Thailand SIM Card for Tourists 2026: AIS, True, 7-Eleven and the 60-Day Rule

Last updated on 10 October 2026

A tourist SIM from AIS or TrueMove H costs 499 baht (about €13.28) for 8 days of unlimited data in Thailand. You register it with your passport and a live face scan, and it stops working after 60 days at the latest. The POVNOMAD Thailand eSIM starts at €2.90 for 1 GB over 7 days, you install it before the flight, and nobody asks for your passport. Unlimited Smart costs €12.90 for 7 days. As of 10 October 2026.

For longer stays the local SIM is the cheaper option, and this guide says so: 15 days of unlimited data cost 699 baht (€18.60) at AIS and True, against €22.90 for our Unlimited Smart. The eSIM pays off on short trips, with small data needs, and when you want a connection the moment you land.

Local SIM, eSIM or roaming: what fits a trip to Thailand?

As of 10 October 2026. Tourist SIM: AIS tourist plan page and True/dtac tourist SIM page. POVNOMAD: Thailand product page; Unlimited Smart runs with a Singapore IP and gives 1 GB of high-speed data a day, then up to 1 Mbit/s. Euro amounts at the ECB reference rate of 9 October 2026 (€1 = 37.574 baht).

How much does a tourist SIM cost at the airport and at 7-Eleven?

AIS and True sell special tourist packages. dtac belongs to True Corporation, which sells the tourist SIMs of both brands. All of them advertise unlimited data at maximum speed, and none of the pages we read names a daily cap. As of 10 October 2026:

Prices as listed on ais.th and true.th on 10.10.2026; True states its prices include VAT. The unlimited packages include local calls: AIS within its own network, True to all Thai networks for up to 15 minutes per call. “–” = no such package on that page.

On the operators’ own price lists, the airport costs no more. True lists its 8, 15 and 30-day tourist SIMs at the same price for its airport shops, its shops near BTS and MRT stations and 7-Eleven. dtac sells its 8-day Happy Tourist SIM for 499 baht at airport shops and in 7-Eleven, Lotus, Big C and FamilyMart. Several travel blogs quote 299 to 599 baht at 7-Eleven; those prices do not appear on the AIS or True tourist pages we read.

The airport counter has one practical advantage: the staff register the SIM, scan your face and test the connection on the spot. True says its airport shops are open around the clock.

What do you need to register a Thai SIM card?

Your original passport and your face. Since 18 August 2025, every new prepaid or postpaid registration and every SIM swap includes a real-time face scan (liveness detection), and foreigners must show an original, valid passport (Infoquest, 15 August 2025). The regulator NBTC added further rules on 30 August 2025: a foreigner may register no more than three mobile numbers per operator, and only the passport counts as ID (Infoquest, 31 August 2025). True’s terms repeat the limit of three SIMs per person and brand.

A registered number must also be activated within 60 days; after that, AIS asks you to verify your identity again. AIS and True also sell their tourist packages as eSIMs with a Thai number, and AIS asks you to register every tourist SIM before you use it in Thailand.

A travel eSIM bought abroad works differently. It joins AIS or TrueMove H as a foreign roaming guest and carries no Thai number. We found no NBTC rule that requires foreign roaming eSIMs to be registered in Thailand (as of 10 October 2026), and our checkout asks for no ID. You install it at home on Wi-Fi with our instructions for iPhone and Android; the validity starts with the first connection in Thailand.

Why was my Thai SIM card blocked?

For tourists, the rules give four likely reasons:

1. The 60 days are over. Since 30 August 2025, a tourist SIM runs for 60 days at most, and a top-up does not extend it. To keep the number, AIS asks you to send your passport number by free SMS to 4444161 and finish the check through the link in the reply, or to visit an AIS shop. At True and dtac you identify yourself again in a shop or through the call centres 1242 (True) and 1678 (dtac).
2. You activated the SIM too late. If more than 60 days pass between registration and first use, you have to verify your identity again.
3. You already hold three numbers with that operator. A fourth registration under your passport fails.
4. Your usage looked unusual. Operators must screen for patterns such as call volume, location and device, and suspend lines that look like fraud. On an NBTC order, mobile operators suspend a number within 24 hours.

The large blocking wave you may have read about came in July 2024. The NBTC suspended 2.14 million numbers whose owners held between six and 100 unverified SIM cards and missed the deadline to confirm their identity (Thailand Business News, 18 July 2024). That wave targeted owners of many SIMs, not visitors with one tourist SIM. A travel eSIM from abroad carries no Thai number, so these rules do not apply to it; it ends with its plan.

Is a local SIM cheaper for a long stay in Thailand?

Yes, from about two weeks with heavy data use. Prices as of 10 October 2026:

Tourist SIM in euros at the ECB rate of 9 October 2026 (€1 = 37.574 baht). POVNOMAD, airalo.com and esim.holafly.com read on 10.10.2026; at full allowance Smart, XL and Airalo continue at 1 Mbit/s. “–” = no such plan on the survey date.

From two weeks with unlimited use, the tourist SIM costs less than any eSIM in the table and adds a Thai number. For one week, the 8-day tourist SIM and our Unlimited Smart cost about the same. True’s 10-day data-only SIM, at 349 baht (€9.29), also undercuts our 10-day Smart at €15.90. The eSIM wins as soon as a fixed amount of data covers your needs: 10 GB for 30 days cost €9.90, a third of the 30-day tourist SIM. Beyond 60 days, the tourist SIM needs a new identity check, while our 50 GB plan runs 180 days. Prices for every duration are in our Thailand eSIM provider comparison.

How do you buy a local SIM the right way?

1. Check before the trip that your phone has no SIM lock. If the Thai SIM takes your only SIM slot, your home number goes offline, and with it the text codes from your bank.
2. Carry your original passport. A copy or a photo is not enough, and the face scan happens at the counter.
3. Buy from an AIS, True or dtac shop, or at a 7-Eleven that True and dtac list as a sales point. Compare the package name and price with the table above.
4. Test mobile data before you leave the counter.
5. Note the end date. After 60 days the SIM stops unless you identify yourself again.

If you want to pay in cash and need baht on arrival, our guide to ATM fees in Thailand lists what each bank charges.

When is the eSIM the better choice, and when not?

The eSIM fits a holiday of up to about a week, light data use with a fixed package, and arrivals where you want Grab and your hotel address on screen before passport control. It also fits stays over 60 days with moderate data. Island hoppers get AIS and TrueMove H on one eSIM; our guide to eSIM coverage from Koh Samui to Koh Lipe covers reception island by island.

The tourist SIM is the better buy for two weeks or more with streaming or video calls, and whenever someone in Thailand has to call you back on a local number. What runs over which line with an eSIM and your home number side by side is explained in Thailand eSIM with a phone number. If your phone cannot take an eSIM at all, the physical tourist SIM is the only option.

Frequently asked questions

As of 10 October 2026. Local SIM prices from ais.th and true.th, eSIM prices from povnomad.com, airalo.com and esim.holafly.com, all read on that day; euro amounts at the ECB reference rate of 9 October 2026. Offers and rules can change at any time.