the plan’s not in action yet but has been agreed in principle. It’s hoped the scheme will be up and running in about six months, by which time you’ll only be able to buy trackable SIMs when you visit.

The good news is that if your phone roams, you’ll be exempt. And with roaming plans now catering to travellers there’s a good chance you can bring your phone to Phuket without taking a bath on roaming charges.

Resident aliens will be moved to the trackable SIMs. Many such folk move to Thailand to invest or bring expertise to the nation and are unlikely to be happy that their every move is observed. One small upside is that the nation’s telecoms regulators aren’t entirely sure how to make the tracking work, with cell connection data and GPS both under consideration.

Source: Thailand plans to track non-citizens with their mobile phones