A LINE OA chatbot is a program connected to your LINE Official Account that answers clients for you. In Thailand the free LINE OA plan includes 300 messages a month, and the paid plans cost 1,280 THB (15,000 messages) or 1,780 THB (35,000 messages) a month plus 7% VAT. Replies sent through the Messaging API in answer to a client's message do not count toward that quota. Only push messages and broadcasts do. So a bot that only answers questions adds nothing to your LINE bill, and the real cost is the bot itself: from about 594 THB a month for LINE's own Q&A bot to a custom AI receptionist that books appointments in several languages.
This guide is for owners and managers of spas, massage shops, salons, clinics, tour desks and bike, car or villa rentals. If your Thai clients write on LINE and your tourists write on WhatsApp, it is written for you.
Why LINE matters for a business in Thailand
LINE is the default chat app for Thai customers. Marketing Oops, reporting LINE Thailand's 2026 business update, puts the number of LINE users in Thailand at more than 56 million and the number of conversations with LINE Official Accounts at more than 12 billion in 2025. LY Corporation, LINE's parent company, gives a similar picture: about 54 million users, around 80% of the population, and some 6 million Official Accounts used by businesses and government agencies.
For a spa or a rental shop this means two things:
- Your Thai clients expect to book, ask prices and send a slip on LINE, not on a website form.
- Your foreign clients usually do not have LINE. In Phuket, Pattaya or Samui they tend to write on WhatsApp, and some on Telegram or Instagram.
So a chatbot that lives only in LINE covers half of your clients at best. Keep that in mind when you compare costs below.
What LINE OA does out of the box
A free LINE Official Account already gives you a greeting message, broadcasts, a rich menu, coupons, reward cards and a chat inbox. For automatic answers there are two built-in tools.
Keyword auto-response
You write a fixed message and attach keywords to it. When a client's message matches a keyword, LINE sends that fixed message. You can set different response methods for business hours and after hours.
Where it stops:
- Keywords only. If a client writes "how much for 2 hours oil massage tomorrow" and your keyword is "price", the match may or may not happen. Typos and slang break it.
- One fixed text. The reply is exactly what you typed, in the language you typed it. It does not switch to Russian for a Russian client or to Chinese for a Chinese client.
- No booking logic. It cannot check free slots, take a deposit or move an appointment.
AI Chatbot (Beta)
In Thailand LINE also offers an AI Chatbot (Beta). It picks the best answer from a Q&A list you register, and it handles different wording better than keywords. It can draft the first Q&A list from your PDFs or images. LINE says conversation logs and uploaded files are not used to train AI.
The conditions:
- It needs the OA Chat Package, which costs 555 THB a month plus 7% VAT.
- If a keyword auto-response matches, the keyword reply wins and the AI chatbot stays silent.
- Accounts in medical, finance, religion, politics or government and legal fields may not be eligible. That matters for clinics.
- It answers from your Q&A list. It does not book, does not write to your CRM and does not hand the client to a staff member with a summary.
For a small shop with ten standard questions, this is a cheap first step. For a business that takes bookings in several languages, it is not enough.
How a real chatbot connects to LINE
Anything beyond the built-in tools goes through the LINE Messaging API. In plain words: LINE sends every client message to your bot's server, the bot decides what to answer and sends the reply back. The steps:
- Create the LINE Official Account in LINE Official Account Manager, if you do not have one.
- Turn on the Messaging API in OA Manager. This creates a "channel", the connection your bot uses. You can no longer create these channels directly in the LINE Developers Console.
- Choose the provider carefully. LINE asks which provider will manage the account, and once assigned it cannot be changed. Use your own company as the provider, not your developer's.
- Issue a channel access token in the LINE Developers Console. This is the key your bot uses to send messages.
- Set the webhook URL. This is the address of the bot's server. It must use HTTPS with a certificate from a trusted authority, and each channel has only one webhook URL. Click Verify, then switch on "Use webhook".
- Turn off the greeting and auto-response messages in OA Manager. LINE recommends this when the bot handles all replies, otherwise clients get two answers.
- Test with your own phone before you tell clients.
One technical detail matters for cost. When a client writes, LINE gives the bot a reply token. A reply token can be used once and expires, so the bot has to answer while the conversation is live. That is how an AI bot replies within seconds and keeps those replies out of your quota.
If you want the blue verified badge, apply after the account exists. LINE's Thai help center says the review takes about 10 business days and can take longer.
