How are LINE in Thailand and Zalo in Vietnam used for business purposes? Convenience and points to note regarding information management.

In Thailand, LINE is widely used as a means of daily communication, and in Vietnam, Zalo is popular for communication with customers, business partners, and within the company.

While it allows for quick communication using apps the other party normally uses, handling work information through personal accounts means that communications and documents are stored outside of company management.

In particular, if customer information and important decisions are stored in personal accounts, handover and access management become difficult when employees leave or transfer. To take advantage of the convenience of LINE and Zalo, it is necessary to separate the information handled in personal accounts from the information stored in company-managed systems.

Why are LINE in Thailand and Zalo in Vietnam used for business purposes?

LINE in Thailand and Zalo in Vietnam are messaging apps widely used in daily life. Since customers and business partners also use them, you can start communicating with them without having to prepare a new tool specifically for work.

Due to its low barrier to entry, it's used not only for customer service but also for internal communication and sharing photos and files.

LINE is widely used in Thailand, and Zalo is widely used in Vietnam.

According to an announcement by LINE & Yahoo! in December 2025, the number of LINE users in Thailand exceeds 56 million. LINE offers not only personal messaging but also LINE Official Accounts for businesses to communicate with their customers.

Zalo is one of the leading messaging apps in Vietnam. As of June 2026, it has 81.3 million monthly active users and sends over 22 billion messages per day. It also offers features useful for work, such as group chat, voice calls, and file sharing.

LINE has expanded its services beyond messaging to include lifestyle-related services in Thailand, and Zalo has also increased its user base as a service for the Vietnamese domestic market. This established status as a means of communication in daily life is the reason why these services are also being used for business communication with customers and business partners.

It is also used for contacting customers and business partners.

Even if you use Microsoft Teams or similar tools internally, your customers and business partners may not be using the same tools. With LINE or Zalo, if the other party is already using them, you can start communicating with them directly.

In Thailand, LINE Official Account is available, and in Vietnam, Zalo Official Account is available, providing a system for businesses to communicate with customers via messaging.

Its key feature is its ease of use for everyday customer interactions, such as responding to inquiries, scheduling visits, and confirming details about products and services.

However, the management methods for official company accounts and individual employee accounts differ. If the latter is used for business purposes, it is necessary to separately define what information will be handled.

It is also used for internal communication and sharing photos and documents.

LINE and Zalo also support group chats and photo/file sharing. They are used for quickly sending information from smartphones, such as contacting employees who are out of the office, notifying them of schedule changes, and sharing photos from the work site.

Zalo officially promotes group chat, file sharing, and voice/video calls as features for work. In Thailand, there is also research that assumes the use of LINE for workplace communication.

On the other hand, if these exchanges continue using personal accounts, work information will accumulate on personal devices and accounts, making it difficult for the company to manage. 

Points to note when using LINE or Zalo for business purposes

Using personal LINE or Zalo accounts for work purposes can result in messages and files remaining outside of company control. If all communication with clients and important decisions are handled solely through personal accounts, it can hinder handover procedures upon employee departure, access management, and information storage.

The problem isn't the app itself, but whose account is being used to manage the business information.

Work information remains on personal accounts

With company-managed email and business chat services, administrators can issue accounts and deactivate them upon employee departure. On the other hand, personal LINE and Zalo accounts are managed by the employees themselves, so the company cannot control access to them.

When you exchange not only simple communications such as scheduling, but also quotations, customer information, and internal documents, business information will be stored on your personal account or device.

It is difficult to transfer information when leaving the company or transferring to a new position.

If customer interactions are only recorded in the individual employee's LINE or Zalo account, their successor will be unable to review past records when the employee leaves or is transferred.

While it's necessary to remove former employees from business-related groups, that alone isn't enough. We also need to check if customer communications, shared documents, and information on ongoing projects are still available on the company's end.

