An eSIM is the easiest way to land in Asia already online. You buy it at home, install it in seconds, and when the wheels touch down at Changi, Suvarnabhumi or Haneda your phone joins a local network before you reach passport control. If your trip crosses borders, the same eSIM carries on in the next country with nothing to swap. There is one decision to get right first, and it is not the data size. Asia is sold as four different coverage lists, and they do not hold the same countries. The compact Southeast Asia list costs about half of what the others do, but it has no Japan or South Korea. The three wider lists cost exactly the same as each other at every fixed-data size, so price will not help you choose between them. One of them leaves out the Philippines, one leaves out Cambodia, and one leaves out Taiwan. Taiwan, for that matter, is not sold on its own at all. So this guide does the five minutes of reading for you: what each list actually covers, which countries decide it, why the Southeast Asia list is the right buy for most routes, when the three-country lists are worth it, and when a plan for a single country beats any of them.
One eSIM, most of Asia, and four coverage lists to choose from
Every travel eSIM for Asia is an arrangement with local networks, written down as a list of countries. The name on the front is branding. The list is the thing you are actually buying, and it is the only part worth checking before you pay.
We sell four of those lists on our Asia page, and beside each one the page prints the number of destinations it really covers. The counts are 7, 12, 20 and 20. Two lists covering twenty destinations sounds like a typo, but they are different twenties, and the difference matters. Three smaller three-country lists sit on their own pages: Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand; mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau; and mainland China, Japan and South Korea.
Five destinations sit on all four Asia lists: Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Add mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Japan and South Korea, and you have the ten that every wide list shares.
If your whole trip lives inside those five Southeast Asian countries, every option covers you and the only question left is price, which makes the 7-destination list the answer. If it lives inside the ten, any of the three wide lists will do and they cost the same, so pick by whatever else is on your route. The rest of this guide is about the edges.
What actually separates the four lists
The three wide lists are priced identically at every data size they share. That is unusual, and it simplifies things: between those three, coverage is the only thing that should decide. The Southeast Asia list is the outlier, at roughly half their price for the same amount of data.
Here is what each list actually holds.
- 7 destinations — Southeast Asia only: Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. No Japan, no South Korea, no China, no Hong Kong. About half the price of the wider lists.
- 12 destinations — those seven minus the Philippines, plus mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. The natural fit for a Tokyo-Seoul-Bangkok style route, as long as Manila is not on it.
- 20 destinations, the one that reaches Australia — the full Southeast Asia seven plus mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, South Korea, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Israel. No Taiwan.
- 20 destinations, the other one — the same core minus Cambodia, plus Laos, Taiwan, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. No Cambodia, no Australia, no Gulf stops.
The countries that decide it: the Philippines, Cambodia, Taiwan, Laos and Australia
The choice is never about Bangkok or Singapore, because every list has them. It turns on a short list of places that appear on some lists and not others.
The Philippines is on the 7-destination list and on both 20-destination lists, but not on the 12. A Japan-and-Philippines trip therefore needs one of the twenties, not the 12, even though the 12 looks like the obvious East Asia plan.
Cambodia is on the 7, the 12 and the Australia-reaching 20, but not on the other 20. The classic Bangkok to Siem Reap to Hanoi loop is fine on three of the four lists. Buy the wrong twenty and Angkor Wat is a gap in your coverage.
Taiwan is the one to watch most carefully, because it is not sold as a country plan at all. The only way to have data in Taipei on one of our eSIMs is the 12-destination list or the second 20-destination list. If Taiwan is on your route, that single fact makes the decision for you.
Laos appears on exactly one list, the second 20. Everyone else heading to Luang Prabang buys Laos on its own, which is available, or accepts the gap.
Australia and New Zealand turn up on one Asia list only, the first 20. For a Singapore-Bali-Sydney route that is genuinely useful, and it is priced the same as the other wide lists. One caution on the same list: its Gulf stops are Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, not the United Arab Emirates or Qatar, so a Dubai or Doha layover is not covered by it.
