Met a guy in Chiang Mai who showed me his 3-city SIM card setup

I was at a cafe in Nimman last week and this guy, Mark, had his phone open with three different SIM cards from Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia. He said he buys a local one in each country for about $10 and swaps them out based on where he's working that month. He keeps the old ones active with a cheap plan so he can still get bank codes and stuff. Anyone else do this or have a better way to handle phone service across borders?

4 comments

4 Comments

jason_davis1mo ago

Ever try a travel eSIM instead of juggling physical cards?

taylor_patel1mo ago

My buddy in Tokyo last month said his eSIM just stopped working after two days. Had to hunt for a local SIM card anyway.

wilson.lee1mo ago

Sounds like his eSIM took an early vacation too!

abby_martinez8d ago

That three SIM card trick is exactly what I did for two years across Asia. The problem is keeping those cheap plans active, because some carriers will cancel your number after a few months of no top-up. I lost a Thai number that way and it was a huge hassle with my bank. Now I just use one eSIM for data and keep my home SIM active for those important text codes. Isn't it funny how we all end up with our own messy system?