By regularly saving necessary information in customer management systems and internal storage, it becomes easier to hand over tasks when the person in charge changes.

The history of the work and the decisions made are scattered.

Even if agreements regarding delivery date changes, specifications, or customer requests are reached via LINE or Zalo, if these details are not recorded in the company's internal system, only the person in charge can review the history.

When multiple people are communicating with a client using their personal accounts, information about the same project becomes scattered across multiple chats. It becomes difficult to later verify who decided what and when.

Formal decisions and information that needs to be referenced regularly are recorded in company-managed locations such as project management systems, CRMs, and internal storage.

Handle customer information and confidential information with care.

When handling customer or employee personal information at LINE or Zalo, we also check the personal data protection systems of each country.

In Thailand, the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) requires businesses that handle personal data to implement appropriate security measures to prevent loss, unauthorized access, use, alteration, and disclosure.

In Vietnam, the Personal Data Protection Law came into effect in January 2026, strengthening the rules regarding the handling of personal data. 

Using LINE or Zalo itself does not immediately violate any laws. However, when handling personal data such as names and phone numbers, it is important to understand what information is being sent, who can access it, and where it is stored.

Authentication information such as passwords, highly confidential customer information, and important contractual documents should not be shared through personal accounts but handled through company-managed systems.

How will LINE and Zalo be managed at the Thailand and Vietnam bases?

If LINE or Zalo are used to communicate with local customers or business partners, the rules for information management will be determined based on their actual usage.

We use LINE and Zalo for scheduling and quick confirmations, while formal decisions, customer information, and important documents are kept in a company-managed system; we handle them differently depending on their purpose.

Determine the scope of information handled by LINE and Zalo.

Messaging, quick confirmations, and urgent communications are all uses where the immediacy of messaging apps is particularly useful. On the other hand, contract details, customer information, and confidential information are not stored solely in personal accounts but are handled in systems managed by the company.

Even for simple tasks like scheduling or quick confirmations, any information that leads to business decisions or judgments is recorded in our internal system. 

Formal decisions and important documents will be kept in the company's internal system.

If an agreement is reached regarding changes to delivery dates or specifications via chat, the details are also recorded in the project management system and CRM. Formal storage locations for quotations, contracts, and operational manuals are also designated internally.

We use LINE and Zalo for communication, and leave information that needs to be checked later in our internal system. By separating the uses, even people other than the person in charge can check the history of the work.

Decide how to handle situations when a employee leaves the company or is transferred.

If you're using your personal account for work, you should also decide how it will be handled in the event of resignation or transfer.

In addition to removing them from the business group, we also check whether customer communications, shared files, and information on ongoing projects remain on the company's end.

A system where all information is collected at once upon an employee's departure is prone to information omissions and errors. If necessary information is regularly stored in the company's internal system, past records can be checked even if the person in charge changes.

Standardize operating rules between the Japanese head office and local subsidiaries.

Even if you use email or Microsoft Teams at your Japanese headquarters, it's not always possible to standardize communication with local customers and business partners using the same tools. In Thailand, you might use LINE, and in Vietnam, Zalo, for example; there are times when you need to communicate using the app the other party is accustomed to using.

After confirming these realities, the Japanese headquarters and local subsidiaries will decide together which information can be handled via LINE and Zalo, which information should be kept in the company's internal systems, and how to handle employee departures and transfers. Even if local communication methods are retained, the scope of information that the company will save and manage will be clearly defined.

Summary

When using LINE in Thailand or Zalo in Vietnam for business purposes, the problem isn't the app itself, but the fact that business information remains on personal accounts, making it difficult for the company to manage.

We use locally popular messaging apps for scheduling and quick confirmations, while formal decisions, quotes, contract information, customer information, and important documents are stored in our company's management system.

The Japanese head office and local subsidiaries will pre-establish operational rules regarding the scope of information handled on LINE and Zalo, the official record-keeping locations, and procedures for handling employee departures and transfers.