The short answer
You are flying to Thailand from the UK on O2 or Three, and the question is whether to roam or buy an eSIM. I compared your carrier's daily charge, five travel eSIMs and Ringo Light on the same Thailand trips. For a day or two in Bangkok I would roam. For two weeks or a month I would buy Ringo Light, at $22.99 or $32.99.
Unlimited data at full speed for 7 days at $6.99, 2 weeks at $22.99 or 30 days at $32.99, and nothing renews. Airalo and Ubigi ask $49 for the month. Holafly asks $27.50 for one week and Saily $20.99.
I read 10 GB for 30 days at $10 and 50 GB for 10 days at $15, on True, AIS and dtac. Nomad stops its unlimited at 10 days, at $15.
1 GB from $4, 5 GB from $7 and 20 GB for 30 days at $18, on AIS and True with 5G. Its unlimited starts at $9.50 for 3 days and $21 for a week, a cent over Saily at $20.99.
No gigabytes to track, no daily cap stated for your own phone, on True and dtac. A week is $27.50, and sharing the connection is limited to 1 GB a day.
Prices read on 25 October 2026: Airalo, Holafly, Saily, Nomad, Ubigi, O2, Three, European Central Bank, Ringo Light on their own sites or listings, Ringo Light from its catalogue. All in US dollars unless stated. Treat every number as a snapshot.
See the full price index for every country.
Travelling further? Compare the best eSIM for Asia and the eSIM for Asia-Pacific.
The prices, charted
US dollars, 25 October 2026.
The 30-day unlimited plan at each brand. Nomad sells unlimited only up to 10 days. Ubigi states its month as 60 GB at full speed, then 2 Mbps. Ringo Light is unlimited data at full speed.
The bucket most people buy for a two-week holiday. Holafly sells no buckets. Ringo Light sells no bucket either: its 2 weeks is unlimited and lasts 2 weeks, not 30 days.
Side by side
Swipe to compare →
Get Ringo Light for Thailand, from $6.99.
Installed once, next to your own SIM. Your eSIM arrives by email in seconds.
- 7 days $6.99
- 2 weeks $22.99
- 30 days $32.99
- 90 days $71.99
We sell data eSIMs for now to fund the full Ringo service. Ringo is self funded. Every plan bought here pays for the build of one plan that works everywhere.
Want to keep your own number abroad?
That is the full Ringo service: one plan that works everywhere, with your own number included.
It is a separate product from Ringo Light and it is still being built, so it is not on sale yet. Join the waitlist to hear when it opens.
What to see in Thailand, and what your phone needs for it
Eight places most first trips include, from the temples of Bangkok to the north and the islands of the south, with the one thing your data does for you at each. AIS, True and dtac cover all of them with 4G, and 5G in the cities.
Roam with your carrier, or buy an eSIM
Start with what your own network charges, because for a short stay it can be the right answer. O2 Travel is £7 a day in Thailand: £21 for 3 days, £98 for two weeks and £210 for a month, read 31 October 2026. Three Go Roam is £8 a day, so £24 for 3 days, £112 for two weeks and £240 for a month on daily charges. Three also sells passes in advance: £17.50 for 3 days, £42 for 7 days and £84 for 14 days.
O2 Travel is £7 a day in Thailand, £98 for two weeks and £210 for a month, read 31 October 2026, against Ringo Light at $22.99 and $32.99. Among the other travel eSIMs, the cheapest week in the chart is Saily at $20.99 and the cheapest month is Saily at $48.99. Ringo Light sells no 3-day plan for Thailand; its 7 days is $6.99.
Your carrier wins on what an eSIM cannot give you. Your own number keeps ringing, texts and bank codes land as usual, O2 includes unlimited calls to the UK and within Thailand, nothing needs installing, and an older phone with no eSIM slot works too. For a day or two in Bangkok I would roam. One O2 day is £7, and Three's 3-day pass at £17.50, about $23, is level with Ringo Light's two weeks at $22.99. After that the daily charges pull away.
Roaming also has limits I would read first. O2 holds roaming data to 2Mbps. Three gives up to 12GB a month of your plan's data, then a surcharge, and does not allow hotspot use in Thailand. If the laptop is coming, I would not roam.
Networks in Thailand, and what changes for a visitor from the UK
Thailand has three networks the travel eSIMs use: AIS, True and dtac. In the table I read Airalo, Saily and Ubigi on AIS and True, Holafly on True and dtac, and Nomad on all three. Ringo Light rides a local partner network. Every brand sells 4G, and 5G where the network offers it, and I would not choose between them on coverage.
What changes for a Brit is how the charge arrives. O2 lists Thailand among the 75 places on its Travel bolt-on. The £7 starts at your first call, text or data session and runs for 24 hours, and you add it by texting TRAVEL to 23336 or in My O2. Three puts Thailand in Go Roam Around the World Extra for Pay Monthly plans, so there is nothing to set up: the charge starts when you use the phone, and you can add a pass in advance in your Three account.
The Three price depends on your plan. It is £8 a day for plans joined or upgraded on or after 18 December 2025 and £7 for earlier ones, so check which applies to you. On Pay As You Go, Three lists Thailand outside Go Roam, so its figures here are for Pay Monthly.
