What is the equivalent of Grab in Thailand?

Grab is the Grab of Thailand. The same app you might have used in Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam or Indonesia works in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket and more or less every Thai city with an airport. One account covers the whole region, so if you're hopping between countries there is nothing new to set up. If the question is really "what is the equivalent of Uber in Thailand", the answer is also Grab. Uber sold its Thai business to Grab in 2018 and hasn't been back.

Grab isn't the only ride-hailing app in the country though, and in a few situations it's not the one I'd open first.

The alternatives, roughly in order of usefulness

Bolt is the closest thing to a second Grab. Same interface, same fixed prices, usually 10 to 25 percent cheaper, and fewer drivers. It covers Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, Phuket, Krabi and around 30 other cities. It's worth having installed purely to compare prices before each ride. One caveat: Bolt has spent 2026 in a licensing dispute with Thailand's Department of Land Transport, with a 30 September 2026 deadline for all its drivers to hold public licences, so keep Grab as the fallback.

InDrive works differently. You type in the fare you're willing to pay and drivers accept it or counter-offer. It takes a minute longer and can come in well under Grab on longer rides, like a Bangkok airport run or a cross-island trip in Phuket. For a 90 THB hop across town I find it more effort than it's worth.

Maxim is the one most tourists have never heard of. It's a locals' app, big for cheap motorbike rides, and available in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Korat and Phuket. It's often the cheapest of the lot, with a small driver pool and a rougher interface. I haven't used it enough to recommend it over the others, but it's worth knowing it exists if the other two are quoting silly prices.

LINE MAN Taxi and TADA also exist and are both licensed. I haven't bothered with either, and with Grab and Bolt on your phone I don't think you need to.

What I actually recommend

Install Grab before you fly. Install Bolt next to it. Compare the two before each ride and book whichever is cheaper with a sensible wait time. That covers nearly every trip you'll take. The exceptions are Phuket and Koh Samui, where the local taxi operators keep app prices high and drivers scarce on every platform. Phuket has its own answer.

For setup, ride tiers, airport pickup points and surge pricing, the full walkthrough is in the Grab guide. The rest of the apps worth having are in must-have apps for Thailand.