By the Klick Digital team · Updated October 2026
If you run a restaurant, café, spa, clinic, hotel or shop in Thailand, Chinese travellers are probably already talking about places like yours. The question is whether they are talking about you. Most of that conversation happens on Xiaohongshu, also known as RedNote, long before the traveller boards the plane.
This article explains what Xiaohongshu is, why it matters for Thai venues, how a brand presence on it works, and why it is only the first step of a three-app journey.
What Is Xiaohongshu (RedNote)?
Xiaohongshu is a Chinese lifestyle and social app where users share short posts called “notes”: photos, short videos and honest write-ups about food, travel, beauty, shopping and daily life. Think of it as a mix of a search engine, a travel magazine and a review community, all inside one app.
For Chinese users it is the natural place to search before making a lifestyle decision. When someone types “Bangkok cafés” or “Phuket spa” into Xiaohongshu, they get real experiences from other travellers, written in their own words. That trust is why the app shapes so many trip decisions.
Why Do Chinese Travellers Plan Thailand Trips on Xiaohongshu?
Chinese travellers plan on Xiaohongshu because it is where their own community shares what is worth doing in Thailand, in Chinese, with photos and practical detail.
Chinese travellers are one of Thailand’s largest visitor groups, and they research and decide inside Chinese apps rather than on Google or Facebook. A traveller planning a week in Bangkok and Chiang Mai will save dozens of notes: a rooftop bar with a good sunset view, a dental clinic with English-speaking staff, a Thai dessert café that photographs well, and a massage shop near their hotel.
Industry reports suggest that travellers in 2026 increasingly choose venues from apps before they travel, not on the street after arrival. If your venue does not appear in those saved notes, you are not on the itinerary.
Which Thai Venues Get Discovered on Xiaohongshu?
Almost any venue with a visual, shareable experience can be discovered on Xiaohongshu. The categories that appear most often are:
- Restaurants and cafés: signature dishes, Thai desserts, river or city views, photogenic interiors.
- Bars, clubs and rooftop bars: sunset spots, cocktails and nightlife recommendations.
- Spas and massage shops: traditional Thai massage, spa packages and quiet, clean settings.
- Clinics and dental clinics: aesthetic treatments, dental work and health check-ups at Thai prices.
- Hotels: room views, breakfast, pools and location for shopping and dining.
- Retail, souvenir and fashion stores: Thai brands, local snacks, skincare and products that are hard to find in China.
If your venue fits one of these categories, Chinese travellers are already searching for it. The only question is whose note they find.
How Does a Brand Account on Xiaohongshu Work?
A verified brand account gives your venue an official home on the platform, and a steady flow of notes and creator content gives travellers reasons to save it.
There are three parts that work together:
1. A verified brand account. This is your venue’s own profile, verified as a business. It shows your name, location, photos and a collection of notes. It tells travellers that the venue is real and that the information is current.
2. Brand notes. These are posts published from your own account: new menu items, seasonal promotions, how to get there, what to order first. Written in natural Chinese with the right keywords, they help your venue appear when travellers search.
3. KOC content. Key opinion consumers are ordinary users with real followings who share genuine experiences. A visit to your venue, written up in their own voice, is often more persuasive than anything a brand can say about itself. It also multiplies the number of notes travellers can find when they search your category.
Ads on Xiaohongshu can then put your best notes in front of the right audience, for example people who have recently searched for Thailand travel.
Klick Digital is an award-winning Xiaohongshu agency. We set up verified brand accounts and run content and ads on Xiaohongshu, with direct support from Xiaohongshu HQ after our team’s visit to their office in China.
What Proof Is There That This Works?
Our Xiaohongshu campaign for Big C, the Thai retailer, won “Best Use of Social Media” at the PR Awards Asia-Pacific 2026.
The award recognises our Xiaohongshu work at the regional level. It is one example, but it shows that the approach described above is taken seriously by the industry. Book a free call if you would like to hear how the same thinking could apply to your venue.
Is Xiaohongshu Enough on Its Own?
No. Xiaohongshu is where Chinese travellers find you, but it is not where they make the final choice or find their way to your door.
The typical Chinese traveller in Thailand uses three apps in sequence:
- Find on Xiaohongshu. Trip inspiration and planning. The traveller saves your venue as a possibility.
- Choose on Dianping/Meituan. Once in Thailand, the traveller opens Dianping to compare ratings, read reviews, check deals and look at the Must-Eat list (必吃榜). Dianping has hundreds of millions of users in China and is the app they trust for the final decision. If your venue is missing or poorly presented here, the traveller picks a competitor whose listing is complete.
- Reach via AMap. The traveller opens AMap for directions and to call a taxi straight to your venue. If your listing is wrong or absent, they may never arrive.
Many Thai venues invest in the first step and forget the other two. The result is a traveller who saved your café on Xiaohongshu, could not find good reviews on Dianping, and ended up somewhere else.
Klick Digital is the official Thailand partner for Dianping/Meituan and AMap. That means we can set up and manage your Dianping listing, including POI information, homepage decoration, review management, media ads and monthly reporting, and, as the official AMap partner, help your venue be found on AMap so travellers can get directions and a taxi to your door. Combined with Xiaohongshu, this covers the full journey from first search to arrival.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Xiaohongshu the same as RedNote?
Yes. RedNote is the English name used for Xiaohongshu (小红书). They are the same app.
Does my venue need to be in Bangkok to benefit?
No. Chinese travellers visit Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket, Pattaya, Krabi and other destinations, and they search for venues in all of them.
Do I need to speak or write Chinese?
No. Klick Digital works in Thai, Chinese and English. We handle Chinese-language content, account set-up and review management on your behalf.
How is Xiaohongshu different from Dianping?
Xiaohongshu is for inspiration and planning; Dianping is for comparing and choosing a venue once in Thailand, with ratings, reviews and deals. Most travellers use both.
How do I get started?
Book a free call with our team. We will look at your venue, explain how Chinese travellers currently search for businesses like yours, and recommend the right mix of Xiaohongshu, Dianping and AMap.
Book a Free Call
Chinese travellers are already planning their next Thailand trip on Xiaohongshu. Make sure your venue is part of that plan, and that they can choose you on Dianping and reach you via AMap.
Book a free call with Klick Digital, an award-winning Xiaohongshu agency in Bangkok. Or message us on LINE Official.