Why the Southeast Asia list is the one most people should buy
Most multi-country trips in Asia stay inside Southeast Asia: Thailand into Vietnam, Singapore up through Malaysia, Bali with a stop in Kuala Lumpur, the Philippines after Bangkok. The 7-destination list covers all of that at about half the price of the wide lists, and it is the list we would point most readers at.
The arithmetic against buying per country is also far kinder here than on any of the wide lists. At the same data size, the Southeast Asia list costs around two and a half times one country plan, so it wins outright from three countries. If Vietnam is one of them it wins from two, because Vietnam sold on its own costs about double what Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore or Indonesia do. Cambodia and the Philippines also sit above the cheap group at larger sizes.
One size is worth singling out. The small one-week plan on the Southeast Asia list costs the same as the one-week plan for any single country on it. For a short hop that crosses one border, there is no reason to buy the country plan at all.
It is also one of only two Asia lists sold in a long version. If you are travelling slowly for months, the Southeast Asia list and the Australia-reaching list are the ones with 90- and 180-day options; the other two wide lists run to 30 days.
Where it stops is where its price comes from: no Japan, South Korea, China or Hong Kong. A route that starts in Bangkok and ends in Tokyo needs the 12 or a twenty, or the Southeast Asia list plus a Japan country plan, which at a small size still comes in under one of the wide lists.
The three-country lists, and which of them actually save money
Three short lists cover the routes people actually fly, and they behave very differently on price.
Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand is the best-value multi-country plan we sell anywhere in Asia. At the same size it costs about one and a half times a single country plan, which means it beats buying separately from just two countries. Singapore and a few days over the causeway in Johor Bahru or up to Penang is already cheaper on the trio than on two country plans.
Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau comes in below the price of buying mainland China and Hong Kong separately, so it pays for itself on any trip that touches two of the three. Bear in mind that mainland China has its own rules about which apps work normally; our China page covers what to expect there.
Mainland China, Japan and South Korea is the honest exception. At the most common sizes it costs almost exactly the same as buying all three country plans separately, within pennies, and only the smallest size is noticeably cheaper than the three bought apart. Buying separately therefore gives you three times the data for roughly the same money. The trio buys you one install and one pool of data that follows you from Shanghai to Osaka to Seoul, which is worth having for a fast trip that is evenly spread, and not worth it if most of your days are in one country.
When a wide Asia list beats buying per country, and when it does not
For the wide lists, the per-country comparison is much less forgiving than it is for Southeast Asia. Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Macau are all priced the same as each other as country plans, and a wide Asia list costs between four and a half and five times one of them at the same size.
So a wide list needs five or six of those cheap countries on one trip before it beats buying each separately. Two-country trips, even Japan and Korea, are nearly always cheaper as two country plans. What pulls the crossover closer is an expensive country on the route: India on its own costs roughly three times Japan at the same size, Laos around double and Sri Lanka not far behind, so a Delhi-Bangkok-Tokyo trip tips towards a wide list at three countries rather than five.
The other thing that favours country plans is a lopsided trip. Two weeks in Japan with three days in Seoul is cheaper as a large Japan plan plus a small Korea plan than as one regional plan, and the data sits where you will actually spend it. The regional plan wins when your days, and your data, are spread evenly across the route.
Whichever you choose, every fixed-data plan on these lists can be topped up from your dashboard without reinstalling anything, so a plan that runs short halfway round the route is a top-up, not a second eSIM. The one-day plans on the wide lists cannot be topped up, and they are rarely the cheap choice anyway: a single country's one-week plan costs less than one day of the same data on a wide list, so for a layover buy the country, not the region.
Unlimited data in Asia is sold per country, not per list
If you want unlimited data in Asia, the regional lists are the wrong shelf. None of the four Asia lists and none of the three trios is sold as an unlimited plan. The only multi-country unlimited options in this part of the world are the two Central Asia lists, which cover Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, with Tajikistan on one and Pakistan and Sri Lanka on the other.
Unlimited is sold per country instead, and it is sold for almost every country that matters: Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Hong Kong, Macau, mainland China, India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan all have it. Each works the same way, with a full-speed daily allowance that resets every 24 hours and a reduced speed after it, sold in blocks of three, seven, fourteen and thirty days.
