Every year, DataReportal publishes a snapshot of how Thailand uses the internet. The new edition, Digital 2027: Thailand, came out on 4 November 2026, and it answers a question we hear from hotel, spa, wellness and restaurant owners all the time: which platforms are actually worth our time?
Here is what the numbers say, and what we would do with them if we ran a service or tourism business in Thailand.
Almost everyone is online. The question is where.
Thailand had 67.6 million internet users in October 2026, about 94.6% of the population. Being “online” is no longer the goal. Being in the right places is.
The most useful chart in the report is a survey by GWI (Q2 2026) that asked Thai internet users aged 16 and above which platforms they had used in the past month:
| Platform | Used in the past month |
|---|---|
| 87.1% | |
| LINE | 82.5% |
| TikTok | 82.0% |
| YouTube | 81.2% |
| Messenger | 75.5% |
| 62.1% | |
| X | 46.7% |
| Lemon8 | 33.1% |
| Threads | 19.2% |
| 18.7% | |
| 9.5% |
What this means for your business
1. Facebook is still the foundation
Nearly nine in ten Thai internet users still open Facebook every month. Before chasing a new platform, make sure your Facebook page is complete: correct hours, a clear way to book, recent posts and real reviews. For many customers, it is still the first place they check whether you are real and open.
2. LINE is where Thai customers talk to you
LINE (82.5%) is used far more than WhatsApp (18.7%). If most of your customers are Thai and your only contact button is WhatsApp, you are asking them to use an app most of them do not open. We look at this in detail in our post on which chat app Thai customers really use.
3. Video is mainstream, but reach is not the same as bookings
TikTok (82.0%) and YouTube (81.2%) are now almost as widely used as Facebook. That does not mean every business needs to post videos daily. Views are easy to get and hard to turn into bookings, which is why we wrote Posting a lot but no bookings?
4. Instagram matters, but not on its own
About six in ten Thai internet users use Instagram monthly. For visual brands and businesses with many international guests, it is important. But a business that serves mainly Thai customers through Instagram alone is missing a large share of its market.
5. Watch the smaller platforms, but do not spread yourself thin
Lemon8 already reaches a third of Thai internet users, and Threads is growing fast. They can be an early-mover opportunity for some brands, which we cover in our post on Lemon8 and Threads. LinkedIn (9.5%) is useful for hotel sales and corporate clients, but it will not bring you local walk-in customers.
A note on tourism businesses
This report covers people living in Thailand. If you run a hotel, spa or restaurant in a destination like Phuket, Samui or Chiang Mai, many of your guests are not in these numbers. A practical split for a Phuket spa, for example: Facebook and LINE for Thai and resident customers, and Google Maps, Instagram and WhatsApp for international visitors. The right mix depends on where your bookings actually come from, so check that first.
What to do this month
- Count your enquiries. For two weeks, note where every booking or question comes from. That tells you more than any national report.
- Fix the basics on Facebook and LINE before adding anything new.
- Pick one extra platform at most, and give it eight weeks before judging it.
A quick word on the data
The percentages above come from a survey of internet users, so they are not the same as the “advertising reach” figures platforms publish, which can even exceed 100% of the population because of duplicate and inactive accounts. We use the survey numbers here because they compare platforms fairly.
Source: DataReportal, Digital 2027: Thailand (November 2026), including GWI survey data from Q2 2026.
Not sure which platforms fit your business? Contact us and tell us what you sell and who buys it. We will tell you honestly where we would start.