Potentially the best Thailand eSIM for travelers? [My review on dtac Tourist eSIM]

In-depth eSIM review for people traveling to Thailand

shuhei

Sep 27, 2022 • 8 min read

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The information in this article is accurate as of the time of its writing.

This month (September 2022), I had an opportunity to travel to Bangkok, Thailand for a couple of days. In this short trip, I bought dtac Happy Tourist eSIM for mobile internet. Here is my review and why I think this might be the best travel eSIM for Thailand 🇹🇭.

TL;DR, this is an eSIM version of one of the most popular tourist SIM cards in Thailand. Great value for money, low latency, and good coverage in most cities in Thailand. Highly recommended.

FYI, there are more than 30 eSIM services and 600+ data plans available for Thailand. And esimdb.com is THE website where you can find and compare various travel eSIM 👇

What is dtac Happy Tourist eSIM

Happy Tourist SIM has been around quite some time now and is definitely one of the best selling tourist SIM cards in Thailand (they claim it to be No.1 tourist SIM but cannot be confirmed).

You can find the physical SIM card version in all major airports in Thailand including Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK), Don Mueang International Airport, and Phuket International Airport.

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dtac is one of the big 3 telecom companies in Thailand and is merging with the other big telco - True.

This dtac Happy Tourist SIM is available in eSIM in 2 plans:

8-day package
15-day package

dtac Happy Tourist eSIM comes in two variations

In simple terms, you can buy and use the exact same plan with an eSIM that you could with a physical SIM. These are packaged tourist eSIM so to speak.

The only differences between the two packages are the validity (days) and the data amount for high speed internet.

8-day Unlimited w/ 15GB at High Speed

This package includes the following.

15GB of mobile data (unlimited data at 384kbps after that)
Unlimited domestic calls to dtac numbers
15-baht call credit (for calls to non-dtac numbers and international calls)
Special international call rate via 00400
Free data usage for 5 chat apps (Facebook Messenger, LINE, WhatsApp, WeChat, and KakaoTalk)

The official selling price is 299 THB, but each reseller sets their own price. Will explain it the next section.

15-day Unlimited w/ 30GB at High Speed

This package includes the following.

30GB of mobile data (unlimited data at 384kbps after that)
Unlimited domestic calls to dtac numbers
15-baht call credit (for calls to non-dtac numbers and international calls)
Special international call rate via 00400
Free data usage for 5 chat apps (Facebook Messenger, LINE, WhatsApp, WeChat, and KakaoTalk)

The official selling price is 599 THB, but again, each reseller sets their own price.

One of the cheapest tourist SIM/eSIM in Thailand. Period.

Both the 8-day package and 15-day package offer great value considering the amount of data and other perks you get.

Plus, what's important to note is that they use a local network, not roaming. This means you can expect much less latency or delay compared to a roaming eSIMs.

Where to buy it (my recommendation)

Although it seems that you are able to buy this eSIM from dtac directly via the Happy Tourist eSIM webpage, I personally recommend that you buy it from one of the resellers listed on the webpage.

No matter where you purchase it, you'll get the exact same product.

At time of this writing, there are 8 resellers listed on the dtac webpage including my favorite; 'Airalo'.

And here are why I recommend the reseller route rather than direct purchase from dtac.

The dtac official website did not work properly when I tested, plus they ask for ID document whereas the resellers don't.
Buying it from a reseller is probably cheaper and it's in USD, not THB (thus no currency conversion).
Buying it from Airalo was extremely easy and straightforward. Plus I was able to install it directly from their iOS app which was super convenient.

Buying the eSIM from Airalo

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Use promo code ESIMDB10 to get 10%OFF on any eSIM from Airalo!

Here is their official website 👇

Simply search for Thailand and you will find the two dtac eSIM priced at $9.90 and $19.95 respectively.

Purchasing an eSIM on Airalo website is super easy and straightforward but if you want a guide, below is the article explaining it step by step with screenshots.

If you are an iPhone user, you can take advantage of their direct eSIM install feature that allows you to download the eSIM right from their iOS app without a QR code. (I don't think any other resellers support this direct install method.)

