

That credit is enough for a short call home. Through 00300, AIS charges 7 baht a minute to a UK mobile and 5 baht a minute to a UK landline, and its page says these rates exclude 7% VAT. With VAT, 100 baht buys a little over 13 minutes to a mobile, or over 18 to a landline.

Unlimited comes with terms. AIS says it may slow speeds for continuous heavy use, BitTorrent, hotspot sharing and large uploads or downloads. Outside the package, its terms price data at 2 baht per MB and calls at 1 baht a minute, before 7% VAT. For a stopover, the tourist SIM page also lists a 1-day pack: 49 baht for 1 GB at a speed of 10 Mbps.

AIS offers three kinds of eSIM, and only the tourist one is for visitors

A search for an AIS eSIM brings up AIS pages for three different services. Only the first is made for a holiday in Thailand.

• The AIS tourist eSIM, sold online to visitors to Thailand. These are the plans in the table above.
• AIS's eSIM service for its own customers, which moves an AIS number onto an eSIM or opens a new line. Its steps ask you to prepare an ID card and, online, to enter the last 4 digits of a Thai Citizen ID.
• SIM2Fly, an AIS eSIM for trips out of Thailand. Its setup guide covers using it abroad and switching back to your main number after you return to Thailand, and you apply for it at an AIS Shop.

Travel eSIMs from other sellers that connect to AIS's network are a different thing again: each seller sets its own plans and terms, and decides which Thai networks its plans use. AIS also takes on wholesale partners, so check whose terms a listing carries before you buy.

An AIS eSIM needs an unlocked phone that supports eSIM

AIS's FAQ says its tourist eSIM does not work on a locked iPhone. Ofcom banned UK mobile companies from selling locked handsets from 17 December 2021, so a phone bought from a UK network before then could still be locked. Ask your provider to unlock it well before you fly.

AIS's list of compatible phones stops at the iPhone 16 range, but a newer iPhone still qualifies. Apple says an iPhone XS, XS Max, XR or later can run an eSIM beside your UK SIM. AIS also suggests a quick test: dial *#06#, and if an EID number appears, the phone supports eSIM. Our list of eSIM phones covers Android models too.

Registering an AIS eSIM takes your passport and a face scan

AIS says rules set by Thailand's National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) require every SIM card and eSIM to be registered before use. AIS's terms say one passport can register up to 3 SIM or eSIM numbers. True's tourist SIM terms carry the same NBTC rule, with up to 3 SIMs per person per brand, so the check is not unique to AIS.

AIS asks eSIM buyers to register no more than 7 days before they leave, on its registration site, kyc.cloud.ais.th. The site offers English, and for visitors it asks you to pick Passport (For Foreigner), have the original passport ready and allow camera access. AIS's step-by-step guide is drawn for its SIM card. AIS's pages do not say where an eSIM buyer finds the serial number and phone number its first two steps ask for, so ask AIS's traveller team at Traveller1175@ais.co.th before you start. The guide runs like this:

1. Scan the SIM barcode to fill in the serial number, or type it in.
2. Enter the phone number printed on the SIM cover.
3. Take a photo of your passport.
4. Complete the face recognition check, which AIS uses to confirm a real person is present.
5. Review your details and confirm. An SMS confirms the number.

Allow time for this step. Several of the customer reviews AIS shows on its own eSIM shop complain about the identity check, from a rejected passport photo to a process one reviewer could not finish on a single phone.

If the check fails, the site asks for an email address and AIS staff review your documents by hand. AIS says requests made between 9am and 8pm get an SMS result within 30 minutes. The result email comes from kyccloud@ais.co.th, so check your junk folder. You can then try again on the site or in the myAIS app, or ask at an AIS counter: AIS says its counters at Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, Chiang Mai, Phuket and Hat Yai airports open 24 hours a day.

Registration also starts a clock. AIS says a number registered in your name must be activated within 60 days, and a tourist SIM or eSIM used beyond 60 days from activation needs a second identity check. Send your passport number by SMS to 4444161, free, and follow the link in the reply, or visit any AIS Shop. AIS's eSIM terms say a number that misses the check is suspended, with no calls, internet or top-ups. Before you plan a long stay, read up on Thailand visa rules for UK passports.

Setting up an AIS eSIM starts with a QR code you request

You log in to AIS's shop to buy, and it takes Visa, Mastercard and JCB credit cards, WeChat Pay, Alipay and LINE Pay. The QR code does not arrive by itself. Open the Order menu and press Send Email, and AIS says the eSIM reaches your inbox within a few minutes.

Hold off until you are ready to install. AIS's FAQ says the plan's validity period starts when you send that email, then adds that some plans count from the first connection. The plan terms we read did not say which applies, so ask AIS's traveller team before you press it.

On an iPhone, AIS's steps are below. Your iPhone may name the menus differently: Apple's UK guide calls them Mobile Data and Add Mobile Plan.

