Asia eSIM

Fourteen places on one eSIM: Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau in the east, seven Southeast Asian countries from Thailand to the Philippines, and India and Bangladesh. It doesn't cover mainland China or Singapore, the two stops people most often assume are included, so check your route against the list above before you buy.

What two weeks across Asia costs

A typical multi-country trip: 14 days across Tokyo, Seoul and Hong Kong. Prices checked on 2–3 November 2026. Daily passes charge for each day you use the phone abroad, per phone.

For a couple on Verizon, that's $336 for the fortnight. The local SIMs cost less in total, but you queue and register three times, in three airports, and in a single-SIM phone your home number is out of the phone the whole trip.

Landing at the big hubs

Switch the kimsim line on as the plane taxis to the gate, with Data Roaming on for that line only.

• Tokyo (NRT, HND): from Haneda, Shinagawa is about 15 minutes by Keikyu or monorail.
• Seoul (ICN): the AREX express reaches Seoul Station in about 43 minutes from Terminal 1.
• Hong Kong (HKG): the Airport Express reaches Central in 24 minutes.
• Kuala Lumpur (KUL): the KLIA Ekspres takes about 30 minutes to KL Sentral.
• Singapore (SIN): not on this plan. The eSIM won't connect at Changi, so a layover there doesn't start your days, but you'll need airport Wi-Fi until you fly on.

Networks and coverage

In each country this plan uses one to three local networks, such as AIS, dtac and TrueMove H in Thailand, SoftBank and au in Japan, or Viettel, VinaPhone and MobiFone in Vietnam. Your phone picks the strongest and shows that operator's name, not kimsim. When you land in the next country, it moves to that country's networks on its own.

A few names may surprise you. dtac and TrueMove H belong to one company since True and DTAC merged in 2023. In Malaysia, Celcom and Digi became CelcomDigi in 2022. In Indonesia, XL merged with Smartfren in 2025 as XLSMART. Vietnam's networks have even shown a slogan instead of their names around National Day.

Some countries rely on one network: Airtel in India, Lao Telecom in Laos and CTM in Macau. Cambodia and Bangladesh are 4G only. Coverage is generally strong in cities and thins on island ferries, mountain roads and jungle treks.

The networks your plan uses are listed above.

Which countries, and which plan

• East Asia: Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau are in. Mainland China isn't: for Beijing or Shanghai, the Asia Pacific plan covers it, or add a China eSIM.
• Southeast Asia: Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines are in. Singapore, Brunei, Myanmar and Timor-Leste aren't. If you stay in this region, compare the Southeast Asia plan, which adds Timor-Leste. For Singapore, add a Singapore eSIM.
• South Asia: India and Bangladesh are in. Sri Lanka, Nepal and the Maldives aren't.
• Australia and New Zealand: not on this plan. The Asia Pacific plan covers both, as data packs.
• Asia plus Europe or the Gulf: the Global plan covers 117 countries, but not Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos or Macau.

Flights, borders and ferries

• Budget flights are the quick way between countries. KLIA is a regional hub for low-cost airlines. Keep boarding passes in your phone's wallet.
• Thailand to Cambodia overland: the UK Foreign Office says the land crossings remain suspended, so fly.
• Thailand to Laos: Friendship Bridges cross the Mekong, the first between Nong Khai and Vientiane. The railway north from Vientiane ends at Boten on the Chinese border, where this plan stops.
• Malaysia to Thailand: ETS trains run from KL Sentral to Padang Besar on the border. Johor Bahru to Singapore leaves the plan.
• Hong Kong to Macau: buses over the bridge take about 40 minutes, and both ends are covered.
• Island ferries in Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines lose signal mid-crossing. The UK Foreign Office warns the Philippine ferry network has a poor safety record. Save tickets offline first.

Apps worth having

• Grab runs in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines and Cambodia on this plan. In Japan, Uber books licensed taxis. In Korea, k.ride is Kakao's taxi app for visitors.
• Messaging changes by country: LINE in Japan, with more than 100 million monthly users there , KakaoTalk in Korea, Zalo in Vietnam , and WhatsApp almost everywhere else. Keep your WhatsApp number working abroad
• Maps: Google Maps has long lacked walking and driving directions in Korea, so install Naver Map or KakaoMap.
• Payments: Hong Kong shops take Alipay and WeChat Pay alongside cards. Indonesia's QR codes only work with apps from six linked countries, not the UK, US or Australia. Carry some cash.
• Sign up for all of these at home, because most send a text code to your usual number.

SIM rules, country by country

Buying a local SIM in each country means a fresh ID check each time:

• Thailand: in-person registration with a passport since May 2026, at most three SIMs per operator.
• Philippines: every SIM is registered, and a tourist's switches off after 30 days.
• Vietnam: a face scan to verify numbers since 2026.
• Cambodia: original passport and a face scan.
• Malaysia: biometric passport checks, two SIMs per operator.
• Hong Kong: real-name registration since 2022.
• Japan: carriers must check ID, now for data SIMs too.
• Indonesia: a local SIM registers your phone's IMEI, while roaming phones are exempt.

A kimsim eSIM is a foreign line roaming as a visitor, so none of these counters apply. It's data only, and your home number stays in the phone. Calls and texts on a data-only eSIM

Common mistakes

• Assuming "Asia" means every country. China and Singapore are the usual misses. How regional plans work
• Leaving Data Roaming on for your home line. That's where daily charges like those in the table start. Why roaming goes on for the kimsim line only
• Starting the plan on a stop-over. A change of planes in Hong Kong, Seoul or Bangkok is inside the plan, so the days start there. Keep the line off until the trip begins. If your plan started early
• Losing data near a border. Near Johor Bahru, Shenzhen or the Thai–Cambodian border, your phone can grab a network that isn't on this plan. Choose a network by hand
• No way to call for help. Emergency numbers differ by country (110 in Japan, 112 in Korea, 999 in Hong Kong), and a data-only eSIM can't dial them. Use your home line or any local phone.

More on travelling in Asia

• eSIM for Japan: what to know before you fly
• eSIM for Thailand: a traveller's guide
• How much data do I need for a week abroad?

How we put this page together

We checked carriers' roaming price pages, operators' tourist SIM pages, airport and immigration sites, the UK Foreign Office and the other sources noted above on 1–3 November 2026, many of them first gathered for our single-country pages. The country list and networks come from the plan itself. We haven't measured speeds or coverage ourselves, so coverage notes are general guidance, not a map. kimsim sells the eSIMs on this page.