Tip · Install Grab and LINE before you land. Grab covers rides and food delivery across the country. LINE is how most Thai businesses, hotels, and locals prefer to communicate.
A few apps genuinely change how you experience Thailand. These are the ones I open every single day when I'm there: Grab to get anywhere, Google Maps (reliable even offline), and Google Translate camera mode for menus. Install them before you land.
Grab: rides and food delivery
Grab is the dominant ride-hailing app in Southeast Asia. In Thailand it covers taxis, private cars, motorbike taxis, and food delivery.
For rides, it eliminates the need to negotiate prices with tuk-tuk drivers or worry about meter scams. Set your destination, see the price upfront, and the driver comes to you. For a full walkthrough including pickup quirks and pricing, see how to use Grab in Thailand.
For food delivery, GrabFood works across most Thai cities. If you are staying somewhere without nearby restaurants or arrive late at night, it is a reliable fallback. (For the in-person version of late-night food, the best Bangkok night markets are still hard to beat.)
LINE: messaging and everything else
LINE is the dominant messaging app in Thailand, more so than WhatsApp or iMessage. Hotels, tour operators, local guides, landlords, and many restaurants use LINE as their primary communication channel.
I expected LINE to be redundant alongside WhatsApp. It isn't. Thai hotels and restaurants genuinely prefer it, and more than once I've had a room upgraded simply because I messaged ahead on LINE instead of emailing. Having it installed means you can contact businesses directly, receive booking confirmations, and communicate with locals without needing a Thai phone number.
Google Maps: navigation
Google Maps coverage in Thailand is detailed and accurate for most cities and tourist areas. It includes public transport directions for Bangkok's BTS and MRT, walking routes, and estimated taxi times.
For rural areas and smaller islands, coverage can be patchier. Download offline maps for your region before you lose wifi access.
Google Translate: camera translation
The camera translation feature in Google Translate is especially useful in Thailand. Point your phone at a menu, sign, or label and it overlays an English translation in real time.
Download the Thai language pack for offline use. It will not be perfect, but it handles menus, street signs, and product labels well enough to be genuinely helpful.
Foodpanda: food delivery alternative
Foodpanda is Grab's main competitor for food delivery in Thailand. Coverage and restaurant selection vary by city. In some areas it has better local restaurant options than GrabFood. Worth having both if food delivery matters to you.
12Go: inter-city transport
12Go is a booking platform for trains, buses, ferries, and minivans across Thailand. It is the simplest way to book a Bangkok–Chiang Mai overnight train or a Surat Thani–Koh Samui ferry in advance. See the transportation guide for more on getting between cities.