1. Go to Settings, then Cellular or Mobile Data, then Add Cellular Plan, and scan the QR code from the email.
2. Label the new line, for example AIS TOURIST.
3. Choose to use AIS TOURIST for mobile data only, and keep Primary, your UK line, as the preferred line.
4. If an Uncertified Cellular Plan message appears, tap OK. AIS says this is normal.
5. Check that the eSIM's APN reads internet.

If the QR code is on the same phone, Apple says that from iOS 17.4 you can tap and hold it in your default email app and tap Add eSIM. AIS's own fallback is Enter Details Manually, where you paste the activation code from the email. AIS's Android steps start in Settings under Network & Internet, then Mobile Network, where you tap Download a SIM instead. Our eSIM set-up guide for Android shows where these menus sit on Samsung and other Android phones.

Three AIS rules are worth knowing first. A QR code installs on one phone only. A deleted AIS eSIM cannot be reinstalled, so you would have to buy another. AIS does not refund a plan once it is paid for.

Once you are online, dial *121*3# for your remaining data, *121*32# for the plan's start and end dates and *545# for your Thai number. Your UK number stays live in the same phone: Apple's Dual SIM guide says both numbers can make and receive calls and texts, while the iPhone uses one line for mobile data at a time. Your UK line is still roaming in Thailand, though, so your UK network's charges for Thailand apply to its calls and texts, as the roaming section below explains. Our internet abroad guides cover roaming, Wi-Fi and eSIMs in more depth.

True and dtac match AIS on unlimited eSIM prices, and dtac sells cheaper capped ones

True Corporation sells the True and dtac tourist SIMs side by side on one page, each as an eSIM or a SIM card. dtac's old tourist SIM address now forwards there.

Its Infinite SIMs cost 499 baht for 8 days, 699 for 15 and 1,199 for 30, VAT included: the same baht prices as AIS's plans of those lengths. One answer in True's FAQ on the same page still gives 449 baht for the 8-day dtac SIM, so check which price True charges before you pay. Each has unlimited 5G data at maximum speed, free Wi-Fi and free calls to Thai networks for up to 15 minutes a call. True's version adds 100 baht of credit for calls abroad. dtac's adds 30 free minutes to China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, India, South Korea and Vietnam, which leaves out the UK.

True also sells a 10-day data-only tourist SIM for 349 baht, about £7.70. It takes incoming calls and texts but cannot make calls or send texts, apart from calls to emergency numbers such as 191, 1669 and 112 and to True and dtac call centres. True and dtac shops sell them nationwide, and True says its airport locations open 24/7.

dtac's own tourist page also sells two cheaper Happy Tourist eSIMs online: 299 baht for 8 days with 15 GB at maximum speed, and 599 baht for 15 days with 30 GB at maximum speed. Each comes with 15 baht of call credit and free calls to other dtac numbers. dtac calls the data unlimited, but the page does not say how fast it runs after the 15 GB or 30 GB.

For unlimited data at full speed, then, price does not separate AIS and True. Plan length does: AIS has the 5-day and 60-day options, and True the 10-day data-only one. If 15 GB at full speed will see you through 8 days, dtac lists its 299-baht eSIM at 200 baht less than AIS's 8-day plan.

UK roaming in Thailand depends on how your network zones it

Roaming needs no new SIM, but not every UK plan includes Thailand. On Vodafone UK's pay monthly plans, for example, Thailand sits outside the 84 destinations of its Global Roam package, so you need an Extra or a daily charge. Check what your own network charges for Thailand before you go; if you are with EE, our guide to EE's zones and passes shows where Thailand sits.

Our eSIM vs roaming comparison sets out the trade-offs, and our eSIM Bangkok page shows the plans that cover the city.

Our Thailand eSIM is data only and starts when you land

HelloRoam sells travel eSIMs, so this section is about our own product. Our editorial policy on conflicts of interest explains how we handle that.

Six of our eight HelloRoam Thailand plans list AIS, DTAC and TrueMove H as their networks, and the phone picks the strongest signal. The two 50GB plans leave AIS out: one lists True Move, the other TrueMove H and DTAC. That was the line-up on 31 October 2026, and each plan page shows its current networks.

The plans carry data only, with no Thai number, so calls and texts keep coming to your UK number. You install the eSIM at home over Wi-Fi, and the plan starts when it first connects to a network in Thailand. When you land, select the eSIM's line in Settings and switch Data Roaming on, as our guide to setting up a travel eSIM shows. Support answers 24/7 if it will not connect.

Most plans come in set data sizes, so check how much data you need before you choose. If Thailand is one stop of several, one Southeast Asia eSIM covers Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore on a single plan.

An AIS or True tourist eSIM is the better choice if you want a Thai number for drivers, hotels and restaurants, or unlimited data for a long stay. Ours suits a trip where data is all you need and you want it working when the plane lands.

Calls, trip length and borders decide which option fits