revtothelimit - motorbike forum

I'm off to Thailand to look windswept and interesting (read 'fat and sunburnt'). I'm gonna throw it out there and suggest it's outside of the EU and thus even thinking of using a bit of data will cost me a small fortune.

The obvious answer is an eSIM. Anybody used them? Got a recommendation?

Kosher? https://esimthailand.com/

How about leaving your phone turned off and only turn it on when you have wifi? You can use an actual camera to take pictures.

AFAIK most people going to out of the way places buy a local PAYG SIM somewhere near the border.

Pirahna wrote: Mon Dec 04, 2023 4:59 pm How about leaving your phone turned off and only turn it on when you have wifi? You can use an actual camera to take pictures.

Or just turn off the data-connection.....

Pretty sure my youngest just jumped between Wifi and only contacted us when he had that and using Messenger etc. (He was fecking quick to contact me one morning when I accidentally let his Spotify account lapse while he was on a long coach trip in Cambodia though.) Most of these places aren't really that technologically remote these days, you won't be the first visitor they've ever seen, and FFS you're on your holidays.

Back in the mists of time when I did my inter-railing obviously we just left with a few pairs of our sexiest y-fronts and a codpiece full of travellers cheques. I'm sure I could've "phoned home" using a payphone but back then nobody could give a shit about staying in contact.

Airalo - seems to work well enough and reasonable pricing...

Pirahna wrote: Mon Dec 04, 2023 4:59 pm How about leaving your phone turned off and only turn it on when you have wifi? You can use an actual camera to take pictures.

We did this in Portugal recently. Plenty of the bars had free wifi as well, but even turning the data on for a few minutes to check everything okay at home etc, didn't use much data. We survived for 3 weeks in France and Spain last year like this too, albeit with one top up as i'm on a payg tarfiff.

I use Mobimatter, there is an app and you can buy loads of different eSims and top them up really easily

Get a job with the SNP and use their provided device.

Have a chat with your provider - I’ve got O2 rest of the world bolt on and it’s a fiver a day which includes your uk allowance.

wheelnut wrote: Mon Dec 04, 2023 6:54 pm Have a chat with your provider - I’ve got O2 rest of the world bolt on and it’s a fiver a day which includes your uk allowance.

Fiver a day? Jesus that is theft.

JamJar wrote: Mon Dec 04, 2023 8:35 pm

wheelnut wrote: Mon Dec 04, 2023 6:54 pm Have a chat with your provider - I’ve got O2 rest of the world bolt on and it’s a fiver a day which includes your uk allowance.

Fiver a day? Jesus that is theft.

It’s only theft if you don’t ask for it.

You’ll probably find an eSIM with a sensible data allowance is a similar cost. Plus if you need to keep your own number working then it’s a better option.

M and I are going to Thailand, Laos and N. Vietnam same time as you gremlin, we fly out to Bangkok on Boxing day as well.

We looked at eSIMs and packages that would cover the whole area for a month or so but simply decided that we'll be on holiday, we don't need to carry the internet round in our pockets all day every day. I'm sure there'll be plenty of places with free wifi if M needs it to upload photos (I'm taking a proper camera) and like I've done in Nepal a couple of times and S. Africa the phone will stay in a bag for most of the time.

Of course, you may be more important than me and need to be contactable at all times but then you should maybe think that not going on holiday is the better option.

wheelnut wrote: Mon Dec 04, 2023 6:54 pm Have a chat with your provider - I’ve got O2 rest of the world bolt on and it’s a fiver a day which includes your uk allowance.

BT want £6 a day. Had a recommendation from a bloke who goes to the most obscure places on Earth for fun. He reckons Yesim is well worth downloading.

Obviously wi-fi is abundant as it grows on the trees out there and can be harvested all the time, but good to have a bit of data in the back pocket should one need maps or pay by phone and not have to sign in constantly.

Edit: Yesim tells me my device is too old. OK, it's a bit of a donkey, granted, but FFS.

Yambo wrote: Tue Dec 05, 2023 7:38 am M and I are going to Thailand, Laos and N. Vietnam same time as you gremlin, we fly out to Bangkok on Boxing day as well.


Of course, you may be more important than me and need to be contactable at all times but then you should maybe think that not going on holiday is the better option.

Nothing to do with work, I can assure you. They can fuck right off when I'm on holibobs.

Let me know what flight you're on and I'll arrange to sit behind you and kick your seat every minute or so...

gremlin wrote: Tue Dec 05, 2023 10:52 am

wheelnut wrote: Mon Dec 04, 2023 6:54 pm Have a chat with your provider - I’ve got O2 rest of the world bolt on and it’s a fiver a day which includes your uk allowance.

BT want £6 a day. Had a recommendation from a bloke who goes to the most obscure places on Earth for fun. He reckons Yesim is well worth downloading.

Obviously wi-fi is abundant as it grows on the trees out there and can be harvested all the time, but good to have a bit of data in the back pocket should one need maps or pay by phone and not have to sign in constantly.

Edit: Yesim tells me my device is too old. OK, it's a bit of a donkey, granted, but FFS.

You can download Google maps in advance.

I tried to use Nomad , when in Puerto Rico recently and the local Partner they had as AT and T had just pulled out of the country so could not activate it, but they were quite prompt in refunding me and have worked in other locations with no issues.
I ended up getting one with Airalo, and it worked a treat.
As said before try and make use of free wifis, and pre-download maps and any stuff you want to watch beforehand so as to avoid using lots of data.

Sorry for reviving this thread.

Is it better to get a local SIM or eSIM, like Airalo?

I used one in the USA last month. We went to Vegas for a holiday, felt a little lost when I didn't have data. I just did a search for eSim and found one $10 for 10Gb, it was time limited for about a month. Worked a treat. Can't remember which provider I used but it wasn't anyone I recognised. Easy to install and delete on an iPhone.

I tried on my trip to Japan.

It ended up my sitting in Haneda airport frantically trying to connect. In the end I gave up and bought an overpriced physical sim for one of the shops there.

Next time, if there is a next time I’d buy a sim here and take it with me.

I think it was Airailo.