12 Must Have Apps for Thailand

If you’ve never heard of Line or Grab, they are included in this list of must have apps for Thailand, so make sure you download them!

The Land of Smiles is a charming country with delightful views and fantastic food.

In order to get the most out of your experience, you might want to download some useful apps for traveling in and around the country.

I made it easy for you (and hopefully will save you some time!) by creating a list of useful apps for traveling in Thailand. They helped me when living there so I hope they’ll do the same for you.

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Agoda

Agoda is great and they usually give you discounts. You can also find some long-stay deals as well as flights, activities, car rentals, and airport transport. I personally like going on the website for booking flights and accommodation but the app has the same information.

Air Visual

Air Visual works in all of the countries that I have been to.

In Thailand, I saw people wear masks even before the pandemic because of the harsh air pollution. The air pollution was quite high in Mahachai, which was the town that I lived in while teaching ESL.

The pollution in Bangkok and Chiang Mai has also been increasing, so it’s always good to open the app and check out the pollution before heading out for the day.

Airbnb

Airbnb is another app to keep on your phone for every country that you visit.

I love the options that you can choose from with Airbnb and how you can see the area and the cost of other properties that are around you. You can filter and choose which type of accommodation you would like, from beach houses to vineyards.

Airbnb is one of those important apps when traveling around the world.

Google Maps

If you don’t have Google Maps, what app do you use??? Google Maps makes life easier. Never mind this being a useful app for Thailand, but for the world.

Google Maps lets you download maps offline just in case you don’t have internet or wifi. You can save places that you want to go to and also check out reviews of any restaurant.

Google Translate

This is a great app that can really be used anywhere. I think this was the best Thai-to-English translator app that actually worked.

You can use the camera feature which will save your life if you need to translate a menu or a sign.

I think Google translate is one of the best Thai translator apps that I used while living in Thailand.

Google translate also has a conversation and transcription feature that are both quite useful.

One of the great things about Google translate is that you can download the language of your choice and use the app offline which is an amazing feature to have.

Of course, I always suggest learning some of the basics before visiting any country. But Google translate will be there for when you are stuck.

Grab

Grab is an app that is based in Southeast Asia.

Grab in Thailand is just like Lyft or Uber in the US. So if you use either of those apps, then this is one of those apps that you will use a lot throughout your visit to Thailand.

You can choose from either a taxi or a motorbike taxi.

Grab can also be a food delivery app if you are feeling hungry. Additionally, Grab Pay is available and you even book a hotel on the app through popular sites such as Booking.com or Agoda.

You can hook up your card to the app or just pay with cash.

Line

If you’re going to make friends and want to communicate with anyone in Thailand, then this is yet another one of those helpful apps.

This is probably one of the most popular apps in Thailand and it is also used in other Southeast Asia countries.

You just simply download the app, put in your phone number and you can upload a picture of yourself.

Line is a messaging app where you can call, video chat, and text people. You can also create group chats. Just like all of the social media apps these days, you can upload a picture or video to your Line story and scroll through the newsfeed to see what your Line friends are up to.

You can pay people with the app with Line Pay. Many businesses will have their Line number or ID on their store window or on their website. That way you can contact them that way if you need to book an appointment or have a question. It is very convenient.

One of my favorite things about Line is that they have a variety of stickers; some are free. I love stickers because they can include text and I feel like they have more meaning than emoji. My favorite stickers are the Brown & Friends.

Line is similar to WhatsApp but it has a few more features that WhatsApp doesn’t have such as the option to pay someone and you don’t get to scroll through the newsfeed.

News

If you like to stay up to date with what’s going on around you, you can download these news apps for Thailand. The Thaiger and the Bangkok Post are Thai news apps that will give you updates in English.

Next Station: Bangkok

This app works with the BTS Skytrain (Bangkok’s elevated rapid transit system), MRT (metro), and BRT (bus).

Of course, you can also just download the BTS Skytrain App or the Bangkok Metro Transit Map. With these awesome transit systems, you can take a tour all around Bangkok.

Shopping Apps

Shopee and Lazada are to Thailand what Amazon is to the US. So, if you are a fan of online shopping, you can download whichever one you choose.

They both sell anything and everything; from shoes to electronics and appliances.

I recommend that you use Google Chrome so you can translate the whole website.

I am pretty sure you can choose the language on the Shopee Thailand app, but it may not work all the time.

Lazada is based throughout Southeast Asia while Shopee is all around the globe.

Wise

Wise is a great app to have anywhere in the world. You can send money to or from Thailand without throwing away a bunch of money for the transfer fees. I’ve found it to be extremely useful and affordable.

XE Currency

XE Currency is a real-time currency converter. You can also send money through the app but I’ve never used that feature so I’m not sure what the transfer fee would be like. This is another great app to use not only in Thailand but around the world.

If you’re not just heading to Thailand, but to other countries, Check out 42 Apps to Download Before You Leave.