Thailand’s 2026 digital ad spend edges back to growth: what DAAT’s revised forecast means

On 3 October 2026, the Digital Advertising Association (Thailand), known as DAAT, and Kantar released a revised forecast for Thai digital ad spending in 2026. They now expect full-year growth of 0.3%, or roughly THB 32,339 million. At the start of the year the same forecast pointed to a 0.3% decline.

A swing of 0.6 points looks small, but it matters symbolically. Bangkok Biz News reported that the early forecast would have marked the first contraction in Thai digital ad spend in 14 years. Kantar added context: the market grew at double-digit rates for many years, levelled off during Covid-19, and has grown only in single digits from 2024 to 2026.

Several outlets credited the government’s “Thai Chuay Thai Plus” 60/40 co-payment scheme with supporting consumer spending, which kept brands from cutting digital budgets as deeply as many feared earlier in the year.

The 2026 platform split shows that money is not leaving digital so much as moving around inside it. Meta (Facebook and Instagram) still receives the largest share but is down 4%. TikTok grew 16% and now sits just one point behind Meta. Together, Meta, TikTok and YouTube take more than half of the market.

The fastest-growing lines are other social platforms and e-commerce ads. The heaviest cuts fall on display, online video, YouTube and LINE. In short, budgets are moving towards places that sit closer to the point of sale.

• Meta: THB 8,157 million, 25% share, down 4%
• TikTok: THB 7,779 million, 24% share, up 16%
• YouTube: THB 3,180 million, down 15%
• Other social: THB 2,986 million, up 29%
• Search: THB 1,594 million, down 2%
• LINE: THB 1,504 million, down 15%
• E-commerce: THB 1,345 million, up 28%
• Display: THB 1,061 million, down 24%

Skincare remains the largest digital advertiser at about THB 6,339 million, up 19%. Growing even faster are medical and health (+58%), hair care (+39%) and oral care (+31%). These categories share one trait: they sell well through reviews and creator content.

The clearest cuts come from alcoholic drinks (-53%), fuel stations (-44%), vitamins and supplements (-36%), automotive (-21%) and banks (-20%). Many of these are high-ticket or heavily regulated categories under economic pressure, so the cuts read as caution rather than a retreat from digital.

DAAT president Sorada Sornprasit described the shift as money moving into a connected system of media, content, creators, commerce, data and technology, rather than leaving digital. Her point was that the task ahead is not simply to add more budget to digital channels.

Another figure stands out: 92% of industry players were already using AI tools, according to early-year data. When content becomes faster and cheaper to make, the scarce resource is no longer content itself but people’s attention. More clients are also moving some work in-house.

Our reading is straightforward. When the total pie barely grows, every brand competes for the same inventory, which tends to push up the cost of reaching people on popular platforms. Businesses that rely on paid ads alone will likely see returns shrink over time.

First, owned channels such as your website, LINE Official Account and customer database become more valuable because you do not pay again every time you reach people there. When ads bring someone in, there should be a place for them to come back to without another media buy.

Second, the growth of TikTok, social and e-commerce ads shows that money is chasing measurable sales. Product pages, landing pages and checkout flows need to be ready for creator-driven traffic. Sending paid clicks to a slow page with missing information wastes the budget you just fought for.

Third, the fact that YouTube and LINE ads lost budget overall does not make them wrong for everyone. Channels others abandon can become cheaper for certain audiences. Decide based on your own results, not the market average.

Before setting your 2027 budget, we suggest comparing your current channel mix with actual sales and adjusting in steps, rather than moving everything to follow a trend.

None of these steps needs a large budget. The aim is to make sure every baht of paid reach lands somewhere that can turn attention into a sale, a lead or a returning customer, and that you can see which channel did the work.

• Split budget by goal (awareness, consideration, conversion) and measure each part with its own metrics.
• Test creator content or TikTok with a capped budget, and track links through to real sales or leads.
• Check the speed and clarity of your mobile landing pages before increasing ad spend.
• Build your own customer list through your website and LINE OA, with consent collected properly under the PDPA.
• Use AI to help produce content, but have a person check facts and brand voice on every piece.