Jio, Airtel & Vi roaming in Thailand vs a travel eSIM

Get an eSIM for Thailand — from ≈ ₹289arrow_forward

Short answer: when your Indian pack wins in Thailand, when an eSIM wins

Take the pack if you must make or receive calls on your Indian number: eight of the ten packs below include minutes, and our Thailand eSIM includes none. Take the eSIM if you mostly need data. Install the eSIM in India; it connects when you land abroad. Prices checked on 12 Oct 2026.

A Thai tourist SIM, the kind travellers look for at Suvarnabhumi airport, is a physical card and needs a free slot that your Indian SIM may need for OTPs.

Two checks settle most Airtel roaming Thailand decisions, and the same logic holds for Jio and Vi. Do you need Indian-number calls? Then buy a pack. Does your trip outlast the pack? Then check the days column first: Airtel’s 5-day pack costs ₹998 for 4 GB, and its 10-day pack ₹1,298 for 6 GB.

We sell travel eSIMs, so we have an interest here. The table still shows when your operator pack is the better choice.

Jio, Airtel and Vi packs that cover Thailand (table)

All ten packs below are prepaid and include Thailand. They cost ₹599 to ₹3,495 as listed on 12 Oct 2026. Jio sells the same packs to postpaid users. Airtel’s packs are one set for every covered country, not Thailand-only packs. The table is a selection, not every pack. The ≈ ₹ per GB column is our derivation (price ÷ GB).

eSIM Go is not affiliated with Jio, Airtel, Vi or BSNL. Pack details are taken from their own pages on the date shown.

Source: operator documents linked in each row, checked on 12 Oct 2026. There is no single Jio Thailand pack; Thailand sits inside Jio’s multi-country packs. Airtel’s own FAQ page still shows older prices (₹898 for 5 days and ₹1,198 for 10 days); the current T&C list ₹998 and ₹1,298. For Airtel roaming Thailand trips outside these lengths, Airtel also sells a ₹698 one-day pack with 1 GB and a ₹2,998 30-day pack with 10 GB. Vi roaming Thailand packs come from two zones: Thailand is in Vi’s Set 1 budget zone and its “UL” zone, not in Set 2 or the non-UL zone.

Two limits sit behind the table. Jio states that pack benefits apply “only on the preferred partner network in the visited country”. Vi states that IR packs are “not applicable for customers in J&K, Assam and North East”. On postpaid, Jio sells the same packs and Airtel sells separate ones; we do not show Vi’s postpaid table, because we could not confirm it is current. How prepaid and postpaid packs differ by operator is on the international roaming overview.

Cost per GB for a 5-day and a 10-day trip

For a 5-day trip, Airtel’s ₹998 pack and Jio’s ₹951 pack both give 4 GB; Airtel’s lasts 5 days and Jio’s 10. For a 10-day trip, Airtel’s ₹1,298 pack gives 6 GB for ₹347 more than Jio’s ₹951 pack, so each extra GB costs about ₹174. These are our derivations from prices listed on 12 Oct 2026.

On a 5-day trip, Airtel roaming Thailand costs about ₹200 a day with the ₹998 pack (₹998 ÷ 5), which carries 150 minutes. Jio’s ₹951 pack costs ₹47 less for the same 4 GB and includes 100 outgoing and 100 incoming minutes. Its 10-day validity runs 5 days past your trip.

On a 10-day trip, Jio’s ₹951 pack works out to about ₹95 a day and Airtel’s ₹1,298 pack to about ₹130 a day. Jio’s ₹1,551 pack has the lowest figure in the table, about ₹194 per GB, but it only pays off if you use the full 8 GB. Vi’s budget packs cost the most per GB, about ₹755 and ₹796.

Our Thailand eSIM plans are data-only. A plan with 1 GB over 7 days costs ≈ ₹286 (12 Oct rate), 2 GB over 15 days costs ≈ ₹526 (12 Oct rate), and 5 GB over 30 days costs ≈ ₹622 (12 Oct rate), about ₹125 (US$1.30) per GB, charged US$6.49 by card. Your card is charged in US dollars. Your bank converts the amount at its own rate and may add a foreign-transaction (forex markup) fee. How card payments work.

