If you start your Thailand holiday by arriving in Phuket, you can conveniently buy a SIM card at Phuket Airport to stay connected since your arrival. At Phuket Airport you can find the stores of all 3 Thai mobile phone service providers. Discover SIM card price at Phuket Airport and detailed information about mobile internet plans for tourists.
Thailand SIM Card at Phuket Airport
Getting a Thai SIM card for tourist is easy, as all the main mobile phone service providers in the country offer special plans for tourists. All of them have branches at Phuket International Airport (HKT), which is a popular arrival point for international tourists visiting Thailand.
Buying a Thailand SIM card at Phuket Airport is not complicated, as you only need an unlocked phone, a passport, and some cash in local currency to get a local SIM card for Thailand. To make things easier, you can pre-book a Thai SIM card and pay for it online with your card to avoid cash payments at the airport.
If your mobile phone is eSIM compatible, you can get eSIM Thailand by instant email delivery and use it right after landing in Phuket. It will help you to save time at the airport!
Phuket Airport SIM Cards for Tourists
All 3 main Thailand mobile phone service providers, AIS, DTAC, and TRUE, are present at Phuket Airport and offer ‘pay as you go’ deals of Thai SIM cards for tourists. However, DTAC and TRUE merged recently and now offer identical plans to travelers, so you basically have two different choices.
All three mobile networks have 4G/5G capability, providing fairly good coverage in all but the most remote corners of the country, so your choice of SIM card at Phuket Airport should basically depend on the price, duration, and amount of data needed. Actually, when your purchased plan expires, you can top it up at any 7-11 convenience store or via the app of the service provider, so it's not necessary to book a plan covering the full duration of your trip since the start.
The shops of three mobile phone service providers at Phuket Airport can be recognized by distinct colors, and they are located not far from each other so you can conveniently compare their offers at the airport.
DTAC SIM Card at Phuket Airport
The stores of Thailand's mobile service provider DTAC at Phuket Airport are blue.
DTAC has 2 branches at HKT Airport:
- At belt No. 2 of the Baggage Claim Area
- At Exit 1-2 in the Arrival Area (after passing customs)
DTAC is currently offering several types of prepaid SIM cards for tourists at Phuket Airport.
The most basic is Happy Tourist 49 THB – Pay-As-You-Go plan that includes 1 GB Internet for 24 hours and then needs to be extended by getting add-ons.
Other Happy Tourist plan options offer unlimited Internet for 8 to 15 days and Internet at max speed for up to 15-50 GB. DTAC is also offering Happy Tourist Infinite plans with unlimited Internet and no speed limits for 8 to 30 days, but they cost from 449 THB to 1,199 THB and are more expensive alternatives. The most popular Thai SIM card options at Phuket Airport are the following:
- Happy Tourist 349 THB – unlimited Internet for 10 days (max speed up to 50 GB)
– Get this SIM card for as little as 249 THB when booking online! - Happy Tourist Infinite 699 THB – unlimited Internet for 15 days
– Get this SIM card at a discounted price when booking online!
To get a discounted rate, you need to book a DTAC SIM card online via the links provided and then pick up your SIM card at the airport on arrival.
AIS SIM Card at Phuket Airport
The store of Thailand's mobile service provider AIS at Phuket Airport is green.
The AIS branch is located at Exit 1-2 in the Arrival Area (after passing customs).
AIS is currently offering a pay-as-you-go plan and 4 other types of prepaid SIM cards for travelers with unlimited Internet for 5 to 30 days that cost from 349 THB to 1,199 THB.
As AIS claims to be the No. 1 network in Thailand, their tourist SIM card plans are more expensive and can't be pre-booked online at a discounted rate, so choosing another Thai SIM card at Phuket Airport can help you save a significant amount of money.
TRUE SIM Card at Phuket Airport
The stores of Thailand's mobile service provider TRUE at Phuket Airport are red.
TRUE has 2 branches at HKT Airport:
- At belt No. 4 of the Baggage Claim Area
- At Exit 3-4 in the Arrival Area (after passing customs)
As it was mentioned before, after merging, TRUE is currently offering identical prepaid SIM card options for tourists like DTAC. The most popular of them can also be pre-booked online at a discounted rate:
- Thailand Tourist 349 THB – unlimited Internet for 10 days (max speed up to 50 GB)
– Get this SIM card for as little as 249 THB when booking online! - Thailand Tourist Infinite 699 THB – unlimited Internet for 15 days
– Get this SIM card at a discounted price when booking online!
Best Price for Thai SIM Card at Phuket Airport
If you want to get the best price for a Thai SIM card at Phuket Airport, you should book your Thailand SIM card online and get it at the airport with the voucher. There are few advantages to pre-booking a Thai SIM card online and then picking it up on arrival at the airport:
- You can get your Thai SIM card at a discounted price.
- You don’t need to exchange your money to Thai baht at the airport, where exchange rates are bad.
Where can you get the best deal for a Thai SIM card? By booking it online via the link below and picking it up at Phuket Airport:
Thai SIM card at Phuket Airport
After your purchased plan expires, you can top it up at any 7-11 convenience store or via the app of the service provider. Therefore, getting a discounted DTAC Happy Tourist package online and topping it up once the plan gets expired or max speed Internet is used is normally cheaper than buying the plan for 599 THB at once.
Otherwise, get the unlimited internet plan for the entire duration of your trip.
Tips
In case you will be entering Thailand via Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok and will have a connecting flight to Phuket from there, you can get a SIM card at Bangkok Airport. For some data plans, you can get a better price at the reseller store there.
Install the app of the chosen service provider, as you will be able to top up easily, track your data usage, and get various deals from time to time (they give away various discounts or freebies, such as free ice cream at Thailand McDonald's, so you might be lucky to get something worth attention).
Other useful apps for Thailand are listed here: Best Apps for Thailand Travel.