Best Dating Apps for Thailand – Index
The online dating scene has literally exploded in the past years and Thailand is not a country that has managed to avoid this transformation. Since a few years back, We’ve seen many online dating applications popping up, Tinder is probably the first that comes to mind.
If you plan to move or travel to Thailand and want to date people, you better download your favorite applications beforehand. In this article, we list some of the most popular dating applications in the market.
1. Tinder
Tinder was founded in 2012, has received remarkable amounts of funding, and not strangely, become the biggest online dating application in the whole world. It’s used by locals and foreigners alike in Thailand and continues to grow with an impressive rate.
What speaks for Tinder is its user-friendliness, you won’t have to type, simply swipe left or right, and start your conversation once you’ve got a match. It’s easy to get started with this application as well, simply download the application, write your bio, and upload some photos.
People’s profiles are shown as cards in a card deck and you swipe left if you like the person and swipe to the right if not. Recently, Tinder has added other paid versions of its applications, Tinder Plus and Tinder Gold.
Here, Tinder Plus is less expensive than Tinder Gold, the latter one comes with a couple of additional features. Tinder Plus offers the following functions:
- You get unlimited Likes
- You can take back your last swipe
- You get 5 Super likes a day
- You get 1 boost a month (become one of the top profiles in your area for 30 minutes)
- You can see other people’s profiles in other destinations than your current city
- No advertisements
Tinder Gold:
- Allows you to see who likes you before you decide to swipe left or right
- You get new top picks every day
- You get unlimited likes
- You can take back your previous swipe
- Same as Plus, you get 5 super likes a day
- You also get 1 boost a month (see above)
- You can see people in other cities
- No advertisements
2. Badoo
Badoo was launched in 2006 and is therefore some years older than Tinder. Badoo was undoubtedly the most popular dating application at a start. Used by millions of people all over the world, the functions and features are different from Tinder.
Badoo allows you to create a personal profile and upload photos, which can be visited by other users. As such, you won’t need to swipe but can visit people’s profiles directly and contact them.
With that said, Badoo also offers a function that is similar to Tinder. You see people’s profiles like cards in a card deck and choose whether you like them or not.
In 2017, Badoo launched a new video chat function that allows you to connect with other users in real-time, once you’ve exchanged messages with them. It’s highly popular and has gained a lot of traction.
Over the years, Badoo has introduced new features and functions, including The Encounters Game. This so-called “Hot-or-Not” like feature allows you to rate potential matches, without using the search function.
Badoo also allows you to buy Superpowers, save profiles under Favorites, see visitors, and much more.
3. ThaiFriendly
ThaiFriendly is another popular application among foreigners who want to date in Thailand. It’s free to use, but also comes with a paid version, costing USD 19.99 per month. You can browse people’s profiles and text them directly.
A drawback of using this application is that you’re almost forced to opt-in for the paid version. The reason is that you can only send a message every tenth minute and popular persons cannot be contacted unless you have the paid version.
That said, ThaiFriendly offers the following benefits:
- It has 1 million+ active photo profiles
- You can search profiles all over Thailand
- You can simply double tap to send interest to members
On top of that, premium members can:
- Get access to unlimited messaging
- Get access to advanced search
- See recent profile visitors, and other useful lists
- Add more photos
- See when others have read your messages
- Appear above free users in search
- Set your status to appear offline
- Selectively show your visits to some members but hide from the rest
4. Bumble
Launched in 2014, Bumble is one of the newest applications that has grown significantly in the past years. It’s not only available in Thailand, but in numerous countries, like Vietnam. The same as it goes with many other applications, it’s a location-based social application that helps you to connect with strangers.
Originally founded by an executive at Tinder, Whitney Wolfe Herd, the application has been called a feminist dating app. As men cannot contact female users directly, I guess it kind of lives up to its name. That said, same-sex matches won’t have this restriction.
Since its inception, Bumble has received much funding, has more than 55 million users globally, and with a value of USD 1 billion. The app is headquartered in Austin, Texas, and has 70 employees globally.
As of 2016, Bumble also offers paid memberships which gives users some benefits. It’s referred to as Bumble Boost, costs USD 24.99 per month, and allows you to see everyone who liked you, extend matches by 24 hours, and rematch with expired connections.
This is undoubtedly one of the most interesting applications that are set to compete with Badoo and Tinder.
5. Coffee Meets Bagel
Coffee meets bagel was founded by three sisters in New York in 2012 and has become a leading online dating application globally. In comparison to most other applications, like Tinder and Badoo, Coffee Meets Bagel’s primary goal is to let daters find long-term relationships, offering quality over quantity.
Simply put, instead of swiping left or right, Coffee Meets Bagel sends you a handful of profiles every day at noon, referred to as bagels. The app determines whether a person seems interesting to you, according to your profile criteria and your Facebook data.
If two “bagels” like each other, it’s called a match and you can then start chatting with the person. Thus, this application is a bit more sophisticated and not the best choice for persons who simply look for one night stands.
The app has received more than one hundred thousand reviews and has a good rating, averaging at 4.5 / 5.0 on Google Play. The process is like follows when getting started with Coffee Meets Bagel:
- Set up your account
- Customize your profile
- Send likes
- Talk to the “Bagels”
Coffee Meets Bagel has a free and paid version that costs USD 35 per month. If you go for a longer period (6 months / 12 months) you get a discount.
Are you looking for people in a different place?
- Best Dating Applications in China (Mainland)
- Best Dating Applications in Hong Kong
- Best Dating Applications in Singapore
- Best Dating Applications in Vietnam
Photo Credits: Cover Photo by badoo.com
