Kong Research · Edition 2026
Of 500 Thai tour and activity operators, 88 let customers book directly on their website, 17.6%. Sampled across 8 destinations.
The finding
Thailand’s national figure hides a big split. In Phuket, 29.0% of operators can take a booking online, on its own, that would rank second in the region. Koh Samui sits at just 9.0%, closer to Indonesia than to Phuket. Krabi is at 14.3% and Chiang Mai at 20.7%.
Thailand is also the only country where two booking platforms properly compete: FareHarbor and Bokun run on 17 operators each, the healthiest booking-software market in the region.
What Thai operators rarely do is take Thai money. Only 6 of 88 bookable operators accept PromptPay. The rest take cards only, which mostly means selling to foreigners.
Destinations
| Destination | Operators | Bookable | Bookable % | No web presence % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phuket | 100 | 29 | 29.0% highest | 12.0% |
| Koh Samui | 100 | 9 | 9.0% | 15.0% |
| Krabi | 98 | 14 | 14.3% | 23.5% |
| Chiang Mai | 87 | 18 | 20.7% | 18.4% |
| Bangkok | 67 | 12 | 17.9% | 16.4% |
| Koh Tao | 37 | 5 | 13.5% | 0.0% |
| Kanchanaburi | 10 | 1 | 10.0% | 30.0% |
| Pai | 1 | 0 | 0.0% lowest | 0.0% |
Categories
| Category | Operators | Share of market | Bookable | Bookable % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outdoor & nature | 81 | 16.2% | 20 | 24.7% |
| Boat tours & cruises | 91 | 18.2% | 20 | 22.0% |
| Diving & snorkelling | 83 | 16.6% | 16 | 19.3% |
| Attractions & sightseeing | 68 | 13.6% | 11 | 16.2% |
| Food, culture & workshops | 150 | 30.0% | 18 | 12.0% |
| Watersports & adrenaline | 27 | 5.4% | 3 | 11.1% |
Systems
36 of 88 bookable operators run a dedicated booking platform; the rest use general cart or payment software.
| System | Operators |
|---|---|
| WooCommerce | 40 |
| Bokun | 17 |
| FareHarbor | 17 |
| Stripe | 10 |
| Shopify | 3 |
| Omise | 2 |
| Rezdy | 2 |
| PayPal | 1 |
Payment
6 of 88 bookable operators accept a local payment method (PromptPay). The rest are card-only.
Questions
17.6%: 88 of 500 classified Thai tour and activity operators let customers book directly on their website. A further 282 have a website that cannot take a booking, 50 have only a social media profile, and 80 have no web presence at all.
WooCommerce on 40, Bokun on 17, FareHarbor on 17, Stripe on 10. Dedicated booking platforms reach 36 operators, 7.2% of the Thai sample. Most bookable operators use general shopping-cart software rather than proper reservation software.
6 of 88 bookable Thai operators accept a local payment method such as PromptPay. The remainder are card-only, which in practice means selling to international travellers rather than domestic ones.
80 of 500, or 16.0%. Online presence (a website or a social profile) reaches 84.0% of Thai operators.
Mostly by message. Of Thai operators with a working website but no online checkout, 28.4% list WhatsApp as their booking channel. Across the country 87 operators use WhatsApp as their only route to a booking.
Continue
Up to the full report: The State of Tour Operator Bookability in Southeast Asia · Next: Singapore · Malaysia
Percentages are of classified operators. 0 Thai operators were excluded as unresolved (site blocked or misconfigured, not dead).
"Bookable" means a date-selection widget alongside a booking platform, payment gateway or cart on the operator's own site. It measures capability, not usage.
Data CC BY 4.0. Kong sells booking software to tour operators; see the hub for the full disclosure. · bookwithkong.com