*This may come to Android too but not yet at the time of this writing.

Other reseller options

Here are some more reseller options other than Airalo that are likely to be a little cheaper.

Airhub

Just like Airalo, Airhub has some competitive travel eSIM to offer including the dtac Happy Tourist eSIM.

Their prices are usually cheaper than Airalo.

For more information, visit their website below.

MobiMatter

MobiMatter is another company / website selling the dtac Happy Tourist eSIM.

MobiMatter, like Airhub, also has really competitive prices, typically cheaper than Airalo.

They also offer affordable plans for various countries in Asia, including Thailand. So it's definitely worth checking out 👇

How it performed in Bangkok

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I bought the 8-day eSIM from Airalo and installed it in my iPhone 13 Pro running iOS 16.

With this eSIM, the 8-day period starts when you install it in your device. I installed it the day before my departure to Bangkok.

Network and coverage

After landing in Suvarnabhumi International Airport (BKK) while still in the airplane, I turned on the dtac eSIM and set it for Cellular data on my iPhone. It soon connected to dtac 4G network and I was able to use internet right away.

Throughout my stay in Bangkok, I had no coverage issues with dtac network. I regularly checked and compared it with AIS - the No.1 carrier in Thailand - with my other cellular plan but did not find any meaningful differences at least in Bangkok.

*If you are traveling to rural areas in Thailand, you might want to check dtac coverage beforehand.

Occasionally it connected to dtac 5G briefly but the area was very limited and the speed was pretty much the same as 4G.

At one point at a MRT station it automatically connected to dtac public WiFi but the speed was really slow so I had to manually disable WiFi to use the cellular 4G.

Speed test results

I conducted a couple of speedtests with my iPhone in Bangkok.

Its performance can be summarized as follows.

Ping: around 40 ms consistently
Download: 30Mbps - 100+Mbps range
Upload: 10Mbps - 30Mbps range

Just looking at those numbers may give you an impression that the quality is very good, but my actual hands-on experience was rather okay or decent. Maybe it's due to the infrastructure itself.

So if you are used to ultra fast, low-latency mobile internet in your home country, don't assume that you'll get the same quality with this eSIM or with any other tourist SIM/eSIM in Thailand.

But still, I had no downtime or cut-offs whatsoever and was able to be connected 24/7 with decent internet speed which is what mattered to me. I was able to use internet for Google Maps, Grab, web surfing, social media, etc. all without issues. Over all it was good enough for me and for travel purposes.

Also, Personal Hotspot (tethering) worked just fine with this eSIM which was an extra point.

How to check data balance

Checking data usage / remaining was a bit tricky part of the dtac Happy Tourist eSIM.

It seems that the data cannot be pulled from dtac so Airalo mobile app / website cannot show the real-time data balance. (Probably same for all the other resellers.)

What you need to do to check the data usage is as follows.

Access the dtac service webpage
Click the button in Check balance, Top-up, and Add-on package section at the bottom of the page
Enter 10-digit phone number of your eSIM on the check-balance page
Get OTP (one-time password) via SMS and enter it to verify

Then you should be able to see your remaining balance like this 👇

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It only worked on desktop when I tried.

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You can find the phone number under eSIM section under Settings > Cellular on iPhone.

Wrap-up

dtac Happy Tourist eSIM is definitely a great value for money. It's no doubt that it's one of the cheapest Thailand eSIM for travelers.

✅ Low-cost (8-day package for less than $10 and 15-day package for less than $20)

✅ Local network = low latency (less sluggish) compared to roaming eSIMs

✅ Call credit (15 THB) included + Unlimited domestic calls to dtac numbers

✅ Fulfills cellular quality requirements for travel purposes (though not super fast)

✅ Robust coverage in the majority of Thai cities (dtac coverage got better than before it seems)

✅ Supports Personal Hotspot (tethering) to connect multiple devices

And again, my advice for people looking to buy this eSIM is to go with Airalo, or Airhub or MobiMatter.

If you are traveling more than 15 days, you'd have to either buy the 15-day eSIM multiple times or find another eSIM with a longer validity from esimdb.com.