So an unlimited Japan-and-Korea trip is two unlimited plans, installed one after the other, not one. For most countries a week of unlimited costs more than a month of a large fixed plan for the same country, so it is the choice for travellers who do not want to think about data, not for the lowest number.
A few destinations have no unlimited option at all: Mongolia, Brunei and Afghanistan among them. If unlimited is the whole point of your trip, check the country page before you build a route around it.
The networks you'll be on, and the destinations no list reaches
A travel eSIM does not bring its own network. It connects to the same operators locals use, and the ones our plans use in Asia are almost all 5G where your phone and the local site support it.
In Japan that means NTT docomo, KDDI au, SoftBank and Rakuten Mobile, all 5G. In South Korea it is SK Telecom and LG U+. Singapore runs on Singtel and StarHub, Malaysia on CelcomDigi, Maxis and U Mobile, Thailand on AIS and True, and the Philippines on Globe and Smart, all with 5G. Hong Kong connects to csl, SmarTone, 3 and CMHK, and Taiwan to Chunghwa and FarEasTone. Indonesia uses Telkomsel, Indosat and XL, Vietnam uses Viettel and Vinaphone on 5G with MobiFone on 4G, and India connects to Jio and Airtel.
Cambodia is the main exception among the popular stops. Its networks, Cellcard and Metfone, are 4G for our plans, which is perfectly good for maps, messaging and video calls but will not show a 5G icon. Nothing about the plan changes; it is simply what the country's networks offer.
Some destinations are on no Asia list at all and are sold only as country plans: the Maldives, Nepal, Mongolia, Bhutan and Brunei. Bangladesh is on one list, the second 20, and Tajikistan is on the four-country Central Asia list only. The Maldives is worth a specific warning, because the same amount of data there costs six times or more what it does in Japan, and Nepal is sold only in small fixed sizes or as unlimited, with no large monthly plan. Plan those stops deliberately rather than assuming a regional plan will absorb them.
Which Asia eSIM to buy, route by route
Put your stops against the lists and the answer usually falls out on its own. Here are the common routes.
- Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, or any loop inside Southeast Asia — the 7-destination list. From three countries it beats buying per country; from two if Vietnam is one of them.
- Singapore with Malaysia or Thailand — the three-country Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand list, which beats two country plans outright.
- Japan and South Korea only — two country plans. The wide lists cost four to five times a single country plan and you are only using two.
- Japan or Korea plus Southeast Asia — the 12-destination list if the Philippines is not on the route; either 20-destination list if it is.
- Taiwan anywhere on the route — the 12 or the second 20. Taiwan is not sold on its own.
- Bali, Singapore and Sydney — the first 20-destination list, the only Asia list that reaches Australia and New Zealand.
- India with East or Southeast Asia — either 20-destination list, and the crossover comes early because India on its own is expensive.
- Laos, Central Asia or Bangladesh with the rest of Asia — the second 20-destination list.
- One country for most of the trip and a short hop elsewhere — a large plan for the main country and a small plan for the hop.
- Unlimited data — a country unlimited plan per stop; no Asia list is sold as unlimited.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best eSIM for Asia?
For most trips it is the 7-destination Southeast Asia list, which covers Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam at about half the price of the wider options. If Japan, South Korea, China or Hong Kong are on your route, you need one of the three wide lists, which cost the same as each other and differ only in coverage: the 12 has Taiwan but no Philippines, one 20 reaches Australia but not Taiwan, and the other 20 reaches Taiwan, Laos and Central Asia but not Cambodia.
What is the best eSIM for Southeast Asia?
The 7-destination list. It covers Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam on one eSIM, costs about half of the wider Asia lists, and beats buying a plan per country from three countries onwards, or from two if Vietnam is one of them. If you are only visiting Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, the three-country list for those is cheaper still and beats two separate country plans.
How many countries does an Asia eSIM cover?