The quota math: replies vs push and broadcast
LINE counts messages by recipient. One broadcast to 2,000 friends uses 2,000 messages. Messages to people who blocked you are not counted.
| Plan (Thailand) | Monthly price | With 7% VAT | Messages included | Extra message |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | 0 THB | 0 THB | 300 | Not available |
| Basic | 1,280 THB | 1,369.60 THB | 15,000 | 0.10 THB |
| Pro | 1,780 THB | 1,904.60 THB | 35,000 | 0.06 THB |
The Pro plan also includes LINE's MyCustomer CRM, which costs 369 THB plus VAT on Free and Basic.
What counts and what does not, according to LINE's developer docs:
| Sending method | Counts toward quota? |
|---|---|
| Reply (answer to a client's message) | No |
| Push (bot writes first, for example a reminder) | Yes |
| Multicast, broadcast, narrowcast | Yes |
What this means for a spa sending reminders
Take an example spa with 400 bookings a month and 2,000 LINE friends. These numbers are for illustration only.
- Answering every question by bot: 0 messages.
- One reminder per booking the day before, sent by push: 400 messages. That is already over the Free plan's 300.
- One promotion a month to all friends: 2,000 messages.
- Total: 2,400 messages, well inside Basic. Four promotions a month would be 8,400, still inside Basic.
Two practical tips. Send reminders only to clients with a booking, not to the whole list. And let the client start the conversation where possible, for example "Reply YES to confirm", because the bot's answer to that reply is free.
Real cost for 12 months
The table compares the most common setups. LINE plan fees for push and broadcast are the same whichever bot you choose, so they are listed separately below. USD figures use about 33.8 THB per USD, the late October 2026 rate.
| Option | What you get | 12-month cost (THB) | 12-month cost (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keyword auto-response (DIY) | Fixed replies to keywords, one language | 0 | 0 |
| LINE AI Chatbot (Beta) | Answers from your Q&A list, LINE only | about 7,126 | about 211 |
| Omnichannel inbox with AI, for example respond.io Growth (annual billing) | Shared inbox for LINE, WhatsApp and others, AI agent included, you set it up | about 64,490 | 1,908 |
| One-off custom FAQ bot, published Phuket developer prices | Built once, plus monthly server costs | 51,000-121,000 | about 1,509-3,580 |
| One-off custom booking bot, same source | Booking logic, plus monthly server costs | 106,000-216,000 | about 3,136-6,391 |
| idk AI receptionist, Start | Set up and run for you, 1 channel, 1-2 languages, CRM link, up to 500 chats a month | about 178,126 | 5,270 |
| idk AI receptionist, Growth | Every channel, 4 languages, bookings, win-back messages, no chat limit | about 370,786 | 10,970 |
Notes on the table:
- The custom bot rows use Bangtao Technology's published ranges: 15,000-25,000 THB for an FAQ bot, 70,000-120,000 THB for a booking bot, plus 3,000-8,000 THB a month for infrastructure.
- respond.io does not include WhatsApp fees in its subscription.
- idk rows are $590 setup plus 12 months at $390 (Start), and $1,490 setup plus 12 months at $790 (Growth). Hosting and the AI service are set up in your name and paid directly at cost, on any plan. We help you pick them for your project, and AI replies usually cost little next to the plan itself. There is also a one-off "System" package from $1,450 (about 49,010 THB) that includes the AI receptionist, a website, a CRM and staff training.
- Add your LINE plan if you send reminders or promotions: Basic is about 16,435 THB a year with VAT, Pro about 22,855 THB.
How to choose: if you get a few questions a day in Thai only, start with the built-in tools. If clients write in three or four languages, ask for prices at night and expect a booking on the spot, you need either your own time to configure an inbox or a team that runs the bot for you.
LINE and WhatsApp in one inbox
A spa in Phuket might get Thai regulars on LINE and Russian, Indian or European tourists on WhatsApp. Two phones and two apps at the front desk means slow answers and lost bookings.
The fix is one inbox that receives both channels, with the same bot answering on both. A few facts about the WhatsApp side:
- Since 1 July 2025 Meta charges the WhatsApp Business Platform per message, not per conversation.
- When a client writes to you, a 24-hour customer service window opens. Normal replies inside that window are free, and so are utility templates such as booking confirmations.
- Outside the window you can only send paid templates (marketing, utility or authentication). Rates depend on the country and are listed on Meta's rate card.
- Your inbox provider may charge its own fee on top.
So, like LINE, answering costs little or nothing. Writing first costs money on both. Plan your reminders and promotions with that in mind.
