Hi everyone!

I’ve been exploring the local business scene in Bangkok recently, and I’ve noticed a curious trend. Many great local spots — from boutique hotels in Sukhumvit to specialized services in Silom — rely almost exclusively on Facebook Pages or LINE OA.

While these tools are great for chatting, I started wondering: is it enough for a growing business in 2026?

Here are a few "pain points" I’ve encountered as a customer and developer:

1. The "Google Map" Trap: When I search for a service on Google, a business without a website often loses to a competitor who has one, even if the competitor's service is worse. Local SEO in BKK is getting competitive.

2. The PromptPay Hustle: I see so many business owners manually checking screenshots of PromptPay transfers in LINE. It seems like such a time-sink! Integrating automated payments on a site could save hours of manual work.

3. The Language Barrier: Bangkok is a melting pot. A Facebook page is hard to translate on the fly, whereas a multilingual site (Thai/English/Chinese) opens doors to tourists and expats alike.

I’m curious to hear from the business owners here on the forum: Do you feel that a dedicated website actually brings more "serious" clients, or do you find social media is more than enough for the Thai market?

I have a company website plus company Facebook and LinkedIn pages plus official Line account.

While Facebook, Linkedin and Line are free, the website uses Wix, which has an annual fee.

While the Wix fee is not large (about $400 per year including 2 company emails) the Wix website and blog is Google invisible and gets almost no traffic. Compared to my personal Wordpress website and the company Facebook page, the traffic is pitiful, even after 3 years.

I've done all the usual SEO stuff and posted to a blog regularly, but still no traffic. So I wouldn't recommend Wix as it's a 'stealth' website host, and I'll be switching to Wordpress when the contract ends.

But does the website add any real value? I don't think so, it's just expected.

Facebook gets much more customer traffic and LinkedIn is good for business contracts, and most people I need to communicate with use Line or WhatsApp rather than email.

That’s a very common frustration with Wix, and you’re absolutely right about switching to WordPress. Wix is a 'closed' system, which often makes deep SEO optimization a nightmare compared to the freedom you get with WP.

The reason your Facebook gets more traffic is that it's a 'push' platform, while a website is a 'pull' platform. If the SEO structure isn't perfect (which is often the case with drag-and-drop builders), Google simply won't rank it for local BKK searches.

A website adds real value only when it works as a conversion tool, not just a digital brochure. For example, integrating automated PromptPay or a direct WhatsApp/Line bridge into a fast, SEO-optimized WordPress site usually changes the game for local businesses.

I’ve actually documented how a proper SEO structure for the Bangkok market should look like to avoid this 'invisible' website trap. You can check out the tech stack I use here: https://site-with-soul.com/en/website-development-bangkok/.

Good luck with the migration to WordPress! It’s definitely the right move for visibility.