If you want a data bucket: Nomad, Saily or Airalo
- Nomad, $10 for 10 GB. The cheapest 10 GB for 30 days. Its 50 GB for 10 days at $15 is the biggest bucket under $20 in the table, on True, AIS and dtac.
- Saily, $10.99 for 10 GB. 20 GB costs $19.99, and I found the cleanest app of the six, on AIS and True. A full refund inside 30 days if you never install it.
- Ubigi, $11 for 10 GB. 25 GB costs $24.90, on AIS and True with 5G. You need the app for top-ups.
- Airalo, $11 for 10 GB for 30 days. 20 GB is $18, and small buckets start at $4 for 1 GB, on AIS and True with 5G.
- ✓Ringo Light, no buckets. Its 2 weeks is unlimited for $22.99, more than double what Nomad charges for 10 GB over 30 days. For a fixed amount of data I would buy Nomad, Saily or Ubigi, and Ringo Light only for unlimited.
What Ringo Light is
I write for Ringo, so weigh this part accordingly. Ringo Light is the data eSIM Ringo sells to fund the full Ringo, one plan that works everywhere with your own number ported onto it. For Thailand it sells three trips, all unlimited data at full speed: 7 days at $6.99, 2 weeks at $22.99 and 30 days at $32.99. Nothing renews. The eSIM arrives by email in seconds and installs in one scan, no app.
It sits next to your own SIM, so your O2 or Three number stays in the phone for calls and texts. If you leave roaming on for those, O2 includes unlimited calls to the UK and within Thailand, and Three includes calls and texts on its daily charge. The card to buy Ringo Light is further up this page, just after the table.
Pick by trip
I would roam. O2 is £21 for 3 days and Three's 3-day pass is £17.50, with your own number and nothing to install. If you want to avoid roaming, Airalo unlimited is $9.50 for 3 days.
Ringo Light, 2 weeks, $22.99. O2 comes to £98, and Three to £84 on the 14-day pass or £112 on daily charges. Saily at $20.99 covers one week only, and Ringo Light's own 7 days is $6.99.
Ringo Light, 30 days, $32.99. O2 is £210 at 2Mbps, Three is £240 and does not allow hotspot use there, and Airalo and Ubigi ask $49.
Nomad 10 GB for 30 days at $10, or Saily at $10.99. Two days of O2 roaming already cost £14.
Only roaming carries calls and texts on the number you have, so for a short trip I would use it. On a longer one I would buy Ringo Light for data and keep your SIM in the phone for calls.
Frequently asked questions
How we compared, and our sources
Airalo, Holafly, Saily, Nomad, Ubigi, O2, Three, European Central Bank, Ringo Light, Ringo Light
We priced Airalo, Holafly, Saily, Nomad, Ubigi and Ringo Light for Thailand on 25 October 2026, all on the same day, in US dollars. Each rival's price comes from its own website where it showed dollars, otherwise from an esimdb.com listing, and every source and its date is listed below. Ringo Light's prices come from the catalogue our checkout charges.
We compare the trips people actually book: a week, two weeks and a month of unlimited data, and a 10 GB bucket. We read each brand's fair use and speed rules and quote them as the brands state them. We did not run speed tests, so this page makes no speed claims for any brand.
Ringo Light is our own product. We put it in the table on the same terms as everyone else, and where a rival is the better buy the page says so.
Left out: Maya Mobile. We could not read its own prices for this country on the day, so it stays out rather than being guessed.
- Airalo: www.airalo.com/thailand-esim, unlimited plans read on the site in dollars, 25 October 2026; buckets from the esimdb listing dated 4 October 2026 (https://esimdb.com/thailand/airalo)
- Holafly: esim.holafly.com/esim-thailand/, read on the site in dollars, 25 October 2026
- Saily: saily.com/esim-thailand/, prices in dollars on saily.com, read 25 October 2026
- Nomad: www.nomadesim.com/thailand-esim, dollar prices from the page data, read 25 October 2026; unlimited up to 10 days only
- Ubigi: esimdb.com/thailand/ubigi, listing dated 4 October 2026 (still the latest on 25 October); cellulardata.ubigi.com shows euro prices and one plan only
- O2: www.o2.co.uk/international/o2-travel, O2 Travel bolt-on page, read 31 October 2026: £7 a day, charged for the 24 hours from first use, unlimited data capped at 2Mbps while roaming, unlimited calls to the UK and within the destination; the destination is on the page's list of 75 countries. The roaming page at o2.co.uk/international/roaming returned not found on the same day
- Three: www.three.co.uk/go-roam, Go Roam daily charges, the 12GB fair use limit and passes at three.co.uk/go-roam, Thailand in Around the World Extra at three.co.uk/support/roaming-and-calling-abroad/roaming-abroad/roaming-destinations, and the roaming FAQs, read 31 October 2026
- European Central Bank: www.ecb.europa.eu/stats/eurofxref/eurofxref-daily.xml, euro reference rates of 30 October 2026, the latest published on 31 October 2026, used for the dollar figures (£1 = $1.34)
- Ringo Light: ringoesim.com/thailand, the catalogue the checkout charges, read the same day
- Ringo Light: our own catalogue, the prices the checkout charges on 25 October 2026.
Written and priced by the Ringo team. Prices change often; if you spot one that has moved, tell us through the contact page and we will update the table.
