Seeking recommendations for an Aussie SIM for roaming in thailand

[teacher-ric]

Moving to Thailand in 2022. I will get a Thai Sim, but want to maintain an Aussie SIM for secure banking etc.

 

Any recommendations???

[JamesE]

Not to rain on your parade but your SIM has nothing to do with security as you will be using it on a Thai mobile network, and not one of your choosing. The need to maintain an Aus phone number is the only reason why you'd need a separate SIM and even that can be handled with a VOIP service.

If you're concerned with data security your best bet is a VPN that works well on your mobile device. I use Surfshark as the connection survives tower switches and changing from WiFi to mobile data better than others I've tried. There are many others to choose from.

I do exactly what you propose with my US numbers. But my US numbers (one SIM, one VOIP) are only for businesses - like banks - to contact me. When I'm in Thailand I use WiFi data and calling or mobile data and calling almost exclusively on my Thai SIM. Similarly, when I'm in the US I use dtac's VOIP option to receive texts or OTP pushes from businesses in Thailand.

[palooka]

Any sim and plan you choose for the Aussie sim you need to check that it will work OS, some of the cheaper plan sims will not.

Have a friend who uses a Vodafone sim, about $10-15 per month with an automatic payment set up. 

Personally think planning on getting a quality VPN (one of the top 5) also is excellent advice for all your communications, plenty of free ones but you get what you pay for.

[Smithydog]

I maintained both an Aussie Sim and a Thai sim when I first moved here but only use the Thai one now. After I had used the Thai one for a while, I contacted my Bank and others etc using the OTP message to secure transactions like banking and they were happy to change to my Thai number and have no issues since.

I did make my Bank aware of my overseas travel via their app, which helps their fraud dept not to suspend your card unexpectedly when being used overseas.

Aussie sim cards can be still very expensive if you don't use them properly. People often leave them in the phones and then forget to switch the phone off. Seen many people caught out by an app on their phone using data and triggering the daily charge etc.

I use a VPN and have a skype local number for business. My friends and business customers in Australia call me on that from landlines and mobiles in Australia and hence only get charged as if it was a local or mobile call, often free. It is low cost and has worked well for me. I use Skype to call the banks etc in Oz keeping the cost low as you always have to wait listening to music!

[Vince]

On 12/18/2021 at 12:01 PM, teacher-ric said:

Moving to Thailand in 2022. I will get a Thai Sim, but want to maintain an Aussie SIM for secure banking etc.

Any recommendations???

Two factor auth based on SMS is not all that great, and has known attacks. 

Using an app based token generator like AUTHY or similar is possibly more secure. You also don't need a phone number :-)