PDPA checklist for chat data
Thailand's Personal Data Protection Act B.E. 2562 applies to names, phone numbers, chat history and booking details. A short checklist, not legal advice:
- Tell clients what you collect and why. A short privacy notice in the rich menu or greeting covering purpose and how long you keep the data (Section 23).
- Bookings vs promotions. Using data to carry out a booking can rely on the contract basis (Section 24). For promotional broadcasts, get clear consent, in writing or electronically, with the purpose stated (Section 19).
- Health information. Clinics and massage shops that ask about injuries, pregnancy or conditions are handling health data, which needs explicit consent (Section 26).
- Data abroad. If your bot or AI provider stores data outside Thailand, the transfer rules of Section 28 apply.
- Security and breaches. Keep access limited, and if data leaks, notify the PDPC Office without delay and where feasible within 72 hours (Section 37).
- Fines. Administrative fines go up to 1, 3 or 5 million THB depending on the breach (Sections 82-84).
FAQ
Do LINE OA chatbot replies count against my message quota?
No, if they are sent as replies through the Messaging API. LINE's developer docs list reply messages as not counted. Push, multicast, broadcast and narrowcast messages are counted.
Can LINE OA auto-reply answer in English, Russian and Chinese?
Keyword auto-response sends the fixed text you wrote, so it does not adapt to the client's language. LINE's AI Chatbot (Beta) answers from your Q&A list. For replies in the client's own language you need a bot built on the Messaging API with an AI model behind it.
How much does LINE OA cost in Thailand in 2026?
Free with 300 messages a month, Basic at 1,280 THB with 15,000 messages, Pro at 1,780 THB with 35,000 messages, all before 7% VAT. Extra messages cost 0.10 THB on Basic and 0.06 THB on Pro.
How long does LINE OA verification take?
LINE's Thai help center says about 10 business days from application to decision, sometimes longer. You create the account first and then apply.
Is LINE or WhatsApp better for a business in Thailand?
Use both if you serve both Thais and tourists. LINE reaches Thai clients and WhatsApp reaches most foreign visitors. Connect both to one inbox so one bot and one team answer everything.
Sources
- LINE for Business Thailand, broadcast messages and plan prices: https://lineforbusiness.com/th/service/line-oa-features/broadcast-message
- LINE for Business Thailand, OA Chat Package: https://lineforbusiness.com/th/service/line-oa-features/oa-chat-package
- LINE Official Account help (Thailand), AI Chatbot (Beta): https://help2.line.me/official_account_th/web/categoryId/200000663/3/pc?lang=en
- LINE Official Account help (Thailand), creating and verifying an account: https://help2.line.me/official_account_th/web/categoryId/20008541/3/pc?lang=th
- LINE Developers, Messaging API pricing: https://developers.line.biz/en/docs/messaging-api/pricing/
- LINE Developers, Get started with the Messaging API: https://developers.line.biz/en/docs/messaging-api/getting-started/
- LINE Developers, Build a bot: https://developers.line.biz/en/docs/messaging-api/building-bot/
- LINE Developers, Messaging API reference (reply token errors): https://developers.line.biz/en/reference/messaging-api/nojs/
- Marketing Oops, LINE Business Solutions 2026 (11 August 2026): https://www.marketingoops.com/reports/line-business-solutions-2026/
- LY Corporation, LINE in Thailand (5 December 2025): https://www.lycorp.co.jp/en/story/20251205/line_thailand.html
- Meta, WhatsApp Business Platform pricing: https://developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/pricing/
- respond.io, pricing: https://respond.io/pricing
- respond.io, LINE integration: https://respond.io/integrations/line
- Bangtao Technology, AI chatbots on LINE for Thai businesses (5 April 2026): https://bangtaotech-website-astro.pages.dev/blog/ai-chatbots-line-thai-businesses/
- Personal Data Protection Act B.E. 2562 (2019), unofficial English translation: https://pdpa.msu.ac.th/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/EN-PDPA-2019.pdf
- Pound Sterling Live, USD/THB history 2026: https://www.poundsterlinglive.com/history/USD-THB-2026
We can set this up
idk builds an AI receptionist for service businesses in Thailand. It answers on LINE, WhatsApp, Telegram and your website within seconds, understands voice messages, replies in English, Russian, Thai or Chinese, books appointments, hands the client to your staff with a short summary and logs everything to your CRM. You can see the plans and prices on the AI receptionist page. If you only need simple bots or broadcasts, see chatbots or compare all packages.