From café hopping and shopping to travel, gym sessions and photography, paid companionship is becoming a surprising new side hustle in Thailand.
Thailand is seeing the emergence of an unusual gig-economy trend: people are paying to hire someone simply to accompany them.
Known as “friend-for-hire” services, the concept allows customers to book a companion for everyday activities such as travelling, shopping, visiting cafés, exercising, taking photographs or even indoor rock climbing.
The trend is gaining attention as Thailand’s household structure and social habits change, although there are currently no official figures measuring the size of the friend-for-hire industry. Reports from the Bangkok Post, South China Morning Post, The Straits Times and other outlets all trace the trend to changing lifestyles and growing numbers of people living alone.
It’s Not Necessarily About Being Lonely
One of the most interesting aspects of the trend is that customers aren’t necessarily looking for an emotional relationship.
For some, it’s simply convenience.
Bangkok university student and content creator Ainthuon Rattanawaraporn said she initially tried the service out of curiosity. She later found it useful when friends were unavailable to accompany her on trips and she wasn’t yet comfortable travelling alone.
Photography was another attraction. Instead of asking friends to repeatedly take pictures, she could hire someone specifically to accompany her and capture the shots she wanted.
That distinction could be crucial to understanding why the concept is gaining traction.
It’s not necessarily about replacing friendship.
Sometimes, it’s about paying for time, convenience and company when your own social circle isn’t available.
One Student Turned It Into a Business
The emerging market is also creating opportunities for young people.
Twenty-year-old university student Thanaporn Charoenchuea launched a service called “Snap Like A Bestie.”
According to reports, she had served more than 50 customers within roughly two months.
Her service goes beyond simply taking photographs. She also chats with customers and helps people who may feel uncomfortable or shy in front of a camera relax enough to produce more natural-looking pictures.
She accepts bookings lasting between one and three hours and, importantly, meets customers only in public locations after screening their social-media accounts.
From Shopping Trips to Rock Climbing
Another provider, Penkawin Wangniwetkul, known as “Ice,” has taken the idea even further.
After working as a television co-producer, presenter, master of ceremonies and online marketing host, she entered the companionship business after relatives asked her to accompany two elderly women on shopping trips and outings.
She subsequently began receiving referrals through social media.
Today, customers can hire her to accompany them while running, working out at the gym, doing aerobics, shopping, visiting spas, going café-hopping or even indoor rock climbing.
Her typical bookings last two to three hours, with a reported rate of 1,000 baht per hour.
She has also established strict boundaries, screening customers and rejecting requests that could compromise her safety—including requests from male customers to accompany them to late-night entertainment venues.
The Bigger Story: Thailand Is Becoming More Solo
Behind the quirky headline is a much larger demographic shift.
According to Euromonitor International data cited in the reports, single-person households accounted for 29.5% of Thai households in 2025, compared with a global average of 21.9%.
That growing population is creating demand for products and services built around independent living—from solo dining options to solo travel and now, apparently, on-demand companionship.
And the phenomenon isn’t limited to Bangkok.
Company employee Sasiprapa Nookong reportedly hired a companion during a trip to Chiang Mai after she and a friend decided to pursue different activities for the day. She wanted to visit cafés while her friend went hiking, so she found a university student offering companionship through TikTok reviews.
Her experience highlights another potential market: people who don’t want constant companionship, but occasionally don’t want to do something alone.
Where Friendship Ends and Business Begins
The trend also raises an intriguing social question: What happens when friendship becomes a service that can be booked by the hour?
Sociologist Narupon Duangwises of the Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre has suggested that interacting with hired companions can provide emotional comfort for people who find it difficult to make friends in everyday life.
But there is an important difference from ordinary friendship: customers can select companions according to specific preferences, including appearance.
That creates a need for clearly defined boundaries and safety procedures, particularly to protect service providers from sexual harassment, inappropriate requests and potential violence.
A New Kind of Gig Work?
The Thailand trend suggests that the gig economy may be expanding beyond deliveries, transportation and freelance digital work.
People are increasingly able to monetise their time, presence and social skills.
A customer may not need a permanent friend. They may simply need somebody for three hours—to explore a new city, take photographs, go shopping, attend an activity or make an unfamiliar experience feel less awkward.
And that’s perhaps the most surprising part of Thailand’s friend-for-hire phenomenon:
People aren’t necessarily paying for friendship. They’re paying for companionship exactly when they need it.
The bottom line
Thailand’s “friend-for-hire” trend remains an emerging niche rather than a formally measured industry. But the combination of more single-person households, changing lifestyles, social-media culture and the growing gig economy is creating space for an unusual new service.
Whether it becomes a mainstream business—or remains a fascinating social-media-driven niche—is something Thailand’s changing society may soon reveal.
WWC ONE MEDIA J.M.D
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