Thailand

Economy & income

Currency

Thai baht (THB, ฿); ~33.5 per USD (Jul 2026)

GDP per capita

• ~$8,057 nominal (IMF WEO, 2025)
• ~$21,700 PPP (World Bank, 2024; IMF WEO 2025 est. ~$26k)

Average salary

• ~$565 net/mo (Numbeo national avg, ฿18,918, Jul 2026)
• Bangkok ~$690 net (฿23,028)
• gross higher

Median salary

~$470/mo (avg monthly wage ~฿15,700, NSO Labour Force Survey, Q4 2024; true median lower)

Minimum wage

฿337–400/day by province (฿400 in Bangkok, Phuket, Chonburi, Rayong; eff. 1 Jul 2025) ≈ ~$260–310/mo

Cost of living

• Low–Medium — Numbeo: single person ~฿19,700/mo excl. rent (~$590)
• ~46% cheaper than Germany (Jul 2026)

Digital landscape

Population

71.6 million (Jan 2025)

Internet users

91.2% (~65.4M users)

Social media users

71.1% (~51.0M identities)

Mobile connections

99.5M connections = 139% of pop

Devices

mobile ~62.1% / desktop ~35.6% / tablet ~2.3% (StatCounter, Jun 2026)

Ad spend

• ~$2.6B total media (฿87.6B, MI Group 2025)
• digital ~$1.0B (฿33.1B, DAAT 2025, ~38%)
• Meta & TikTok lead digital

Top social platforms

LINE ~56M, 78% of pop

Facebook ~51.0M, 71%

YouTube ~47.6M ad reach, 66%

TikTok ~34.0M adults 18+, ~52% of internet users

Messenger ~35.9M, 50%

Instagram ~18.5M, 26%

Messengers

• LINE (dominant — ~56M, 78% of pop; #1 for chat, official-account marketing & payments)
• Facebook Messenger (~35.9M)
• Telegram (growing, deals/crypto)
• WhatsApp (minor)

Payments & behaviour

Payment methods

• PromptPay (real-time bank transfer / QR — ~41% of mobile payments; 90M+ registrations, ~74M txns/day)
• Mobile e-wallets (~25% of e-commerce value)
• Bank transfer / internet & mobile banking
• Credit & debit cards (modest, declining share)
• Cash on delivery (still common on marketplaces)

E-wallets

• TrueMoney Wallet (~53% e-wallet share)
• Rabbit LINE Pay (~25%)
• ShopeePay
• GrabPay

Cash on delivery

Still meaningful for marketplace/social-commerce orders but declining fast as QR and wallets grow

E-commerce

• High and fast-growing — GMV ~$35.5B in 2025 (+51.8% YoY)
• projected ~$58.5B by 2027

Notes

• PromptPay QR is near-universal for P2P and merchant checkout
• card penetration modest
• live-commerce (TikTok Shop) surging as a checkout channel.

Audience & culture

Languages

• Thai (official, ~90%+)
• Isan / Lao (Northeast, ~15–20M speakers)
• Kham Mueang / Northern Thai
• Southern Thai
• Malay (Deep South, ~3%)
• English (business & tourism)

Religion

• Buddhist ~93.5% (Theravada, de facto state religion)
• Muslim ~5.4%
• Christian ~1.1%
• other/none ~0.1%

Median age

40.6 years (DataReportal, Jan 2025)

Key seasons

• Songkran / Thai New Year (13–15 Apr — highest H1 engagement)
• Loy Krathong (Nov)
• Chinese New Year (Jan/Feb)
• 11.11 & 12.12 mega-sales (Nov/Dec)
• King's Birthday & Buddhist/national holidays
• Cool/tourist high season (Nov–Feb)

Cultural notes

• Heavily influencer-driven purchasing — 83% of Thai consumers say they buy on creator recommendation and 9M+ Thais are content creators
• live-stream shopping is mainstream
• mobile-first, LINE-centric daily life
• politeness/face culture, so soft-sell and social proof outperform hard-sell.

Where to find creators

• TikTok
• Facebook
• Instagram
• YouTube
• LINE (Official Accounts / VOOM)

Media landscape

Creators & public figures

Top creators

Celebrities

Lisa (Lalisa Manobal) ~107M Instagram

BLACKPINK rapper/singer & solo artist; global luxury ambassador (Celine, Bulgari)

Urassaya Sperbund ('Yaya') ~16M Instagram

Top Thai actress & model; Chanel/Lancôme ambassador

Davika Hoorne ('Mai') ~14M Instagram

Actress & model (Pee Mak); Dior/luxury brand face

Nadech Kugimiya ~13M Instagram

Leading Thai actor & model; long-time top male star

Bright Vachirawit Chivaaree ~17M Instagram

Actor/singer (2gether, F4 Thailand); huge pan-Asian BL fanbase

BamBam (Kunpimook Bhuwakul) ~18M Instagram

Thai rapper of K-pop group GOT7; solo artist, brand ambassador

Mario Maurer ~13M Instagram

Film actor (Love of Siam, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Pee Mak)

Affiliate & traffic

Hot verticals

• E-commerce / marketplace (Shopee, Lazada, TikTok Shop)
• Beauty & skincare
• Health & supplements (nutra)
• Finance (licensed loans, credit cards, crypto exchanges)
• Mobile games & apps
• Fashion & lifestyle
• Food delivery

Active networks

• Involve Asia
• ACCESSTRADE Thailand
• Shopee Affiliate
• Lazada Affiliate
• TikTok Shop Affiliate
• Indoleads / regional CPA networks

Payouts

• E-commerce CPS ~1–10% of sale
• app/finance CPA/CPI varies widely
• hybrid influencer-CPS deals common

Competition

• High and maturing
• creator/affiliate commerce booming and live-commerce very competitive around mega-sales

Seasonality

• Spikes on 11.11 & 12.12 and monthly payday double-date sales
• Songkran (Apr) and year-end also strong

Traffic sources

• TikTok (organic + Shop affiliate)
• Facebook
• LINE (Official Accounts, groups)
• YouTube
• Instagram
• Google / SEO

Good to know

Capital

Bangkok (Krung Thep)

Major cities

• Bangkok
• Nonthaburi
• Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat)
• Chiang Mai
• Hat Yai
• Udon Thani
• Khon Kaen
• Pattaya
• Phuket

Time zones

Single zone — Indochina Time (ICT), UTC+7, no daylight saving

Android vs iOS

67% 33%

Android 67% iOS 33%

Phone brands

• Samsung (~24%)
• OPPO (~17%)
• Xiaomi (~15%)
• Apple (~13%)
• vivo (~11%)

Top e-commerce

• Shopee (~59% of platform GMV)
• TikTok Shop (~31% GMV, fastest-growing)
• Lazada (~9% GMV)

Peak activity

Weekdays ~7–9am & 6–8pm; TikTok peaks ~12–13h, 18–20h, 21–23h; weekends ~1–4pm (all ICT)

Creative taboos

• Monarchy (lèse-majesté — strict criminal enforcement), Buddhism & religious imagery, national symbols
• avoid partisan politics
• skin-whitening claims common but increasingly scrutinized
• gambling & adult content prohibited

Also worth knowing

• Influencer-led commerce dominates (83% buy on creator recs; 9M+ creators)
• LINE is the daily super-app for chat, marketing (Official Accounts) and payments — not just a messenger
• Live-stream shopping via TikTok Shop is the single fastest-growing sales channel (+82% YoY in Q4 2025).