We arrived in Bangkok last night and I decided to get an AIS SIM before our beach days on Koh Chang. I have had good luck in the past with AIS and bandwith, and figured spending an extra couple of bux was worth having consistent internet.
This time I managed to get a micro SIM for my iPad. The price was 69 Baht for the SIM, and 100 Baht for 30 hours of Data. As far as I could tell, there is no way for you to purchase the SIM card and set it up yourself. So, if you would like to try this out you’ll have to find a Telewiz/AIS store. If you are on Khao San, there is a store near the post office (ask and you will be pointed in the right direction).
Why do you need to go to a store you might ask… well, the process actually required me to test compatibility with the Micro SIM (not exactly sure why since iPads are unlocked). It was just a matter of popping in the SIM that they have lying around for testing. Next, another card (full sized SIM) needs to be activated. I’m assuming this is done so that you have a number to top up. Last, a micro SIM card needs to be registered and the information from the previously activated card needs to be transferred. It all seemed like a big effort for something that should be prepackaged.
When I got that done I was rocking out a speed test enroute to my next destination (Koh Chang). Here’s the result from that test:
Do note this was in a taxi near the Khao San area of Bangkok. The iPad registered the cell service as 3G. Sadly it’s a not quite the 7.2 Mbps as advertised.
UPDATE: Once I got to the island I did another test of the AIS service. Below is a screenshot of the speed test from Koh Chang.
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