The ≈ ₹ figure for our plans moves with the day’s exchange rate, so we print no rupee-per-GB number for them. Divide the ≈ ₹ price of a plan by its GB and set the result against the last column of the table on the day you buy. Our eSIM days count from the first connection to a Thai network, so installing at home uses none of them. The Thailand eSIM from India page lists every plan. A Thai tourist SIM and the eSIM are compared in the Thailand SIM card guide: local SIM vs eSIM.

Full refund within 30 days of purchase, as long as the eSIM has not connected to any network. If the eSIM doesn’t work and it isn’t your phone’s fault, we refund the payment whether or not it was installed.

Can I use my Indian SIM in Thailand without a pack?

Not for data on most lines. Airtel prepaid bars data without a pack “to avoid any accidental usage”, and Vi’s RoamSafe keeps mobile data off. Airtel postpaid with roaming on and no pack bills standard rates until a day’s charges pass ₹698, then applies a ₹698 one-day pack with 1 GB. Terms as checked on 12 Oct 2026.

Which Indian SIM works in Thailand comes down to the pack, and international roaming Thailand rules differ by operator. After an Airtel prepaid pack ends, calls cost ₹10 a minute and SMS ₹5, and data stays blocked. Vi lets you turn data on for 2 days at standard rates by sending ACT IRDATA to 199. We have not verified Jio’s standard rates; check them in the MyJio app.

Pack validity starts at different moments. Jio states: “Your plan validity begins only with your first usage—call, text, or data.” Airtel prepaid validity starts when your phone latches on to a covered foreign network and makes chargeable usage. You can book an Airtel prepaid pack up to 30 days before travel; if you do not travel within 30 days, it expires with no reimbursement. Vi sells packs up to 180 days ahead in its app and up to 90 days on its website. Some postpaid and annual plans now bundle a few days of roaming — check your plan in the Airtel or Vi app before you travel.

Keeping your number for OTPs while data runs on the eSIM

Bank OTPs arrive as SMS on your Indian number, and our eSIM carries data only, so it cannot receive them. Keep your Indian SIM in the phone as a second line, switch its mobile data and data roaming off, and use the eSIM line for data. No page can promise that every OTP will reach you.

Whether an SMS reaches a roaming Indian line depends on your operator and plan, so ask before you fly. Airtel and Vi both list a ₹118 prepaid option for this. Airtel’s ₹118 IR service activation runs 28 days and “allows unlimited incoming SMS”; calls, data and outgoing SMS are billed at standard rates, and your regular prepaid plan must also be active. Vi’s ₹118 “Standard rates + IC SMS pack” runs 28 days with free incoming SMS. We have not confirmed Jio’s incoming-SMS terms abroad; check the MyJio app.

One r/Airtel commenter on 26 Feb 2026 wrote: “For me i only bought the 99 plan from airtel to keep sms active.” That is one traveller’s experience, not a price reference, and we have not verified a ₹99 pack. The guide to keeping your Indian number for OTPs explains the dual-SIM settings, and the phone list shows eSIM models.

How we checked these prices

Every figure comes from the operator’s own document, read on 12 Oct 2026 (IST): Jio’s plan list, Airtel’s T&C PDF dated 24 Sep 2026 and Vi’s prepaid T&C PDF. The ≈ ₹ per GB column is price ÷ GB, rounded to the nearest rupee. This page reports published prices, not a purchase or activation test.

Coverage comes from each operator’s country list. Thailand appears in Jio’s 100-country, 75-country, 132-country and data-pack lists, in Airtel’s single list, and in Vi’s Set 1, UL and South Asia lists. Vi’s zone page is an image we transcribed by hand, so confirm Thailand there before you buy.

Updated on 12 Oct 2026: first version, all rows checked that day. Written and reviewed by Nadezhda Semenova; see the editorial policy. Operator pages: Jio, Airtel, Vi.

FAQ

Get an eSIM for Thailand, from ≈ ₹289 Pay by card in US$. Your bank converts the US$ charge at its own rate and may add a foreign-transaction fee. Install the profile at home on Wi-Fi before you fly. The QR code arrives by e-mail after payment. See plans