According to a report published by DataReportal, the social media platform Facebook ranked first among the leading social media networks in Thailand as of Q3 2024, with a penetration rate of around ** percent. The number of Facebook users in Thailand reached around*** million in 2024.

According to a Rakuten Insight survey in Thailand, TikTok was the most popular social commerce platform when shopping online, with a respondent share of close to ** percent as of February 2025. Facebook is also the most popular social media platform in Thailand. As of the third quarter of 2023, it ranked first among the leading social media networks in the country.  Social commerce in Thailand Social commerce, retailing through social media, has developed rapidly in Thailand. The use of social media has expanded beyond communication toward the purchase of goods and services. As of 2024, Thailand had one of the highest shares of social commerce buyers worldwide. Consumers have become familiar with the product and shifted their purchasing habits towards speed, no contact, and convenience. According to a Rakuten survey as of February 2025, ease of purchase was the leading reason for buying products on social commerce platforms among consumers in Thailand. Digital payments   Thai people have become more accustomed to a cashless society. Digital payments are a part of social commerce that provides convenience to consumers. When purchasing products or services on social commerce platforms, cash on delivery through PromptPay and e-wallets are the usual methods of payment. The number of PromptPay transactions in Thailand jumped to over ** million in 2024.

In 2024, Facebook was the leading social media platform for news in Thailand, which was used by ** percent of respondents. Other leading platforms for news consumption were YouTube and LINE. LINE, a popular messaging app in Thailand, has also recently created the ‘LINE Today’ section as a news source within the LINE app. Social media as a news source for the younger generation Social media is an efficient way for audiences to access news and share content, especially since it is less regulated than other forms of media in Thailand. Popular social media platforms among Thais such as Facebook and YouTube are the major sites for audiences to join in on live events and exercise freedom of speech. The LINE messaging application is also the main platform for users to share the news. Additionally, Twitter and TikTok are playing an increasingly significant role in shaping how news and sentiment on recent events are discussed, such as the recent youth-led protests in Thailand. The fast and unregulated form of communication on social media, therefore, has cultivated a preference for online news among the younger generation in Thailand. The rise of fake news   The ease of sharing news and stories through social media has also led to an issue of fake news in Thailand. Recent events such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the political movements in the country have led to a proliferation of fake news. The COVID-19 pandemic, in particular, has been one of the major causes of the increase in the spread of fake news, especially regarding the information on COVID-19 preventative measures. Since fake news has been rampant in the country, there have been legal restrictions on how content is created and shared in Thailand.

According to a report published by DataReportal, as of the third quarter of 2023, **** percent of respondents in Thailand stated that their favorite social media platform was Facebook. Facebook has also been the most-used social media platform in Thailand compared to other platforms such as X (Twitter) and Instagram.

According to information from NapoleonCat, the majority of Instagram users in Thailand were female, accounting for approximately 60.6 percent of users as of June 2025. In that same period, there were around 19 million Instagram users in Thailand.

In 2022, Facebook was the most used social media platform among Generation Zs in Thailand, used by ** percent of respondents. Other popular social media platforms which were used among this age group were Line and YouTube.

According to a Rakuten Insight survey conducted in Thailand in February 2025, ******************************************* stated that they made most of their purchases via TikTok in the past 12 months. In contrast, **** percent of respondents aged 45 to 54 and 55 years old and above purchased items from Twitter (X).

According to a survey on generic insights in Thailand as of February 2022, around 64.4 percent of respondents stated that they used Facebook the most among other social media platforms. Followed by Instagram, TikTok, and Line respectively.

According to a survey on generic insights in Thailand as of February 2022, about 33.9 percent of respondents used social media the most during the night, after eight in the evening. Meanwhile, usage during the afternoon was the least popular time for social media users, with 14.3 percent of Thai respondents.

In 2022, 95 percent of millennials or Generation Ys in Thailand used Facebook the most compared to other social media platforms. Facebook has been one of the leading platforms for social commerce in Thailand.

In 2023, the majority of social media users in Thailand were female which amounted to around 53.2 percent of social media users. Among the social media platforms in Thailand, Facebook has become the most popular platform among Thai users.

In 2020, around 98.7 percent of generation Y internet users in Thailand used Facebook. This was followed by Youtube at 97.9 percent. The penetration rate of social media in Thailand was forecasted to reach more than half of the population by 2023.

In 2022, the number of Facebook users in Thailand reached around 51.87 million. This is forecast to reach around 47.62 million by 2026. As of the fourth quarter of 2022, the social network was accessed worldwide by close to three billion users on a monthly basis. Given that there were around 57 million internet users in Thailand in 2022, almost all of them were using Facebook.