It depends entirely on which coverage list you buy. Ours cover 7, 12, 20 or 20 destinations, and the two twenties are different sets of countries. Our Asia page prints the real destination count beside every list, calculated from the actual coverage rather than from the plan's name, so match your route against that number and the list behind it.
Is a regional Asia eSIM cheaper than buying one eSIM per country?
Only once you visit enough countries. Within Southeast Asia the regional list costs around two and a half times one country plan, so it wins from three countries, or from two if Vietnam is included. The wide Asia lists cost four and a half to five times a single country plan, so they need five or six of the cheaper countries on one trip to win, unless an expensive country like India, Sri Lanka or Laos is on the route, which brings the crossover forward. For a two-country trip, two country plans are nearly always cheaper.
Which Asia eSIM covers Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia together?
Any of the three wide lists, which are priced identically. The 12-destination list covers Japan, South Korea, mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan plus Southeast Asia without the Philippines. Both 20-destination lists add India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and include the Philippines; one also reaches Australia and New Zealand, the other reaches Taiwan, Laos and Central Asia. The 7-destination Southeast Asia list does not include Japan or South Korea.
Does an Asia eSIM cover the Philippines?
Three of the four lists do: the 7-destination Southeast Asia list and both 20-destination lists. The 12-destination list does not include the Philippines, so if your route pairs Manila or Cebu with Japan or Korea, choose one of the twenties rather than the 12.
Does an Asia eSIM cover Taiwan?
Two of the four lists do, the 12-destination list and the second 20-destination list. The 7-destination list and the Australia-reaching 20 do not. Taiwan is also not sold as a country plan on its own, so one of those two lists is the only way to have data in Taipei on our eSIMs.
Does an Asia eSIM cover Cambodia and Laos?
Cambodia is on the 7-destination list, the 12 and the Australia-reaching 20, but not on the other 20. Laos is on exactly one list, the second 20, and is otherwise sold as a country plan. For a Thailand, Cambodia and Laos overland route, the practical choice is the 7-destination list plus a small Laos plan, or the second 20 plus a small Cambodia plan.
Does an Asia eSIM cover Australia and New Zealand?
One of the two 20-destination lists does, and it costs the same as the other wide lists, so a Singapore-Bali-Sydney route is covered on one eSIM. The same list also reaches Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, but not the United Arab Emirates or Qatar, so it does not cover a Dubai or Doha layover. Australia and New Zealand are also sold together on their own two-country list.
Does an Asia eSIM cover India?
Both 20-destination lists include India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka; the 7 and the 12 do not. India on its own costs roughly three times what Japan or Thailand cost at the same size, which is why a wide Asia list becomes the cheaper buy sooner when India is on the route, typically from three countries instead of five.
Can I get an unlimited eSIM for Asia?
Not as one multi-country plan. None of the Asia lists or the three-country lists is sold as unlimited; the only multi-country unlimited plans nearby are the two Central Asia lists. Unlimited is sold per country for almost every popular destination, including Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Hong Kong and India, each with a full-speed daily allowance that resets every 24 hours. A multi-country unlimited trip is therefore one unlimited plan per country.
Which eSIM should I buy for a Japan and South Korea trip?
Two country plans, one for each. Japan and South Korea are priced the same as each other, and a wide Asia list costs four to five times one of them, so a regional plan only makes sense if you are adding several more countries. The three-country mainland China, Japan and South Korea list costs about the same as buying all three separately, so it is a convenience buy for an evenly spread trip, not a saving.
Which eSIM should I buy for Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia?
The 7-destination Southeast Asia list. All three are on it, it costs about half of the wide lists, and because Vietnam on its own is roughly double the price of Thailand, the list is cheaper than buying the three countries separately. Avoid the second 20-destination list for this route, as it does not include Cambodia.
Does an Asia eSIM work in Bali?
Yes. Bali is part of Indonesia, and Indonesia is on all four Asia lists as well as being sold on its own. Our plans there connect to Telkomsel, Indosat and XL, with 5G available on the first two. The same eSIM keeps working if you fly on to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur or Bangkok, since those are on every list too.