I went to do tourist stuff for 4-5 hours.

I turned on hotspot to share the Airalo dtac connection from iPad to iPhone. Returned to hotel and saw that I used about 4 GB while I was out.

I used Google Maps often but probably was some podcasts it downloaded. I have a lot of subscribed podcasts. M
ay also have updated apps. Sure this is stuff which could have waited until I returned to the hotel.

But the hotel WiFi blocks VPN so I used the iPad data for part of the time when I was in the hotel room.


In any event, there is an AIS store near the hotel and their website lists a Traveler eSIM, 8 days for 25 GB at max speed. The Airalo dtac is limited to 15 Mbps, barely sufficient if you stream video via VPN.

I wasn’t going to be near AIS store in Chiang Mai or Phuket and I was going to be one or two days short on the dtac eSIM so decided to go register and pick it up in Bangkok.

The saleswoman showed me a handwritten list of what they were offering and some of the real cheap ones had like under 1 Mbps speeds. I went for the 399 THb for one month of 100 GB at max speed plus 50 THB for the SIM. Cash only, even though it was a nice big Western style store with expensive phones on display and comfortable seating for clients to wait.

She took pictures of my passport and me, to attach to some app, to activate the SIM. I asked about eSIM and she asked if I was sure if my iPad Air could take eSIMs. Once she was she converted my SiM. Using the number assigned on the outside of the SIM package, to convert to eSIM and generate a QR code within her tablet and I used Camera on my iPad to install.

Speed was very fast, over 200 Mbps down. Also fast while hotspot to my iPhone.

BUT, I can’t connect to my OpenVPN server back home, which is a big downside for me. I tried Surfshark and that worked.

So hotel WiFi blocks OpenVPN and SurfShark. It also does some security check when loading some forums, though FT isn’t one of those, I don’t believe. It looks like a Cloudflare check but it’s something else.

In comparison, Airalo dtac lets me connect to Open VPN and SurfShark but speed is limited to 15 Mbps, which is okay but for a supposed 5G connection, it’s poor.

Thai market for mobile data segments their services by speed as well as quantity of data, something I haven’t encountered in Europe or Oceania.

Maybe it’s an Asian thing. I visited Vietnam in 2016 and there you were lucky to get good 3G back then. But maybe that govt. also limits VPN options.

HOng Kong, speeds seemed okay but I haven’t been since 5G became widespread. I probably wasn’t using VPN heavily since I last visited but now that governance there has changed, maybe VPN restrictions there now.

Singapore, I’ve only been once, didn’t notice speed or restrictions being an issue. Will be there in a little over a week so we shall see, though I’m staying at Swissotel Stamford.