Everything you need to know about using an eSIM in Thailand.
Landing in Bangkok with a dead phone and no plan is a rite of passage, one nobody asked for. An eSIM Thailand plan from ZILLA activates the moment you land, no counter, no passport handover, no mystery fees. Thailand's three major carriers, AIS, TrueMove, and DTAC, all support eSIM on modern handsets, with 4G coverage across the country and 5G live in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and other metro hubs. You get the same network locals use, minus the paperwork.
Thailand requires SIM registration, and prepaid SIMs are not anonymous. All of them, prepaid and postpaid, voice and data, physical and eSIM, must be registered to a verified identity. Tourists register with their passport, and since 2025 the process adds biometric liveness checks to fight identity theft.
There's also a cap of three SIMs per non-Thai per provider, and registration usually has to happen in person, with re-verification if a SIM isn't activated within 60 days. Tourist SIMs max out at 60 days and need re-identifying with a passport to continue.
Thai carriers are required to retain traffic data for at least 90 days and up to two years, and newer tech-crime rules push personal-data retention to 180 days after your contract ends, coordinated with police. Your passport at an airport kiosk becomes a number the carrier keeps for months to years, all tied to your identity.
For a typical trip, island-hopping, city nights, Maps and messaging, 3 to 15GB over 7 to 30 days covers most travelers. Need more? Grab a larger plan upfront. Either way, there is no contract, no account, and no roaming trap waiting at the bottom of your bill.
With ZILLA's privacy-focused eSIM, you skip all of it. Pay with Bitcoin or Monero, activate instantly, and stay out of the register. You're a tourist, not a data point.
Thailand's carriers register every SIM. ZILLA skips the register entirely.