WhatsApp Business API in Thailand: How It Works, What It Costs and How Online Sellers Use It
The WhatsApp Business API connects your business number to software instead of one phone. Thai sellers use it to answer every chat automatically in Thai, confirm cash on delivery orders, send delivery updates, take payment by link and book shipments with Flash Express. You get it through a provider such as AeroChat, which connects your number with Meta’s embedded signup. Meta charges per delivered message, and messages to Thai numbers are charged at the “Rest of Asia Pacific” rate. You can keep the WhatsApp Business app on the same number.
Thai shoppers message shops on Facebook Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp, and sellers who also sell to customers abroad often find WhatsApp is the app those customers use. The free WhatsApp Business app works while one person can keep up. Once several staff share the number, or you want order messages sent from your store automatically, you need the API. Meta calls it the WhatsApp Business Platform, and the version most businesses use today is the Cloud API. AeroChat runs Messenger and Instagram from the same dashboard, so every chat follows the same rules.
WhatsApp Business app vs the API
| WhatsApp Business app | WhatsApp Business API | |
|---|---|---|
| Who replies | You or your staff, on a phone or linked devices | Software such as AeroChat, plus your team in a shared inbox |
| Automation | Greeting, away message and quick replies | Full workflows connected to your store, payment gateway and courier |
| Messages after 24 hours | Typed and sent by hand | Approved templates (utility, marketing, authentication) |
| Cost | Free app | Meta’s per-message fees plus your provider’s plan |
With coexistence you keep the app on your phone and run the API on the same number. More detail in WhatsApp app vs API and multiple users on one number.
How Meta prices WhatsApp messages for Thailand
As of November 2026, from Meta’s WhatsApp Business Platform pricing documentation:
- Per message. Meta charges per delivered message sent by the business, not per conversation. This model started on 1 July 2025.
- By category. Template messages are marketing, utility or authentication, and each has its own rate.
- By country. The rate depends on the country calling code of the recipient’s number. Thailand (+66) is not a separate market on Meta’s rate card. It is charged at the “Rest of Asia Pacific” rate. A message to a Malaysian (+60) or Singapore (+65) customer is charged at that country’s own rate.
- Customer messages are free. Messages customers send you cost nothing.
- Service replies. Each business phone number gets 1,000 free service messages a month. From 1 October 2026, service messages above that are charged. Utility templates sent inside an open 24-hour window are charged from the same date.
Meta publishes the current rates in its rate cards. See WhatsApp pricing for how the categories and the 24-hour window work, and AeroChat pricing for the plans.
What you need to start
- A Meta business portfolio.
- A phone number that can receive a verification code. It can be the number you already use in the WhatsApp Business app.
- A display name that meets Meta’s rules.
You can start before your business is verified with Meta. Verification raises your messaging limits. See how to get the WhatsApp Business API and choosing a solution provider.
What Thai online sellers run on it with AeroChat
- Answer every chat from store data, in Thai. Stock, price, delivery and order status, from Shopify, WooCommerce, Wix or a Google Sheets store, with the polite ending your shop uses. See AI customer service in Thai.
- Confirm COD orders before dispatch. See cash on delivery confirmation in Thailand.
- Take payment in the chat. Airwallex is built in (open an account if you don’t have one). If you already use Omise or 2C2P, they connect through their APIs. Payment is detected automatically, so nobody checks a transfer slip.
- Book the delivery with Flash Express or DHL eCommerce, or same-day with Lalamove or GrabExpress.
- Send order and delivery updates as utility templates in Thai. See Thai order confirmation templates and Thai shipping update templates.
- Send broadcasts to customers who opted in, as marketing templates, for example before 11.11 or 12.12. See WhatsApp broadcasts.
Customer: สวัสดีครับ สั่งไปเมื่อวาน ออเดอร์ #5127 ส่งของหรือยังครับ (ตัวอย่าง)
In English: Hello, I ordered yesterday, order #5127. Has it shipped yet?
AeroChat: สวัสดีค่ะ เพื่อความปลอดภัยของข้อมูล รบกวนแจ้งเบอร์โทรที่ใช้สั่งซื้อด้วยค่ะ
In English: Hello, to keep your order private, please confirm the phone number you ordered with.
Customer: 081 234 5678
AeroChat: ขอบคุณค่ะ ออเดอร์ #5127 จัดส่งแล้วโดย Flash Express วันนี้ คาดว่าจะได้รับภายใน 1 ถึง 2 วันค่ะ เลขพัสดุ TH0111222333C (ตัวอย่าง)
In English: Thank you. Order #5127 shipped today with Flash Express and should arrive in 1 to 2 days. Tracking number TH0111222333C.
In the store: nothing changes. AeroChat read the order and the Flash Express tracking and answered.
Copy this into AeroChat
When a customer asks where their order is, follow these steps.
- Ask for the phone number or email they ordered with, and match it to the order in our store.
- If the order has not shipped, tell them when we expect to ship it.
- If it has shipped, read the tracking from Flash Express (example) and tell them where the parcel is and when it should arrive.
- Send the tracking number.
- If the tracking shows a failed delivery or a return, pass the chat to our team with the order number.
Reply in the customer’s language. In Thai, use ค่ะ at the end of polite sentences.
How to set it up with AeroChat
- Sign up for AeroChat and start your 7-day free trial.
- Connect your WhatsApp number through Meta’s embedded signup. Keep the WhatsApp Business app on it with coexistence if you want. Add Messenger and Instagram in the same dashboard.
- Connect your store. Shopify, WooCommerce and Wix are built in.
- Describe your workflows in your own words, in Thai or English, or paste the recipe above. Add your gateway or courier keys in the dashboard.
- Submit your order templates for approval and turn the workflows on.
Questions
Can I write my WhatsApp templates in Thai?
Yes. Templates can be submitted in Thai. Ready-to-copy Thai messages are in the Thai COD confirmation templates and Thai payment reminder templates.
How do I send messages after 24 hours?
Outside the 24-hour customer service window, a business-initiated message needs an approved template, utility or marketing, and the customer’s opt-in. See message templates and template approval.
Can several staff use the same WhatsApp number?
Yes. On the API your team shares one inbox in AeroChat, and AeroChat answers the chats your rules cover. See multiple users.
Which provider should I use in Thailand?
Compare what each provider connects to, not only the message price. See the best WhatsApp API provider for online sellers and WhatsApp chatbot for online sellers in Thailand.
Using a different system? If it has a public API, it connects to AeroChat the same way: describe what you want, paste in its key, and it runs.
Can’t find your tool? Message us in the chat on this page and we’ll tell you how it connects.
Put your WhatsApp number on the API
Sign up, connect your number with embedded signup, and ask your own number “ส่งของหรือยังคะ” (Has it shipped yet?).
Start your 7-day free trial. No credit card needed.
On Shopify? Install AeroChat from the Shopify App Store.