Best SIM card for SE Asia?

Hi guys,

I’m off to Bangkok next week, and am going to be in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia and Singapore.

I have an unlocked phone so want to get a sim card when I’m out there that will allow me good amounts of data, and good texts/call deals (to UK numbers if possible). I don’t want to pay extortionate amounts - currently on £10/month for 250 mins and unlimited texts and data, so something similar would be great.

Any tips of what one to buy?

You will have to buy a new sim card in each country as they all have different networks. In Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore go to any 7/11 and buy a preloaded pay as you go sim card. In Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia there are no 7/11s but some local shops will sell sim cards.

I never checked exactly how much credit I was using but I usually started with about £3-4 and never ran out in weeks of making plenty of calls/texts to local numbers and using data, it’s dirt cheap (apart from Singapore), not much point in paying monthly. For international calls back to the UK I used the Skype app on my iphone (using wi-fi) or in an internet shop. Skype to Skype is free, but you can use it to call a UK landline for 1p a minute or a UK mobile for about 15p a minute.

I’ve heard Lycamobile is a sim specifically for international calls but don’t know much about it, maybe try googling it. Facebook is the best way to keep in contact with people at home though, it’s free! Why not use that instead of texting?

Happy (Dtac) is the best sim card for Thailand. You can buy one as soon as you land in Bangkok.