Facebook usage in Thailand

Facebook was mostly used by men and women between the age of 18 and 34 years old in Thailand. The most popular Facebook pages contain popular photo posts, viral videos, news and celebrities. But, photo posts had the highest engagement rate among Thai users.

Social media in Thailand

Besides Facebook, Line and TikTok also had a high penetration rate in Thailand. In general, social media usage has several implications for the success of e-commerce and businesses. For example, Facebook would serve both as information and online shopping channel for digital consumers.

According to a survey among Gen Z consumers from 2023, the most used social media platform type was instant messengers in China, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Social networks like Facebook were the most popular among Gen Z in Vietnam and Thailand, with ** and ** percent of the respondents using it regularly in 2023. About Gen Z consumers in Asia Gen Z consumers are one of the largest cohorts of consumers worldwide. According to a survey, social media websites and apps were widely used product research sources for Gen Z consumers. In China, various consumer electronics were popular among Gen Z consumers, and nearly ** percent had smartphones in 2022. Popularity of TikTok among Gen Z TikTok is a video-sharing app based in China and saw a massive growth in the number of users in the Asia-Pacific region. About ** percent of Gen Z respondents in Thailand had spent more than two to four hours a day on TikTok. The advertising reach of TikTok in Asian countries was relatively high, especially in Malaysia, Vietnam, and Thailand. With the rise of social commerce, shopping on TikTok is also gaining traction. However, most consumers in the Asia-Pacific region still research inside and outside the app or switch apps while shopping.

In 2021, Facebook was the most popular site for social commerce in Thailand, with 86 percent of respondents purchasing from the platform in the last six months. Social commerce is a type of e-commerce that involves more social buyer-seller interactions through social networks.

 COVID-19 and the expansion of social commerce

Since the pandemic hit in 2020, the world went into lockdown, prompting local businesses to shift their focus online and push consumers to change their shopping habits. This new reliance on online platforms, combined with Thai consumers’ affinity for shopping from small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through social media, had immensely accelerated the popularity of the country’s social commerce scene. Facebook and LINE were among Thailand’s most popular online purchasing and selling channels while also being the country’s longstanding leading social media and chatting platforms.

 Direct-to-Customer as the core strength of social commerce  

The popularity of buying and selling through social media in Thailand has pushed the country’s social commerce sector to become very competitive in terms of customer service. Through social commerce, buyers and sellers can communicate immediately through chatting applications and live stream broadcasts, making it very easy and convenient to shop online primarily through Facebook and LINE. Because of this competitive edge, Thailand has become one of the leading countries in South East Asia for social commerce, with a market size greater than 10 million U.S. dollars in 2021.

The social media penetration rate in Thailand was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2028 by in total 2.7 (+3.3 percent). After the ninth consecutive increasing year, the penetration rate is estimated to reach 84.49 and therefore a new peak in 2028. Notably, the social media penetration rate of was continuously increasing over the past years.

In 2022, ** percent of Generation Z respondents in Thailand were on TikTok to watch live broadcasts or livestreams. In comparison, only **** percent of respondents were there to recruit workers. TikTok was one of the leading social media platforms among Generation Zs in Thailand.

In 2021, around 77 percent of the internet users in Thailand went online for communication purposes. Other online activities such as health tracking, and food delivery became more popular recently very likely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thailand’s internet user demographics and behaviors

It is no surprise that people across all ages rely on the internet. Each group of generations has different purposes when using the internet. Generation Y internet users in Thailand enjoy using the internet for social media and entertainment. While older demographics, such as baby boomer internet users search for data or read books on the internet and enjoy using the internet for social media. Internet is becoming more accessible to Thai users and has the potential to shape and change future online activities within each demographic.

Social media in Thailand Social media and online communication is the main activity which users across all demographics spend the most time on. The main platform among Thais is Facebook. Despite already being the most popular platform, the number of Facebook users is still expected to increase in the coming years. Additionally, the average share of Instagram users in Thailand is also higher than the global average. Apart from using social media to connect to friends and family, it is also a source of entertainment for online videos and streaming music.

According to a survey on influencer marketing conducted in Thailand in October 2022, Facebook was the most used platform for influencers, with around 36 percent. YouTube followed, with approximately 28 percent.

In 2024, around 74.7 percent of social media users in Thailand were between 18 to 24 years old. In comparison, only 1.2 percent of users were 55 years and above. Social media has become a very prominent form of online communication among Thais.