eSIM for Asia travel: Japan, Korea, China and Southeast Asia

Each fixed row in the picker shows a country count beside its data, such as "3 GB · 12 countries". On the Asia page those counts stand for four different lists, and the numbers alone don't tell you which places are in them:

• 7 countries, Southeast Asia: Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Fixed rows from 7 days to 180 days.
• 12 countries, East Asia with six southern neighbors: Japan, South Korea, mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan, plus Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. The Philippines is missing. These rows run on 4G and 3G, without 5G, for 7 to 30 days.
• 19 countries, from Japan to Central Asia: Japan, South Korea, mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan; Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Laos; India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Pakistan; Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. No Cambodia and no Macao. The day pass uses this list, as do fixed rows of 7 to 30 days.
• 20 countries, Asia with Australia and New Zealand: the seven Southeast Asian countries, Japan, South Korea, mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao, India, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan, plus Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. No Taiwan and no Laos. Fixed rows from 7 days to 180 days.

After you select a row, the Coverage line under Plan details names each country on it. Check your route there rather than trusting the count.

• Tokyo and Seoul, perhaps with Shanghai or Hong Kong: the day pass and every 12-, 19- and 20-country row. The 7-country rows have no East Asia at all.
• Bangkok, Hanoi, and Siem Reap: the 7-, 12- and 20-country rows. The day pass and the 19-country rows leave Cambodia out.
• Bali and then Australia: Indonesia is on every row, but Australia only on the 20-country rows, so those are the ones for this pairing.
• Hong Kong and Macao by ferry: both are on the 12- and 20-country rows. The day pass and the 19-country rows cover Hong Kong but not Macao.
• Taiwan: on the 12- and 19-country rows, the day pass included. There is no Taiwan-only plan on sale, so these rows and Global 130 are the way to cover it.
• India and Sri Lanka: the day pass and the 19- and 20-country rows.
• Manila or Cebu: the Philippines is on every list except the 12-country one.

The day pass is the only Asia row without a fixed data amount. It runs on the 19-country list, so it covers Japan, South Korea, mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, Laos, and the Southeast Asian countries except Cambodia. Macao, Australia, and New Zealand aren't on it either.

Every day starts with 1 GB at full speed. Once that's gone you remain online at 384 Kbps, which keeps chat and directions going but stalls video, until the day resets. So if you're searching for an "unlimited" Asia eSIM, this is what it means in practice: no cutoff, just a slower connection after the daily gigabyte.

Choose the number of days in the picker. They begin at the first connection in a listed country, more days can be added to the same eSIM, and traffic exits in the UK or Norway.

There's no single winner among these rows, and we don't rank them. These questions sort the four lists for a given trip:

1. Is every stop on the list? Start with the place that's hardest to fit: Cambodia, Laos, Macao, Taiwan, or Australia. Each one rules out at least one list.
2. Does 5G matter to you? The 12-country rows are 4G and 3G only. The other three lists include 5G where the local network offers it.
3. Which networks will you get? The day pass and the 19-country rows have more partners in several countries: NTT docomo, au, and Rakuten Mobile in Japan against au alone on the other rows; Telkomsel, Indosat, and 3 in Indonesia against Telkomsel alone; China Mobile and China Unicom on the mainland against China Unicom alone. Elsewhere the partners swap: AIS, TrueMove H, and CAT in Thailand instead of DTAC and TrueMove H; SMART in the Philippines instead of Globe; MobiFone and Vietnamobile in Vietnam, where the other rows add Viettel. Technical specs lists the networks of the row you select.
4. Which IP should websites see? The 7-, 12- and 20-country rows exit in Hong Kong; the 19-country rows and the day pass exit in the UK or Norway. Neither gives you a local IP in the country you're visiting, and the exit changes only the address sites see, not which services work where you are.
5. How long is the trip? The 7- and 20-country lists go up to 180 days; the 12- and 19-country rows stop at 30 days. Every Asia row can be topped up on the same eSIM, and every one counts from the first connection, so installing at home costs no days.

• Most of the trip in one country. A country plan can do things no Asia row does. The Japan eSIM sells fixed plans that exit in Japan on NTT docomo, and its day pass, like those on the Thailand, South Korea and Indonesia pages, slows to 1 Mbps after its daily 1 GB rather than 384 Kbps. The China eSIM uses China Mobile on every plan.
• Countries no Asia row lists. Nepal, the Maldives, and Mongolia have their own pages: Nepal, Maldives, Mongolia. Tajikistan is on some Central Asia rows, and the UAE on every Middle East row.
• Asia together with Europe or the Americas. Global 130 lists Japan, South Korea, mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, Australia, and most of Southeast Asia along with Europe and the US, on fixed plans from 7 to 365 days. It leaves out Laos and Macao and has no day pass.